Event Coverage: 2014 Fitted Toronto – Part 1.

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May 26, 2014

Dedicated to promoting and growing the aggressive fitment community Toronto and abroad Fitted Lifestyle has been the Ontario event to attend for the die hard fitment fan.

Never doing the same thing twice the Fitted Crew has always improved upon their method year after year. Last year rapid growth dictated a necessary venue switch and this year, in an effort to showcase the best of the best, the show format was converted to an approval based format.

Though the approval based formula is not for the thin skinned it really is the best way to ensure that the your event showcases the cream of the crop.

They came in droves

For Fitted 2014 the best of the best came from Ottawa, Montreal, New York, and Detroit to join the heavy hitters in Toronto.

Shooting the roll in last year was one of my favorite parts of the event so I made sure to arrive early this year so I could do the same.

fitted_lifestyle_2014_beetles — Luke made the switch to bags this year but rolling in you wouldn’t have been able to tell

fitted_lifestyle_2014_bmw_m_coupe_stance_factory — Stance Factory Jay’s baby moons are a great balance between function and form, unique to boot

fitted_lifestyle_2014_rollin_audi_eurokracy — Sergio from Eurokracy debuted his new look on Avant Garde wheels

fitted_lifestyle_2014_rollin_brian — Brian with a hood on, an extremely rare site.

fitted_lifestyle_2014_rollin_felix — Johnny Law tried their hardest to keep Felix from attending Fitted 2014 but he managed to thwart their efforts

fitted_lifestyle_2014_rollin_subaru — Unique looking wide bug eyed wagon

A Father Son Affair

Five months ago Rob Anzurton pulled a ’71 MGB-GT out of a barn and began relentlessly wrenching on it to get it ready for Fitted Lifestyle 2014.

fitted_lifestyle_2014_1971_mg_4 — Notice the fresh scrape from the crowning in the road following Rob in

With next to no traditional after market avenues to consult Rob and has father had to use good old fashioned trial and error to get the car down to the point that it almost didn’t make it to the show.

fitted_lifestyle_2014_1971_mg_3 — As you can see the exhaust and the ground got real familiar

When I first heard Rob scraping up to the registration booth I found it hard to tell who was more excited that the car made it to the event, Rob or his old man.

Though he mentioned that the car isn’t quite where he wants it yet as it sat it was till one of my favorite vehicles of the entire event.

The French are coming

Despite being practically world renown for absolutely horrendous roads aggressive fitment enthusiasts from the Quebec area are not afraid of redefining the limits of ride height and wheel fitment.

Be it bagged or static these bi-lingual Canadian’s get down.

fitted_lifestyle_2014_rollin_low_level_3 — Camber for days…

fitted_lifestyle_2014_rollin_miata_low_level — How Sam managed to drive this from Quebec to Toronto static is beyond me

fitted_2014_hall_2_low_level_s2000 — Really liked the two tone on this s2000, two colors you don’t normally see butted up against one another

fitted_2014_hall_2_vw_corrado — This car was just rolling into the paint booth the Wednesday before the show.

fitted_2014_hall_2_vw_mk3_jetta_2 — Immaculate supercharged MK3 Jetta

Twice The Room

Last year the indoor portion of the show was limited to the building you see documented in today’s post.

This year the Fitted staff secured a second building (to be covered in part 2) so that more cars could be showcased.

fitted_2014_hall_2_vw_tdi_styles — Ryan’s car is consistently one of the cleanest cars at any event

fitted_2014_hall_2_mazda_3_josh — Later in the day I caught more than a few people triple taking on Josh’s wheels

fitted_2014_hall_2_honda_prelude — Awesome that Toronto is fortunate enough to have a few great looking examples of this chassis

fitted_2014_hall_2_s2000_best_of_show_third — This s2000 is heaps lower than when it was at Megaspeed and looks considerably better

fitted_2014_hall_2_s2000_best_of_show_third_2 — He ended up taking home some hardware for his efforts

A New Coat Of Paint

Jonathn Prem’s s14 has always been a noteworthy car in the Toronto scene, but for Fitted Toronto he really stepped things up a notch and brought his A-game.

Despite being about 98% complete the latest version of Jon’s car was ridiculous enough to take home a well deserved best of show for 2014.

fitted_2014_hall_2_s2000_bagged_nissan_s14_3 — This car had been multicolored for so long seeing it in one beautiful purple hue was almost a system shock

fitted_2014_hall_2_s2000_bagged_nissan_s14_2 — The new Air Lift Suspension under the car allows Jon to run a very aggressive 18×10.5 -28/18×11 -45 Weds Kranze LXZ setup

fitted_2014_hall_2_s2000_bagged_nissan_s14_1 — Don’t get it twisted though he doesn’t ride much higher than this

There’s plenty more to come for the Fitted 2014 coverage so stay tuned later this week for the more! Keep an eye on the facebook fanpage as well for additional photos.

