I learnt something over the weekend which i would like to share with all who wash their car with a sponge!.A sponge contains silicon which reacts with car paint,this reaction causes the swirl marks that can be seen when the sun shines on the car,best thing to use is a lambs wool mit or sheepskin.:blink1::bigsmile:
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
DIY tips & guides
Post your DIY tips hints and questions in here. This forum is for all GENERAL car related DIY tips.
Model specific tips should be posted in the makes and models section.
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 15
hi if i bore out my air flow meter by few milimeters lets say 3. made by hitachi on my 1990 4.0l jag will it need to be recalibrated or will it recognice the modification and readjust it self? just an idea red about this hot wire and dont know how it works any help welcome;)
hi i have recently got myself a polo clssic 1.6 and on inspecting the engine bay have spied some devious little rust spots staring to appear on the top of the suspesion mount i think... anyhoo what advice can people give to remedying this problem as there is little to no space to get paintbrush betwix shock and bodywork externally and if i only treat the top then the problem will be more likely to occur,, especially as i have to drive 30 miles across moors evryday before 6 am so daresay im going to encounter a little bit of roadsalt!!
cheers ppl
Thought you guys might like this :)
Here it is in action
A video of an older version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CWW4PQQz2uE
If you want to see what it looks like.
I'm always surprised just how much alcohol is on my breath the morning after... just a warning, easily enough to dampen your reactions.
Does any body know how many turns from off, on the quad throttle bodys need ? I noticed mine are all turned to off, cheers!
Im looking into doing a conversion in my 1.1 206 and possibly gonna put in 1.6 as its still very economical statistically. Would that be a straight swap or do I still need to put in other parts. What car should I get as a donor car.
Hi there, i have a mitsubishi galant 2.5 v6 2002 modle non turbo, i was wondering as i am deffo going to do it where would i get a twin turbo from, would one from a vr4 galant modle fit it?
and what would i have to do to the engine and everything else to make sure i dont Mess my engine up as i have read some articals about water pumps and the amount of air i can have in the engine but i am looking for the most amount of power i can get out of my v6 engine with a twin turbo without messsing my car up.
i have herd i would need bigger valves and bore out the cylinders and get bigger pistons to compensate for it, but what else?????
Hey guys, any custom painters out there? Heres the problem.
I am a very accomplished sprayer in 2k solid, clear over, met, pearl etc etc.
I want to do a tri colour paint job on a Mk1 escort but i want to use base coat metalics within a flatted solid white panel and i want to bury any hard edges between colours in the clear, however. When i spray met base, there are rules that i stick to and not sure how to get round them for this job.
I will be using fine edge masking tape and the met colour coats will have a final drop coat pre clear. I was hoping to spray in all the colour coats and then clear the entire panel to bury it all.
1) How to protect the individual colour coats whilst i mask off for the colour changes?
2) How long can i...
It is possible to build a header using a portable welding torch?
i have removed fitting from body 2 screws, how do i get acess to bulbs, do you break free by hand the white rear from light cover which hold bulbs, dont want to crack anything
My original blog post which has images.
I finally finished replacing the clutch cable on my brothers pug106, it's not technically difficult just incredibly fiddly but still best done as a two man job to keep up morale as it took us 4 days. The worst thing is the Haynes manual only considers it a one spanner/novice job! Some people have had luck in doing this in 5 minutes some took hours and many clutch cables. Here's some information and a guide which might make the process easier for you...
The clutch is basically a disc which in the default state is pressed up against the engine flywheel by strong springs, when you put your foot on the clutch it pivots and pulls the clutch cable up and this moves the clutch release lever and moves...
i have a lorry air horn in my car with a 75l air tank hooked up for a reservoir. im currently refilling it by pluging into the main air line in the garage or at a service station with the tyre guage. iv looked around for 12v air compressors but cant find any reliable ones. im running the system at 120psi, big enough pressure. i once heard that an air-con pump can pump air. think i saw it on scrapheap challenge!?! is this true that it can pump air because there is one fitted on my car at the minute so all has to be done is some re-piping etc to get me away.
any knowledge on this subject would be greatfully welcomed.
