This might be a good deal if you are planning on buying a qualifying car from a qualified dealer and you have a qualifying piece of junk to trade in.  But if you happen to have a decent economy car that gets decent mileage and you want to trade up, or if you want to purchase through an individual like I typically do, then forget it – you are on your own.

Here are some particulars from the official government website…

1. Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
2. Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
3. Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)
4. Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
5. You don’t need a voucher, dealers will apply a credit at purchase
6. Program runs through Nov 1, 2009 or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first
7. The program requires the scrapping of your eligible trade-in vehicle, and that the dealer disclose to you an estimate of the scrap value of your trade-in. The scrap value, however minimal, will be in addition to the rebate, and not in place of the rebate

No secret that I am not a fan of government programs or regulation, being that it is the government regulation from decades ago that brought us the mortgage and financial crisises of late.  But I digress.

This plan is potentially good for auto dealers, as well as for manufacturers.  But I do not see it as beneficial for the average consumer.

An ABC News report mentions it this way:

Edmunds says the average sale price of a brand new car is $27,800, whereas the average price of a used car is $13,900. That’s a savings of roughly $14,000 achieved simply by letting somebody else be the chump who buys the brand new vehicle!

Still want to be green? There are plenty of 3-year-old vehicles with excellent fuel economy. The technology hasn’t changed much in the past few years. It’s also a great time to buy used because cars and trucks are incredibly reliable these days. They can easily chug along for 200,000 miles with few problems.

So, you decide. Would you rather save $4,000? Or $14,000?

Point number 7 above brings up some funny thoughts.  Like, I am sure that none of the cars on their way to the scrap yard will get “lost” and end up in auctions or on craigslist as “lost title” vehicles… or on eBay as used parts.  Either there will be such problems, or the government will use taxpayer dollars to hire administrators to regulate the cash for clunkers program, and then there will still be corruption.  (My opinion )

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My own first car was a 1969 Pontiac Tempest.  Even with a 2 barrel carburetor and a stock single exhaust, it would do some serious performing.  Over 300 horsepower on the base model.

But the GTO is a step up from the Tempest, and is one of America’s well-known muscle cars.  In the clip below, I love to hear the lope of the engine’s idle as it chomps at the bit to breath fire.  Ah the memories!

By the way, who are those guys singing in the commercial – anyone we knew?

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Short and sweet, I just went 19,300 miles on my last oil change in my 1997 Lexus LS 400 with 180,000 miles.  About a year’s worth of driving for me.  The car is doing great, and I want to keep it that way.  Catastrophic damage can occur from lubrication failure due to oil breakdown or loss of oil from dissipation or consumption.  So, the two important factors to consider are timing, and oil grade.  And, they each influence the other.

Oil formulation and wear is a science in and of itself (refer to my previous article How Often Should I Change My Oil?).  Not all oils are the same, and not all synthetic oils are the same.  I am not an expert on which is which.  But what I do know is that I trust Mobile 1 to take me 15,000 to 20,000 miles between changes.  Simple is better for me.

Funny thing is, I still know a few people who like to spend their oil change money every 3,000 miles; must be therapeutic or something

Happy Driving!

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You may drive a crappy Ford Pinto, but with the VroomBox you can make it roar like a Shelby Mustang!

 
It would be hilarious to see some of the reactions of other drivers along side you, when you’re waiting for the lights to turn green and going nuts with it, whilst driving the biggest piece of junk you can imagine.

Not really an investment you would like to make for a junk ride, but still…when you picture it, it does sound like you could get a lot of laughs with the VroomBox…of course from other drivers included!

Check out the site of the manufacturer if you would like to know more about the available engine sounds and for more product information and order details.

CustomRides.com wishes you a Happy Halloween!

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Again they’re making the impossible…possible, turning scraps into gems.

They’ve proved themselves already in the first Chop Series and they’re not ready to stop anytime soon, they’re moved out of their first workshop to a new and improved workshop to work together with their awesome team members to continue working their magic.

