Progress, Setbacks, and a Fresh Start on Dylan’s Supra

Our latest video is a look at the last few weeks with Dylan’s Supra. If you saw the last episode, you know we had a rough moment when a tire debeaded and wrecked the fresh paint on the rear flares. This new chapter picks up right after that.
We got the car back to Reid’s shop and started digging into what caused the issue. After a bit of detective work, we found out the tires had a slow leak. To fix it, we decided to bump up the rear tire size slightly. At the same time our friend Austin came through in a huge way by fabricating a one-off custom raised rear subframe to better suit the car.

Reid did his best to clean up the paint damage and got the car reassembled. He decided to take it out for a drive to surprise Dylan, but that moment turned sour fast. A police officer pulled him over, decided the car wasn’t safe for street use, and handed out a Box 1 vehicle inspection ticket. That instantly voided the insurance. Things only got more frustrating when a tow truck had to be called. Because of how low the Supra sits, it took nearly two hours to load it onto the deck. These two setbacks ate up a lot of time in August. That month was already stacked for us. We were wrapping up Summer Touring at the end of July, working on our Pop-Up Shop, moving into the new warehouse, and celebrating Jake and Karly’s wedding. The timing could not have been worse.

Even with all of that, we pushed forward. We got the Supra through inspection and had it on display at the Pop-Up, which felt like a huge win. Right after the event we brought the car to Mitsuaki. He repaired the paint and matched it perfectly, then gave the car a polish that really made it shine again. Back at Reid’s, we bolted the wheels back on, lowered the suspension, and brought in our friend Oliver for a full top to bottom polish. The Supra looked better than it ever had.

The timing worked out perfectly because the next weekend was the Langley Good Times Cruise-In. We had the Supra on display at our sponsor Lordco’s booth. Watching people who normally are not into Japanese cars stop to appreciate it was an amazing feeling. After the show we finally brought the Supra into our new shop and parked it right in the middle of the showroom. It feels like the centerpiece of everything we have been working toward.

Looking back at these past weeks it is clear how much we rely on the people around us. Between friends stepping up with solutions, late nights in the shop, and everyone pushing through a busy schedule, the car made it to where it needed to be. The setbacks were frustrating, but they reminded us that any obstacle can be overcome with the right attitude and the right crew.