Tuck or Flush? Both

New comer Andrew from Long Island Detailers met up with Chris to detail his GS.  I say he did a good job

In this scene, being low is the most important aspect in the modding of your luxury sedan.  The lower the better.  If you are on air suspension, the goal should be to park on the ground or as close to it with the ride height being flush.  Which look do you prefer, tucked look or flush to the fenders?  I think it varies on the car, mods, wheels, etc. 

This is How We Do It: Mounting Stretched Tires

This Labor Day, Dreamakers got to the shop early to put in work.  They demonstrate how they stretch a couple of tires without a cheetah (bead-blaster).  Sorry the videos dont display since they are not on youtube/vimeo but they are worth the click.  Very funny.

tire stretch video 1

Beat that tire like it stole something!!!

Tire stretch video 2.  Watch your face!

Here he shows us a less safe method.  Dont forget the goggles and ear plugs.

while a 265/30 on a 11.5 doesn’t seem like a stretch, don’t be fooled by the “265”. 

Liberty VIP’s Arrival to Importfest

This past weekend, some members went up to our northern neighbours to show with our Canadian Chapter at their local show Importfest.  They have been working very hard on getting us up there and did whatever they could to secure us with prime locations in the show.

It was a long road to get to the show with a lot of hiccups during preparation.  As seen in the latest post about Hurricane Irene, Ty was intending to come, with last minute preperation, but returned home to tend to family making sure they were safe.  Mike decided long ago that he was not going to miss this show.  He made sure he got his rims back from D2 just in time for the show.  Brendan was supposed to join him, but unfortunately his car was not completed in time; so Jermaine and Dave got the Y33 ready and made the last minute trip plans the week of departure.

For set up, Aidan got us all to meet at his house as it was on the way to the show.  First to arrive was Mike as he rolled in on the Thursday.  It was perfect as Aidan was able to get an appointment booked for a last minute alignment to fit his new wheel sizes.

This Is How We Do It: Taking Apart 3pc Wheels

We last left you with Joe “Burgy’s” interior build about 5 months ago and haven’t mentioned his car much since then.  Well he is still around and always up to something on his Y33 Q45.  Recently, he purchased a now classic wheel, the Lowenhart LSR, and is rebuilding them.  When you rebuild a wheel, it can get really time-consuming and expensive.  You have to love the wheel in order to do so since it will end up costing roughly what the wheel cost new (when you factor in the cost of the wheels, new hardware, lips and finishing).

We recommend marking a line where the face meets the inner barrel (if you plan on keeping the inner) so it lines up easier when re-assembling the wheel.  When all the bolts are unscrewed, the faces still may be stuck in there.  This is where you need some force but you must be careful with what you use to avoid damaging the wheel.  A rubber mallet is a good tool to use for this.

He removed the faces all by hand, not power tools.  This former pro baseball player swears that no performance enhancing drugs were used prior to the disassembly of the wheels.

Stay tuned to see what color scheme he comes up with.

-AGIM JONES

This Is How We Do It: When Good Fitment is Not Good Enough

Do you ever wonder how we get such aggressive fitment’s on our cars and make it look so effortless?  Well it is usually anything but that.  Lots of measuring and fine tuning goes into our setups.

Chris “CubanGS” out of SoCal, had his suspension tuned to fit his wheels as well as the overall look of the car.  Having too much negative camber in the rear and none/very little in the front, makes the vehicle look broken.  By having it very similar, it makes the ride more aesthetically pleasing.  Check out his before and after pictures

Before Studio RCA’s

After Studio RCA’s

Automotive Lasik surgery..”re-vision” 5.

Having undergone several “procedures” in the past, this X300 has seen quite it’s share of the operating table. The factory lighting is decent at best and only slightly improved to the X308 chassis that follows it. Rather than going the normal X300 -> X308 route..why not just take something superior and then make it even better? Well..this is what happens when the answer is “sure, why not”.

Thank you BMW! Or should I say Hella..for the 5 series black series crosshair headlights. This was the starting point.
Finding a compatible donor is really the most difficult part of the entire process. Since a few other BMW donors had been used in past procedures it was an easy choice. First step? Remove them from the BMW brackets:

This Is How We Do It: Bumper Vents

I put this one under “This is How We Do It” as well as “Liberty Garage: 021”, since its progress on El Presidente’s Jaguar and it is also a nice DIY.

We showed you his front bumper slits, now lets take a look at his rear vents and how he went about it.

placement and cutting:

You need to think about the way things flow and how they work with the bodylines. Usually when I am thinking of an idea for a mod, I’ll get out the good ol’ Photoshop and start trying things out..after all, it’s not permanent and can be changed around easily. After you have a grasp on what you want to do, remember the adage measure twice, cut once. Line out the contour of the proposed design and step back and take a look. Does it seem at home? Is the spacing right? Will the countour of what is being added work with where it’s being placed? Get all this down pat BEFORE you start to cut..haha. Then precisely make your cuts and take your time. A quick mistake can mean costly hours of repair.