Meet The Rest Of The Chop Shop Crew:

From left to right:

Julian Gudgeon: Panel beater, welder, fabricator and general Jack-of-all-trades mechanic.
Terry Hodges: Chop Shop’s welder, and at 21 years of age, the youngest crew member.
Shaun McNamee: Body fitter and new arrival in the Chop Shop for 2008.
Lee Taylor: New Chop Shop mechanic Lee Taylor is a Ford fanatic through and through.
Artur Lachmacki: New crew member Artur has been in the trade for over 10 years

Leepu and Bernie with the rest of the Chop Shop team already have done some nice work in the second series, turning a old Saab 900 Turbo into a Gangster Car for ex Spandau ballet bassist Martin Kemp.

We’ve put together some before and after action on the Gangsta car and the Muscle car, we hope you like it!

Check Out The Before And After Montage

Of course viewing the actual episodes on television gives you a much better viewing experience, so be sure to check it out on Discovery Channel when you get the chance.

Some Specs On Both Rides:

Gangsta Car:

Engine: 2.3 Litre twin cam (automatic)
Exhaust: Custom made
Induction: Custom intercooler and piping and dump valve
ECU: Stock
Suspension: Custom made and modified
Brakes: Heavy duty front and rear pads
Wheels: Wolfrace Imperial custom
Bodywork: Pearl metallic grey, split rear screen, custom made body with 0.8 gauge cold rolled steel
Other mods: Custom interior and carpets, handmade rollbar, keyless entry, custom made dashboard, custom front lights and grille, custom Corbeau seats and belts

So What’s More On The Menu?

The Chop Shop crew is turning a scrapped 20-year-old Ford Capri into a Muscle Car for Lawrence Dallaglio by cramming in a 3.5 litre V8 engine and performing some carefully thought out chopping and metal bashing.

Muscle Car:

Engine: Rover V8 chrome detailed, TVR gearbox, custom radiator and fuel tank
Exhaust: Custom manifolds and twin pipe outlets
Induction: Webber 500 CFM carburettor, Offenhauser manifold, chrome air filter housing
Suspension: GAZ coil over front/rear
Brakes: Hi-spec cross drilled discs
Wheels: Custom split rim/chrome and black painted
Bodywork: Fully modified 0.8 gauge cold rolled steel, hi-gloss black, candy gold stripes
Other mods: Custom made dash and hi-spec dials, custom Corbeau seats and belts, vario-tinted glass, keyless entry, custom horns, handmade wiring loom

The Chop Shop also has some other projects lined up, it’s absolutely worth checking out. The Custom Rides team is definitely impressed by their work and we hope to continue see a lot more of them.

What do you think of the above Chop Shop team creations? — Let us know in the comment section.

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I figured that with good user reviews and a good return policy offered by JC Whitney, I had little-to-no risk on the downside, and hopefully some benefit on the upside.  So I laid down my credit card info and clicked Submit.  That was on a Tuesday.  Living in Texas, I expected delivery the following week for free ground shipping, but was pleasantly surprised when FedEx dropped it off on Saturday.  (As an aside, I am glad I purchased the Tornado before doing too much research on it; there are a lot of negative comments on it that might have dissuaded me – funny though that many of them were by people who had never tried it but made excuses on scientific conjecture for which they were not qualified).

Upon opening the shipping box that contained several items, I looked for a large box inside that would hold a tube like the one I saw in the picture on the website.

Instead there was only a small box; it said TORNADO on it, and contained what looked like a cookie cutter.  At first I was a little disappointed that I paid more than $60 bucks for about $2 worth of metal.  But I decided to give it a try anyway since I considered that I was really purchasing the benefit of the product and not just the product itself.

A gas saver that would provide me the best gas mileage for my buck, an increase in gas mileage per gallon can of course result in substantial savings over the course of a year.

