Autoblog

click above for more images of the HiQ service center

As some of us are pretty sharp with a wrench, we loathe taking our cars elsewhere for repairs. Most of the time, we want to watch the guy doing the work, and that's usually not possible so we end up chain-drinking burnt coffee in the waiting room. HiQ, a new automotive service chain in the UK, is revamping its brand and has decided to allow customers to get in on the action. To prove their new concept, cooked up by branding wizards Fitch, HiQ has opened a new facility in Nottingham. The design is clean and more retail chic than a greasy-fingernailed muffler shop. Our favorite feature, by far, is the glass wall that allows you to stare down the monkey lad as he applies several hundred pound-feet of torque to your wheel lugs with an impact wrench.

Thanks for the tip, Larry!

[Source and photos: the Cool Hunter]

The SS Belvedere emerged from its not-so-dry-dock almost two months ago, in all its ferrous oxide glory. Apparently the offer of restoration by Boyd Coddington has either been refused or rescinded, but either way, the Mopar is headed to New Jersey for a spa treatment. Safest Rust Remover, a product of the Ultra One Corporation, is going to take a crack at dissolving just the rust, and leaving everything else intact. It makes us wonder, once you dissolve that rust, will there be merely the lacy suggestion of a '57 Plymouth, rendered in mid-century steel?

A website has been launched so you can keep an eye on the progress. All reports about the Safest Rust Remover product are positive, and the non-acid mixture is used to clean Manhattan's Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. A vat half the size of an Olympic swimming pool might be needed, but maybe there's hope for the old girl yet. The game plan for the car is to not restore it, just clean it up and get the engine running -- once those goals are met, a re-unveiling back in Tulsa will be planned. They should get those Skoda bakers for the event so there's at least one perfect looking Belvedere there.

[Source: Hemmings]

Ford has been studying the question of when to suggest oil changes, and they've hit upon 7,500 miles for 2007 and newer cars. Not only are modern oils better, modern engines are also better. You don't have carburetors metering poorly on winter mornings, tolerances are a lot tighter, and operating temperatures are typically a little hotter, helping to cook off the junk that accumulates in the oil. Some manufacturers use a sensor to monitor the health of the oil and light a service lamp when it calculates change is required. Ford contends that its customers prefer a set amount of miles between changes. The automaker also cites the environmental benefits that come from less waste oil, monetary savings, as well as extensive tests as positive aspects of the new recommendation. I'm convinced that the only reason to suggest changing the oil at 3,000 miles in a modern car is to sell more oil. Perhaps an air-cooled Porsche would stress dino juice more, and could sensibly require changes at 3K, but you can stretch to drain intervals that would make your father gasp and clutch his chest by running modern oils in your modern engine. Of course, your driving pattern has a lot to do with it, as well. If you're in town for short hops, you'll require a shorter drain interval than the guy running Mobil 1 for his highway commute and changing the oil at 25 kilomile intervals (raising my hand).

[Source: AP]

A while back, we expounded on some simple items that brought more joy to the automotive arts. Spring is just around the corner, and we've compiled a big ol' list of things to address in celebration of the Vernal Equinox. Unpacking the tools from their long winter nap is a ritual here, and it's like reconnecting with old friends. Off we go.

Fake trim is for the birds. Of course, there are cost considerations, and a piece of lower-cost injection-molded plastic is a lot cheaper than actual wood, metal, or laboriously laid carbon fiber. Faux trim can be awfully convincing – the metal-look trims in my S60 T5 are a far nicer touch than the faux wood that came in the lesser models. The north-woods car nuts at Hemmings have gotten the scoop on DIY carbon fiber from Vermont SportsCar, the guys that make Subarus fly. Since the learning curve is rather steep, we suggest starting off with interior trim pieces before going toward something more structural.

