What To Know Before Selecting Classic Car Insurance For a number of years, I spent thousands of dollars annually on Stated Value Coverage for my classic car, a hot-rodded 1955 Studebaker Champion. At the time, it was my only option because I didn’t qualify for Classic Car Insurance. After getting a car for daily use, I finally qualified for Classic Car Insurance which lowered my annual premium on my Studebaker from $1844/year to only $95/year through Condon Skelly Collector Car Insurance! Here's how I saved $793 with Classic Car Insurance. Want to save that kind of money too?! 3 Things to Know Before Changing Your Classic Car Insurance: I wish I had known a few things before I went through the process of getting car insurance – so I’m going to share them with you now! #1 What's needed to qualify for Classic Car Insurance? The most basic things, as stated on most Classic Car Insurers websites are: Must have another car insured as daily driver. Must have a secure place to park your classic car. (This doesn’t have to be your place of residence. Had I realized this, I...

Classic Car Insurance - Insure 2 Cars and Save! When it comes to insuring your classic car, there are a number of different auto insurance options available. During my adventures getting Classic Car Insurance with my 1955 Studebaker Champion, I’ve learned a lot by trial and error. Wanting your experience insuring your classic car to be smoother than mine, I thought I’d let ya know some of the discoveries I’ve made along my journey! When it comes to insuring your car, there are a few options: Standard Auto Policy This is what most vehicles carry. A standard auto policy  insures your car for its blue book value at the coverage limits of your choosing. It is the type of coverage that you would have for your everyday vehicles that you drive regularly. It is also an option for your classic if you're using it as your primary vehicle. Stated Value Car Insurance Not many car insurance companies offer this. Stated Value insures your car for what you claim its worth is, which should be verified by an appraiser. This figure is about what you would expect to pay for a...

What does your garage say about you? People say that the clothes make the man, or that you are what you drive, and there are a million or so other cheesy sayings just like those that will apparently tell us all that we need to know about you. Yeah, right. How about “What does your garage say about you?” I think that would be a far more telling peek into who you are than your choose of shoes or jacket. This garage's owner is at least slightly noncommittal! He can't decide if he actually wants his car in there or not, so he leaves space for it that never actually gets used. The couch is conspicuously uncovered meaning he might like to use it sometime, but its awkward positioning means he probably never actually does. Somewhere between cluttered and functional, this garage manages to be neither! So what does your garage say about you? Is there a polyaspartic floor coating inlaid with flaming skulls or maybe a glossy black concrete stain? Did you go for a minimal industrial floor coating and concrete counters, or perhaps there’s zebra stripes and...

Paint Review - Phoenix Custom Paint Shop to Avoid! You're not looking at an artistic interpretation of the state of West Virginia, you're looking at the terrible paint work by a company in Phoenix, Arizona called "Terrific Paint and Customs". When you start a project, one of the biggest things you need to decide is a budget. Because my four-door, Ford Falcon wagon was never going to be a high-dollar car, no matter what I did to it, I didn't want to spend a fortune on paint. I did want something shiny that I could be proud of, but I knew that getting a great paint job, or "Show Quality" was not in my budget. That's when I started looking for a "driver" quality paint shop.  I found a Craigslist ad and gave the guy a call. He sounded cool enough, knowledgeable, and his ad said, "15 year experience". I sent a bunch of pictures of my Falcon, we talked and sent way too many texts about all the things I wanted to do and he said $1800 and it'd be done in about 3 weeks. (keep that in...

How To Metal Flake Your Car Just because I love grease, doesn't mean that I don't love sparkly things too! Before going to Viva Las Vegas this year, I wanted to add a little bling to my 1955 Studebaker Champion with a metal flake paint job. Studie and I have been through a lot together in the five years I’ve owned and drove her. I’ve become attuned to her original patina’d coral and white paint job. So originally the thought of changing her exterior in any way made me nervous. But the more I thought about adding a subtle sparkle to Studie’s white roof portion, the more I liked the idea. Not knowing the first thing about how to paint, I was lucky to have an expert nearby. Pati Fairchild is the newest member of my car club, the Gasoline Girls. She also happens to be a professional paint and body chick who teaches the subject at El Camino College. After polling friends on Facebook and looking through various paint samples, I paid a visit to Coast Airbrush in Anaheim for my final selection. I went in knowing I wanted...

Track Day Racing - What you need to know Every car enthusiast wants to drive on a race track – whether it’s a chance to hit the oval, cut a great light at the strip, or test your skills at a road course, the allure of the race track is obvious: there are no cops, no stoplights, and no minivans to pull out in front of you. It’s just you and the pavement. And maybe some walls. Many clubs offer open track days, driver schools, and other events where you can get your car out on the race track. Some clubs require you to join up to participate, others are happy to take virtually anyone. If your club doesn’t do track days, just ask around and you’re sure to find at least one opportunity in your area. Fair Warning: Driving on a Race Track is Dangerous Before you sign up, there are three things you need to know: The first and most important thing to remember is that no matter how great your car drives and handles on the street, it’s likely to feel like a bowl of loose...

