Automotive News

I just recived the new issue of Fender Bender Magazine (Vol. 1 No.2) and I got to say I like it. Best of luck with your new enterprise. They of have a web site that is not active yet.
They have a little story about a
man sentenced in Colorado for 15 months for failing to disclose that salvaged cars were rebuilt....The indictment charged that he falsely and fraudulently misrepresented facts concerning the extent of the repairs made to the cars.

Automotive Radio Show

I was a guest this morning on the Hot Rod Talk show with Van Jeffries and Mike Young on KCKK radio AM 1600 in Lakewood. That was a lot of fun we talked paint and old cars. It’s a talk show in the usual call in format. I gathered it hasn’t been on the air long and they have a 13-week run.
They seemed pretty happy with me but well, I’m a talker I like to talk I took a couple of calls. I was a little nervous at first but I think I got over it quickly. They’re going to make me a cd of it so I can hear myself. I’d like it if they would ask me back.
I wasn’t going to say anything about this considering it was my first time and all but I couldn’t help bringing up the idea of podcasting the show and I got the usual vacant look when ever I say podcasting.
Oh well if it’s only a one time thing it was fun.

Automotive News The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

Time has this list the 50 worst cars of all time. The the 1899 Horsey Horseless to the 2004 Chevy SSR. Some of my favorites are on the list the Renault Dauphine, the Ford Edsel The Pinto The Corvair The Gremlin, The Yugo and many others see if your favorite is on the list.

Automotive News Spied On the Street

Maserati Quattroporte

2:00 pm, October 15, 2005; Prospect at Potomac Street, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

The N.J. tags said "MFR" and those guys were speaking Italian, so you figure out what was going down.

Automotive Too Feminine

What a mistake BMW has made with its new 5 Series. It looks like a woman!! What's the point of that? Cars are a masculine dimension. Trying to appeal to female buyers? Does that really work? Making the headlights look like a sinora winking? What an abortion!

BMW 5 Series, front view

Automotive Mercedes Has Some Hot Cars Just Now

Too bad they're in such quality troubles. We warned them when they bought Chrysler to watch out for that.

Mercedes CLS Class

Automotive Flat paint for cars?

I guess it just shows that all fashion is cyclic, or as my mother used to say "Wait long enough and it will be in fashion."
My friend Mike works at D & C Auto Body told me that in California flat automotive paint is the new thing. It's a throw back to the 1940 and 50's when the hot rodders were leaving their rods in black primer. Now here's the problem it's the shiny skin on the paint that protects the metal. I've looked at this from a few different ways and I can't think of a good way to do it.
My advice go for gloss.

Automotive Candy Paint

The big player in the custom car paint business is House of Kolor. They are no longer the only player SEM has now entered the field and I am very impressed. They're new line of candy concentrates and pearls is very impressive.

Automotive Hydrogen fuel record


How many miles per gallon could a hydrogen car get, is 10,000 mpg possible? Check
Autoblog.com. Jack Dex, 13, will attempt to break the world fuel efficiency record.

