WTF Friday: Big Block, Little Car

By

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Nov 22, 2013

In the 70s Street Machine Theme Tuesday I mentioned that the Street Machine look was pretty versatile, and could be applied to basically every kind of car imaginable.

Case in point the 75 Honda Z600 found in today’s post.

This car doesn’t just look the part however, thanks to an unknown resourceful mechanic who stuffed a Chevy 427 under the hood it can run with the best of them as well…provided it doesn’t flip over.

honda_z600_1 — I’m going to bet that wheelie bar saw a decent amounts of use

honda_z600_3 — I would be very interested to see the interior of this car because I am sue the motor takes up quite a bit of real estate

honda_z600_2 — That rake! The body work does appear to be quite well done

Really wish I had more info build but sadly the four photos above seem to be all the internet is willing to give up.

If you know more about it (or a similar car) feel free to share in the comments.

Source.

Got something you think would make a great WTF Friday post? Send it in to [email protected]!

Team MaNick

By

ChrisJ

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Nov 21, 2013

2

After an Ontario Provincial Rally Championship win in 2010 and a second place overall finish in 2011, Team Manick took 2012 as a year to regroup and focus their efforts. After 9 months of design, fabrication, and assembly they are back on the stages – this time competing in the Canadian Rally Championship, and hungry for the podium.

But enough about that, let the pictures do the talking.

Team MaNick is comprised of a group of guys under the age of 30. The Narini brothers drive and co-drive the Lachute powered STI, which is where the name MaNick came from, sort of like a celebrity couple – like Penis (…Peter and Katniss from The Hunger Games… obviously) or Brangelina.

Sponsors include Lachute Performance, C&C Motors Subaru Whitby, Jensen Trailer Sales & Service, Indy’s 101 Customs, AIM – The King of Wheels, and Legit Graphics.

A special thank you to Libra Racing, Can-Jam Motorsports, and Stripping Technologies.

Check them out at Rally of Tall Pines next weekend (November 29-30) in Bancroft!

Photos & Text: Chris Johnston

Theme Tuesdays: On The Bumper

By

DaveT

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Nov 19, 2013

2

The way I see it there are two ways to put a car up on it’s bumper. A talented person with a switch box manipulating the flow of hydraulic fluid, or raw stump pulling power.

In my opinion both are awesome and as such both are showcased in today’s post, enjoy.

Lowriders

on_the_bumper11 — Start things up with some local ridiculousness

on_the_bumper10 — I’ve actually never seen a truck hopper in person, probably gets pretty wild

on_the_bumper_low_3 — Not a single care was given this day

on_the_bumper_low_2 — It’s a damn shame that this appears to be a screen cap

Jeff from Switches N Thangs keepin’ it 100

Quarter Miler Terrors

on_the_bumper_drag_14 — This might actually not be on bumper but I’ve never seen a Bronco up that high without use of a ramp

on_the_bumper_drag_9 — That’s a heck of a lot of Wagon to put back on the bumper…

on_the_bumper_drag_7 — …and that is a whole lot of turbo (take a leap of faith that the bumper hit)

on_the_bumper_drag_11 — No leap of faith required here

on_the_bumper_drag_6 — It’s awesome that a car that can do this can be plated in California where I hear the ministry laws are pretty stern

on_the_bumper_drag_5 — Wheelie bars are evidently for the faint of heart

on_the_bumper_drag_4 — I assume at this point you just pray you come down somewhere in the direction of where you took off

on_the_bumper_drag_2 — Kind of like this…

on_the_bumper_drag_16 — 12 O’clock wheelie with a car..

If you liked this one be sure to check out a very similar Theme Tuesday I did on wheelstands.

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 5

By

DaveT

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Nov 18, 2013

3

Chances are pretty good I am going to say this every year I don’t go for the rest of my life but, I really wish I went to SEMA this year.

The feeling of missing out only intensified when I took some time this weekend to take a second pass through Rob’s photos from SEMA 2013. Unfortunately until I’ve got some wealthy mistress bank rolling the site I’m going to have to keep the every other year thing going a little bit longer.