I already have the intercooler pipes but all of them are not installed yet.
however the intercooler itself is installed but I can't get access to it. because my car battery is blocking everything, should I purchase a smaller
performance battery for my car to solve this problem?
In the process of restoring my Corvair I discovered and wrote up a paper on the restoration of Stainless and Aluminum trim. I'll be using the same on my Dauphine.
What is nice about stainless is that it is almost indestructible. It is relatively easy to take really damaged pieces or scratched pieces and make them like new.
You can download the pdf here:http://www.widman.biz/Corvair/English/Links/Polishing.html
This is how my windshield trim turned out:
It actually started out like this:
The rear trim started like this
And ended like this
Aluminum is softer, and has to have the anodizing removed first (but that is easy too). Here is a headlight bezel before:
And after
Hope this helps. Sure is cheaper than replacements...
hey guys could u give me some tips on how to label engine parts and how to tune engines hope u can help
Thanks
Hi All,
I have a 98 Landrover Discovery, the bonnet has the letters missing, the laquer has started pealing and it generaly looks a mess, I also have some scratches to repair on the rear pannels.
My questions are:-
do I repair a section of the bonnet or respray the whole thing
when respraying the rear pannels, well same question really, do I do the top half (that has the scratches on) or the whole thing, the scratches are where someone have gone down with a key so I cant just pen them out, i tried and it looks a real mess, it needs properly respraying.
I have been quoted £250.00 from a garage to do the work but I can get the paint mixed cheaper (far cheaper) and try and do the work my-self.
I already have a compressor, spray...
Hi, i have a 1997 900 saab that i have owned from new, recently the reverse gear is gifficult to engage, i can get in gear by applying the hand break, putting into 1 st gear and attempting to move forwards, this dipps the rear of the car oand reverse can then be selected. any ideas on what could be wrong. ps the car has only covered 60 k cheers kev
Do these in line plug in performance chips work on vw golf gt tdi. They say that it can up you BHP by up to 15BHP and your torque by 30. Has anyone tried one and do they damage anything.
cheers
new member
vwdjb
Dont waste gbp125-150 per front caliper and be off the road for 4 working days, while waiting for the refurbished ones, when they start sticking (as they surely will because all Impreza's seem prone to this). you can buy a replacement rubber kit from the main delaer for gbp30 that does both sides.
Depending on how bad they are, and mine were bad, takes about 2-3hours per side.
Would have put up a guide on how to change them but doing it in zero degrees, outside, with flakes of snow falling didnt prompt me to stop and get out the camera.
just makes sure the pots are very clean before you put them back in and ONLY if they have small pits of rust on them clean them off LIGHTLY with a bit of 1200 paper, nothing more harsh or you...
Car: 1972 Datsun 240z
Problem: High Oil Pressure
When i turn the car to the on position, the oil pressure gauge sweeps just below 90 psi (the top of my guage). It used to be even higher than that but recently came down a bit. What really confuses me is that I just drained every drop of oil from the motor. How is it reading that there is ANY oil pressure, let alone HIGH oil pressure?
And yes, the oil was blacker than black (also supposedly had Seafoam in it at one point to clean the motor).
Is it my oil pressure relief valve?
Any suggestions?
i was wondering what i would need to fit a 1.8 clio engine from a mk 3 in to a mk2 1.2 clio, would it be alot of work. i need to know everything i would need. :confused:
hi there, i have a skyline r32 gtst:D and i recently installed a "rb25de" and i like to install a "t70" turbo, i have had a 48mm waste guage mounted to the turbo housing and i have a castiron turbo manifold what als do i need and haw do i install it all????
I have just tried starting my car, it turned over once and now the battery is completly dead!! Is this because of the cold weather, cause it freezing here??!! I have never driven in the Uk during winter so have no experance of cold weather and the effects it has on batterys
Since buying the car a little over a month ago I have had a few experances of the car not fireing-up fast enuf, do you guys think the battery was starting to go??
Finnaly, whats a good battery brand to go with?
Thanks Guys
This is actually a model specific question. And if at all possible, I'm looking for DETAILED answers. (also, I'm American and terrible at unit conversion, please try to use the American measurement, or at least give the name of the measurement you're using so I can locate a converter)
And after finishing, I realized how long this was, so I decided to put a warning here that this is a very long and detailed post, but I will greatly appreciate everyone who takes the time to read through it and answer at least one of the questions here.