Sunday I installed it in my Lexus before driving to Arkansas.  My car is a 1997 Lexus LS 400 with 171k miles.  It has 4 doors and a 4.0 litre V8.  Driving about 700 highway miles each week, fuel economy is very important to me. So having the ability to improve my fuel economy sounded very appealing to me, Assuming 24 mpg and the price of $3.25 for regular unleaded, we’re talking a little over $100/wk in fuel costs.  Multiply that times 52 weeks ($5,200/yr).

After filling up in Calera Oklahoma for $2.99 a gallon, I cruised across all of Oklahoma at 73 miles per hour and into Arkansas.  As soon as I arrived in Rogers, I fueled up at Wal-Mart’s Murphy fuel station and calculated my gas mileage.  It was 28.89 mpg!  The previous tank’s mpg was 24.67 which is just on the high side of average.  On a few occasions (before the Tornado) I have gotten as high as 25.80 mpg, and only once have I ever gotten as high as 26.27.  But 24 to 24.5 had been average.

First I calculate the increase above the average: 28.29-24.67=4.22.  Next, divide the amount of the increase by the average: 4.22/24.67=17.106%.  This was on my first tank using the Tornado Fuel Saver – 254.1 miles.  Another important note is that I had an unusually strong crosswind and headwind.  By “unusually” I mean that the prevailing surface winds are from the south at about 10 miles per hour.  However for this drive, the winds were 20mph+ sustained from the east.  And I was heading north and east for my entire trip.  Typically my mileage is worse when heading into the wind, and better when traveling with it.

From a savings standpoint, if I can save 17% off of my $5,200/yr calculated fuel cost, that is $884.00 per year.  To me, the sooner I invest my $65 the better!

I can’t think of a more cost effective way how to get a better gas mileage, installing the tornado air system definitely improves my overall bottom line.

As I mentioned, I am a skeptic regarding products claiming “fuel savings”.  And even though I was happily proven wrong this time, I shall continue to be very scrutinous of such claims.  On the other hand, I have learned you can’t always believe all the other skeptics either.  If I had made my decision based upon a review I read by one of the major mainstream media networks, I would have missed out on this one.

In regards to the advertised increase in performance power, I cannot testify.  My car is already very powerful, and I did not “get down on it” during my inaugural voyage.

Next on my review list is to purchase another Tornado fuel saver – this time for my 2000 Ford Excursion with a V10 Triton gasoline engine.  The reason I chose to try it on the Lexus first is because the car is more consistent in its fuel mileage with a narrower range of variation.  The Excursion usually gets 11.1 mpg, but is recently getting 10.5 mpg.  Hopefully I will be reporting another success story soon.

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Visit JC Whitney’s Product Page For The Tornado Fuel Saver To Find Out More About Pricing and Order Details.
 

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By the way, as of the writing of this article I have used only one tank of gas and have calculated my mileage only once.  Going forward I will check in periodically with updates of my continued results.

- Michael

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A colleague of mine tells me his wife says there is no gas to be found in their area in North Carolina.  What?!  Getting lower in price for some while not available to others…

Well, if you are looking for all the answers about why the price of gas goes up and down every time the weather changes or violence is reported or the mortgage crisis peaks or Britney Spears gets in trouble, then you came to the right place!  That is because misery loves company, and you are in good company with all of us other folks who just don’t get it.

Though not an expert in detailed market economics, I am no dummy either.  So, I do a little studying and listening to the explanations of the “experts” on the news.  Finally I have come to some conclusions: 1) The answer is complex; 2) The situation is complicated; 3) Nobody really knows or understands how it works or what is really going on; 4) and If they do, they are lying or not telling the truth.

If there really is a simple answer, then it should be presented simply.

Here is what I do know…

- Gasoline was about $2.20/gallon a year ago, now it is over $3.45/gal average.
- Wars and rumors of war increase the price of oil.
- Hurricanes and rumors of hurricanes increase the price of oil.
- Increases in the price of oil increase the price of gasoline.
- The price of oil rose by over 50% from less than $100/barrel to $150/barrel this year.
- The price of oil rose fell by 33% when it dropped from $150 to back below $100.
- The price of gas dropped due to decrease in consumption due to record prices.
- The CEO of Royal Dutch Shell said last year that there is no shortage of oil in the earth.
- The US is reported to have vast oil reservoirs in ANWR and offshore but the government has placed them off limits at the insistence of environmentalists and special interest groups to our nation’s peril.
- OPEC said they are planning to decrease production in order to keep the price of oil from declining any further.
- Georgia (the country recently invaded by Russia) has the major pipeline that supplies oil to Europe.

