Homebuilt Ford Falcon by Greasegirl & Ethan The last time you heard about the Ford Falcon project, I was getting everything off the engine in order to pull it... that was nearly a year ago! In between here and there you've hardly heard from me. It's been quite a year - not only did I start a new job (in which I'm writing articles every day), I got married, and moved. Those things haven't kept me from the garage though - I helped build a demolition derby car with my car club and also took part in my first SEMA build project with the SEMA Businesswomen's Network. I can only make excuses for so long though - and the time has come to follow through with the Falcon. In bits and pieces over the past few months, the engine has come out, I've done my first bits of body work using hammers and dollies, and I've sanded the engine bay. Originally, this was to be a quick job - sanding just enough to lay some rough paint down. Well, the moment that Chicago Pneumatic sander uncovered bare metal I...

For the past 4 years, Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational has been bringing out the best of the best for real road-proving competition. Directly after the SEMA Show in November, chosen vehicles drive out to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV. Each year, the competition has gotten hotter. Click here to see a 2-minute teaser on Optima's YouTube Channel! This coming weekend is the first chance for you to see the action of all four catagories up close and personal on SPEED. The special's premier will be this Saturday, February 25th at 2 p.m. ET. In addition to the Saturday, Feb. 25 airing, the 2011 OPTIMA Invitational is scheduled to re-air on SPEED at the following times: ·         Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012 at 3 a.m. ET ·         Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. ET ·         Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 11 a.m. ET If you catch the action, let us know what you thought of...

Each year in December, Mooneyes throws their Xmas Party Show & Drags. Out of all the car shows here in Southern California, this is one of my favorites. Not only does it have plenty of cool cars and a great people - but it's held at Irwindale Speedway and has a "run what ya brung" drag racing event alongside everything else! Often, it happens to be raining during the Mooneyes Xmas Show - but this year was nothing but blue skies and beautiful weather! I loved the exhaust coming off this little pickup. Walking past this bare-metal Volkswagon van/bus made me do a double take! I've never seen anything like it! Not only for the fact that it's a VW and is in bare metal - but because the body style was completely original to me too! With the front having 4-doors and looking like a VW van, but then it's got this delivery-truck bed in back complete with awning above! Come to find out, this thing is called a VW Vanogen. I love seeing new and unique stuff... ...and Mooneyes Xmas Show always brings it on! For example,...

Must Have Mechanics Tools In my quest to learn about working on cars, I'm realizing that there's a lot I've learned about tools alongside learning about cars! When I first started working on my newly purchased Studebaker around five years ago - the only tools I had were neatly packed into an aptly named "Do-It-Herself" toolkit I'd received for high school graduation years before. Those got me by around the house - but weren't much help in the garage. Having a handy and helpful Dad, it didn't take him long to wrangle me up some spare tools from his garage. Soon enough I had a starter mechanics toolkit. A small assortment of sockets, wrenches,and a screwdriver were about all I started with. Its also about all hot rodding young people had back in the fifties! But as anyone who's worked on cars know - different jobs call for different tools. Sometimes you can make do with what you have and sometimes you've gotta go out and buy or borrow the right tool for the job. For everybody else out there who's learning as they go or just getting into cars - here's...

Engine Disassembly Begins for this Ford Straight Six After beginning my 1960 Ford Falcon project, hearing from you all, and thinking about it a bit - I've decided I do want to keep the original straight-six engine. I will quite possibly be hopping it up some as I rebuild it - but I like the idea of keeping the car original and just working with what I've got. As I continue growing in my car knowledge and mechanical skills, I continue to be drawn towards performance and racing. Thankfully I've not only got the Falcon to work with, but also have my Studie. Since my 1955 Studebaker Coupe is already modified with performance parts, it helped in my decision to keep the Falcon original. First things first, the radiator had to come out (after being drained first, of course.) Once that was done, I decided I'd go ahead and pull other front pieces off. Not that it will help very much with getting the engine clear (there's a permanent bar in front that we'll have to lift the engine up and over when the time comes.) But if I'm going to do a job,...

Best of the Best at SEMA 2011 Each year, SEMA brings 1000s to Las Vegas for the most complete aftermarket automotive show on earth. I can give you the numbers, but it's still hard to describe how huge SEMA is. Start by imagining that it fills up all of the 3.2 million square feet of the Las Vegas Convention Center. SEMA 2012 had over 100,000 attendees and 2,000 exhibitors. With this much going on, SEMA is the place to find the newest cool products and cutting edge cars! Since this event isn’t open to public - MyRideisMe was there to get the inside scoop for you! Best New Products With the abundance of companies exhibiting, you can find about anything you’re looking for at SEMA. Since I’m still a novice mechanic – my “best of” reflects things I would be excited to add to my own car. Edelbrock E-Street Fuel Injection System I know EFI systems have been around for awhile to convert your carbureted engine to fuel injection - but not until I saw the newest offering from Edelbrock had I ever considered one for my own car. This E-Street Fuel...

