I Forgot How Much I Missed Summer…

March 12, 2016 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Had nothing planned today so we tagged along with Punit and Gopesh to drop their cars off to get some bodywork done. It was a nice day, I have yet to get my car back – which btw will be tomorrow!! – and thought this would be a nice relaxing way to spend a Saturday… I don’t remember the last time I hung out and just chilled. Decided to also bring my camera along just in case… I’m glad I did. This place has been bone dry lately.

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On the way to the bodyshop. This was the first time Punit and Gopesh brought their cars out this year. It was refreshing for sure… IMG_5507 copy

Punit brought his car to get his bumper and lip repainted. It took a beating last year and as you can kind of see in the pics, it’s been chipped up pretty bad. IMG_5506 copy

Gopesh took his in for a more minor fix – under his flares, a piece of his bumper was bent out and losing some paint, so he wanted to get that touched up. IMG_5508 copy

Andy – the owner of the shop has his 1976 Mitsubishi Lancer under the knife as well. He’s won a few awards with it and he’s looking to bring it back fresher than ever this year with a fresh coat of paint, and some new chrome trim pieces. IMG_5516 copy

Inside the shop, Punit checking to see if he’s high enough… IMG_5517 copy

This would be a prime picture if Gopesh’s ass wasn’t in the way. Thinking he’s a Calvin Klein model or something.. IMG_5523 copy

Inspection of the bumper. You can see the paint chips all over. IMG_5524 copy

Outside, Gopesh taking off the flare to reveal the imperfection he’s been talking about that none of us believed. IMG_5525 copy

I guess he wasn’t lying afterall… LOL IMG_5527 copy

A few more pics of Andy’s Evo – it has an Evo IV engine swapped into it. Cool. (thanks JC for the clarification).

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Some of the work that he’s been doing trying to get rid of the rust. IMG_5532 copy

There’s something about Japanese classic cars that just hit you right in the feels. Too cool. IMG_5534 copy

Decided to head over to Jackie’s shop to hang for a bit and on the hoist sits Steve’s RSX waiting for an oil change. IMG_5541 copy

Over on another hoist is Jackie’s project shop car – an ITR. There’s lots going on with it right now and he’s been stockpiling parts for it over the winter with much more to come. I took a few shots of what I could… IMG_5543 copy

DIY undertray IMG_5544 copy

Top 1 Canards IMG_5545 copy

Fender cut outs for that race car effect IMG_5553 copy

Not too long after – Nick and Derrick dropped by in Nick’s new Porsche GT3. Gone are the days of the GTR if you remember that one at all… IMG_5555 copy

Beautiful. IMG_5557 copy

Took a few interior pics… IMG_5560 copy

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The yellow BBK stands out nicely. IMG_5569 copy

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Squished. IMG_5577 copy

Rich’s winter car – his CR-V that he’s been modding here and there. He’s added a bunch of additions since he’s acquired it. One of the newest additions being the retro CR-V side decal. IMG_5576 copy

Nicely retrofitted projectors into the stock housings. I’ve always loved a clean retrofit. IMG_5590 copy

Outside of Jackie’s shop – Isaac’s LS-swapped RX7 sits… And it really just sits there most of the time, and it’s easy to walk passed it or never get it a second glance. However… Jackie gave me a ride in it not too long after I took this picture and I think I almost puked up the pizza I had earlier. IMG_5587 copy

The interior of the RX7. It’s nothing crazy – and like I said, it’s easy to underestimate. It doesn’t have sparkling, showroom paint. It doesn’t have anything that screams “hey look at me!” If any car can scare the shit out of you, it’s this one. I told everyone it’s highly likely that I would never get into this car again after Jackie drove it. LOL IMG_5584 copy

Back in the shop – on yet another hoist, sits Lester’s Mini Cooper. An ongoing project for Lester that will turn many heads when completed… IMG_5586 copy

I’m sure it’s an easy spot – but… Guess the Swap! IMG_5581 copy

A few shots of Steve’s interior as I walked by… Mugen wheel. IMG_5583 copy

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Lastly – Isaac’s dog chilling in the waiting room happy to see some new faces! Hopefully I’ll have a few pics tomorrow when I get the car back! Stay tuned! It’s about to be a crazy summer!

Sponsord by Duracell: Punit’s VIP Lexus GS450h

June 11, 2014 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Finally got around to shooting Punit’s GS450h since he’s finished with it (for now). I mentioned once before that I always find it funny how I hang out with these guys quite often but they’re the only ones that don’t have proper shoots. It’s always behind the scenes or just a half assed shot cause we were chillin’ somewhere. No one ever really asks for a shoot and I never really think about it because I’m busy trying to get another photoshoot done.

One of the reasons I bring this up is because I think about the last time I shot Punit’s Integra and that was back in May of 2009. I just started shooting, didn’t know much about dSLR’s, had my Canon XT with one lens and just pointed and shot things. Here’s one of the shots from when I just met Punit and saw his car… At the time, this car was a big deal locally. Real wheels (the meisters that are now purple and on Diana’s Fit), mint paint, low for 2009 standards and OEM plus. Hell, even by today’s standards his Integra would be considered clean. No where near aggressive but just comfortable enough for a daily driver during those nice summer days. Lots of things have changed since 2009 and I’ve had shots of it here and there but not a proper shoot. My hope is that Punit gets it all good to go this year and we can get a proper shoot going for him.