All the above points are absolute facts!  But, facts should not be confused with the truth.  And the truth is that no one really knows the true truth.

So now that I have shared with you my own personal pain at the pump, I say that America [and the world] has become too dependent on foreign oil.  For reasons of economics, national security, and the environment, it is time to progress in going green.

No, I am not trading in my v10 Excursion or my 8.2 litre turbo diesel school bus, at least not yet.  But I am consciously making an effort to educate myself and operate with more energy efficiency.  In fact, I have a set of fan blades in my shed for my 16′ diameter windmill project (in line with many other projects).

Speaking of windmills, I leave you with this… it is not the end all solution, but is a step along the way.  Maybe a painful step.  But, a step nevertheless.  And if you decide to have a good attitude on this journey, it might just put a smile on your face like it did mine.

Cheers!
Michael

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A couple of minutes later I stepped out the meeting room again to take her next call.  In a less than calm tone she conveyed that she just had a blow out.  I waited for the bad news (I mean the really bad news), but it never came.  She did not roll the vehicle full of kids.  And I was relieved that at that very moment a Texas State Trooper was pulling up behind her and telling her to get over to the right and off the road.

Since we had a spare in the vehicle, the Sherrif’s Courtesy Patrol was able to quickly change the “flat” and get her back on the road.  I use the term flat loosely because the tire looked more like spaghetti than a tire.

I try to pay attention to my vehicles continually.  Only 5 days ago my regular inspection found the rear tires to be in satisfactory shape – good for another couple months until I purchased new ones. 
 
 
But the tire did not agree.  This reinforces the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.
 
 
Check your tires regularly…

■ Air pressure
■ Tread depth
■ Tread ware patterns
■ Sidewalls
■ Feel of the steering wheel for tire balancing

And get them balanced and rotated routinely – some tire stores recommend every 7k to 10k miles.  Your tire professionals will also tell you whether your vehicle needs an alignment.  These considerations are paramount to the safety of you and your passengers, as well as for economic reasons.

I am planning to go to Discount Tire to replace the rear Dominators with BF Goodrich All Terrains.  The A/Ts are wonderful tires in my opinion and experience – for both onroad, and off.  Many times I go to Sam’s Club to get tires, but Discount has the A/Ts in stock, and Sam’s doesn’t.

The tire guy reviewed a few factors that can cause such a blowout as this.  Other than manufacturer defect or hitting some serious road debris, the thing that stuck out was the tire’s age along with the possibility of prolonged parking.  If the tire is set in one position for a long time (months? years?), the belts can warp or bend to some degree. 
 
 
Then they cannot handle the stress of flex and ultimately weaken and break.

The fact is that we recently purchased this 2000 Ford Excursion to replace our foundering 1999 Chevy Suburban.  As it goes with used cars purchased from a dealership, you usually don’t know anything about the previous owner or how he treated the vehicle.  That is to say that there is the possibility that the vehicle sat somewhere for a long time.

Looking at the date stamps on the tires, I saw 3107 on the front (31st week of the year 2007), and 2404 on the rear – meaning it was 4 years old and still not completely worn out.  Also, I have been advised to check out the dates on even new tires.  Seems there were recent news reports of tires being installed that had sat in warehouses for many years, and then failing on the vehicles.

Books can be written about tires – and have been – but my goal was to share with you my recent personal experience along with some tire-food-for-thought.

Happy Trails,
Michael

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The 1967 F Body is distinguished by the front vertical vent windows. This first generation of the F Body was used by the Camaro and the Firebird for 1967, 1968, and 1969. Chad’s ‘67 is mostly stock, and is shod with the factory Rally wheels.