This conclusion of the SEMA 2013 coverage presented by Performance Improvements has another look at a few vehicles from earlier posts as well as a few cars and trucks I somehow missed previously.

studabaker_woody_classic — 51 Studabaker Woody Classic with a 390-cubic-inch Ford Edsel V8 under the hood

corvette_stingray — I think I am officially ok with these visually.

corvette_stingray_interior — Historically I ‘ve heard people criticize Chevy quite harshly for interiors but these look really good

dcsports_scion_frs — I swear the only time I see, or hear, about DC Sports any more is at SEMA, could just be the circles I travel in

toyota_rota — Windshield banner reads: “The Art and Science of Wheels”. I have no comment for that.

falken_jeep_1 — Falken, as always, taking their booth displays above and beyond

sema_2013_willys_pickup — This Willys is awesome

ford_max_grundy — Some pretty awesome art over on Maxgrundy.com

ford_Factory_5 — Rob searching for Inspiration for the Performance Improvements Factory Five car perhaps?

steel_charger — More pictures of this car are in part 2 if you missed them. I still stand by it being a piece of metal art

sema_2013_2jz_ford_1 — Just another 32 Ford?

ford_need_for_speed — What do you figure the odds of this being a good movie are?

scion_mini — I see two possible uses for this; awesome Power Wheels, or awesome RC car

Interesting Barracuda that was part of the car crazy showcase, Just A Car Guy has more photos of it

ford_67_fairlane — Gulf Livery knows no bounds

optima_street_car_challenge_1 — Chris Moore’s 72 Ford Mavrick GT

optima_street_car_challenge_2 — Mike Holleman’s El Camino which you can read more about right here

sema_2013_mercury_cyclone_gt — Probably the only Mercury Cyclone I’ve ever posted

dually_rear — Awesome work here and no question about whether or not it lays frame

fighter — Lincoln V12 powered 32 Ford. Would love to hear what this sounds like running

shelby_gt — How long you figure the guy in this picture stood there in awe?

sema_2013_gasser_2 — Picture perfect gasser

Thanks for making it through all of the coverage, I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Follow Performance Improvements Live at SEMA:

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Instagram: @piSpeedShops
Twitter: @pispeedshops

WTF Friday: Worlds Collide

By

DaveT

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Nov 15, 2013

2

Because of their relatively low price point and ease to work on, people do a whole lot of things (both good and bad) with the Chevrolet S-10.

While I’ve posted countless great examples on the site through event coverage and internet finds, I’ve probably posted a good half dozen or more questionable ones here in WTF Friday category.

Today’s S-10, which is the unlikely union of Ford body and Chevy truck, clocks in closer to bad then it does good.

The jarring creation you see above is a slightly lowered first gen s-10 that’s had the native Chevy sheet metal replaced with that of a 54 Ford pick-up.

As you might expect the Ford body panels didn’t willingly fall onto the s-10 chassis so the owner/builder had to narrow the hood and grill 6″.

In order to mostly see out the wind shield he also had to pancake the hood 4″ and to make the fenders meet the cab he had to extend them two inches.

The size of the 54 front end combined with the extension of the fenders are probably what contribute most to the cars overpowering front end.

Out back parts of the ’54 Ford bed have mated with a stock s-10 bed which, despite not matching the cab in the least, doesn’t actually look all that bad.

The entire thing was then sprayed Hot Rod Flatz Midnight Blue, christened the F-10, and thrown on eBay for $8,500.

One can only imagine the reactions this truck gets anywhere it goes. I’m really curious what both Chevy and Ford owners throwing their arms up in disbelief at the same time sounds like.

Got something you think would make a great WTF Friday post? Send it in to [email protected]!

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 4

By

DaveT

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Nov 14, 2013

4

The finish line is just around with corner with this years SEMA coverage provided by Performance Improvements, and today we’ve got photos from Rob’s last day at the show before he and his brother mashed the loud pedal back to Ontario.