Featured Ride: Don’s 1950 Chevy Pickup

By

ChrisJ

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May 22, 2014

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When Don of Yorkville Auto bought his 1950 Chevrolet from Vintage U-Pick in Florida, he was under the impression it was a “strong running, turn key truck.”

When it arrived it was more of a sickly running death trap.

The wiring in the truck was a complete disaster, the main harness was a hodge-podge of new and old and the wires ran through the floor without any grommets of any kind.

Not wanting to roll the dice every time he drove the truck Don commissioned Chris Brown to remove the beat up wiring harness and knock out a new one, the truck ended up with all new LED lighting, gauge cluster, head and tail lamps.

After it was wired properly, it was time to address the lump that sat in the engine bay.

Mauro Brocca of Performance Car Restorations in Oakville built Don a high performance 350 Chevrolet small block that is mated to a 700r transmission and a 3.73 rear end.

This combination makes for a very fun, usable truck.

Looking inside you will notice the recovered bench seat and door panels, as well as the AccuAir eLevel remote that pairs with the air ride suspension that this rot rod sits on.

Kevin from Air Assisted did the suspension work on the truck and true to his reputation everything works as good as it looks.

Don arrived to the mid day shoot directly from the exhaust shop where he had a new stainless steel system bent up.

The idea to do the quad tipped dual exhaust was Don’s, and it turned out trick.

Previously we at SIE had mentioned that the patina was crafted and this statement is partially true.

The patina was crafted, this is correct, but not by man – by nature. The truck sat in a desert in New Mexico for about 40 years after serving its life as a work truck for an excavation company. The writing can still be seen on the door as well as patches of moss here and there.

Keep your eyes peeled as this beautifully rustored truck has a handful of photo shoots lined up for various publications, but we at Stance Is Everything got it first.

Don wanted to give a special thanks to Chris Brown and Mauro Brocca for their hard work and hand in making the truck what it is now as well as Kevin from Air Assisted for all his handiwork.

Unreleased Hits: Volume 1

By

DaveT

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May 22, 2014

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Apologies for the slowdown in original content on the site lately, though the season been kicking here in the GTA for the past few weeks I’ve been keeping a relatively low profile.

As one might expect my newborn son has caused a slight shift in my priorities and for sanity’s sake I chose this weekend’s Fitted Lifestyle event (and following CSCS season opener) as real beginning of the event coverage season here on Stance Is Everything.

That said I still don’t like letting things here fall to only two posts a week so for today’s #throwbackthursday I’ve got three photos from previous features that never ran for one reason or another.

My hard drive is full of tons of unreleased photos, and un posted event coverage, so I’ll look to expand on this series to help fill the lulls that occur from time to time.

As always thanks for your continued readership!

Theme Tuesdays: ‘The Bags Ruin It’

By

DaveT

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May 20, 2014

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Air ride has progressed leaps and bounds from the days when it was predominately used to lay trucks, and older vehicles closer to the ground. As the technology, R&D, and availability of air ride components improved, bags began to appear under a wide variety of vehicles that, as recently as 5 years ago, one would have never expected to see sitting on the ground.

As bags began to permeate all corners of the automotive landscape the talking heads (found amongst the assorted peanut galleries around the internet) have become to be very vocal about what they think should and should not ride on air.

Today’s Theme Tuesday is a hat tip to a few of those very vehicles that some feel are ‘ruined’ because they ride on air.

baggedgn — Though very little is known about this car both times I have posted it people have been quick to point out that it is ‘sacrilege’

ruined_it_7 — I’m sure there’s an old curmudgeon somewhere quite steamed over this

ruined_it_3 — This Aston Martin DB9 is what actually made me think to do this Theme Tuesday, you can read the feature on it here on Air Society

ruined_it_4 — Though it is becoming increasingly more common some people are still very unhappy about bagged Subarus

rallycrossbags — Air Lift posted this Subaru at a Rallycross on Friday, I have looked for more but so far turned up nothing

I believe this short clip is from the owner however

ruined_it_8 — Already being so low static it almost seemed natural for RWB cars to start popping up on air

ruined_it_13 — Nextmod Mississauga is about to make a bunch of noise with this Supra

ruined_it_9 — Being held to such high regard it was totally expected that people were up in arms about this bagged e30 m3

ruined_it_1 — A recent addition from SOWO, a Cayman S on Rad 48 wheels

ruined_it_2 — Air Lift Performance is really close to releasing their GTR kit which will not only suit stock body cars like this well but Liberty Walk kitted ones as well

ruined_it_6 — I still remember the sh!tstorm that was caused when this Lamborghini first popped up online

Now a few years later this car was debuted at SEMA and fewer people blew their collective fuses

Here’s a video of it on a different set of wheels

ruined_it_12 — When Air Lift announced their S chassis kit nay sayers were quick to assume bags would ruin the cars ability to slide

ruined_it_11 — The car above, now wrapped, seems to drift pretty damn well

ruined_it_10 — I’ve said it before —a few times— but I am really excited to see what else is to come in the land of air!

I miss one? Let me know in the comments.