1960 Ford Falcon Project I recently pulled my Ford Falcon into the garage with plans of figuring out what’s going on with it. This weekend I dug in and really enjoyed myself! For years, most wrenching days have had a deadline. When Studie was my only car I had to get things fixed right away, which meant some stressful times in the garage. This weekend’s job was nice and relaxing (albeit dirty!) Here’s what I did… I began with a good solid de-greasing of the engine. Boy was this a messy job! Every inch of the engine and oil pan was covered in oil and grime. One can of engine gunk, one can of brake clean, a good amount of Purple Power, some wire brushes, a scraper, and a roll of shop towels later… The engine was clean but boy was I greasy! Once the engine was clean, I figured a good place to start was the plugs. Not knowing the history of this engine, I have no idea what’s been done to it! As I pulled the plugs things didn’t look too bad until I got to spark...

Custom Car Gathering at Winfield Watson Car Show 2011 In the world of Customs, Gene Winfield is a legend. So what better place to have a custom car show then at his place? Gene's shop is located outside of Mojave, about 2 hours from Los Angeles. Originally Gene Winfield and Larry Watson started this car show and now Gene carries it on - assisted by the Rod Tossers Car Club. It isn't a huge car show in terms of numbers, but people from all over the world come into town just to make this show! Me and my fellow Gasoline Girl, Lori made the trek out to the show together. Sometimes its nice to get out of the congested LA freeways and onto the open road! Upon arrival, there were all sorts of cool customs - Not to mention all of Gene's projects. Inside one bay, was this very cool rebuild of a custom van. This van looks more cartoon than real - I love the mouth-like offset grill. Walking around outside was like being in a candy store - Bright colors and an array of custom details everywhere...

Nothing says nostalgia like a 1955 Chevy Gasser! When my friend Stan asked me to join him at the dragstrip to race his '55, I couldn't say no. As I arrived at his place, I expected to see a trailer. Not this time - because this Chevy dragster is street legal! Heads turn as we drive by and in no time we've arrived at Irwindale Speedway for Thursday Amateur Night. Arriving early meant no waiting in the tech inspection and almost no line to race!  Everything went so quickly, it was only a few moments before I was jumping out of the passenger seat so Stan could pull up to the waterbox. Waterbox? That's the area that they wet down so each car can burnout and warm up their tires just before they pull up to the line. Powering that beautiful metal down the line is this 454 Rat engine. Adding a little something extra is a Mercruiser blower. Behind it all, there's a Turbo 400 transmission with a Maxwell valve body. He calls it the "Lynwood Flash". Stan happens to be a SoCal guy through and through (those...

James Owens - Featured Hot Rod Artist Everybody could use a little more creativity to fuel their lives – so we’re kicking off a new feature here at MyRideisMe! In our Artist Toolbox series, we’ll introduce you to a new hot rod inspired artist and bring you a tutorial from the artist themselves. So not only will you get the opportunity to learn about some fantastic, creative geniuses – but you might learn a thing or two as well! Some people out there hear the word “art” and think of fancy-schmancy galleries and a bunch of stuffed shirts. Others hear “low brow art” and assume it’s something the wife wouldn’t allow hanging in the house. No matter what you think of hot rod art, you’re in for a surprise! The artists we’ll spotlight in the Artist Toolbox series create high-class, fun, and hot-rod inspired pieces of beauty. They put the same sort of grit and heart into their works of art as we all put into our cars. This month’s feature artist is James Owens. Originally out of Detroit, James has single-handedly coined the phrase “car noir.” Art should...

How to Change Sway Bar Links in a 2002 Ford Focus My friend had been experiencing a squeeking sound from her front suspension – mainly when she was making a turn. A mechanic she frequents suggested it was the sway bar linkages that were causing this squeek and quoted her a $47 per linkage plus whatever labor charges were incurred. Knowing I was out of work and could use a buck, she asked me if I could do the job for her instead. I looked up the linkage on a Ford Focus and saw that it was something I could handle – so to the garage I went! (I also had an exciting time finding the air filter, read about that here.) Checking up on Ford Focus Front Suspension Linkages online, I found them to cost anywhere between about $12 and $20 per part. I ended up getting the parts from Autozone, they cost me $12.99 a piece, and were in stock at the nearest store. Already, this saved my friend $68.02 in parts. Step-by-Step How To Change Sway Bar Linkages 1.  The first thing to do of course...

How to Change Air Filter in a 2002 Ford Focus A friend recently needed a couple simple things done to her 2002 Ford Focus. I’m a classic car girl, and so far have almost exclusively only worked on old cars – but I couldn’t turn away an opportunity for learning, so I told my friend I’d look into fixing her problems. What she needed was an air filter change, brake flush, and to replace the sway bar linkage. Having never looked under the hood of a Ford Focus before, I popped the latch and looked for the air filter. I saw a couple places where I thought it might be lurking beneth, but I wasn’t sure. So to try and make sure I went looking for some answers in her Ford Owner’s Manual. I was surprised to find they didn’t have this basic information! So then I turned to the internet. Again, I was surprised that there were plenty of threads on Ford Forums of people looking for the air filter – with one fellow stating that even the dealership tried to tell him there wasn’t one. Now…I think...