There is a diverse collection of vehicles and displays today including two cars representing Ontario well in Vegas which is always awesome to see.

sema_2013_canadas_best_winner — Car Crazy Canada’s Best Winner Joey Dube’s 1970 Ford Torino

sema_2013_canadas_best_winner_2 — Congrats once again to him on his win, must have been an awesome expirence

sema_2013_car_crazy_gto — This 65 GTO was also part of the Meguair’s Car Crazy Showcase

sema_2013_outside_51_chev — With each day that passes I fall further in love with 50’s era Chevy pickups

sema_2013_outside_air_lift_new_beetle — The latest look for Air Lifts’s bagged Beetle

sema_2013_outside_chevy_impala_wagon — The beautiful Impala wagon from Part 1

sema_2013_outside_colorado_front — This Ontario truck has received a lot of love in 2013 and for damn good reason, it’s really an outstanding build

sema_2013_outside_colorado_bed — I love the IRS setup and custom bed

sema_2013_outside_optima_camaro — Jame’s Shipka’s 68 Camaro, finished 27 of 50+ cars in this years Ultimate Street Car Challenge

sema_2013_outside_s_14_holley_1 — Tried to find more info on this car but came up with nothing… anyone?

sema_2013_sic_chops_caddy — Love this ’59 series 62 Caddy from Sic Chops

sema_2013_bling_motors — Meanwhile indoors someone got a hold of a bedazzler…

sema_2013_zinger — Nice to see Zingers still getting carted around

sema_2013_huge_turbo — This is a Turbonetics Industrial turbo, designed to run at 75psi for hours at a time

That's a Nexus 10 for size comparison — That’s a Nexus 10 for size comparison….

sema_2013_skull_bus_2 — Badger Air Bus Co’s very peculiar Bus

sema_2013_skull_bus_3 — Can’t say they didn’t follow through on a theme

sema_2013_whiteline_mustang — As a Mustang owner I’m sure Rob spent plenty of time looking at this one

I bet this sounds incredible — …that I’ll bet this sounds amazing

sema_2013_green_rod_indoors — More motor porn, fairly sure those headers could also sing a nice tune

sema_2013_olds_ruby_begonia_1 — Had one shot of this Oldsmobile in part 2 of the coverage, but Rob got a few closer snaps on day 4

sema_2013_chevy_suburban_robins_egg_2 — I almost mistook this K5 Blazer with c10 of a similar color scheme

sema_2013_chevy_suburban — Sixth generation Suburbans are not exactly my favorite, but this one in the Accel booth is awesome

sema_2013_chevy_suburban_motor — I have serious engine bay envy.

sema_2013_chevy_68_impala_1 — More accustom to 64’s done this way but this 68 looks pretty damn good

sema_2013_impala_lowrider_lifestyle_front — Interesting that two years in a row there have been Impalas at SEMA with phantom grills

sema_2013_impala_lowrider_lifestyle_motor — Can’t even begin to imagine the number of hours in this engine bay

Ring Brothers Pantera

I had originally earmarked the Ring Brothers 71 Pantera build for a SEMA show stopper but to keep this year’s SEMA coverage from dragging on too long I’ve decided to include it here.

Dubbed ADRNLN this Pantera has ditched the Windsor in favor of a supercharged LS3 and features an incredible interior design by Nike. Yes Nike shoes Nike.

sema_2013_pantera_7 — The interior was designed by Nike’s ‘skunkworks’ design team and just might be one of my favorite features of the build

Of course I am also quite fond of the 600hp LS3

sema_2013_pantera_1 — Problem Child Kustoms helped with a lot of the visual changes on this car

sema_2013_pantera_4 — I can’t decide on the headlights…

sema_2013_pantera_3 — …I really like pop ups but if they had to go this isn’t a bad compromise

sema_2013_pantera_5 — 19″ HRE’s hide Baer brakes

sema_2013_pantera_2 — Pretty cool they had a photo of a standard Pantera so people would know just how far this car had come

Follow Performance Improvements:

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Twitter: @pispeedshops

Theme Tuesdays: Karmann Ghias

By

DaveT

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Nov 12, 2013

4

The Karmann Ghia is a car that prior to starting this site I didn’t really know a whole lot about.