WTF Friday: Icarus

By

DaveT

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May 16, 2014

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When I was in high school an older student drove a yellow Pontiac Sunbird with Ractive underglow, white letter Tiger Paw tires, a cherry bomb muffler, cut springs, and a Pyramid nothing but bass audio system. He thought it was pretty slick, but ever since I laid eyes on that car the Sunbird has been one of those vehicles that I would do anything to avoid owning.

Evidently that only applies to 99.9% of Sunbirds because I actually wouldn’t mind going for a rip in this heavily modified one.

From the firewall forward this Sunbird is equipped with a S10 clip, and from about mid rocker back 2×3 steel tubing has been grafted in so that a competition engineering adjustable ladder bar coil over suspension could be mounted out back.

Why you ask?

Well because the stock motor has been binned in favour of a built (50 .030 over Hypereutectic pistons 9.5:1, Speed demon 750 cfm carb) Chevrolet 350 that is further fortified by a 100 shot of ~~naaaws~~ nitrous.

That’s right ‘over 25000 dollars’ has transformed this previously front wheel drive Sunbird from disposable GM economy car to unexpected 1/4 mile demon.

Should you be interested in this oddball project the car is for sale on Kijiji for $6000 which actually seems like a half way reasonable price for something this unique.

Wonder if there’s a build thread?

Theme Tuesdays: Daily Moleskines With Chris Piscitelli

By

DaveT

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May 13, 2014

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I feel fairly confident that everyone reading this has, at some point, penned the odd doodle or sketch of a something automotive related.

My first illustrations are a vivid memory, and though I can’t/don’t draw today, illustrating at a young age gave me both an appreciation for the finer details of vehicles, as well as an appreciation for art in general. Recently I’ve found a renewed interest in automotive art and as such I’ve been perusing the work of others.

One artist –who I’ve been following via his blog Design 165— is Chris Piscitelli who’s incredibly cool 2014 ‘Daily Moleskine’ project leapt out as something I simply had to share here.

Before launching into the collection thus far I am going to share an excerpt of the inspiration behind this series because I feel it too is something all of us can relate to. I myself have a BMX magazine collection that’s a little out of control.

At some point in the 70’s my mother made my old man toss a bunch of his old car mags. I’m not sure where he managed to hide the hundreds that I still ended up with, but regardless, when he “purged” the first time, he ripped pages out with things that were important to him at the time. So I have an overflowing folder with piles of disintegrating magazine pages from the early 60’s. I’ve decided to use them as the subject of my daily Moleskine pocket sketch book til I fill it, or run out of old pages to reference…(I’m sure the former will happen first). – Chris Piscitelli

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_t — Boso styled MX3

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_u — 1955 BMW Isetta

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_f — “Boso” styled fastback skyline

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_e — BMW 2002 tii

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_d — T-Bodied Dragster – Car Craft 02/1964

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_c — Car Craft 1964

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_b — 1937 ford- “Car Craft” 11/1963

Chris Piscitelli_moleskin_sketch_a — Daily Chicken Scratch # 426

Huge thanks to Chris for giving me permission to repost his work here, and be sure to check out both his blog Design 165 and follow him on instagram @design165.

While you’re there be sure to convince him to let me feature his Omni GLH project one day too.

Special Delivery

By

DaveT

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May 12, 2014

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I’ve been subscribed to Brett Sloan’s Tumblr via rss (I don’t have a tumblr account) for quite sometime now but I think this cab over is the first of his photos I have posted here and not on the fanpage.

Being such a cool truck I figured a single photo Facebook drop wouldn’t really do it justice.

A clean turbo diesel on the ground, really what’s not to like?

Photo Credit: Brett Sloan

WTF Friday: A Mechanic’s Dream

By

DaveT

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May 9, 2014

1

Spotted this ‘awesome’ project for sale in one of my favourite threads ever to exist on the internet.

Though the buyer calls it a mechanic’s dream I think most of you will agree that it’s more akin to a nightmare.

The air ride system (particularly in the front) leaks to the point where the vehicle is rendered helpless and the ‘management’ is made up of re-purposed shop equipment powered by extra batteries and an inverter.

Who knows what kind of horrors lay beneath that paint and since there’s no mention of poppers I am going to assume getting in and out might be a little challenging.

On the bright side the car is priced fairly cheap at $1500 and if you happen to have a set of 28s or 30s keeping the corner of your house up he’d trade for those.

…the craigslist app should come with photography instructions….

Got something wild to submit for WTF Friday? Shoot me an email at [email protected]

Nukung Real Low

By

DaveT

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May 8, 2014

6

Yesterday morning, awake with my son sometime between the hours of five and six, I saw a photo of a really unique Corolla on instagram and attempted to make a mental note to post it a few hours later.

About twelve hours later I realized that 5 am mental notes should really be physical notes because I had a heck of a time trying to remember what vehicle it was I wanted to post and where the heck I saw it.

Eventually my brain connected the dots and I remembered it was a Corolla that is a huge (and welcome) departure from the beige banged up image that normally comes to mind when this chassis is mentioned.