Black with silver stripes, she is a real eye-catcher and draws lots of compliments at intersections (the original color was turquoise). Licensed as a “classic” in the state of Texas, Chad uses her in a limited fashion for weekend cruising and visiting with other car enthusiasts at the world-famous Keller’s Hamburgers drive-in in Dallas.

He has kept modifications to a minimum; they include to replacing the front drum brakes with factory-spec disc brakes. One out of the outcomes was the rubbing of the front tires. This challenge required him to replace the spindles, but with a little more problem-solving, Chad overcame the situation without losing too much ground clearance.

No radio or stereo. But there are sweet sounds emanating from under the hood.

The engine is a 1968 model 327 c.i V8 with double hump heads; that means they provide higher compression and have larger valves. It feels good when you push the accelerator, but the joy is tempered by the pain at the pump, with only 13 miles per gallon. Chad plans to swap out the Edelbrock carburetor for a Holly, and replace the old points distributor with an HEI.
A Turbo 350 has taken the place of the original 2-speed Powerglide transmission.

On the inside, Chad has plans for redoing the headliner and the carpet.
She was purchased a few years ago for about $15,000, and Chad invested another $5,000 to get her into shape. Having worked on his own cars in high school, Chad is glad that this time around, “somebody else did most of the work.”
Back in the day, Chad had a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am. Back then they were bigger than the models of this century.

Thus, GM put a 455 cubic inch engine in them. Like the cars of the guys that Chad hung around with, the engine in his own ride was also a little enhanced. As such, the Grand Am saw a little racing action. Gas was relatively cheap, and cars were big, and fast.
When asked what car he would choose if he could have anything, Chad says “A ’67 Camaro – the one I already have – and pass it on to my son or daughter.”

More pictures of Chad’s Chevrolet Camaro RS:

The CustomRides.com team would like to give Chad a big Thank You for sharing his custom ride and wishes him all the best!

Tell us about your custom rides. When you would like to submit a story on your ride check out the questions we would like you to address, that allows us to create a detailed article on your ride, we would appreciate it if you could share as much as possible.

We’re looking forward to your submission!

- Michael

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On a recent cross-country trip, we encountered extreme overheating out on the open road. A quick trip to the auto parts store, or a planned visit to the mechanic, were not options. Our family holiday weekend was in jeopardy. What to do?

Like a good boy, I had checked the oil and topped off the radiator the night before. So why, 45 miles later was the Beast chugging and lurching and about to sputter to a stop? I had just enough momentum to pull off the interstate and coast into the rest stop. The needle on the temperature gauge has gone off the scale, and an indicator in the instrument panel said “check gages”. There was no steam and no water leaking, but there was heat – lots of it. Though it was only May, summer was in full swing under the hood – it felt like an oven!

The radiator and the entire cooling system was dry. So where did all the coolant go?

The first step in remediation is to refill the system with liquid. But without proper diagnosis of the problem and correction, the trouble was sure to repeat itself. With family members using a half dozen water bottles to shuttle water from the rest room, it took about an hour, which gave me plenty of time to ponder the situation.

During that time, scalding hot steam greeted me every time I poured another bottle in. I have always heard that you should never add water/coolant to a hot vehicle unless the engine is running, lest the cool meet the hot and crack the engine block. That makes sense to a degree, except, I reasoned, that the temperature change in the mass of a 454 engine resulting from a bottle of water would not occur rapidly enough to damage the engine.

Well, here is how I looked at things…

Scenario

■ Complete and utter loss of coolant in 45 miles under normal driving conditions
■ No steam and no leaking of antifreeze
■ No signs of water coming out the tailpipe
■ No signs of water in the oil
■ No signs of leakage from the weep hole under the water pump
■ Radiator cap seemed tight enough
Possible root causes

■ Thermostat failure – probably most common among all possibilities, and the least expensive and the easiest to fix.
■ Water pump failure – also common, but more difficult and more expensive.
■ Leaking head gasket or cracked head or block. This would account for the coolant to disappear without a trace, by its escaping through a combustion path or into the crankcase. There would also be a high probability of impact to the engine’s performance.
There might be more, but those are the biggies that come to mind.

