Tim Rempel
Tim is the founder of Canadian Gearhead. He has owned Toyotas his whole adult life, starting with his very first car. He has lots of insight to offer readers from his past experience working for Toyota and as a professional detailer for his own business.
He currently owns, maintains, and modifies a 2007 Toyota 4runner, 2006 Toyota Tacoma, and 1991 Toyota MR2. Read more about Tim here:
Jeremy Blatz
Jeremy got his start in the automotive industry in 2012 as a detailer. He also tried sales and a role in the service department at a Chrysler dealership before deciding to become an automotive technician for Volkswagen.
He currently works in an independent repair facility but dreams of combining his two passions by opening up his own repair and detailing shop. When he isn’t working on or detailing cars he’s writing, reading, or watching videos about cars and doing everything he can to develop a love for cars in his wife and their adopted one-year-old son.
Mitch Graham
Mitch has always been interested in cars. Outside of his day job as a marketing and PR professional, he enjoys all things related to cars, motorcycles, travel, and the outdoors. Camping, hiking, and motorcycle touring are a few of his favorite hobbies.
Growing up, his father restored a 1970 Camaro that he helped him build (as much as a kid can). Once Mitch turned 16, the SW20 MR2 grabbed his heart and he bought the first 1993 that he could get his hands on. Unfortunately, that ’93 was a non-turbo automatic, but he loved it nonetheless.
Mitch and his dad did a lot of bodywork to remove surface rust (properly, not sand and seal) and had it resprayed in factory red. That’s when he became obsessive about paint and learned the differences between wax, sealants and ceramic coatings.
The work on the MR2 didn’t stop there – the suspension, brakes, audio system, wheels and tires were all upgraded. Mitch ended up selling that car to buy a 2017 Triumph Street Cup, which is his first street bike (he grew up riding dirt bikes). He still has that bike alongside a Honda NC700X, which he rode to Utah and back last spring.
He has been obsessive about paintwork for at least 10 years now. He tried his hand at paint correction with decent success, but hasn’t attempted applying ceramic coatings yet.
Additionally, he has always enjoyed reading about cars. He’s been subscribed to Car & Driver for at least 15 years now, and re-reads interesting stories every morning with breakfast.
Mitch has done most maintenance basics himself (oil changes, brake jobs, etc.) He did change the transmission himself (with help) in his beater, 275k Toyota Solara in college. But he prefers to forget he had to do that.
Drew Barnett
Drew lives in Mobile, Alabama with his fiancé AC and 3-year-old son Sawyer. He’s always been into cars with his first love being the ‘75 Mustang GT Fastback. Drew got his first Honda dirtbike at 6 years old and realized he liked working on things when he was about 13 and learned how to fix his dad’s old Honda CRF 230.
Fast forward to the present day and Drew is an avid DIYer when it comes to maintaining, repairing, and modifying his vehicles. He currently owns an 03 4Runner Limited with the 4.7 V8. It’s a 2WD model but that doesn’t stop him from taking it off-roading any chance that he gets.
On the weekends, he loves football and hockey (go Bruins) and he enjoys working on the 4Runner, AC’s Lexus, and whatever else he can get his hands on. Aside from that, he really enjoys hanging out with his family.
Gregory Grimm
Greg has been obsessed with cars since he was a kid. He and his Dad did a frame-off restoration of a 1955 Chevrolet truck when he was only in the 6th grade. This one now lives in his garage and was totally apart again a few years ago. He was incredibly excited to start driving and get his own car when he turned 16, but couldn’t afford something cool, so he decided to get a motorcycle. He’s owned about 20 different ones since then… and might have a problem.
Currently, Greg has 5 bikes including a 1974 Yamaha RD350 that he restored and a super rare Bimota SB8R.
As far as four wheeled vehicles go, he prefers manual transmissions but leaves them mostly stock. He does his own maintenance and enjoys detailing. Greg recently added a tire changer and balancer to the garage which is actually a lot of fun to use. At the moment he has a 2021 Tacoma and 2021 Mustang GT.
Greg’s dad has a 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass that he helps him with a bit. It started out as a V6 automatic with an open differential but now has a small block 350, manual transmission, and limited slip rear end.
By day, Greg is employed as a mechanical engineer, albeit not in the automotive industry. He has mostly been working with injection molded plastic parts for the last 8 years or so.
Kenny Prebeck
Kenny started off his mechanic experience with his 2007 4WD 4Runner. He’s always been into the 4×4 world starting all the way from high school when all of his friends started lifting their trucks and talking about them around him.
Eventually, all their knowledge and passion for working on trucks rubbed off on him and truly made him obsessed with modifying his vehicle to make it perform to the best of its ability. After purchasing his T4R, Kenny quickly found out that he was mechanically inclined when he and his dad did some front end work (CV axles, hub assembly, diff drain, etc.).
Granted, they had to use YouTube to guide them in the right direction, but even after watching the video a few times through, Kenny was able to familiarize himself with the repair process and reassemble the passenger side of the 4Runner with minimal assistance.
Since then, he’s lifted his truck 3″ using Eibach Pro Truck shocks and Wheeler’s Off-Road T1 springs paired with OME895 rear coils. He’ll be doing more maintenance on his 4Runner coming up shortly, including plugs and coils, inner/outer tie rods, CV axles, and hub assemblies.
Kenny has now become the “car guy” amongst his friends. Whenever his buddies need help with something, they call him. Whether it be for his tools, knowledge, or guidance, he’s typically able to help in some way, shape, or form.
Shaun Schiffinger
Shaun has been a car guy since his early childhood. His father always worked as a mechanic and from the time he was 8-9 years old, he would take him along to his work every Saturday. Throughout his early twenties into his thirties, he was big into car audio and competition. He also ran his own installation and sales company.
He had a very successful competition career in which he was the North American champion, one time World Record holder, and qualified many cars for multiple competition organizations finals. He also had a shop vehicle in a company booth for a major show. When he closed his shop, he moved on to handle the installations for Circuit City until they closed their stores.
These days, he spends his spare time working on his pair of MR2s and his Maxima. One of the MR2s he has been building with track time in the future plans. He has also done some pit crewing for his buddy’s Spec Miata.
Shaun is an Advanced Metallurgic Technician for Pratt & Whitney for the past 10 years. He has an Associates Degree in Welding Technology and is a big fan of movies, music, and sports (mainly basketball and football).