Noob status.

…

But I digress. Let’s move onto bigger and better things – Punit’s GS450h. Punit picked up the GS450h shortly after I picked up the LS460L and JC picked up his CT200h – the VIP bug was biting hard and we all wanted to do something different. For me, it came and went quickly – as you can tell, but my story can be saved for another day. However for Punit, he had the luxury and privilege to own a race car and a luxury daily driver. He takes care of his cars and it shows. Punit was quick to get on board and quickly bought a set of AME Shallen LX’s in a perfect fit for the GS body and of course with big wheels means getting the car as low to the ground as possible.

Punit started off with just coils and going as low as he could and drove that way for the first season of ownership. Finally over the winter he worked on getting the car on air suspension – the way a VIP car should be set up. There’s nothing more to say about Punit’s GS – it’s clean, functional, and it breaks necks. The GS is a popular platform and with that, you have a fine line between a half assed car with replica wheels and looks to be built by a former Honda owner OR a proper VIP-inspired car with attention to detail and care which also looks to be built by a former Honda owner. The latter here applies to Punit – I’m also glad to have played a small part in his build and decisions as he’s gone through it to what you see today.

One of my favourite shots of Punit’s GS. The fitment is fire and everything just flows so well.

Lets start off with a few rolling shots…

JC – clean your damn mirrors.

Clean.

Blue skies, green grass, Lexus. What more could you ask for?

Of course – snapped a shot of JC’s car off to the side.

A better shot of the fitment. Tight and tucked.

Anything you can spot here…?

The Mode Luxe side decal looking good. Originally I had created the image and placed it on Punit’s car as a test.

Rear quarter shot. The GS looks good from every angle.

What would a VIP car be without chrome?

A better shot of Punit’s fitment. All that dish in the back too. I love it.

Remember how I said it looks to be built by a Honda owner? Punit just couldn’t resist hanging Asimo with the Junction Produce items… LOL

Rolling to a new location…

Right by the lake. Seemed fitting.

Punit’s tank set up. I personally love love love the look of this. Looks so good in his trunk. Super simple and clean.

Chillin’. I need to get them to hold equipment or something…

Let’s finish off with the rest of the rollers. Looks HDR-ish, but I swear I didn’t touch anything… Polarizer works wonders.

One last one. Blurry – but I liked the concept lol.

Another one in the bag! Hopefully that Integra wakes up soon…

Stickers and Shit

April 27, 2014 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

I couldn’t think of any other title other than the one above. It really was just a little time of stickers and shit.

Since Punit just got his car back last week from the shop and a fresh air install, he wanted to put the final touch on it with the Mode Luxe pinstripe. Punit, JC, Gopesh, my sister, Naomi and her son Isaiah came by last night to chill and have a game night and we started by putting all the stickers on Punit’s car. I guess you could say this was the first time we did “something” in my garage. When the weather gets nicer, we’ll be painting it and prepping it to get it all pretty.

Just some quick snaps from last night…

Punit and Gopesh drying the GS. Shitty weather yesterday and today is like a bikini and banana hammock day. So messed in Calgary.

A shot of his fitment with air now. Love it.

All dry where we need it to be.

There’s the first side done. We’re pro at it now haha. Meanwhile, JC is working on re-arranging his stickers on the rear window and also on his tank… You’ll see…

And the driver side done. Looks dope and exactly like the photoshop I did a few months ago! The LS photobombing in the back…

Meanwhile… Outside the LS and the Fit are in the rain/snow mix. Shitty driveway gravel too… I haven’t even washed my car since we moved in either haha

The best part of Punit’s air is his tank. He had a great idea to make it look like a Duracell battery and it happens to be appropriate with his hybrid. I love how this looks so much.

A shot from further out. Super clean look.

Another shot of it all done. JC cleaning up the edges.

Another shot outside.

Gopesh’s GTI – we haven’t seen this in a long ass time!

JC just finishing up the edges on the last door.

This shot was Punit’s idea… Shitty that the cars are dirty but we’ll take another one when the weather is nicer and we have a chance to clean the cars properly.

A shot from Instagram! Love this.

Last shot. Now only if I could convince Diana to get a car we can bag and further enforce the idea that we may be drug dealers. (So we hear hahahahahaha… Oh Airdrie…)

Hybrid Bags. Coming Soon…

April 9, 2014 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Well the time has come for Punit to get his bags installed. I’ve been bugging him ever since he got the car to bag it but he’s been going back and forth with his Integra and GS so it wasn’t a priority at the time. It’s going to be great to have another bagged VIP Lexus around the city. Now the only one left is JC *cough*.

Speaking of JC – he’s been gracious enough to send me these pics since he’s visiting Jackie at Zero Limit most days after work to chill and check out the progress. I’ve been busy as shit and barely have time to even do my own things after work so huge thanks to JC for providing me blog content 🙂

I know we’re all crossing our fingers that the GS is done soon and you all know a photoshoot will be in order as soon as it is. Weather has been great lately and it’s just getting better now. I already have a few cars I have in mind that I definitely want to shoot ASAP so just hold tight a little longer and the blog will be bangin’ again.

His bag set up…