Automotive how to wet sand and buff your car

I have had a couple recent requests to post a detailed article on sanding and buffing your car.
I'm talking about basecoat/clear coat paint jobs here. You can wet sand and buff a solid color single stage paint but not a mettlaic or a pearl. Usually I just say when you do single stage you simply need to accept that what you get is what you get and just accept it and leave it alone. So if you are useing basecoat/clear coat here is how
1. Wash the car
2. Wipe the car with a mild solvent or commercially available wax and grease remover
3. Buy 3 or 4 sheets of each 2000, 1500,and 1200 grit wet and dry sand paper
4.Were going to walk down a ladder here and then back up again. I can’t see the condition of your paint so I can’t tell you which grit to use. Start with the 2000 grit if that seems to be leveling the surface great. If you determine that it’s just not doing the job go with the 1500 if that isn’t getting the job done go to the 1200. Now let’s say you have to use the 1200 after you have introduced throes scratches your going to have to cut the tops off of the scratch with the 1500 and then again with the 2000 grit. You can see you will be doing the whole job three times with this example so you want to get the job done with the finest scratch that will work.
5.Start with the finest grit, 2000 put a couple of sheets into a bucket of warm water and add a few drops of detergent (I just use what ever I'm using to wash dishes with at the time) and yes I almost always wash the dishes at my house. Let the sand paper soak for at least 15 minutes until it curls up we want the sand paper saturated. The detergent is for lubrication. Wrap the sand paper around a sanding block or a sponge and as you sand keep the surface wet and dunk the sand paper often a single piece of sand paper goes a long way if you keep it wet. When you are done the surface is going to look very dull and to bring back a shine we have to get rid of the sand scratches.
6. This is the point at which you need a piece of equipment; the standard of the industry is a 7” polisher you can rent these or purchase them form $75 -$400 Pads for the buffer are made off wool or foam. I like foam pads they don’t last as long as wool but I’m less likely to scorch the surface and I get better results. You will need two pads (a dense firm pad for compounding and a soft pad for polishing)
7. With old paint a rubbing compound was used to scourer the surface it had an abrasive in it but with modern urethane clear coats we need a rubbing compound that actually reflows the clear. Squirt some on to the surface and “butter it in.” That means spread the compound lightly with the polisher used at low speed and then let it sit on the surface thirty seconds or so to let the chemical action begin. You want to work areas that are four square feet or so before moving along operate the buffer at the lowest speed and don’t press down. Let the buffer do the work you are just there to guide it. Now it should be starting to look good. However you will see swirl marks the darker the color the more you will noticeable the swirl marks will be.
8. Hang in there we’re getting near the end. We are going to use a polymer sealant to fill throes swirl marks fill up the voids in the paint and give a gloss. WE ARE NOT GOING TO USE WAX. Wax is bad for paint it has always been bad for paint it was just the best thing they back in the good old days. Today with the advances in polymer technology we can make the paint stronger, longer lasting shiny 3M, Meaguire’s and Finish Kare all make good polymers sealants I use Finish Kare’s Polywipe. Go down to your local automotive paint store and ask them what they carry. Don’t bother to ask at the local parts supply house they just don’t know about this and will likely sell you wax. As far as how it is applied well that is very much like wax apply it with a soft cloth tee shirt material is good old cloth diapers are even better, work it in then let it have up for five or ten minutes. Next, buff with your clean sot foam pad. Work small areas at a time because you don’t want it to harden up it will get very hard and you will have a hard time removing it. Pay special attention to the hood and drivers side door those are the areas people look at closest.
9. Pay attention to the little areas like the edge of the hood and trunk lid get those spots clean before the polymer hardens
10. Pat your self on the back for a job well done.

Automotive Aircars in our future


I've been complaining for years that the promise of the Jetsons has not been fulfilled. Well the time may have finally come. The Moller Skycar company is "accepting deposits to secure delivery positions for our M400 Skycar " Its about the size of a large car, has vertical takeoff and landings, gets 20 miles a gallon and can cruise at 315 mph.
Step right up put your money down and be the first one on the block to have one

Worst Case for Ford

If it comes to it, Ford Motor Company could . .
  1. Close down Mercury.
  2. Sell Mazda to the Koreans; it's in better shape now than it was.
  3. Sell Aston-Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo to the Germans; all are in much better shape than they were when Ford bought them.
  4. Keep or sell Hertz depending on the advantages it gets from the rental car market, and the testing and feedback from rental car customers.
  5. Consolidate around Ford and Lincoln, emphasizing those things American car companies do well, i.e., big cars and trucks, but also competing head-to-head with the Japanese--say Honda--on all things they do well.
interior of a Lincoln Continental

Automotive General's Move

General Motors should . .

  1. GO METRIC so they can . .
  2. GO GLOBAL making cars that compete in all markets around the world like their competitors do. Saab makes cars that are competitive worldwide. So does the G.M. German subsidiary. Bring in the engineering smarts from "over there". But at the same time . .
  3. GO AMERICAN emphasize traditional American strengths, such as pick-ups, SUV's, full-sized cars, V-8's, and muscle cars, which also happen to be high-profit when done right.
  4. GO LEAN drop Pontiac (shifting quality cars to surviving groups), combine Saab with Saturn (or just drop Saturn, it's not distinctive anymore), distinguish the truck missions of GMC (focus on work? go up-scale?) and Chevrolet (focus on consumer?). Ditch the requirement to make a car for every segment, just meet Toyota head-to-head with Chevrolet products, Acura head-to-head with Buick, and Lexis head-to-head with Cadillac. Discontinue all models that aren't making money, except where a hard argument can be made that they drive traffic to the showrooms, maintain customer loyalty, or lead to move-ups later.
  5. GO DISTINCTIVE like Cadillac has done so successfully; like Hummer has done.
  6. GO GOVERNMENT make the pitch to the U.S. Federal government regarding "legacy costs" and how to be competitive with global interests who don't shoulder them to the same degree. Use the government to bargain with the unions to combat their anti-competitive effect.

