Category Archives: Cars

Torpedo Fuses: The Bane of Classic German Automobiles

June 21, 2022
Cars, Startups
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Torpedo fuses in BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Porsche cars from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s have not stood the test of time. Here’s why…Continue reading →

Posting Wrenching Videos

April 18, 2021
Cars
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Every decade I try my hand at being a videographer. My foot surgery led me to giving Premiere Pro a try (I still hate Adobe UIs). A test project: Should I do more garage/wrenching videos?

Look Back Quotient (LBQ)

August 28, 2020
Cars
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Look Back Quotient (LBQ) is a measure of how attractive a car is to the car’s owner. A car with a high LBQ will increase the car owner’s propensity to look back at their car after parking it. Examples of cars with high LBQ: Examples of cars with low LBQ:

How to install a 2 port USB power adapter in an ‘87 BMW

April 21, 2013
Cars, How To
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For some reason BMW forgot to put USB power sockets in my ’87 535is. In addition, while the JVC stereo the previous owner installed has a USB port, I use it for a memory card for music. Lastly, the cig lighter socket in these cars is “always on”. For these reasons I decided to do a little mod: Adding a 2 port USB power socket. This post explains how I did it and the parts …Continue reading →

You Want to Buy my ’78 Toyota FJ40

April 21, 2012
Cars
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UPDATE (1/15/2013): SOLD! 1978 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser ‘Uglina’ One of the nicest, original Land Cruisers you will find on the planet. Rust free. Almost all mechanical components replaced or refurbished. Head to http://www.uglina.com for details.

Griot’s 3” Orbital Polishers Compared

June 13, 2011
Cars, Uncategorized
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I recently decided I needed a 3” orbital polisher to compliment my Flex 3401 6” Random Orbital polisher that I’ve used for years when polishing the finish on cars. I couldn’t decide whether to get the Griot’s 3” Random Orbital (which is electric) or the Griot’s 3” Pneumatic Orbital (which is air powered). So I ordered both. Griot’s fantastic customer service and return policy made this decision easy. This post provides a comparison of the …Continue reading →

BendPak: Shockingly Great Customer Service

April 15, 2011
Cars, Uncategorized
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A while ago I posted about how much I love Amazon.com’s customer service and I frequently tweet about great service I receive when out and about. Great customer service should be the norm, but sadly that does not seem to be the case. So when I encounter Shockingly Great Customer Service I want to scream from the mountain tops.  BendPak, a manufacturer and distributor of automotive shop equipment such as car lifts, wheel balancers, and …Continue reading →

Porsche 911 Gauge Removal

July 10, 2009
Cars, Uncategorized
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My 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera has several unique factory options including sunroof-delete and 15” Fuchs (most ‘88s were ordered with 16” Fuchs). When I purchased it in 1997 I needed to replace the tires and because I was autocrossing I appreciated the slightly lower gearing provided by the 205/55R15 (F) and 225/50R15 (R) that were recommended to me. In the end I actually really liked the look of these slightly lower profile tires as well. …Continue reading →

Great car photos by Sandro

July 17, 2008
Cars, Uncategorized
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E-Type Jaguar Originally uploaded by smenzel An old co-worker of mine, Sandro Menzel, has been doing an amazing job capturing fine automobiles and then doing really great digital touchup. Check out his Flickr collection here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smenzel/

Extreme auto paint care

July 16, 2008
Cars, Uncategorized
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In 1997 I had "Stongard", a clear 3M film applied to the lower 12" of the hood and other leading edges of my 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera  to protect the paint.  After 11 years the film started to yellow and corners were coming up in spots so I had it professionally removed (to avoid risking having the clear coat come up).  Unfortunately the edge of the film on the hood left a horizontal line all …Continue reading →

Car Blogs

December 3, 2004
Cars
11 Comments

I’m a car nut. For the last 7 years my passion has been about my ’88 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe and my ’95 BMW 540 M-Sport 6-Speed. It’s high time I started posting the occasional blog entires about my cars. You’ll find these posts under the Car category… While reading posts on the M-Sport mailing list I noticed that Ren Finley, another M-Sport fanantic (Ren’s a bit more of a purist than me so he …Continue reading →