Looking at this picture now, I can no longer imagine my original plans were to simply slap some seat covers on and call it a day. I changed my mind when I realized these ol' seats had been rat-infested and that the majority of my time spent with my car would be sitting in the driver’s seat! Making over my car's interior was one of the first jobs I tackled alone on my 1955 Studebaker. Whenever I open the door and sit on my plush and sturdy bench seat, I'm thankful that I took the time. This article is just one of an entire series focusing on how-to rebuild your car's interior yourself, next up will be Car Interior 103 - Auto Upholstery. Before we get to upholstering, let’s make sure you've got a good foundation to put that pretty new fabric on. Following the steps below will get ya ready to ride in style and comfort! 1.) Pull the seats out of your car. You can't very well work on those seats while they’re still inside the car! This job is easiest when you've got plenty of room...

Happy 2010!! Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get down to business! And for Grease Girl that means giving you more of what I originally set out for...to help the beginning car person get involved in the garage! While I hope my Studebaker wish list will provide the topics for some great how-to articles over the coming months, I've got a few tech how-to's up my sleeve already. Next to mechanics, paint is priority for most. However its my opinion that interior is more important, particularly if its a daily driver. Far more hours are spent sitting on the inside than viewing the paint outside, right!?! So what better place to start this year off than with the very first job I tackled on my Studebaker - the interior! Get ready for a whole series of articles this month on redoing your classic car's interior. Before jumping in, I thought I'd start with a few tips from a pro. Luis Loyola was kind enough to have me over to his shop, Loyola Auto Interiors, and share with us some terrific expert advice. So sit down, relax,...

Salt Flats Speed Shop in Orem, Utah is run by Chris Davenport, a metal fabrication and finishing craftsman and hot rod builder who is dedicated to building 1930's traditional hot rods.  Chris has been in business officially for about 2 years now and is attracting more and more customers as the word gets out about his affordable, high quality craftsmanship. "Need a Chop, a roof insert, fender, or a quarter panel? Well you've come to the right place. We'll fix all your cars issues, and have it looking as good in "bare metal" as it did when it was made." Chris (in the white shirt) showing us around his shop in Orem.  This is a customers 3 window coupe with suicide doors.  We dropped in on Chris Thanksgiving week.  He willingly took an hour or more to give us the full shop tour.  He explained all his tools, showed us all his projects and talked shop.  I could tell Chris is passionate about hot rods! I had emailed Chris letting him know that a friend and I wanted to drop in and check out his shop.  My friend, Gary, has a 1928 Model A Pickup of his own...

I’ve found that everybody has their own unique approach to building and working-on their car projects. You’ve got factors like money, who’s doing the work, skill level, space to work in, time, end-result, and of course personal organizational style (or lack thereof!) My 1955 Studebaker Champion is a work-in-progress. Since she’s my daily driver my top goal is to keep her on the road so I’ve got regular maintenance to keep done and of course unexpected events come up too! But that doesn’t rule out my desire to get her into better shape as time goes by. So with it being the holiday season, I figured this would be a good time to step back and identify what I’d like to get done and what my priorities are for Stude. So I’m not sure whether this is a Christmas wish list or my 2010 New Year’s Resolutions... but here it is! Maybe you’d like to make your own for your project car! Get a new exhaust system on. The pipes that went on my car were originally shaped for a different model Studebaker. This means I’ve got an ugly exhaust system...

The Acura RSX is definitely one of the cars on my short list for fun to drive daily transportation.  They're lightweight, good handling, reliable, fuel efficient and the performance model (Type-S) has a 200hp high revving 2.0L DOHC 4 cylinder using a 6 speed manual.  I've only seen a few RSX's that have really impressed me.  Jose Guadalupe's silver Base model (non-200hp) is one of those and it certainly caught my eye with its aggressive styling. Photos are by FotoSet, djdorifto and Kami Speed.  Click the images to see them Full Size. That aggressive look is courtesy of STANCE.  If you're a hot rodder or custom nut, you already know what Stance is.  The "tuner" cars of today are continuing the Stance trend set by low 50's Custom's, raked 60's Muscle Cars or 80's Lowriders by going with low ride height and aggressive camber and flush fitting wheels.  Jose's ride has -5.5 degrees of rear camber and -4.5 degrees in front.  But why so much camber?  First, it helps get those 9.5" wide wheels to fit under fenders made for 7" wide factory wheels.  Second, negative camber just looks so cool.  To me, big camber is a street car interpretation of...

This is probably the coolest Barn Find to date.  I'm not gonna talk much on this one, because it will take up too much space where pictures should be.  Please check out this website.  Looks like each car can be purchased for $2000.  Heck, if you're crazy enough, you can purchase his drafting plans for $10/ea to build your own.  Good luck though, because you're going to need serious craftsmanship to build it.  Here's the website: Sandy's Can Cars You'll be blown away, I was!...

Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Dallas Volk, my Salt Flats insider, sent me this link.  He is good friends with the Burkland family.  I knew I needed to share their website with you all.   This post does come with some sad news, that Gene Burkland has passed away this week.  I mean this post to be in deep respect and a tribute to Gene and his family's great history at Bonneville. The Burkland Streamliner is a twin Donovan Chrysler powered, 4 wheel driven racecar that has gone over 400 mph.  Please take a look at their website HERE as it is full of pictures and information, as well as links to other Land Racing websites and stories.  This blazing fast Streamliner was designed and built by Gene and his son Tom Burkland.  If that's not "My Ride is Me" I don't know what is...Here's a quick blurb from the site about the Burkland family: "Gene and Betty Burkland, from Great Falls, Montana (the first SCTA members from that state), have been active in racing, and at Bonneville in particular, for over three decades: their first Bonneville car was a chopped-top, Chrysler-powered '53 Studebaker...

Salt Flats Tribute Car: Boy do we have a treat for you guys?  I've wanted to do a "work in progress" story on Larry Volk's street roadster since I found out about it earlier this year.  It's finally progressed to a point where there's good progress  showing.  The Volk garage is part hot rod time warp, part skill and craftsmanship, and part inspiration. We'll get to the 1929 Ford Model A Roadster project car in a second.  First, let's talk time warp.  Larry and his family have been into racing and hot rods since the early 1950's.  He started out drag racing  and dirt sprint car racing.  His race buddy Terry Nish invited him out to the Salt Flats in the late 1950's/early 60's and that was it for Larry.  He's gone every year since (unless it was rained out) and his life has become engulfed in the Salt.  Currently Larry is in his second stint as President of the 200 MPH Club, Chairman of the Save the Salt Committee and current holder of the SCTA Bob Higbee Award given out at the Opening Ceremonies of Speed Week 2009. With all this and more, Larry's garage...

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car: ...oh ya, and its FRONT WHEEL DRIVE.  Tell that to the "wrong wheel drive" haters! Pikesan and I first met Dr. Bonner Denton, Professor of Chemistry and Geosciences at the University of Arizona, in the starting line at Speed Week 2009.  His crew was performing the final preparations for a speed run.  He gave us his whole land speed racing's history in about 10 minutes.  The more he explained the workings of the Berkeley, the more interesting it got. Racing on the Salt Flats is a funny thing.  Bonner Denton, owner/driver of this record bearing 1959 Berkeley sports car describes racing on the salt similar to driving on 1-2 inches of wet snow.  Try putting 2400-2500 HP's of twin turbocharged 540 cu in of  Donovan V8 goodness to the salty ground.  Nope, he doesn't need a push truck either.  This baby drives off the line under its own power. Going back to 2000 when Bonner first started running this particular Bad Berkeley, it replaced his Bocar.  The Bocar set the record at 264 MPH with an A motor in 2001. The first thing you notice about the Berkeley is...

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car: While at World Finals at Bonneville on Friday, I was cruisin' the pits looking for cool cars.  I spotted the little red Vega with its hood up and the small crew busy working.  I walked over and just started watching and listening to the sweet Cosworth powered twin cam engine.  I did not know anything about the rare Cosworth Vega (only about 3500 total built during 2 years of production), but I left with the interesting basics.  The owner/driver Frank Sloan from California answered all my noobie questions and left me wanting more.  Luckily, his "Cosworth Vega Owners Association" decal had a website that can give you the history of the Chevy.  The concept actually started out as early as like 1970 or so.  The Chevy Special Projects group (Chevy Racing Dept.) wanted a hot little econo-rod to compete with BMW's 2002ti and Datsun's 510.  Original designs called for a 2.0L twin cam, 16 valve aluminum head and block built by the Indy car engine builder Cosworth to make around 185hp.  After having smog certification test failures, the car was late to the market and...

Since sometimes its easier to "show" then "tell" I've decided to make some videos on tech issues when they come up with my 1955 Studebaker Champion. So without further adieu...here's my first in the "Wrench Like A Girl" series...let me know whatcha think! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLRDfy7K4VM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999] Topic: I'll be changing out the distributor wires (aka ignition wires, spark wires). Diagnosis: This problem was first brought to my attention by a friend who pointed out the gaping hole in the wire casing. And only then did it really register how uneven my idle was and how much power I'd lost in my engine! Keep in mind that these wires are carrying the electricity into the engine. Without these babies there would be no spark to ignite the gas within your engine chamber! Due to my damaged wire, my engine was not firing on all 8 cylinders - no bueno! Parts: I picked up a new set of ACDelco wires from C&C Automotive Distributors in Long Beach. Cost: $40.68 Tools: Really just the new parts and your hands. I also needed an Allen wrench to undo the hex bolts on the part that...

Bonneville Salt Flats Inspired Hot Rod Thanks to Speedhunters.com for this beautiful shot of Rex's amazing Lakes Modified roadster at Speedweek 2009. If you had the engineering and fabrication skills of Rex Schimmer, how would you build a Model A roadster?  If (or when) I build a roadster, it could look much like this 1929 Lakes Modified Ford roadster!  Rex is actually a MyRideisMe.com member.  You can see his MyRideisMe Garage and make his ride one of your favorites and put him in your "crew" like I did. Rex's roadster is unmistakeably a traditional style Lakes Modified build, but it is also very unique and one of a kind.  Read on to find out exactly what went into this 7 year project, which culminated in the ultimate drivable roadster you see here. Rex: How did I get into cars? Been a car guy since I was 11 or 12. I started reading the "small" magazines, Rod and Custom, Car Craft, etc. around 1955 and bought my first car, 1953 Ford Victoria hardtop in 1958. I dropped it using dropped spindles, cut coils and a de-arched spring, removed the hood and trunk chrome, frenched the head lights...