I'm a rather adept "backyard mechanic", but not very well versed in performance upgrades and design. So I'm looking for a little designing a turbo system for my car. Here are the details.
1995 Honda...
Hello all,
My quiestion is: When an engine has been burnedout & has seized up, run without water or oil until the bigends start knocking...can it be fixed?
I was hoping that I could just bung a new crankshaft into it.
Any advise will be appreciated.
The following guide was written specifically for the BMC CDA air filter but the basic procedure can be applied to any similar Oil impregnated paper filter.
I would recommend using the manufacturers specific cleaning kit designed for which ever filter you have.
Right my BMC CDA air filter is way over due a clean, BMC suggest cleaning their filters every 15,500 miles, I think mines done at least 20,000! So here's a basic guide with a couple of extra tips for cylindrical CDA filters that aren't covered in the manufactures basic instructions...
Time to complete whole job: 1 Day.
Actual time fiddling & getting covered in red oil 1-2 hours.
You'll need the following basic items:
BMC Air filter cleaning cleaning kit...
i have a polo 6N and am looking at alloys for the festive season, and it seems a general idea that i can fit Corsa rims straight on,, but on checking fitting guides find that yes they are both 100 PCD but the bore for the corsa is aboout 1mm lower,, what difference will this make and any ways round it
cheers ppl,, the Icy season is nearly here,, time to sort out handbrake!!
I've just written up a simple how to guide on doing an oil change.
http://www.torquecars.com/articles/oil-change.php
Have I missed anything out? Is it fool proof? (Thinking mainly of my friend who put 20 litres of oil in his car to fill it up!)
I was wondering, as i am about to buy a very scratched car, what is the best way to remove most light scratches? T cut? or what? and light dents, I was thinking filler and paint would look awful. Any tricks here? Thank you
hi, my plan for my 240sx was to put an rb20det engine in it, which costs like around 1300 i think to order, but a friend of my dad sais he ordered a ka24de from japan, and japan did engine work to it, it is not turbocharged its only dual head cams and electronicaly fuel injected, naturaly aspirated, like i said he had them do work to it and my dad said that he thinks his friend said it puts out around 300hp, this seems impractical to me considering it is not turbocharged and the stock engine comes with around 150hp??? he said he would sell it to me for 6 or 700$, it would really take the hassle of ordering an engine and shipping and stuff, but i just wanna know if it is possible to get 300hp from a KA24de naturaly aspirated...
have a look at this clip off sky news. dont blink or youll miss it. click on the footage wording to the left.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Ohio-Footage-Of-Car-Hitting-Bridge-On-Interstate-675-In-Greene-County-Driver-Brennan-S-Eden-Lives/Article/201008415704744?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Region_8&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15704744_Ohio%3A_Footage_Of_Car_Hitting_Bridge_On_Interstate_675_In_Greene_County%2C_Driver_Brennan_S_Eden_Lives
i'm trying to remove a dent on my door - i think caused by a kick
imagine if you kicked hard with the sole of your foot against the right hand end of the door handle. the result is like a crater where one end of the door handle has pushed the panel in.
pulling on the handle has popped out 2/3rds of the problem. the rest is a) against the handle and b) on a panel angle/crease so one of the domestic suction cup things could not get a seal (if they ever work, they wont on this one)
the torque cars article talks about an m shaped dent puller. searching on the web i'm just wading through hundreds of suction cups - anyone give me advice on whether the hot glue and m shape could remove my type of dent, and where/by what name i can get...
i have a toyota 1000 kp30 pickup. its a rear wheel drive and it uses brake drums in the rear. i've managed to convert the front brakes into disks but trying to figure out what to do with the rear brakes. do i need to change the entire diff or can i get disks that can fit with the original diff?
i'm wondering how much work i'd need to do to fit a rs turbo engine into my 51 plate mondeo. i have a 51 plate mondeo and basically it is as fast as a slug, so i thought of the idea of fitting an rs turbo engine to give it a extra kick, the car is solid so it can handle the power its just i don't know how much work it would need.
i got a very old mazda car from my parents (which they got it from their parents). it cant go fast but it takes me to where ever i want to go so far. i wanted to repaint the car but it rusted a bit here and there. just want to know the best way to repaint it. any advice :D
Firstly I've never done this before, I was starting to do it then got lazy and just got them powder coated from a company lol here's a rough guide so you know roughly how it works and if I miss or do anything wrong, just point it out :P Thanks
Firstly remove the wheels from the car:
I wouldn't Advise on doing it on Stone chips but these have been very hard packed into the ground but do it with care!