I think I had maybe seen a handful up to that point, but I never really put much time into learning much about them.

Of course hang around Volkswagen (or rather air cooled) guys long enough and you pick up a bit here and there and suddenly you grown quite fond of them.

Inexplicably I’ve yet to do a Theme Tuesday on them and that seems wrong so here goes:

ghia_12 — Always love it when I can include BMX on this site

ghia_22 — Found this build on layitlow… few years old now

ghiaru_2 — This entire Theme Tuesday was inspired by a read through of Mike’s Subaru powered Ghia thread

ghia_20 — Something about aircooled vehicles and patina just work well together

ghia_11 — This popped up on an older Vortex for sale thread

ghia_9 — Like all air cooled vehicles they look great with a fresh coat of paint as well

ghia_1 — Doo-doo brown has never looked so fresh

ghia_3 — Very nice engine bay on this car as well

A Ghia captured in Mike’s 2013 Driven coverage

ghia_7 — Have to include a roller or two

ghia_21a — Couple weeks back I mistakenly took a Razor Edge Ghia for a Corvair…

ghia_18 — Love the colour on this though I might change the wheels if it were mine

ghia_17 — I was surprised to see how many of these had been converted to 1/4 mile cars.. couldn’t leave those out

ghia_10_phantom_ghia2 — End things off with the Phantom Ghia

If you think I forgot wagons, don’t they will get their own Tuesday post in the not so distant future!

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 3

By

DaveT

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Nov 11, 2013

4

Back with more from SEMA 2013 coverage from the Performance Improvements gang. Today’s collection of photos is mostly from the South Hall with a few cars from outside the convention center thrown in for good measure.

Look for at least one more batch of SEMA coverage to come before we move onto the Texas Mile.

tj_lavin_shoebox_1 — Start outside today with BMX pro TJ Lavin’s 51 Shoebox

world_burn_1 — This Impala was part of the Dub showcase…

world_burn — …and looks to be flawless throughout

world_burn_mural — Some people just want to watch the world burn Master Wayne

sema_2013_67_chevelle_rs_chassis — Pro Touring Supercharged Chevelle SS

sema_2013_chevy_C10 — Love these laid out

sema_2013_chevy_c10_tootsies — Everything about this is great; wheels, color, door graphics

sema_2013_ford_lifted — How much mud you figure both of these see? Hopefully they fare a bit better than this truck off road

sema_2013_nissan_veliside_1 — The exterior of this Veliside equipped 350 is a bit much for me but the engine bay is clean

falken_tire_porsche — Year after year Falken has some of the best displays at SEMA

falken_tire_frs — Like many vendors they too had a Rocket Bunny VS equipped BR-Z in their fleet

falken_tire_models — Falken’s booth professionals

sema_2013_models — Rob managed to catch an instagram moment with these two models

sema_2013_51_chevy_green_1 — Great looking 51 (Edit: 55) Chevy

sema_2013_airrex_booth — AirRex brought out two cars that people are always up in arms about whether they should be bagged…

sema_2013_ferrari_airrex — The Ferrari is on a protype kit and I’ll be really surprised if it enters mass production

sema_2013_ — Big ol Ford on tiny little Rockstars

sema_2013_bbos_uh — Am Ithe only one that thinks these wheels look like Magic Bullet attachments?

