Car Builds....Where have they gone?

Eraser head haircuts were a fad, corduroys were a fad, even the pop groups like 98 degrees were a fad.

Trends and fads come and go with time, eventually being taking over by something or someone more liked than its/their predecessor. There is always a process: someone tries something different/crazy, few people like it, many think its weird, until it starts to spread like wildfire and all of a sudden more and more people are doing "the cool thing to do."

Well as I see it, fads and trends are meant for things like clothing, haircuts and music. Not in the car world. It is amazing how many people now take their auto, slap on a simple bolt-on turbo kit, get a boost controller and then brag about how much horsepower their car has made. Or those who buy 10 12" speakers with no-name generic amps just to reach 100dbs.

Nowadays you see less and less those who put top dollar in their rides and put their creations to use for what they were made for. I have failed to see the time where the car world started spinning backwards making it alright to cut corners when working on your car to make it to your liking. I see this as a direct correlation to the decline in automotive activities, mainly car shows. There was once a time where car enthusiasts drive for miles to enter their car in a show vying for a trophy bigger than themselves with outreagously built vehicles. Don't get me wrong, all of this is still around, its the decline that I am talking about here. Big time shows not to long ago had strict guidelines as to what was the minimum requirements to just be able to register for the show. Now you can see a stockish looking honda and just because it has a k-series swap its allowed in.

I almost certain this isn't the first time this has been said, read or heard before. Hopefully there will be a change soon and I am sure there will be....

Finally....

Its been quite some time posting up on here but our website it up and running!
www.noicsgarage.com, make sure to check it out and let us know what you think!.


We still need to fix up a few things and already have plenty of parts to add to the store, so make sure you check out our online store as well.
Earl Stewart Scion is putting on a Scion show this Sunday which we will be attending, so if anyone who ever reads this is out there, make sure to say whats up!

xB Build Off

Some people help build a house for charity, others donate money, but Scion Freaks are a whole different story. Hence the brilliant idea otherwise known as "xB Build Off."
The Scion brand is all about unity and continuing keeping the brand as a family, not as a money hungry manufacture. So Southeast Toyota (SET) decided to put together a charity event slightly different than the norm. "Scion Pros vs. Club Joes" is the theme and in essence two completely stock Scion xBs were given to two teams with a 'small wager of money' (considering the style of builds they constructed). The object is to build two xBs that will travel and be displayed at various events to show a different side of Scion, "the grassroots side" and eventually be auctioned off with all proceeds going to charity.
To many people this looks like the run of the mill event in which Scion is just trying a different approach to sell cars, but to a Scion owner (especially a Scion Freak) this is an opportunity to bring together Owners and Freaks alike to let their creative skills run wild all the while bringing their Scion family closer together.
For the Scionpros you have: Ivan Garneff and Steve Saporito
Clubjoes: Brant Good and David Hickman

If you really like what you see you can text a vote to 83895 and in the body include "Joes" (Bike rack xB) or "Pros" (Surfer xB)

Members of both teams have greatly contributed to the Scion community and plan to continue creating the path for others to follow. Just as an example: the xBs and some money were provided but the time that was put into these two rides was not. All hours that were put into these two builds were volunteer, members from various Scion car clubs were called in to help as well.

Just goes to show, the next time you see a Scion commercial or speak with a Scion owner and think they may be a little "freakish," that is a small taste as to why......


More pics can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=166595&id=171876565925&ref=nf

DUB 2009

First time at the DUB show and it was a blast.





We mainly hung out at the Exclusive Motoring "club" section. Between the security, and roped off section, people where wondering what the big deal was to get into the Exclusive space. Well for starters, Akon's own Spyker was on display, along with Dwayne Wade's impala, and Antoine Walkers Mercedes.
For those who do not know Exclusive Motoring, imagine a auto customization shop for all high-end vehicles for celebrities who either live or visit Miami frequently; or have you ever seen the show "Unique Whips?," well imagine that shop with bigger-named celebrities and a sense of style only found in the Magic City.





As it was great to see all the high-end and rare vehicles, Noics was still founded and has their heart with Scions; with that, there was only one registered at the show....."The Transformer." Which it was no surprise that it won "best Scion"



You can find more pics at either:
www.facebook.com/noicsgarage
www.myspace.com/noicsgarage

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZzEVwTD624

Small progress

Thanks to school, updates are a little slower, but its been a couple days since the last update and a couple new updates have surfaced. The engine is bare and sitting on the stand ready to be cracked; as for the other accessory pieces, the sanding and primer process has begun.....color will be added real soon.
Stay tuned.......