You'll need some Supply's which you should have gotten first but hey I always do things the hard way :P
Some 60 & 120 Sand paper, some Cheap primer and Alloy Wheel Primer and (Colour of your choice) Black Gloss and some Laguaer.
Now have the tyres removed from the Wheels unless your only wanting to do the face of the alloys...
I know a guy who is selling this:
Turbo kit - Manifold, new studs, new head, new intake manifold, injectors, downpipe, turbo (Garrett T25), blow off valve, spare throttle body and random accessories, turbo gaskets (intake and dp side), manifold gasket (between manifold and head), stainless braided water and oil lines, stainless braided fuel lines, fuel perssure regulator (stock and uprated), stainless downpipe. The manifold was machined a few months ago and injectors have been flowtested and cleaned by Wich Doctor in USA. I will include the injector loom and I also have a set of larger 3SGE rev3 injectors with pigtails. You will need your own engine management. £200 to go to a good home. Pictures are in my mod thread. I have done all...
Is there a DIY for jetta engine removal somewhere here?? please help
For those of you who may be interested, there are some excellent pictures of race cars of a by- gone era at: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/gallery/20452/Welcome-to-Monaco.html
.....As I tryed to search Google and nothing comes up so might be straight forward but I'm a slow learner hahaha
I've got a couple jacks and sometimes they stick and won't release Proper or when jacking the car up, it sometimes doesn't hold and slowly release's itself, now the Jack is a 3 Tonne so shouldn't have any problems lifting up the car so am thinking to myself might just need some Oil.
But I'm not sure what Kind you need and where would you put the oil?
Same Applys for the Air Gun which I got, always wanted one haha,....it use's little oil and again kind and how to apply it would be great.
I love using the tools but hate looking after them but has to be done in order for them to keep working.
Thanks
First off, hello i havent been on in a while.
I have done a search and had a look on here i cant find a guide to fitting a exhaust back box, is there one or any tips i can have to fit one successfully.
I would imagin you unbolt or slide off the back box remove the pipe maybe small amount of cutting involved. Then to put the new one on slide pipe back in slide the arms into the rubber put the sealent on and clamp?
Can you Buy a smaller O-ring to make the Decat Fit?
Having Slight Problem but be something silly :P
Thanks
Hackaday seems to have had a run of car hacks,
http://hackaday.com/2010/03/16/adding-an-automotive-cold-air-intake/
This one looks really interesting and the arudino means you could take it quiet far http://hackaday.com/2010/03/16/keep-tabs-on-your-car-without-obd-ii/
http://hackaday.com/2010/03/16/follow-up-hacking-onstar/
I have a video on the web of how to upgrade your front disc brakes and rotors on a 00 Mitsu Galant. This video can also be used as a general how to for any car. If there is anything that you think should also be done feel free to comment. (Video is in two parts on you tube)
Video 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9dPfXHWvHo
Video two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly4ScbY8rwM
Hello all, I have been reading a lot and doing a lot of research on my car the three single most important things you can do are: 1. either get alldata.com account (have to pay) or get a free autozone account where you can load your car in (information is sometimes limited). 2. Buy the manual for your car, chiltons or haynes about 30 USD, or the master technician book about 200 USD. (the latter is a great resource). 3. go to autospeed.com diy articles and read through the articles. I have read though 90% of the 400+ articles.
As far as any advice that I can give you from my experience. You should listen to what everyone has to say when diagnosing. When working on your car, be very patient. It's nothing worse than flying through...
Hello.
I am a technical school student. My objective is all electric on the car.