sema_2013_savani_camaro — Savani’s builds are always a little far out there, this is probably the most restrained I have seen from them

sema_2013_parrot_asteroid_smart — Rob and Andy were lucky enough to get their hands on the Parrot Asteroid which is an android-powered double din navigation & music device. Made their trip that much more enjoably

sema_2013_caddy_pirelli — Cadiallac CTS V coupe race car

sema_2013_cheverolet_camaro — Unlike the new Corvette from the last round of coverage these have yet to grow on me…

sema_2013_flowmaster — Posted an under hood look at this Galaxie previously, and here is an exterior look

sema_2013_ford_booth — Fatal Clothing’s Ford F-150

sema_2013_ford_booth_hotwheels — Not sure how Rob managed to get so many shots with no people in them… impressive

sema_2013_ford_convertible_pickup — Pulled up to the scene with the ceiling missing

sema_2013_ford_mustang_rtx_speedhunters_doubledown — The SpeedHunters / Air Lift project Mustang RTX known as the ‘Double Down’

sema_2013_injen_bmw — Little bit of white on copper from Injen

sema_2013_LB_bmw_1 — I think there were four Liberty Walk builds at SEMA in total, this is the second of the 3 series

sema_2013_LB_nissan — LB’s GTR which I think is on an air cup like suspension system

sema_2013_mazda_concept — Fish-like Mazda concept

sema_2013_pettys_superbird_1 — Heide Performance Products Super Bird.. still not 100% sure about these new interpretations of iconic cars

sema_2013_radical_rxc — The 3.7-litre Ford V6 powered Radical RXC… Lemans car for the street

sema_2013_riddler_winner — The 1940 Ridler award winning coupe known as the ‘Checkered Past’. Saw this one at the Detroit Autorama… it’s an amazing build

sema_2013_scion_Rays — Rays keepin it real with the first gen Rocket Bunny kit

sema_2013_scion_2j_1 — 10 year Anniversary Scion FR-S fitted with the V2 Rocket Bunny kit

sema_2013_scion_2j_2 — 2J found it’s way underhood

snake_bit_2 — Gene Simmons ‘Snake Bit’ some parts of this build I like (wheels/stance) but others I think look a little awkward

snake_bit_3 — Interesting build none the less

SEMA coverage will continue on Wednesday!

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Twitter: @pispeedshops

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 2

By

DaveT

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Nov 9, 2013

2

Back today with part 2 of the Stance Is Everything / Performance Improvements coverage of the 2013 SEMA show in Las Vegas Nevada.

When Rob offered to contribute coverage this year I wasn’t really sure how many photos he’d be able to fire off between meetings and conferences that come with conducting business the week of the SEMA show.

It turns out I grossly underestimated Rob’s ability to multi-task because he did a really good job of capturing a variety of vehicles at the show, from Imports to Muscle and everything in between.

Today’s photos come from the main hall and there’s still a lot more to come next week, enjoy!

corvette_stingray_2 — These are really starting to grow on me

bigfoot — In my day Bigfoot was blue… where’s my cane?

lineup — Gotta show respect to the elders

mothers_car — I feel like I should know what this is…

factory_five — A Factory Five racing 818 S&R if I’m not mistaken

ford_four_motor — This car had two less blowers the last time I wrote about it…

rod_headlights — The headlights were the first thing on this to stand out to me, funny how something so subtly different can create such a visual impact

gold_ford_ontario — Awesome 55 Ford F150 holding things down for Ontario, it was for sale too

havegunwilltravel — Keeping the paint thing going, I love pin-striping

vip — VIP build right outside the media center

thrust_mascot — I imagine this guy loved live walking around in that all day

rota_2 — The company we all love to hate brought this out

rota_1 — Showcase on of “their” newest designs

honda_civic_k_swap_3 — Boosted K swaped Civic

honda_civic_k_swap_2 — Turbo with a side of motor

bisimoto_porsche — Looks like the Bisi(moto) got his hands on another Porsche for 2013

eibach_r8 — R8 in the Eibach Springs booth

nitto_tire_frs — Rocket Bunny 86 in the Nitto booth, I think I prefer the v1 kit more myself

green_frs — The Accuair placard suggests it’s bagged… aired up maybe?