With the cooling system refilled, it was time to trouble-shoot in a more controlled situation. So, to start the Suburban back up; which brings me to another point. Extreme engine heat can fatigue and damage other components. In my case, the battery was shot.

So, after a jump start from another friendly traveler, using the jumper cables I always keep under the back seat (wish I’d had my tools that day also). With some extra water on board, we decided to push on down the road to the next town with a truck stop, about 45 miles away.

When we got there, she was running hot again. I opened the hood to take a look. You have probably and hopefully heard to be careful when opening the radiator cap on a hot engine. That is good advice. Here is how I do it… First, I squeeze the upper radiator hose to get a feel for the temperature and the amount of pressure. If it is absolutely too hot to touch, or feels firmer than a tennis ball, then forget it.

Satisfied that it was neither too hot nor too pressurized, I slowly and carefully turned the radiator cap to its depressurized catch. That is the point where the pressure seal is released and hot water could escape, but the cap still will not lift off. (I have heard horrible tales of people being badly burned by boiling coolant. Their flesh is so badly damaged that their skin comes off. In extreme cases, death can occur).

Next, I squeezed the upper radiator hose again to make sure there was no pressure left in the system. Then, I removed the radiator cap carefully, successfully and safely.

The water level was low again, but not empty. And the engine was nowhere near as hot. I decided that it was probably the thermostat causing the problem, and that I would try my quick fix. If I was right, it would solve my delimma, and if I was wrong, I would lose only a few minutes of my time.

The Solution:

Borrowing not more than a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, here is how I fixed the problem. With the pliers, I removed the snap ring that held the upper radiator hose to the elbow on the top of the engine that houses the thermostat.

The thermostat is a little round mechanism that acts as a doorway – a gatekeeper rather – to the liquid in the engine’s cooling system. It is designed to be closed when cold, then to open at a predesignated temperature – such as 160 degrees f, or 180, or whatever. There is a spring that keeps it closed by default. But it is made in such a way that when it gets hot enough, certain aspects of it will expand and open the gateway, thereby allowing the liquids to pass through.

If you run your vehicle without a thermostat, like I did once, it might not ever reach a suitable temperature for it to run properly. In my case, it was cold, the engine remained cold and ran poorly, and I froze inside because the heater had no heat since it needs the warmth of the engine to warm the passenger compartment.

But on the other hand, if your thermostat is stuck, then the coolant will not circulate, and the heat builds up in the engine because it cannot be dissipated through the radiator. Since our Suburban had encountered several months of inactivity, I believe that some of the resulting rust that accumulated on the thermostat has something to do with its sticking and failing me.

OK, I have told you a lot about my experience and about engine cooling and related problems to bring you to this point. So, let’s get on with the procedure already!

With the upper radiator hose off of the connector elbow, I had immediate access to the thermostat on a few inches inside below. With a screwdriver used as a spear (the bigger the better) and a hammer or something heavy, simply pound the tip and shaft of the driver through the thermostat. As long as you focus your damage on the thermostat and are careful to avoid hitting the water elbow or the manifold below the thermostat, you should be fine and need only to replace the thermostat and water elbow gasket when you get the time.

After sacrificing my thermostat and putting the hose back on and refilling with water, I was able to see the water circulating in the radiator (easiest to see when the cooling system/radiator is not completely full). I was back on the road with no more colling problems, and still am now, hundreds of miles later.

Unfortunately, the heat zapped the battery, which had to be replaced. And also the heat seems to have exacerbated some problems with the ignition system, such as with the plugs, wires, and distributor, which the dealer says all need to be replaced.

In the end, I hope this little trick can help you if you get into a pinch. But please, always remember that hot fluid from your radiator can be injurious or deadly, and that pouring water into the radiator of a hot engine can result in an unexpected volcanic-type eruption of scalding water.

With that, I wish you all the best!

Michael

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