The Tools You’ll Need for Classic Car Restoration

Seasoned auto enthusiasts and even weekend-warriors can make great progress on their classic car restoration projects – but only if they have the right tools. Most classic cars have old parts, rusty patches, and jagged edges. It takes a well-stocked tool kit to work with these problems and make your car as good as new. If you’re thinking about taking on a new project, here are a few of the most important pieces of equipment and tools that you’ll need.

Impact Wrench

Most old cars have lug nuts and bolts that are far too difficult to unscrew with muscle power alone. Even if you can manage to get them off manually, they’re probably found all over your car. To save yourself time, energy, and a lot of frustration, you’ll need to keep a quality impact wrench in your garage. It can take even the tightest bolt off in seconds.

Angle Grinder

If you plan on doing your own bodywork, you’re going to need a grinder. Angle grinders allow you to take off large patches of rust in no time, and they’re indispensable for cutting sheet metal. Once all your panels in place, you’ll also want to grind away the jagged areas to make your car stylish and safe.

Hydraulic Jack

To get to your transmission or fuel injectors, you’ll want to be able to lift your car off the ground. Most shops have two or four-post hydraulic lifts, but those just aren’t practical for a home garage. Fortunately, you can still get a little bit of lift from a good hydraulic jack.

Air Compressor

An air compressor may be the most important tool in your garage. You’ll need it to power a variety of devices, including your impact wrench and angle grinder. You will also have to use a compressor with your paint gun to achieve a smooth, even coat.

Fiberglass Repair Kit

Steel bodies look great, but fiberglass can be far easier to repair and maintain. In fact, you can even use fiberglass to repair small dents in steel. Whatever type of chassis you’ve got on your car, you should keep a fiberglass repair kit in stock. It will also come in handy for repairing boats, swimming pools, and bathtubs.

Engine Crane

If you’re serious about classic car restoration, you should probably look into getting your own engine crane. Changing your timing belt, repairing your transmission, and plenty of other jobs may require that you take your engine out of your car.

Basic Hand Tools

Last but not least, you will need a great set of basic equipment. Every enthusiast loves to play with power tools, but you won’t get far without some good wrenches, screwdrivers, and cutters. Make sure you’ve also got small pliers and wires for precise electrical work.

Help from the Pros

Even if you’ve got a fully-stocked kit and the knowledge to use it, you may need some professional help with your car. Whether you’ve got a tough project – or you just don’t have the right tools for the job – call a leading professional now to get assistance with your classic car restoration project.

The Middle East Car Community

People in the Middle East are mad about their cars ask anyone how the Middle East stacks up when it comes to customizing their motors and they will tell you that cars in the Middle East are there to be pimped! There are a number of custom car communities in the Middle East available to petrol heads wishing to share their passion with others when it comes to customizing their motors. One of the most popular Middle East online car communities is Barbican Turbo with around 400 members it is the regions number one motorsports and custom car social community and supports the Barbican custom car festival talking place in the UAE in the Abu Dhabi exhibition centre. At the show you will find a large number of motor sports mad consumers crawling around hundreds of custom car exhibits and exhibition showcases from all over the world.

If you want to talk about your car in an ideal forum with fellow petrol heads from all over the Middle East then you can join Turbo.ae the online motors community, the Middle Easts custom car community is free to join and discuss customizing your car.

Automotive enthusiasts can come together to meet new people with similar interests online and the culmination of the online community activity is the regions number one custom car festival based in Abu Dhabi. On the online community you can:

Create your own profile page

Browse through other members’ profile pages

Show off your automobiles in your own gallery

Browse through other members’ galleries

Write your own automotive related blogs

Read other members’ automotive related blogs

Chat, make friends, talk shop, or find help in our community forum

Create or join Clubs to enjoy a club atmosphere with similiar minded or geographically close members (equipped with its own gallery and forum)

So you want to customize cars… Did you know, Jay Leno, the popular Tonight Show host is a custom car enthusiast? He’s got some real super custom hotrods but its nothing when compared with some of the Middle Eastern collectors that are car crazy! The custom car business in the Middle East is booming and with more and more collectors customizing some of the most expensive and luxurious cars in the world the Barbican Turbo festival is the absolute number one forum where community members can meet online and offline to discuss and share experiences about customizing motors.

Of course customizing cars is a huge business as well as hobby, with a multitude of sub-groups, from urban customizers to street rods, V8 muscle cars to classic roadsters. Customizing can be as simple as adding a new set of wheels to building your own custom vehicle from scratch – the possibilities are almost endless, limited only by your budget and imagination. On the community you will find useful information about customizing cars, articles and tips on designing and building your own custom motor you can register and use the community for free.

So if you want to learn more about customizing your motor in the Middle East then simply search in Google or Yahoo for the regions leading custom car community and get help and advice from other enthusiasts.

Choosing A Car Seat That Is Compatible With Your Vehicle

If you are having a baby, you know you need a car safety seat for the child. If you have begun your research, you may know a bit about weight limits and rear-facing versus front-facing. You have probably decided on a basic type for your infant and may even have a preferred brand. Chances are, you also already have a car with a specific type of seat belt and have recently discovered that not every brand of car seat works well with every model of car. You need to find a car seat that fits into your vehicle properly.

There are many models of seats out there, and you cannot try them all before settling on one. Fortunately, you can use a shortcut by visiting the Car Seat Data web site. There is a compatibility search mechanism on the site that will allow you to check your favorite brands of car seats with your make of automobile to find out which are the best models to use.