My Ford Falcon Wagon's Finally Got Paint   It's been a long journey. I'm rebuilding/restoring/modifying (choose what you like) my 1963 Falcon Wagon. I'm way over due on what's been done, but here's where it is now:     Shown with premium primer from Squeeg's Kustoms (Squeeg's is a TOP QUALITY paint shop, not to be confused with the painter mentioned later)   OK, fine, the car's been sitting around way too much waiting for me to get off my butt. I'm kinda off now, but not completely. Thanks to buddies here in town helping me "get off the computer!" and back into the garage... there's been some progress.   So I have one question: Do you like GOLD?   It looks great in the sun here, but I would NOT recommend this painter. Terrific Paint and Customs, a Phoenix, AZ custom painter and body shop.     The great thing about MY Ride is Me is that I don't really care all that much if you like it.   I've been working with a Phoenix, AZ painter that specializes in affordable paint. The idea was to get a...

Car Interior Restoration One of the first jobs I did on my 1955 Studebaker was restoring the car’s interior. Even though I didn’t know what I was doing – I had a pretty good sewing background and figured I could handle it. As it turned out, it was a terrific first job for me. I had a lot of fun, met some challenges, and learned along the way. I’ve since had the chance to learn a few secrets and have been looking forward to another car interior restoration. Well…the time is here. When I picked out the materials to use in my Stude, I knew they weren’t very sturdy but I didn’t really care. A few years of daily wear later, my driver’s seat-back has been torn to shreds. Before embarking on this next car restoration adventure, I thought I’d ask for your opinion. Car shows are great places to look for what you like and might want to incorporate into your own project. So that’s just what I did. While trying to keep my head on straight while looking at all the amazing customs at the Long Beach...

How-To Fix Engine Overheating Problems on the Roadside What do you do when your car overheats? With temperatures reaching the 80's this past week in LA, the 383 small block Chevy in my 1955 Studebaker got hot in protest. Thursday was my first problem. After 30 minutes of freeway driving and 30 minutes of stoplight-and-street traffic, I lost power and came to a stop. After letting Stude cool down, the only thing I noticed upon inspection was that my fluid was a little low. I filled up the radiator with a coolant/distilled water mix and was back on my way, hoping maybe this was all I needed. I got home fine that evening and through the 25 mile drive to work the next day without a glitch. This made me feel better, but I was very worried... Studebaker had a date as a wedding getaway car for some close friends of mine on Saturday. I didn't want her to miss out on the excitement! As I pondered what was going on with my overheating, I knew the most likely candidates were the radiator, water pump, or thermostat. I’ve dealt with...

Truth about Batteries: 8 Myths Revealed! Setting your battery on concrete will ruin it. An AGM battery is a "gel" battery. If a battery is dead, all it needs is a jump. Starting your vehicle up periodically while in storage is good for the battery. An OPTIMA is ruined if it is deeply-discharged. Only off-road guys care about vibration-resistance in a battery. A longer warranty is always better. Dropping a battery will help break up sulfation and restore performance. Do you agree? These are all FALSE! Start story: 1. Setting your battery on concrete will ruin it. FALSE! Back in the olden days, batteries had wooden cases, which could expand if they came in contact with moisture, possibly causing damage to those batteries. Wooden cases were then replaced with hard rubber cases. Electrical current could be conducted through those cases, if moisture on the floor allowed the current to find an electrical ground. Modern batteries of today are constructed with polypropylene cases, which is far more insulated than the hard rubber cases of years past. That means not only can you set a new battery on a concrete floor,...

Tips For How To Avoid Brake Failure As  GreaseGirl, I’m always attempting to share with you all the things I’m learning within the hot rod world. Owning my own classic car, I've experienced a pretty steep learning curve to say the least… and brake importance is just one more thing I needed to learn! So read on to hear about my own misadventure and hopefully avoid your own!!! "Collision closely avoided. But my brakes are gone! I have NO brakes…what’s a girl to do!?" I’d had friends see my brake line situation and tell me I should do some work on it. I’ve considered changing my master cylinder. But when your classic car is your only car… sometimes your time and money get spent on what’s needed to keep it running. Lately that list has been pretty involved with "Studie" My 1955 Studebaker pictured above. From a new exhaust system to changing my transmission and rebuilding my front suspension – at each turn of the road I’ve learned a lot and improved Stude’s performance greatly. What was next on my list of things to do to my 1955 Studebaker???...

Power Brakes and Steering from SEMA 2010 ABS Power Brake, Inc Due to my recent brake failure adventure, brake companies were the first ones I went looking for at SEMA. I luckily found ABS Power Brake, Inc which provides “American Brake and Steering” component parts and kits. In business since 1979, ABS Power Brake provides kits as well as individual components for everything from classic trucks to custom rods. They have some good possible fixes for my situation – such as a nifty compact dual-reservoir master cylinder – but they also had a couple of really impressive new products. In addition to their fairly extensive line of disc brake kits they’ve added a new ABS 14” Big Brake Disc Kit with 2” Drop Spindles. If you need BIG brakes, these 14.5” rotors with 4-piston calipers could be just what your project demands. Another new product they’re rolling out is an award-winning Best New Product. It’s an Electric High-Power Master Cylinder Kit that can generate up to 1,200 pounds of pressure all in one self-contained source! ABS Power Brake claims it offers the highest pressure and is the smallest system...