The process is similar to fiberglass, though a little trickier. You make a sandwich of cloth and resin and then cure it in a cheap and nasty autoclave. Yes, the word autoclave sounds fancy, but it amounts to little more than a cardboard box and a space heater -- incredibly dangerous if you're not paying attention. We like that. The added risk of torching your entire shop will make the completion of your first very crappy parts that much sweeter. Basic parts aren't that expensive to make – Hemmings reports the materials will knock you back about $100 or less. The Vermonters were even kind enough to include a link to a how-to, so if you get good enough, you can cash in by making body parts for all those clapped out Corollas and Civics.

[Source: Hemmings]

For those of us who like to service our own cars, being able to retrieve the OBD-II codes is important. There are various readers on the market, with some more capable than others. Of course, once the codes are retrieved, you need to know how to interpret them. The common misconception is that the on-board diagnostics will tell you exactly what's wrong. The truth is, codes may be set that call out a particular component or system which are symptoms, not causes. To really get to the root of the problem, you need to interpret the information coming from your vehicle's computer. That requires years of experience and knowledge of of how everything interacts.

Or, you could just go see SAM. SAM stands for Smart Auto Management, and it's like a mechanic and an ATM rolled into one. The kiosk systems are going in at assorted chain-service shops and independent facilities. You drive your ailing car in, pay the $15 fee, plug into SAM and get a printout that is written in English even your ten-year-old will understand. Some of us will soldier on with our code readers and mental Rosetta Stones, but for folks looking for a quick answer to the "is this going to be expensive" question, SAM may be your man.

[Source: engadget]

In high school my best friend and I convinced his sister that the sphincter valve on her car was broken and leaking blinker fluid all over the driveway. She freaked and offered us money to drive it up to their family mechanic and have it fixed. We took the money and blew it on Golden Tee.

We know, we know, it's a horrible prank, but it's such a classic. One of the blokes on our development team responsible for our new galleries and improved search functionality (zup, Celly!) tipped us off to this year-old recording of a radio show prank in which a poor, naive young lady gets it good from some morning show hosts. She believed and agreed to pay $2,400 for the pleasure of fixing her leaky headlights, switching her tires that were accidentally installed on the wrong sides, installing two transmissions that were missing from the vehicle and ruining her gas mileage, among a few other fictitious, high-priced repairs.

We're sure you all have some great stories to tell in which you duped some unsuspecting friend or family member into believing something hilariously false about his or her car. Feel free to share in the comments.

[Source: Scogginsnoggin]

We've all got the standard wares of the trade: wrenches (open end and box), sockets (inch, metric, regular and deep), various and sundry screwdrivers, etc. Those things are expected when building a tool kit. In the years since I started wrenching on cars with a simple Craftsman kit, I have done a lot of supplementing. No longer do my tools fit in the small box they came in. The box has long since broken, anyway. My heavy junkyard prowling days are behind me, but they helped me develop a deep love for some of my tools. Usually it's the ones that help me take stuff apart easily, or put things back together correctly.

Check the top five after the jump.

In 2006, we spent a lot of time spinning wrenches here in the Autoblog Garage in the process of taking on common maintenance tasks and a few performance upgrades. For your convenience, we've compiled links to each of the posts after the jump.

We already have some things in the works for 2007, but we'd also love to get suggestions for additional posts from our readership. Keep in mind that we need projects that have a relatively broad appeal, and we're a bit limited in our selection of "test subjects"; beyond that, we're all ears, so please share your ideas.

With it getting colder here in New England, us Yankee Autobloggers have to prepare for winter. This often entails a final running of the yard equipment, just today I mulched the rest of the leaves that'd fallen on the back yard. There's nothing quite like the roar of an air-cooled "one-lunger" ringing out through the crisp air. The smell of exhaust brings back memories of long ago, when that same toxic unburned hydrocarbon parfum emanated forth from the tailpipe of passing Delmont 88s and Bobcats, among others. There's something about the way the scent of decay from the leaves mixes with the exhaust and combines with the air's coolness that just brings to mind those stylized pictures of happy family life in the horn-rimmed 1950s – earflap hats, red plaid jackets and all.

More after the jump.