Almost to the case

No pictures but got to work in the garage a little after school tonight. Got the oil cooler off and started degreasing/cleaning some of the bolts already taken off that are full of sludge.
Tomorrow hopefully will get more done and looks like I have figured out how to remove the torque converter....

Tomorrow is another day and hope to bring another update.

Squareback Update

Here is a small update after working on the motor last night....
After digging through some sludge and picking out some weeds in between the cylinder head and the block, we were able to make some progress on the motor of our project Squareback.

Made some progress by taking off the sheet metal covering the engine, removed the alternator, fan belt, coil, carberator and other little accessories in our quest to reach what some call the "basic engine" (the bare engine with no accessories attached).

Next task is to take off the oil breather and remove the torque converter so stay tuned..... If anyone who reads this has any hints for the torque converter feel free to post!


More pics can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?aid=2012885#/album.php?aid=2012885&id=1579636743

Project: 1971 VW Squareback restoration

Lets bring you back to the year 1971 where Apollo 14 landed on the moon for the third time, Joe Fraser defeated Muhammad Ali, even the NASDAQ was debuted.

Although some may say "who cares....it's 2009!?" well I present to you a bucket of bolts from 1971 otherwise known as the Volkswagen Type III Squareback automatic.
This rusty tin can is powered by a 1600cc ball of VW fury and weighs in at roughly 2,000lbs.
The car was basically left all stock exept for a very rusted undercarriage, almost to the point where if it was left to rot any longer this car would belong with the flintstones and the previous owner attempted to give it a slight "hotrod" look in the trunk by installing a high rising single-dual barrel carburator which only fits by cutting a hole into the engine cover to fit.












Although it is true, it is 2009 now and this antique "grocery-getter" now has a new owner who plans to restore the squareback to its once beautiful state and has chosen Noics Garage for the engine rebuild. So I hope you stay tuned as this will be updated to show our progress.....

Royal Palm Scion Show winners

In accordance to the last post about Royal Palm Scion show here is the list of the award winners:

Best tC- Andres
1st Wild tC- Brian Bohne
2nd Wild tC- Karlie Critser
1st Mild tC- Stacie Warren
2nd Mild tC- Dwight Slamb
Best xA- Rona
1st xA- Stacey Slamb
Best xB- Rey
1st Wild xB- Scooby
1st Mild xB- Christian
2nd Mild xB- Ed Duran
Best of Show- Mike Vega

NO Xd'S SHOWED
So if you read this and you own either 1) a stock scion straight from the factory or 2) or an xD, I hope you plan to attend more local shows as there are awards waiting for you to win!

Royal Palm Scion Show 7/26/09

With enough heat outside to fry an egg on the hood of a Scion tC, the throng of enthusiasts or "freaks" of scion owners prepare to show off their rides at another Scion show in Southeast Florida; this time you will find us at the Royal Palm Scion dealership. Some may think it is crazy to have two Scion shows in the span of two weeks right? Well this show had a kicker: cash pay-outs for not only club participation but for the "best-of" awards themselves.
There is only one word to describe this dealerships spacing for the show....HUGE. Each participant had the privilege setting up camp over two parking spaces with room for tents, displays, etc.
It was pretty obvious after you parked your vehicle and open the door to get out you were hit with a BIG sign from the Sun God warning you if you do not seek shade your skin will be crispy by the end of the show.
So as we are cleaning our cars and getting them ready for the almighty judges, more and more Scions just keep rolling in, there was even a participant who drove from Orlando and others from Ft. Myers. As if it was no better timing, after the cars are cleaned, the food and drinks roll out; not only that Rita's Italian Ice showed up and there was a giant 30ft water slide for all.
We cleaned, they judged, we all baked, but in the end this was definitely one of the biggest (roughly 50 participating cars) and overall best local scion show around to date. The competition was fierce, the select few got to take home cash money, and everyone got to enjoy karoke, baseketball tricks by Scion Expressionism and broke down dancing from a mascot that looked like he could be luigi's half-brother.

Pics can be found on our facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2010898&id=1579636743

I also tried some video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll3OIL_V5zs

The next show is looking to be on August 26th at Expressway Toyota. I will update when the date, time and location are all set in stone so stay reading!

