Electric Dream

It's finally happened. An electric sports car. The Tesla. According to the Tesla homepage, it has 6800 lithium-ion batteries, 0-60 comes in 4 exhilirating seconds, and it has the equivalent of 135 MPG! The price, $100,000. Well worth it if you think about it, stunning good looks, heart-attack performance, and no gas tank to fill.



JZP

Basic Mechanics (Guest speaker)

Changing Lights

To change a blown bulb or broken bulb you need to pull it out of the light and unscrew it from the harness, and put in your new one in.

Changing Wheels

Well first thing you have to do is apply the break, if not you will be have trouble keeping the wheel from turning. When the car is off the ground like on axle stands, hand break for the back wheels. Then get a breaker bar and socket to take them off, or an impact gun.

When putting them back on you have to tourque each bolt to factory specs.

For the fronts you will have to get someone to apply the break when its on axle stands so the wheel dosnt turn. With old cars the wheel might be stuck to the caliber, so you might need a mallet to hit the tire on each side to get it off.

Installing Tornados

On the tube going to the air box undo the clamp with a screw driver . place the tornado in with the arrows facing left then wiggle it then do the clamp back up.

Removing the hood

First unhook the hose for the windsheild wash, just pull it. Then theres two bolts on each bracket for the hood. Get someone on the other side to hold it so it dont fall through the windsheild.

Removing the hood brackets


Undo the 2 bolts on each bracket for removal. Heres a big tip, take a silver or black marker and mark around where they mount. So when you put them back on it will be in the perfect place and you wont have to fool around with it when putting them back.

Engine

INSTALLING A CRANK- Before installing a cam shaft its smart to lube the journals. After that place the end of the cam shaft into the middle hole of the block. Don't nick the journals when installing the cam shaft into the block. Take your time.

INSTALLING A DISTRIBUTOR- Set the engine so that the number one cylinder is at top, dead center then place the distributer in at 90 degrees. After that take the spark plug wires and install them according to the directions.

Panels

1. raise the vehicle, support it securely on jackstands and remove the front wheel.
2. Disconnect the antenna and all light bulb wiring harness connectors and other components that would interfere with fender removal.
3. Remove the clips and or bolts, detach the fender liner, then remove the fender mounting bolts
4.detach the fender. It is a good idea to have an assistant support the fender while its being moved away from the vehicle to prevent damage to the surronding body panels.
5. Installation is the reverse of removal.
6. Tighten all nuts, bolts and screws securely.

Conventional to glass top

Honda's entry, stove like SUV, the Element is expecting a make over, and a new trim level, the SC (Street Custom).

This is the end product:



It basicaly looks like a bigger Scion XB

It uses the same engine as the conventional 'stove' a four cylinder which makes 166 HP

The SC hits the market in late September at $22,695(US).



JZP

Hottest package from England since Keira Knightly.

Like to drift? Wanna learn? This is the rig, a hightech text book. A $750 piece of equipment that uses GPS technology. But this box-DriftBox to be exact- won't get you out of the woods if you get lost. However it could make getting lost more fun.

It mounts on the windshield using three suction cups. It then measures all aspects of your drift: slip angle, velocity, as well as grip level in g. It doesn’t just record data; it will also judge a drifter’s performance. Based on the slip angle and lateral g you’re pulling, it calculates a score, on a scale of 0 to 10, after each drift. It then writes the data on an SD card so you can compare drifting sessions, racetrack laps, and quarter-mile runs.

For those beginner drifters, a manual is included showing how to do certain drifts. Such as the 'clutch kick'.




For more on the DriftBox (or ordering information) visit: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/11369/tech-stuff-the-racelogic-driftbox.html

For more info about drifting visit: http://www.drifting.com/ or http://www.daily%20drifter.com/.


JZP

Cleaning/Replacing a bed liner.

I'm a truck owner, so I know that when the bedliner starts to get aged and rises a little from the bottom of the truck bed stone, sand, and woodchips can get in between the bed and bed liner. The following link explains how to remove a bed liner. It also directs you through the installation of a spray-on bedliner to replace the old one if you wish.


http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ab_exterior/article/0,2021,DIY_13687_3036717,00.html


JZP

A clean car is a happy car

I'm still working on lining up the guest. Like I said it could take awhile, so I'm going to go ahead with the posts while were waiting.

Keeping your car in good working condition can keep it running longer, and so can cleaning it. It doesn't just make it look better, it can prevent rust, plus it keeps dust and debris from clogging any important intakes.




