Cars

Rebuilding a Hydraulic Floor JackThis is a 1 1/4 ton hydraulic floor jack my father passed on to me.  He bought it new during the 1970s. It began to leak down a little a few months ago. The lift arm no longer rises when the handle is pumped up and down. (I was able to pull the lift arm up by hand and it settled slowly enough that I... read more »

Pickup Truck Ballast RackMy wife's GMC Sonoma (codenamed "Rustbucket"), like most rear-wheel drive pickups, gets better traction during the winter when counterweights are in the cargo bed. In past years I lashed plastic cat litter containers filled with sand in place, but these would slide, and sometimes break open. This y... read more »

Esmagamus guide: living with you car's cooling circuitThis Esmagamus guide covers basic steps anyone can take to avoid any issues with one of you car's most important systems: the cooling circuit. Includes: -Brief introduction to the workings of a closed circuit cooling system; -Maintenance; -Troubleshooting; -Explanation of galvanic corrosion process... read more »

Paint your rims cheap! In this Instructable I will show you how to give your ride a facelift by painting your rusty or chipping rims.  I've done this on 3 of my cars now and I've learned that it takes a good deal of patience and prep-work.  I was sick of my Subaru looking like a grocery getter, so I picked a nice gloss b... read more »

$70 paint job (color change from silver to black)One of the coolest projects I have seen here is the $70 dollar paint job.This method uses Rustoleum as a substitute for expensive car paint thats why is so cheap. Who does not want to get a really nice car to be an incredible car just for $70, right? Well also the number one question everybody has i... read more »

DIY Plug-In Hybrid CarThis Instructable shows how I built a Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle. A plug-in hybrid is a car which can run off a combination of electricity (stored in batteries) charged from a wall outlet, and some other fuel, such as gasoline. This vehicle uses ONLY the battery-electric system to start with, and has ... read more »

32 Sedan soapboxI built this soapbox to compete in the 2010 'Hotrod Hayride' soapbox derby where we were beaten in the semi-final and later in the same year at Goodwood where we only made it to the quarter finals but won the trophy for best cart and also for most money raised for charity.  It is built from Walnut, ... read more »

Pop-Bottle-Cap Antenna ProtectorPower antennas are great. You can make them go up, and, well, down, and... well, they make the radio work. The radio's important so that you can listen to, uh, well, sometimes there's good music. Anyway, they're fun to watch, and I want to keep mine working. When Nissan (or whoever Nissan handed th... read more »