Having a custom wood shop and restoring antiques including repairing old and sometimes missing hardware, I create a ton of jigs from wood and ply scraps. I turned a brake line bending tool on a lathe. Just 3 descending diameters with a half round groove cut in for line support. Seeing how it doesn't have a protruding handle, I can use it in tight spaces. On the hardware repair side, I have a melt-able rubber like substance from the hobbie shop for making molds to copy things like missing carvings. You heat it up in the microwave till it flows and then pour into a mold with the part to copy. Once it cools all the details are reproduced. Then fill with plaster of paris to make as many copies you want. Speaking of plaster I made 2 half molds to replicate a missing finial from a furniture hinge pin. Then I put the halves together, preheated the mold and poured melted fishing sinkers into it. Once attached to the hinge pin it was a perfect match. The other perk of having a full wood shop is having wood and furniture supplies that can lend themselves to car repair. I once used a shelf pin to repair the high/low switch on my Harley. It was the exact diameter of the broken toggle pin. ... View more

Call me crazy but if I had more cash than I could ever blow in my lifetime, I'd give the bulk of it away directly to good causes where it would do God's work instead of Satan's. ... View more

My prep is simple  - I remove the parts I need from my vehicle so I know what tools and procedures I will need at the yard while also having said parts with me for matching. I have a tool bag I fill with any special tools I need along with the basics.   Here's my best cost savings tip > After the last time I bought a 5 pack of fuses for 5 bucks (!) I was at my local pick a part and realized there are hundreds of fuses of all types for the taking. Guess how little I paid for a pile of em there. All I did was clean the contacts of them on my wire wheel and they're good to go. OH, and did you know all fuses have exposed contact points on their faces so you can test them with a meter without pulling them out? ... View more

This is a perfect example of what happens when a windshield lobbyist '''buys'' influence within the design office hierarchy (apparently with booze and hookers...) ... View more

The Jeep ad would have been better served if they used an actual middle American worker instead of a limousine liberal who would never be caught dead doing what Bruce led us to believe. The only thing more disgusting was the plug where Colbert was miked slurping down a wing then dunking a football in dressing and sucking it off. And don't even get me started on all the other Woke propaganda. If this is the new normal count me out. . ... View more

All things in a creating a decent generation will never change  -  Having a close relationship with both parents. I grew up in the 60s at a time when we all had dinner together and discussed our days as a family. That close bond has been fragmented over the last few decades. I was lucky in that was a time when dad brought home the bacon and mom ran the house. Now both parents get trapped in both having to work keeping up with the Jones's. If you really want the next generation to embrace the customs and hobbies of our time, start there - with dinner as a family - EARLY in a child's formative years are the best chance of planting those seeds. My dad sold real estate with woodworking as a hobby. I am now a custom woodworker building furniture and restoring antiques while restoring the old house I live in. These building blocks carry over to restoring bikes and cars. And I have my parents to thank for my life's appreciations today. ... View more

Another case for making abortions illegal (unless the mother's life is in danger) ... View more

How about plastic ? I had a buddy with a plastic welder. The kit had about 5 different types of plastic rods in various colors. It had a sort of soldering gun with a tube running through the middle of it to feed the rod as you heated the repair area. I had to fix a broken electrical housing on my Fiero and it worked perfectly. Harbor Freight has this one > https://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-air-motor-and-temperature-adjustment-96712.html ... View more

This is my Halloween Trumpkin. Guaranteed to scare progs and goblins away. ... View more

My engineer brother started college at GMI (General Motors Institute). 6 months of class followed by 6 in the factory each semester. He went on to work for ASC. He would come in to family functions with a new pre-production car to drive and report on. One such endeavor was a Fiero with 4 wheel steering - the drive line in those (if memory serves me) was the front wheel drive clip from a Citation mounted as the mid engine of the Fiero. To accomplish this, GM replaced the steering rack with solid mounted tie rods. ASC simply swapped the steering linkage back in for the 4 wheel steering exercise. The issue was getting the front and back steering to respond sharper at slow speeds (for parking etc) but with slower response ratio at speed for stability.  At the end of the tests, they put it back to stock, he bought the car and years later he sold it to me. With the convertible tops, ASC would engineer them, set up their conversion facility next to the manufacturer's main assembly factory. Cars slated for conversion to convertibles would go a certain distance during assembly and when the time was right, travel over to ASC for top mods, then back to the line for final assembly. Typically after this arrangement came up to snuff, ASC would fold their facility into the manufacturer's and move on to the next car company. That's one of the main reasons convertibles come a year or 2 later. They sell the base models while ramping up the new convertible line. ... View more

Take what ever cars you like and seek out owners of them at car shows, blogs and car clubs. Hooking up with enthusiasts is one of the best ways to enter a hobby on the ground floor and rise quickly through osmosis via their shared knowledge. People like these in the hobby will go out of their way to share the highs (and lows) from the years of cutting their teeth just like you are about to embark upon. Remember, they started out once upon a time like you are now and learning from their mistakes saves you from committing them yourself. Add to that if you are lucky enough, you could maybe apprentice with them and even work on your car in their shop with their expertise along side you. This is how I got into my first bike - 1975 Harley FLH basket case. I got hooked up with a Harley mechanic. I told him I wanted to do as much work as possible so I ''knew'' my bike inside and out instead of just owning and riding it. Between him and all his buddies, there was no question too dumb to ask. Their love of the hobby was shared willingly with me. And the bonus was when we dropped the bike off the lift the first time. He said it was the prettiest bike even to come out of his shop!  The 2nd bit of advise I ever got was to buy the most amount of car you can afford. What that means is put more into the highest level of that car you can buy so you have less needed funds to come up with to fix what can be avoided in a car of better shape. This is proven best once you get into buying a hot rod someone else built but then sells.  More often than not, they never recoup the money (and more importantly the labor!) they put into it. ... View more

I've owned 2 Opel GTs , a Fiat X-19 and a Fiero GT ... View more

I'd steal the crappiest car I could find, probably break down on the way there, find out it was canceled and then get arrested for grand theft blotto. A lose-lose-lose-lose quadfecta. ... View more

First thing that crossed my mind > https://youtu.be/768sFT_HZLA ... View more

I only have one question - Dear Jessi, where ever you are, was it worth it? ... View more

Bill Thomas Continuation Cheetah, 62 Ferrari GTO, 60s Mini Cooper Panel Wagon with a pair of big clown shoes in the back and a rubber nose hanging from the rear view mirror. ... View more