If I Could Call it a Drink, Call it a Smile on the Rocks

March 29, 2016 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

I’m pretty behind on posts… To be honest, I completely forgot that I had taken pictures on Friday of some of my time at Jackie’s shop and then of JC’s grill install (hence the title of this post – courtesy of Diana lol).

It was about time that I had my oil change, so I stopped by Jackie’s to get ‘er done and took some snaps while I was there. Haven’t really taken pics so I’m a little rusty lol.

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Jackie’s crazy track build. He acquired this bumper about a week ago – a custom, one-off bumper made from a Subaru bumper. The build quality of it is pretty legit and it looks absolutely crazy in person. It literally sticks out a good 15″ if not more. Not sure how he’s going to get up ramps LOL

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On the other side… The car going up

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Kinda liked this shot… The red and black worked way better than I had imagined. Glad I kept it red.

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Some other detail shots of Jackie’s bumper.

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The carbon is pretty good and well put together.

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The canards molded nicely around the bumper. Very sturdy construction. Kudos to whoever made this. It’s super nice.

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From the rear quarter of the bumper. Mad downforce.

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Now some artsy photos while I waited…

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Upstairs is Jackie’s previous set up for the ITR – a C-West bumper with Top1 canards.

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Diana bored as hell lol

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Next up we got back to my place and tackled JC’s new grill install. Stock shot here.

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Sunken Battleship!!

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Removing the stock grill and headlight washer lines.

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Gopesh’s car…

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Bottom grill removed. Pretty easy.

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Touching up some paint on the sideskirt. Shot courtesy of Punit lol

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These locking star washers were probably the hardest part of the whole job. There’s no real way to actually remove it without ruining the tabs on the emblem. Gopesh managed to get them off pretty quickly and still got away with being able to re-use them.

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A shot of the grill-less bumper.

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Dat hybrid emblem.

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Punit unpacking the new spindle-type grill.

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The emblem goes back…

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Comparison shot o the two. The difference is actually night and day when you see the two side by side. The old one was just really cheap looking. The new one brings a lot more character to the front and updates it with a newer look.

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Top one installed in a jiffy.

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Bottom one in. Cool shadow/light pattern of stars on the ground lol.

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Boom. An updated front end – attention to detail is what matters the most!

JC Tenchavez’s Lexus CT200h

September 1, 2013 / jasonhoang / 2 Comments

I know you guys have seen JC’s car many times on here before but you’ve really only seen it as an accompanying car or the chase car for roller shots. I’ve never really done a full shoot dedicated to his car before – he’s kind of in the same situation as me – the both of us are always teaming up to do photoshoots of OTHER cars but never of our own cars.

I met JC a few years ago at one of the Beyond meets, but to be honest I don’t remember exactly how. I knew him since the days of his Corolla and the progression that it went through and with him now onto the CT200h, not much has changed in terms of his modification tastes. I knew he loved that Corolla and he was proud of what he had accomplished, but that one cold and snowy morning that we made a visit to Lexus of Calgary – he made a pretty big decision.

I wasn’t expecting the deal to go through that day but after a test drive, some chit chat and jokes about getting an LFA for his Corolla, and before I knew it – he had already agreed on the trade-in for the Corolla and we were in an office and he signed the papers to pick it up a few days later. This was just a month or so after I picked up my LS and Punit was in search of his GS.

The CT200h is a fairly new platform to modify and the first new chassis from Lexus to receive that new front fascia makeover. JC wouldn’t leave without getting the white CT without the tech package. LED low beams with 25 LED’s in each projector, totaling 100 LED’s for the low beams. The LED DRL strip running along the bottom of the headlights are also a head turner.

JC quickly added most of the accessories that carried over from the Corolla like the Junction Produce Tsuna, Junction Produce neck pads and the WORK VSXX’s. Thankfully for JC, the wheels were a perfect transfer and required no changes.

JC’s car in the sunlight looks great. The lines of the CT200h are great for a hatchback.

Wheels so clean you could eat off of them.

The rear of the CT200h is another unique look and it looks even better with the chrome lips of the VSXX’s peeking out.

JC fitted his fogs with high powered LED bulbs as well which compliment the overall look of all the other LED’s that sit nicely up front.

A nice look at the LED projector lowbeams.

Menacing.

Ending it here with his car sitting pretty at sundown. JC is still in search for a kit, and possibly a change of wheels or colour to help spruce things up a bit for next year!Ending it here with a shot of JC and Rich’s car outside my place after the shoot. That only means one thing – Rich’s shoot is up next!

Stay tuned!

Lexus Garage Day

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

All week we were looking forward to today because it was supposed to be +12C and a sunny ass day. Last week we planned to install JC’s coils and just have a good time – all went as planned except the weather was shitty. The one thing you can’t trust is the weatherman in Calgary. The only time they are right is when they are telling you what the temperature was yesterday – they aren’t even right about what the temperature is presently.

Anyways, started nice and early at 10AM and it was still pretty chilly at -3C or something but that doesn’t usually stop us from working on our cars. If anything, that’s a nice day to us LOL! Tons of stuff going on today and it’s really starting to feel like deja vu from last year when I was blogging around this time. It’s depressing because you still see the ice/snow on the ground and all the nice cars out haha

Let’s just move on to the install and all the other shenanigans…

Nice and clean!

JC’s coils

Brand spankin’ new

I decided to pull up on the driveway cause I wanted to be in the shot haha

The all mighty hybrid engine

Another shot. Love it dumped – even on stock wheels it looks gangster.

Alright let’s get started. Jacked up the front – check out that droop.

What we had to work with. Very similar to JC’s Corolla set up so it wasn’t difficult. The only pain is the link but nothing big.

Out! Took all but 15 minutes.

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BTW – anyone who is using coils needs to get fluid film. It’s a lubricant that you can spray on metal that will basically protect it from rust and shit for months, if not years. I had them on my Buddy Club’s for the Civic all summer and when I removed them again, they were still so easy to turn.

A shot of the rear droop lol

Test fitting…

JC putting the wheels on before a test drive.

Pulling out… Looks good

It ended up being good so we tightened everything up and move on to the rears.

Gopesh bringing the rears up

The rear suspension. I called it when we started that the rears would be a bitch. I hate doing rears on every car for some reason… Always something that’s a pain. My side was fine, but the right side ended up taking a little longer because the spring wouldn’t go in.

JC getting the strut loose

Just checking the dampening knob lol

Left side in and good to go. BTW – all around, there was only about 3 threads left. The rear shocks were turned all the way into the cup.

Look who decided to show up too… First time out all year.

Missed seeing this.

Prashant’s winter beater C63 AMG.

Group shot. You’ll be seeing lots of these this year.

A pipe to bring the rear arm down…

We thought we’d leave it there as an extra aftermarket exhaust. Looks legit.

Rears were finally done and JC went out and tested again.

Looks sick

JC back with all smiles. Love how the wheels accent the interior too.

Took a quick drive and the strut was moving a bit in the rear so we brought it back in to make some quick adjustments.

Good to go. The sun was peaking out a bit, but still nothing that we expected. It was still freezing – our hands were cold and numb haha but still a good day overall. Loved this shot.