It would be an interesting to learn how to tweak PCMs, since I see several practical uses for the knowledge.
People use it in areas from car theft to tuning and engine redesigning.
Is there any way I can learn what programming goes into PCMs and any method I can make my PC communicate with it? How to program it.
If I want to tweak a PCM of, let's say an 07 Honda Civic, where do I go look for resources?
Are PCMs programmed in Assembly?
Thank you.
Can someone give me a quick guide on how to and what tools I need to change my engine oil. Its about time I did some of my own car maintainance work!
1. Hire cars have much stronger acceleration than private cars.
2. Hire cars can achieve much higher speeds in all gears, especially reverse.
3. Hire cars have floorpans shaped just like an ashtray.
4. Hire cars have specially painted front bumpers to resist exhaust stains from the car in front.
5. Accelerator, brake and clutch pedals are replaced by similar looking foot operated switches.
6. The parking brake is optimised to assist in fast cornering manoeuvres.
7. The engine oil does not need to be checked or changed for 500,000 miles.
8. The gear selector may be operated without engaging the clutch switch.
9. Hire cars are self cleaning.
The Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers create an exhaust note that is too loud in the cabin of my X-Type. Has anyone experience with Dynomat sound deadening material put in their trunk/boot? Does this product work well?
Following some shocking examples of car control and road sense in my area and as requested by HDI fun here is a guide on how to drive.
If you know how to drive then you probably needn't bother reading this.
Controls.
A car has 4 main controls.
The steering wheel is the round thing in front of you. In some cars it may have a flat bottom but generally it is round. When you turn this to the right the car goes to the right, the more you turn it the more right you go.
Then we have the pedals conveniently arranged in reverse alphabetical order so we can remember them. Clutch, Brake and Accelerator.
The clutch is used to stop a crunching noise from happening when you change the gear. Press the cluctch just before you move the...
I think lot of people would have gone through a DIY turbo job.
So, why not post the details with pictures and how the build went. Would be an interesting read, beneficial and informative for others. Would help people choosing the right things and the path that has to be followed. :)
It needn't be a success always, so failures can also be posted for the benefit of the beginners...
Hope to learn a thing or two from the experts..
(I am not much into this myself, but want to learn a lot)
Thanks..
Re: Ideas for basic guides - what you want to see in this section
I would like to see some advise on safety procedures, just basic stuff like jacking up AND supporting cars on proper axle stands, the wearing of safety goggles and gloves when welding/grinding and suitable clothing, seems daft but just today I saw in the press a young girl had been killed when her scarf got caught in the drivetrain of a gokart she was driving..... . . .not a nice way to go and a sad loss of a young life.
I speak from experience guys, after 30 years in the trade 3 visits to casualty to have metal removed from my eyes and once for a slip with an angle grinder and unbeleivably recently I managed to chop the top off one of my fingers, luckily its grown back...
i just like to no how to get a decent finish and how to do it as i fancy having a go. so i can get more bhp thanks
Looking for some high temp gunmetal paint but its proving rather hard - 1 cheap caliper paint on ebay but nothing else - does anyone know of something that is similar or if it goes by another name
All,
I have recently been brought a Vibe CBR 12" Twin EVO Active sub, amp, enclosure set and just had a few questions on it.
1) I was told that I should fit another battery to the car by a few mates, is this a good idea or should I not bother?
2) Should I get another amp? The spec states the max power is 3400 watts but looking on the Vibe website about the built in amp and looking at its spec seperatly, it states it only goes up to 500 watts (although I might be looking in the wrong place).
Any help on this would be much appreciated. And before anyone says anything, I know I have yet to get my car and this was only brought as a present (this and the wiring kit). I just wish to know the few details before it comes to getting the...
Hi
ive read the forums and articles on painting calipers and i really want to paint them, however i'm prob a bit of an amateur so need a few tips on how to paint them, i reckon it will be easier to paint them while there on the car so has anyone done this and what should i look out for whilst doing them.
probably going to use hammerite as this seems to be highly receommended!!
ok, so got my old silver rims because my car tread is getting seriously low, but i have always liked silver n black so i decided to paint them pearlescent black i bought grey primer aswell got a few pics i dulled the laquer on before and sanded 80 180 400 1000 then 1500 grit sandpaper took a while but well worth the effort !
