Everything you never wanted to know about Spark Plugs There's alot of info about spark plugs out there, the key is knowing who to trust! I've always relied on good'ole Pops to tell me what's what and after a little while I caught on. For a crash course (bad pun), look to Dallas Volk. Dallas is one of many-a-Volk who has a much sought after "red hat" meaning they've set a record over 200 mph at Bonneville an are life members of the 200 mph club. I want one. Do check out this tech about plugs and add your experience if you'd like, in a comment down below. Why Change your spark plugs? Replacing worn out spark plugs with new ones is important to restore engine power and efficiency by reducing misfires and burning more of the fuel in the cylinder. That extra efficiency can improve your fuel economy and as a bonus emissions are reduced. Choosing a plug: The first thing you want to look at when choosing a plug is your needs for your application. Plugs can range in price from $1.50 a plug for basic copper...

Custom 1959 Cadillac Photos by Paul "Swanee" Swanson I think I just coined a new term for cars: Custom Restoration.  Why? I guess we could just say "custom" because this 59's been customized front to back. On the other hand, the builder's shop, Xtreme Restorations out of Rhode Island, suggests his specialty is "restoration".  So somewhere between full custom, resto-mod and restoration, I introduce to you: Custom Restoration. What better start than a 1959 Cadillac!? Standing back, trying to take in the 225.0 in (5715 mm) length that is 1959 Cadillac, the first nod to "restoration" over pure customization has to go to the color choice.  Not a factory color, but also not the typical red or black; PPG supplied a Soft Yellow and Vanilla Shake to gracefully compliment the flowing lines of the Cad. I think it works perfectly and gives a taste of understated modesty to a car that makes a quite a statement! Back to a custom nod then, check out this interior! Bold yes, but as you can see it works! As outrageous as you might think it is, it's a factory ORIGINAL color on Cadillacs in...

Are you a "do-it-yourselfer" (DIY) hot rodder?  Do you wrench on your own cars?  Well, this is a DIY'er to the max.  I came across pictures of Jared Drinkwater's Mitsubishi Evolution on NASIOC.com, a Subaru enthusiasts forum of all places.  I'm a huge fan of the Mitsubish Evo for sure, but I was blown away at Jared's engineering and build skills.  Jared is like the ultimate do-it-yourselfer.  He is a Mechanical Engineer by day, by night he engineers parts for his Evo, which he races on road courses.  Jared makes his own aero parts, race seat rails, fire extinguisher mounts, rebuilt his own engine (with a stroker kit and bigger turbo) and more.  Dig these pics of his ride and Binary Eng parts you can buy for your own Evo. Jared's "Binary Engineering" Mitsubishi Evolution in his new race livery.  Of course, he designed and applied these decals on his own.  Dig the front aero package, designed and built by Jared using lots of aluminum sheet and carbon fiber. This was the stock front bumper.  Jared has added a tow hook (just in case he needs help getting out of...

The best way I can explain what an exhaust system is to your car is its like how your car breathes. When I started driving my Studebaker three years ago, I knew the exhaust system would only be temporary. It was transplanted from a different model Studebaker and had been cut and pieced together to pseudo-fit into mine. But I just figured a pipe was a pipe and couldn't make too much difference. About six months ago the years of dragging my mufflers over any bump I passed payed off in a huge gaping hole in one of my mufflers! This is when I really began to get serious about redoing my exhaust system. Not only did the muffler have a hole, but the headers also looked like they had holes where the four tubes lead into the connector. Added to this, my header gaskets were blown, which led to more noise in an already noisy car and a general unhappiness of my engine. The problem with putting a new exhaust system onto Stude was that I didn't understand exhausts. How was I supposed to choose new headers, new...

You don't have to look that closely to see the dust piling up. My friends never let me forget what I already know. That ain't right. Good news is,  MyRideisMe.com is growing, but it's at a cost to why I made it: The fun of driving and working on cars. No regrets, but just the same, I'm glad to have Bonnie, my 1927 Ford Roadster back on the road. So what was wrong? General laziness Get out there son! Stripped out threads for 1 header bolt I've never done a Heli-coil before Sounds even more pathetic when I write it down. Backing up some... A friend had a gift certificate for ceramic header coating that he couldn't use, so knowing I'm a fellow car dude, he offered it to me. I needed to do something! If you've been following the build/update progress of my roadster for a while, you saw this post (Click to read it): Home-built Header finish-ATF! After applying the ATF (and after the smoke cleared...) the header was an amazingly cool gray-blue. I loved it and you couldn't beat the cost! It looked pretty good for...

Drawing Cars with My Buddy Joel This blog post is a long time coming.  We at MyRideisMe have shown off a number of talented hot rod artists.  Joel Nelson of 1320 Designs is most definitely on that list.  I mean, just dig these drawings below.   Asking Joel how he got into drawing cars, he said: I got into drawing cars from watching The Dukes of Hazzard on prime time and Smokey and the Bandit. Thankfully CarTOONS was in full circulation too and that really put me over the edge! Then during the late 80's and early 90's, I really got into drawing Pro Street cars. Nothing was safe from becoming "pro street-ed". You could make anything look nasty by dropping it and adding a set of big 'n' littles!  I like to work with markers and pastels mostly but have been known to do hand painted work in Photoshop too. Nothing beats pencil and paper though! This first one is Joel's latest and is our own Pikesan's 1961 AMC Rambler Wagon gasser concept drawing.  You'll be seeing more of this concept from Joel in the future as he fine tunes...