Earl Stewart Scion Show 7.12.2009

Its been awhile but we are back with more Southeastern Scion news! This time from the Scion car show hosted by Earl Stewart Scion.
Scion owners prepared for this show knowing there was change ahead in upcoming car shows, which was surprisingly truthful! Instead of the normal dealership parking, this show was held at a nearby park which allowed the participants ample spacing to park their vehicles and show off to the public.
Car shows are typically a type of show where participants show off their rides to judges who judge their car and rate the vehicles accordingly on a points scale. In past, Scion shows and even other all manufacture car shows in general, the judging portion seems to fall down on the priority category always resulting in a show that runs well past the scheduled time, turning happy energetic owners into cranky crispy sun drained zombies. Although this time around with new Scion car show management time was run over somewhat of a half an hour, in turn keeping the participants full of pizza, drinks and overall happy that the DJ understands there are more than one genre of music.
During the show the owners were brought back to school and were taught what the judges were looking for specifically, to show that they are no clown off the street and from now on the points will be marked on a more strict scale.
There is even talk about have a "Stock" class to encourage ANY scion owner to participate and not worry about competing against some of us "crazy enthusiasts." More to come on that.

The next Scion Show is this Sunday 7.26.2009 at Royal Palm Scion were the lastest addition to Scion shows will be implemented: CASH PRIZES!
Hope to see you there!

Scion Training

Ever since Scion first launched in the North American market in 2004, their slogan "What Moves You?" has been used to attrach potential Toyota owners. However, over time it seems that Salesmen trying to sell these vehicles have been giving buyers the motivation to "move" on to other dealerships or other car brands, essentially driving eager Scion buyers out the door due to either their lack of knowledge, the undoubtedly want for a bigger sale, or just showing no genuine interest in the auto makers best selling vehicle.

Here is where Michael Kennedy, (manager of Scion operations for South East Toyota), steps in to make a change one dealership at a time. Just with ONE call, within ten to fifteen minutes, roughly 10 Scions pull up front of the Royal Palm Scion/Toyota dealership. This goes to show that those who buy a Scion, and are enthusiasts, become part of a family. Greeting with open arms, the dealership listened to all advice, stories, and information given to them from actual Scion owners. Many salesmen were amazed at what can be done with Scions and appreciated all the work put into them as they actually walked around and observed the cars.

I sure hope to see more opportunities such as this in the near future. It gives a chance for us, Scion owners, to voice our opinions and in turn, essentially keep us "moving" in the right direction.


All photos can be viewed here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/noicsgarage/RoyalPalmScion?feat=directlink

It's a Zoo Out There!

You would think noics photos, founded on Scions would be posting another thread on cars right?....Wrong, here is the first set of landscape pics for the Noics camp. Christy asks me "hey want to go to the zoo?" Im thinking "the zoo? I havent been there in forever!", she says "you can take a lot of pics!"...so of course Im there.....
As always here are the teaser pics and the link for the rest of the album for anyone to enjoy...

http://picasaweb.google.com/noicsgarage/ItSAZooOutThere?feat=directlink

Maroone Scion Show

As Scion owners recieved their Mardi Gras themed invitation to the Maroone Scion carshow on March 28th, 2009 it was another event to them [owners] to wash/wax/claybar their rides to make a good, strong showing to represent their club to the fullest and also vye for the 1st place club participation trophy.
Not many pics were taking due to certain "events" that happened but here they are....
Hope you enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/noicsgarage/MarooneScionShow?feat=directlink

1UP Crew by the beach...

What was meant to be a day to visit the newly renovated South Pointe Park to take pics, Noics and 1UP find ourselves talking to the "bouncer" allowing us access thru the gate to this great spot next to the bridge leading to South Beach...
Plenty of pic are always sure to ensue and its up to you to enjoy them....

All photos are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/noicsgarage/1UPPhotoshoot32209?feat=directlink

David's Birthday BBQ

Our good friend David, just recently celebrated his 30th birthday and invited us over to C.B. Smith to hang out, throw around the football and eat some great Bar-B-Que, between the playing around and food, some pics were taken and hope you like...

Rest can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/noicsgarage

/DavidSBBQ?feat=directlink/DavidSBBQ?feat=directlink

Koni Challenge

Made it down to the Homestead Speedway this past weekend on Saturday to watch the Koni Challenge Series. Could only watch the "street prepared" class race (the bigger, faster cars, like the porsches, bmws ran Sunday), due to a good friends birthday celebration, but had an amazing time and took plenty of pics to prove it. Big ups to the C360R race team and especially Freedom Autosport, Freedom allowed us to check out their cars and got to chat with Andrew Carbonell, one of their drivers, and learned about the team and car. Andrew was the second driver of the day and while driving he made up for a lot of lost spots from the first driver but it looked as though as he finally begin settling down and zooming past his competition, there were car problems and soon found out, the differential went...
Anyways, hope you enjoy the pics and a new update is soon to unfold within the day..