This is why 90 mph emergency stop didnt do this tyre anygood.
any serious advice on how to get rid of dog smell inside the car. previous owner of my car has a dog and the car stinks.
ty:mad:
I thought we should get a thread going on fibreglassing.
Has anyone noticed that a perfectly flat fibreglassed panel will distort and bend after a while? Do you know why this is and how it can be avoided?
Does the quality of materials have much to do with the quality of the finish?
My 95 Cavalier is making a pop noise when i turn the wheel all the way. Rotate completely right, it stops; give another turn, just a little, and there's a loud grinding POP! Rotate back until it stops, then right again, no problem.
Rotate all the way left, then another shove, POP! Rotate right, then back left, no problem.
Rotate all the way right, POP!
What's going on here? I'm thinking CV joints, I've been told it could be struts. I've considered just replacing the drive shafts.
Hey guys.I wanted to find out if it is neccessary to fit exhaust wraps to a stainless steel exhaust system?
hey guys I'm looking at swaping my 2.6 mitzy sigma wagon 82/83 motor for the vr4 motor (4g63) any info on this would be great I basicly need to know if the mounts line up and the gear box will bolt straght on but anything will help incase I havnt thought of it
have just boughht some clean cut polish and turtle wax to get out some blemishs in paint
there is a bit of a dep scratch and its starting to rust abit
what can i do for that
and could some one tell me the best way to get a good finish
i alreadsy looked at the thingo on main website
but yeh :)
This is something that i dont think many people realise, but if you want to shift those few milliseconds off your gear changes:
cut a few inches off the gear nob
every little helps
I'm considering doing something called a "Porsche Kit" in a few years, when I have more money and possibly a garage or house (yeah, I can rent a garage... $80/mo, I gotta convince landlord to let me install a $2000 9000lb lift, maybe I can sell it to them).
I've heard of such a thing.
I can't find one.
Also, skip the engine. I want diesel. Yes I am a diesel whore.
I've been googling around but it's like... hard. I see things about kit cars, but no "BUY CAR KITS" except the lotus. Am I missing it? "Kit car" and "Car kit" are crappy terms for searching.
Just something to do down the line, should be fun. If no kits, I can one-off one from spare parts :\
Just resprayed doors,after some kind person put long deep scratches in them.
Have tried putting several thin coats of laquer on but gives a dull finish.Triedputting it on thicker,which is better,but get bad runs.
Anyone got any tips on how to sort it. Thanks.
I was just wondering whether there is anyone who has done vinyl window tint them selves.
Ive watched videos on youtube but when ive asked people they say it isnt good
the best way ive found is to cut it using the outside of the window, spray the vinyl and window with water during application so you can slide it into place then remove the water so it sticks
Any adivice would be good
Nice one
:D Hi fellow torquecars members,
I have stumbled upon some useful modifications to improve your Fuel consumption by 25 % TO 50 % ..JUST THOUGHT I WANTED TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE HERE....
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/12755-my-experience-adding-acetone-petrol.html
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/524517/double_your_gas_mileage_2x/ ( CHECK OUT THIS ONE FIRST!)
I am now going to look in to this matter further and maybe test it out once i'm convinced... think about it guys!! the petrol companies can add this in but do not want to because they loose money... if 1 car pumps 1 full tank in one week, then must by adding this, people pump 1 full tank in 2 weeks. ALL THE...
Where do you start looking when a car wont start? I thought it would be handy to have a thread to help people diagnose non starting faults.
Post up your experiences here and what faults you have encountered and how to tell if that is the case next time.
1) Check you have fuel. (Seriously, don't assume you have. Lots of people call out the breakdown people to discover that they are out of fuel.)
2) Just a click could indicate a knackered servo in the starter motor. If there is no click then apply a fuse protected current to the +ve starter terminal to see if it goes.
3) Turning over engine that refuses to fire is either a fuel or electric problem (no spark). Where do you start tracking these ones down?
Other problems that could...
Hi , i have just brought myself a stunning Lagrum vr4 however it is still in kmh, any ideas the best place or way to change her over to mph, regards jason:mad:
