Hot Car Mods Posts

How To: Turn Your '57 Chevy Classic (Or Any Old Car) into the Best Couch Ever

Antique car collecting and restoration is a very popular hobby practiced by many around the world. A quick drive through my town turns up with a handful of classic cars parked in their respective driveways, some in pristine condition, and others not-so-much. While some people end up eventually fixing up their classics, many also do not. Some cars end up rotting away, left to be either salvaged or sold off in pieces—mostly due to time consumption and excessive costs.

How To: Use Plasti Dip Coat to Black Out Car Emblems

Plasti Dip coating is a rubber like coating that can be dipped or sprayed on. I first remember the coating available as a dip years ago. It was first introduced as a coating used to dip tool handles in to provide a grip. However, since then, the coating has became available in a spray can. It has also became popular on car parts, such as wheels, emblems, and even entire cars.

How To: Hack Your Car's Cassette Deck into a Wireless Bluetooth Music Player

Still have an old tape deck installed in your car? This nifty hack lets you upgrade to the digital age without sacrificing your love for cassettes. There's nothing wrong with some low-fidelity tunes in your car every now and then, but if you want to listen to the tunes on your iPod or smartphone too, it's a lot easier (and cheaper) than buying a new in-dash player that supports line-in connections. Just add some wireless capabilities to you tape deck! All you need is a cheap cassette adapter,...

How To: Upgrade Your Car's Digital Clock with a Dash-Mounted iPod Nano

Have an older car with nowhere to plug in your iPod? Rather than paying to have one installed, you can mount your iPod nano on your car's dash like Redditor hyeinkali did in his 2001 Honda Accord. Normally, there's just a boring digital clock between the air vents, but it's perfectly suited for a nano-mod. This is a great hack if you plan on getting one of the new nanos or iPod touches, because it gives you a chance to get some more use out of your old nano and its old school 30-pin connector...

How To: Don't Smoke? Turn Your Car's Ashtray into a DIY Smartphone Dock

If you don't smoke, your car's ashtray is probably either unused or, if you're like me, full of loose change. And if your car is older, unless you've installed one, it probably doesn't have a place for you to plug in your phone. This quick hack by Jalopnik's Jason Torchinsky will solve both of those problems by turning your ashtray into a simple DIY smartphone dock that will charge your phone and let you play music through your car's speakers. After removing and cleaning the ashtray, Jason to...

How To: DIY Subframe Connectors

The guys at PMM show you how to make your own subframe connectors to help stiffen up the chassis, and potentially reduce vibrations in the car. All you need is a length of pipe, a drill, a vice, and some extra hardware! This can be one of the least expensive suspension modifications you can do to your car.

How To: Wrap Your Exhaust

Reduce your engine bay temperatures and improve the look of both your whole engine bay and your headers with something so simple as an exhaust wrap. It is really easy to do if you have the patience to do it. Just wrap it tight, clamp the end, and enjoy your work!

How To: Get Free Manual Electric Fans on Your Vehicle by Removing the AC Relay

Turn your stock fans into 100% manual fans by tacking out the AC relay. Doing so will stop the signal to your compressor telling it to turn on when you hit the AC button. However, the fans will still kick on when pressed, and when released the fans will turn off. This will give you 100% free manual electric fans whenever you want. If it's a hot day and you want the air conditioner on, all you have to do it put the relay back in.

How To: Make a DIY Cold Air Intake

Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a cold air intake, make your own version for your car. Cold air intakes can free up about 4 horsepower to the wheels, increase fuel economy, increase torque and make your engine sound better. All you need is a mass airflow sensor adapter, some metal pipe, couplers, and some clamps to hold it all together.

How To: Install a Grounding Kit on Your Vehicle

Reduce the risk of blown fuses, blown sensors, shorted wires, and even possibly increase shift times on an automatic and possibly increase horsepower with a grounding kit! All you need is some wire, terminal ends and electrical tape or heat shrink. To make this work, all you have to do is run ground wires from essential components to a good ground area, such as the strut tower.

How To: Paint an Engine Block

Tired of your old engine looking... not so good? Clean it up and enhance the overall look with a simple paint job! In this episode, we show you how to paint your engine block, costing you only a few bucks and about an hour or two of your time!

HowTo: Build a Poor Man's Chevy Volt

Wish you could make the shift to electric or hybrid, but you can't afford it? If you've got more than a few free weekends on your hands, you may want to consider undertaking Benjamin Nelson's ambitious (to say the very least) car conversion project.

How To: Fabricate and install door bars in a stock car

Fabricate and build door bars (aka sissy bars) for a full tube chassis 1981 Camaro racecar by following along in this instructional video with Jeri Ellsworth. The door bars are being built for a very rugged car, designed to withstand a large amount of side impact. Tools and materials needed for this project include 1 3/4 x .120 tubing, an "Affordable Bender" tubing bender, a Millermatic welder and a Hypertherm 43 plasma cutter.

How To: Fabricate and install a roll bar in a stock car

Learn how to fabricate and install a rollbar into a 1981 Camaro being converted into a racecar. In this video, Jeri Ellsworth bends and cuts tubing into a rollbar and welds it into place. Tools and materials needed for this project include 1 3/4 x .120 tubing, an "Affordable Bender" tubing bender, a Millermatic welder and a Hypertherm 43 plasma cutter.

How To: Tie subframe rails together in a stock car

Learn how to tie subframe rails together with a Millermatic welder as this 1981 Camaro gets rebuilt into a racecar. In this video, Jeri Ellsworth welds the rails and shows proper preparation and technique. Tools and materials needed for this project include 1 3/4 x .120 tubing, an "Affordable Bender" tubing bender, a Millermatic welder and a Hypertherm 43 plasma cutter.

How To: Install an iPad in your car

The iPad is the king of the tablet PC's. One of the reasons tablet PC's are so awesome is that their thinness and lack of folding allows them to be used in positions where normal computers and even netboooks cannot. This, it turns out, makes them perfect for installing in car! This video will walk you through the process of installing an iPad into the dash of a car, which is pretty freaking baller.

News: 41 Inches Tall and Completely Street Legal

Perry Watkins' clownish mini car, "The Wind Up", is officially the world's smallest street legal vehicle, standing at 41 inches high, 51 inches long and 26 inches wide. The wind up mechanism is purely cosmetic; the car operates as a regular-sized car does, with a tiny engine that can go up to 60kph (37mph).

How To: Install Recon LED Strobes and HIDs on a truck

In this tutorial, we learn how to install Recon LED Strobes and HIDs on a truck. You must first learn where each of the tires need to install and make sure they are placed in the right direction for what you want the lights to look like. After this, you will connect one side to the white wire on the positive. Then, you will leave the white disconnected on the other side for the flash to alternate between each of the lights. These will look great on a big truck! Just make sure to follow the di...

How To: Spray primer sealer and base coat paint on an automobile fender

If you're painting your auto yourself, you might need a little help if you've never done it before, especially when it comes to the primer sealer and apply your first base coat of paint. This video will show you how to do just that. An OEM fender was already prepped by sanding with 500 grit sandpaper on a DA with a soft pad and surfing the edges with a maroon scuff pad.

News: Since Retirement, We've Had Lots of Time on Our Hands. Lots.

Kudos to Fred Keller and Judy Foster, of Anchorage, Alaska, for undertaking quite possibly the DIY project of the year. The retired couple spent 11 months converting a 1976 Mazda pickup truck into a gigantic radio flyer wagon car. "'I think the words I hear the most often is 'awesome' or 'cool' or people go by and give us a 'hi' sign,' says Foster. 'The wheels are made from hub caps and detergent bottles, and the steering wheel is the actual wheel from a wagon. The handle rises eight feet hig...

How To: Install a cold air intake (CAI) for a 96-04 Mustang

In this tutorial, we learn how to install a cold air intake for a 96-04 Mustang. First, you will need to lift up the hood and locate/disconnect all wiring harnesses. Then remove the bolt around the air filter housing and set aside. Separate the intake and the housing, then pull out the air filter housing. Reinstall rubber grommets that may have come out, then disconnect all hoses from the engine. Put the intake and the pieces together, then you will start to place it back into the car the way...

News: Segway + Skateboard + Tank Threads = SICK Off-Road Shredder

I don't know how else to say it. In a word, the DTV (Dual Tracked Vehicle) Shredder from BPG Werk is just plain awesome. "Built as a first response modular platform to better equip the soldier to deal with crisis situations, the DTV is a new class of vehicle that can handle any terrain at high speed. It’s low center of gravity and rugged design make it ideal for a wide variety of applications including, reconnaissance, rescue/recovery, mobile surveillance/offensive platform, med-evac, rapid r...