When I wrote my 2010 Car Project Wish List, Get a new exhaust system on was top priority. I'm glad to report that this past week I tackled the first item on my list! I certainly can't take the credit on this one, because I had a lot of help! B&C Industries down in Anaheim put their skill and expertise to work in crafting a top quality custom exhaust system for Studebaker, along with tons of help from Matt over at Department of Customz also. As I'd previously explained Stude's exhaust: The pipes that went on my car were originally shaped for a different model Studebaker. This means I’ve got an ugly exhaust system taking a good 6” under my car’s profile – yuck! It’s also taken a good beating on the asphalt because of that, which has resulted in both mufflers been torn open! Take that and worn out Hooker headers and you’ve got crazy noise and a less-than-healthy exhaust system. "Less-than-healthy" is an understatement. We're talking nearly-unbearable noise, exhaust fumes pouring into the passenger area, and a slight embarrassment anytime I drove anywhere "car people" would be....

Could there be an easier contest? Just say, "I want one" in a comment below. For Members only (signup now if you're not a member), just leave this comment and you'll be entered to win. I'll count the comments, pick a random number, then send you a gift card from Optima for your battery. This contest is now CLOSED... as of Sunday March 28th. That's 1 week! Make your choice: I want a Yellow Top  or a Red Top Optima Battery: Yellow Tops are best used for starting AND electrical accessories that didn't come stock on your ride, such as: airbag compressors, high power stereos and winches for you 4x4 guys.  The Red Tops are best used for starting everything from your daily driver to the best performance and custom cars in the world! For more info about how to choose, Red Top or Yellow Top, please read this story. Or you can go to the source: www.OptimaBatteries.com In case you're confused about how to enter, read my comment below, then leave yours! Look for more member benefits every month from MyRideisMe.com! By the way, if this is your...

In 1964 Ford launched an icon: Mustang. Riding two years of blistering sales, marketing dollars funded a project to put rising stars Sonny and Cher behind the wheel of brand new, nearly consecutive serial number, 1966 Mustang Convertibles. To match the sporty but mainstream Mustangs to the flamboyant rockers, George Barris and Barris TV and Movie Cars were hired to customize the pony car. A great Train of Thought, or so it would seem... Ford, their red-hot Mustang, George and a few Barris Kustom tricks should have been a Good Combination. Here at MyRideisMe.com, United We Stand in saying, these cars failed! Sold as a pair, they fetched over $150,000 (including fees, maybe a win?) at the 2010 Barrett Jackson Auction with George Barris himself on the block to add his, "I Got You Babe" to the auctioneers urging that when it comes to these two collectible cars, Its the Little Things that make'm bring big bucks. Watch the full 6 minute auction if you'd like: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qip5x7crHI[/youtube] It's hard to decided which of the "custom" treatments I liked least. I guess we'll start with the empty ice cube trays...

Car shows are fun, but I think I speak for alot of car owners when I say: "Get out of the lawn chairs!" Don't get me wrong, time with friends catching up on new projects and great hot rod buys are essential to car shows, but what else is there to do? That's where Autocross comes in... At the 1st annual Goodguys Spring Nationals in Scottsdale, AZ, Goodguys added an event they call the "Street Challenge Autocross".  Goodguys does a great job of setting up a small, twisty race course that's perfect for taking cars normally at home on the the straight line quarter mile and forcing them to go left and right. Up for grabs is a set of BFG tires for winners in a few different classes including Vendor, Hot Rod and Street Rod. (Somebody help me with the classes... they're not listed on Goodguys website) So who was racing? The winner of the hot rod autocross was my friend Doug Jerger in his 1934 Ford Roadster. Doug is the owner and chief painter at Squeeg's Kustoms in Mesa, AZ. Doug's built a couple America's Most Beautiful...

8 Days. 3,500 Miles. 0 Excuses. 1 Lap. 1 Fast Camaro. This can only be the formula for One Lap of America, a brutal competition and that may be THE ultimate test of a street car's performance and reliability as well as teamwork and driver skill. Optima Batteries, Hellwig Products and ISIS Wiring are supporting the "1 Lap Camaro" team in this 8 day, 3,500 mile battle where teams rally around the country competing at some of USA's top race tracks. Dig this PCKStudio rendering of the 1 lap Camaro over the race track locations.  Man that is cool!  I think you'll be able to get that logo on a tshirt. The 1 Lap Camaro seen here is a highly modded 1967 Camaro RS running an LS7 427ci Z06 engine tweaked by the well known Katech Performance crew who preps the engines for the C5R and C6R endurance Corvettes that race and win at Daytona and LeMans. This is a rad Pro-Touring style Camaro real track focus. Dig the front splitter, low ride height, big and wide wheels with grippy rubber.  This thing means business. Keep your eye's peeled on pro-touring.com forums as well...

The first thing I picture when I hear the words “chrome car” is my childhood Barbie car that I outfitted with reflective chrome tape. This 1932 Ford Roadster is no Barbie car, that’s for sure. Let’s begin by taking a look at the Platinum Bomb. This 1932 Ford Roadster was designed and built by owner Zach Norman along with the Troy Ladd and his crew at Hollywood Hot Rods with a WWII airplane in mind. (Get more about this car in A Roadster That Can Fly?) So when it came to paint, he wanted a polished aluminum looking body. Those of you who have worked on 30s-era cars know that finding a rust-free body to do this with naturally would be impossible. What else is there to do but give it a chrome-like paint job? Simple right? Hardly! When painter Tom Prewitt chuckled and told me, “We just followed directions,” I knew there was more to the story. How did the Platinum Bomb get to be so shiny? (Speaking of shine...the picture of Tom below shows the car's body before clear coat is put on. As you can see...