For example, choosing the Baby Trend brand car seat and a Chevy will tell you that the 2001 Impala has a great fit with belts with the rear-facing LatchLoc type, and that the 2003 Tracker also has a great fit with the LatchLoc. There are two entries for the Baby Trend LatchLoc rear-facing seat and the 2001 Ford Escape. One comment was, Center. Great fit. Used shelf liner and rolled towel for angle. The other comment said, Outboard. Great fit. Used shelf liner on leather seats. There are also two, Outboard. Great fit, comments for the Ford Focus (2002 and 2003) and the rear-facing LatchLoc. For the 1996 Ford F-150, the comment is, Rear center. Great fit.

Judging by the homogeneous nature of the comments, there is probably a questionnaire that people fill out to tell others their experience.

The best way to conduct a search is to enter your car’s make, model and year and then see what experiences other drivers of your type car have had. For instance, there were no results for the Baby Trend seat brand and the Volkswagen Jetta. If you are a Jetta driver, rather than go out and buy an entirely different model of auto just to use a Baby Trend, which isn’t an option for many people, it is better to choose based on the experiences of other Jetta drivers. There are many entries for the 2003 Jetta, some with copious notes and tips for using particular safety seats.

Jetta drivers seem to like Graco car seats, for example. Interestingly enough, one Jetta driver did actually trade in their car for a larger one so that the SafeSeat, apparently a large car seat, would fit better.

Finding the right baby seat for your car is not as overwhelming as it seems, once you start narrowing down the information that you need for a proper choice. Since you are purchasing a car safety seat to keep your little one safe, you should purchase one that will actually work optimally with your car for the best security possible.

Company Car Or Company Car Allowance – Which Should I Choose

If you have the choice of a Company Car or Company Car Allowance, you should check out how much Company Car Tax (or Benefit In Kind Tax as it is also known) that you would pay if you accept a company vehicle, and then decide whether to go for the Company Car or cash. You could be better off taking the car allowance and leasing a car yourself, even though the allowance is taxable.

The Cash for Car scheme has become increasingly popular with both employers and employees in recent years. Employers save time and money in not having to source, maintain and administer a fleet, although they must always be aware of their Duty of Care and Health & Safety responsibilities. And as an employee, you have more freedom to choose the car you drive, and you could even be better off if you dont spend all of the company car allowance you receive. However, some employers do stipulate the type and age of vehicle that is acceptable, according to the job you are doing.

If you choose to accept a Company Car Allowance, its worth considering Car Leasing vs Buying. Car Leasing (also known as Contract Hire) is simply the hiring of a vehicle for an agreed period of time for a fixed monthly rental. Unlike Short Term Rental or daily rental, a car lease is usually for 2-5 years, after which you can simply hand the car back with no further commitment or, in some case, you may be able to purchase the vehicle if you wish. Car Leasing is a convenient, cost-effective and hassle-free way of financing a new vehicle, and there are many benefits of leasing a car. It enables easy budgeting of your motoring costs, and the fixed monthly payments can even include servicing and maintenance. Also, theres no need to worry about depreciation or disposing of the vehicle at the end of the contract.

Dont forget that if you choose the company car instead of the company car allowance, all your motoring costs (except private fuel) will be taken care of by your employer including insurance, road tax, servicing and repairs. If you choose the company car allowance, you will have to pay for these things yourself.

If you choose a company car allowance and lease a vehicle which you use in the course of your job, youre entitled to claim from your employer a mileage allowance for each business mile travelled. H.M. Revenue & Customs approves certain mileage rates that employees can claim for business travel, and the current rate is 40p per mile. Check the HMRC website for the latest information.

Part way between the company car and a company car allowance is something called Employee Car Ownership. This is where your employer gives you a car allowance, but the company organizes the finance deal and takes care of insurance and running costs. This may also be worth considering if your employer offers such a scheme.

Custom Car Seat Covers

What you ever thought about custom car seat covers? Different abuses and hazards can cause damage to your original car seats. Pets and children are some of those who cause damage to car seats but the original upholstery of your car may also be damaged through repeated abrasion and friction. Spills of beverages and water and food remains may make car seats to be unpleasant and dirty. To be able to protect the original upholstery of your car, it is necessary to protect car seat covers, and the best choice for most people is through car seat covers.

Custom car seat covers are the ones which are personalized to suit your specific taste. It is possible to make them for your car, and there are different types of materials and designs which can be used for truck and car seat covers. You can also find the custom seat covers in different colors from in many parts of the world. Some of the popular car seat covers are Ballistic seat covers, Neoprene seat covers, Velour seat covers, BMW seat covers, Suede seat covers, Tweed seat covers, Ford seat covers, Leatherette seat covers, Honda seat covers, Saddle Blanket seat covers, and so on. There are many of them; and you can even make custom ones based on your personal beliefs and interests.

In order to make good custom seat covers, you should first of all consider what is already available for the type and model of your car because it is possible that custom covers are already installed for your car. In creating the design, you can make the ones which make a fashion statement to those which are just basic black seat covers.

Custom car seat covers are good for seats like 70/30 seats, 40/20/40 seats, 60/40 seats, and the difficult-to-fit seats found in trucks, jeeps, SUVs and tractors. In installing the seat covers, the upholstery company first measures your car seats and then have an estimate built up. In most cases, this is a free service while you only pay for the customization. It is possible to make the cover to be designed aesthetically, while you may choose from the different types of fasteners like zippers, buttons, Velcro or strings, in order to improve the durability and look of the cover.

There are many types of materials which are used, and you can choose from vinyl, cotton, neoprene, denim, sheepskin, tweed cloth, velour cloth and many other materials. You can also choose specific patterns and colors, in addition to being able to consider climactic factors and the level of wear and tear which the car seats are likely to be subjected to.