air_lift_libertywalk_e92 — One of the most covered vehicles of the entire show

edlebrock_engine_bay — Really love how the stripe flows through the engine bay on this Edlebrock booth babe

engine_bay_cleaning — SEMA engine bays make me never want to open mine again.. ever

ringbrothers — Ring Brothers full carbon 65 Fastback…

Love this bare metal Charger, work of art really

lake_side_1 — Lake Side’s 71 Camaro known as the ProfeSSor

lake_side_1_71_camaro_ss_professor — This car is a tribute to Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson

lake_side_2 — I dig the custom rear valance, the light panel will take a little getting used to

lake_side_3 — 20×12 Bose wheels fit quite well under the widened rear quarters

More to come on Monday, stay locked!

Follow Performance Improvements on their way back from SEMA:
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SEMA Showstopper: Fuller Hot Rods Double Down

By

DaveT

-

Nov 8, 2013

0

Rob from Performance Improvements shot me a message yesterday that he was wrapping up his photos from SEMA 2013 and to let him know if there was anything specific I wanted photos of.

Without a moments hesitation I said I need (not want) more photos of the all wheel drive ’32 Ford I’ve seen kicking around.

A few hours later into my drop box arrived an awesome collection of shots of the Fuller Hot Rods “Double Down” and I knew I had 2013’s first Stance Is Everything SEMA Showstopper.

Currently a work in progress this project has all the makings of an insane hot rod capable of doing it all.

What you see poking out where the rad should be –had it not been moved to the rear– is a quick change housing for the front differential and providing the awesome stance is the 28.5×14.50 Goodyear Eagle slicks mounted to magnesium racing wheels.

Inside the interior is no where to be found, leaving all the beautiful mechanics and craftsmanship visible.

The transfer case is reportedly lifted from a GMC Denali and is mated to a G-Force clutch-less five speed transmission.

Sending power to all of this is a Jon Kasse based 600ci, 900 horse power Boss 429 motor (insert Tim Allen appropriate Tim Allen grunt).

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this entire build is that this car is the fact that it was inspired by a similar car that has not been touched in 40 years.

Ryan Fuller randomly met Emmett Burton at Cars and Coffee one Saturday. He went to his house to see his collection of 30 vehicles of all different stages of construction.

There sat this really cool 32 Ford Roadster! Burton started the project to compete in the “Cannonball Run” before the movie came out.

Magnesium Wide 5 Sprint Car wheels, Mag Quick-Change rear end…All Untouched for almost 40 Years!! Emmett Started this car in 1971 and quit working on it in 1973. He literally left the tools where they lay and didn’t touch them for 4 Decades!

Bryan was so moved by this car he decided to build a cannonball tribute to this vehicle and began collecting parts.

I think it goes without saying that I can’t wait to see this thing completed and out ripping the strip, road course, and salt flats.

You can follow the build here on FullerHotRods.com blog

Follow Performance Improvements on their way back from SEMA:
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Stance Is Everything

Style Reigns Supreme: Fred Bottcher’s 57 Cadillac

Kustoms Never Die: The ’49 Ford Thunderball

The Appeal Of A Fairlady: Tim’s ’72 G Nose Datsun 240

Not Just Another LS Swap: Brad Ruiter’s Wicked Miata

Not Your Dad’s Camaro: Miro’s 1970 z28 Is Built For War

Toronto Lowriders Unite For the 10th Annual Majestics BBQ

Event Coverage: Toronto Hot Rod Kulture: Father’s Day 2022

Event Coverage: ImportExpo Toronto 2022

Event Coverage: Toronto Hot Rod Kulture 07/18/21

WTF Friday: Big Block, Little Car

Team MaNick

Theme Tuesdays: On The Bumper

Lowriders

Quarter Miler Terrors

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 5

WTF Friday: Worlds Collide

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 4

Ring Brothers Pantera

Theme Tuesdays: Karmann Ghias

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 3

Event Coverage: Sema 2013 – Part. 2

SEMA Showstopper: Fuller Hot Rods Double Down