For the exterior of your car you should always hose it down first, to blast away road grime, and small rocks, you don't want to scratch the car. Then use a car cleaning liquid (such as Armor All)
and a sponge to wash the vehicle. Be sure to do one section of the car at a time, and it is better if you wash from the highest point down. Rinse each section after you are done washing them. DO NOT wash all the sections then rinse, as the suds will dry onto the car. Hose down tires first to get any lose debris then a tire foam to clean, shine, and protect your tires. But remember avoid excessive use on treads, the sprays are intended for sidewall use only. Using a spray protectant also works well. Waxing a car is more of an art form. Turtle Wax is a great wax, easy and
effective. I won't get into waxing too much, just the basics. Park your car in a cool, shaded area. Apply wax onto the directly or onto a cloth or sponge. As you did in the washing of the car, wax sections rather then the whole car at once. Spread the wax over the surface until there is an even coat of wax. Then while your waiting for this section to dry move onto the next panel and repeat what you did on the first one. Allow the first one to dry to a haze, then wipe off excess wax residue. By now the second panel should be dried, apply wax to the next section, then start wiping the excess off of the second section, and so on. Next you buff, take a buffing cloth (some people use a power buffer) and, in circular motions, you shine up the area you just wiped. You may need to use a bit of force depending on how much the wax dried. To read more on the "Art of Waxing" visit this link: http://www.ehow.com/how_1327_wax-car.html

For the interior a simple protectant spray (such as Armor All Original Protectant). For soiled areas Armor All Cleaning Wipes do the trick. You can also get leather care and window care wipes, gel, and cleaner.



For a list of Armor All interior care products you can visit this link: http://www.armorall.com/prods_interior.html

Happy cleaning,

JZP

Basic Mechanics

Now that I've brewed some coffee, let's continue. I've finally discovered that posts descend down the blog (remember it's late and I'm tired) so I'm gonna stop with the whole "lessons idea and just post topics (which is what normal Bloggers do). Okay, on to the mechanics part of cars.

I'm gonna try to lineup a guest speaker for this part of the discussion, however this may take a few days so bare with me...

Lets talk about the engine... Actually, lets not, I'm to tired, I'll wait until the guest speaker writes the article then I'll post it and we'll move on to another topic.

JZP

Basic car survival skills

The basics of a car (I use this word instead of always typing the long and complex alternative vehicles) is that they have (or are supposed to have) four wheels, an engine (or motor if it's electric), and a body. NOTE: Engine and Motor are usually used to refer to the specific part in general, basically engines are sometimes referred to as motors and vise versa.

If they have an engine then they use some sort of fuel, suck as; Gasoline, Diesel, or (recently)Ethanol E85. If they have a motor they will run on electricity.

There are many kinds of tire/wheel combinations, for performance I prefer kumohs, for off-roading Firestones do the job well, and for everyday driving I turn to Goodyear. (Does anybody smell burning rubber?)

As for body there are two kinds; chassis and Unibody. Chassis is a more rigid structure. Unibody is lighter and costs less, it is formed by simply by connecting flaps of metal to the underside of the vehicle and bolting the parts onto these flaps. Not many cars (or SUVs for that matter) use chassis anymore, it is usually restricted to truck and select SUVs. However the Honda Ridgeline
and the Dodge Rampage concept are exceptions to this rule both being light duty trucks or "grocery getters" and using unibody consruction. These two ideas are based on the (crazy) thought that no one uses trucks anymore for carry heavy loads.

There are different types, or classes, of vehicles too. There's compact/midsized trucks, fullsize trucks, and heavy duty trucks. In the SUV (or Sport Utility Vehicle) corner there's compact, midsize, and full size. With cars there's midsize, compact, sub-compact, fullsize, luxury, sport, muscle, touring, wagon, hatchback, (It's late so I'm sure I left one or two out.) Then there's a new breed of vehicle called crossover. This is a convenient combination of two types of vehicles, for example the Chevrolet Uplander is a crossover between a van and a SUV. It has the styling and ground clearance of a SUV, along with the interior volume, and convenient, however sometimes painful, sliding doors of a van. As well the Ford Edge which is a car/SUV crossover. You see? There's more to a car then meets the eye.

Well I'm gone to get a mug of coffee.

See you at the next discussion!


2007 Ford Edge


JZP

Lets get started.

Hello again. Lets get started with discussing autos. Here are the discussions i have set up so far:

1. Basic car survival skills

Welcome!

If you're reading this now then you've managed to find my Blog. Congratulations! Here you can visit links, read posts, view pics, and even ask questions about cars!(this includes vehicles in general)

Feel free to copy pictures from this blog if you wish (after all that's how I got most of them).

You may also post information from this blog elsewhere. (I would appreciate it if you would give the blog credit though)

Enjoy

JZP
Creator, Owner, Publisher


I would also appreciate it if you would visit (and spread the word about) www.carenthusiasts.piczo.com where you can see piles of automotive related pictures.

Thanks.