Automotive Revolutionary Transmission

Thomas Kasmer's has come up with a come up with a new and revolutionary transmission that is 97 efficient and much lighter weight than a conventional transmission. Essentially it is a variable drive hydraulic pump that is attached to another variable drive hydraulic pump that can also act as a hydraulic motor. Mr. Kasmer is in talks now with Ford to equip Explorers and give them 40 to 50 miles to the gallon.
The transmission could be used to break the car and store the energy that could be used again to power the car back up to 90% of it’s speed with the engine at idle.
Read more about it at http://www.hydristor.com

Automotive Who Could Resist the Mini Cooper?

You can call me an old party pooper
For not going along with the mob
But who could resist the Mini Cooper
After seeing "The Italian Job"?


blue Mini Cooper on the street

Automotive News find cheap on line car insurance tips

Economic crisis, this day of rising inflation and lack of job security It has become difficult to obtain cheap auto insurance, despite these challenges, there is an alternative to ensure the vehicles pretty cheap auto insurance online. It is an accident that might occur during the process of insurance theft or high, all you need for your future security is inevitable that the policy is well-known fact. Pray for the provision of an accident occurring anybody to do in case of unforeseen circumstances sufficient. However, it has a good quote for car insurance, in the event, do the trick. But the problem is now to get cheap auto insurance how. In order to compare car insurance, on the Internet the most effective way, it has many advantages over the usual door to door approach.

The Internet can save you time and effort. It also provides a variety of choices. Move from one office to another online quote check your insurance company to help you stop one, listen to and hear all ads from seller to your insurance policy is right for you and confusing. The most important thing you should do before you apply online for car insurance history, performance, service delivery, and is to conduct their own due diligence and background in terms of business insurance benefits. You can choose what is important to protect the promise to apply to those words. All this information can also be taken to carefully consider the review of customer service.

Other factors that help you download your cheap car insurance, clean driving history, in the depths of your mind if you will; this is a very good thing. Even when applying for car insurance, you should consider your budget and your car.

So the best, the best way to find the best car insurance quotes, you save time and power of the Internet to give you some good options, and through. You are looking for car insurance; I cannot find a company to cover you? We have heard that you are considered high risk? When you use quotation marks, can be impossible to know that you are getting too high? To find a car cover that spending time on the phone how much do you have? Fact: Many people are drinking and driving if it was an accident and continuously they do not realize that you have a very low premium rate. However, most large companies, and believe to receive the discount.

Automotive News GAZ 21: Otherwise Known as a Volga

Seeing Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush putter around in a 1956 GAZ 21 in the major news media has had quite an effect on me.  I spent two formative years in Moscow, USSR; the young years when a boy becomes enamored of cars.  All the taxis in those days were Volgas.  We were always told the Russians stole their design and engineering from Fords of the day, which certainly seems the case given the provenance of the GAZ factory and the styling.

Automotive Technology flake buster dvd

Rick over at Old School Flake has put out a dvd about how his flake buster gun works. I must admit I really didn't understand the tool before. It is very cool and I'm going to make sure all my friends that do custom painting see it.

Not only that it has some great out takes at the end. Well done Rick, will Hollywood be calling soon?

Automotive first things first


Let me introduce myself. My name is Jim Lyons. I work at Allen Paint in Denver. I won't dwell on personal stuff, I don't want this to be a commercial for where I work but I want to be up front about my day job. I've run a web site for 6 years not a big deal but you can check it out at http://geocities.com/paintprof I've taught basic web page design for to middle school students for a couple years and I wanted to do a blog (I’ve tried to do a personal blog I just couldn't think of too much to say).
There are things that come up at work all the time and this seemed like a good idea. Please feel free to comment I may not know everything and in the world of car painting there are often more than one right to do things.