How to properly wash your car exterior for finish and protection

 Wash your car exterior like a pro!

 Find the right location:

• Avoid washing the car over dirt
• Concrete or equivalent flooring is best
• Heavily shaded area, without leaves or birds is best
• Access to a water hose

Get the right supplies: 

 

 

You can use the supplies you like best, but here is what I use and get good results with.

1. Wash bucket (or two, for two bucket method)
2. Multiple microfiber towels
3. A microfiber sponge (or equivalent non scratching sponge)
4. Latex gloves (or equivalent)
5. Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
6. Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax (if needed)
7. Meguiar's Smooth Surface™ Clay Kit
8. Meguiar's Wheel and Tire Cleaner
9. Meguiar's Scratch-X
10. Meguiar's Ultimate Polish (if needed)
11. Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (if needed)
12. Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax (or paste)
13. Meguiar's Black or White Wax (if needed)
14. Meguiar's PlastiX
15. Mother's Chrome Polish
16. Armor all outlast trim restorer
17. Armor all outlast tire glaze
18. Rain-X

Directions: 

1. Fill wash bucket with water and proper mix of car shampoo
2. Spray the car down with hose water (do not try to remove anything that is stuck on to avoid scratching, just rinse the car with water)
3. Use a clean microfiber towel or two and absorb the water/shampoo mix
4. Gently scrub the car with the soaked towel until the finish is clear and free from contaminants or stuck on particles
5. (if you are using the two bucket method, have the second bucket filled only with water)
6. Re-soak towel as needed(for two bucket method rinse towel off in water bucket before re-soaking in shampoo)
7. Once the car has been fully cleaned with the shampoo spray the wheels and tires with Meguiar's wheel and tire cleaner
8. Put on some latex (or equivalent gloves)
9. Use the microfiber sponge to scrub the wheels and tires
10. Remove gloves
11. Again rinse off the car with hose water
12. Dry the car off with clean microfiber towels
13. Open the clay kit
14. With the included quick detail solution, spray the car and use the clay as stated in the instructions to create a smooth slippery surface.
15. Now that the paint is clean and contaminant free, it can be restored
16. Using Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 and a clean micro fiber towel, buff out any evident scratches or swirl marks that are seen
17. If there are many scratches and swirl marks all over the car skip step 16. and use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and buff the whole car
18. Now the paint should be completely clean and free from damage
19. If you have a dark colored to black car use Meguiar's ultimate polish to polish your car to a super shining reflective surface
20. Otherwise it is time to wax the car
21. Open the ultimate liquid wax (if you have a black car use black wax, if you have a white car use white wax, or ultimate wax will work on all colors)
22. Follow the directions and completely wax the car
23. The cars paint is now complete and protected
24. If the windows are very dirty, clay can also be used on the windows to make a containment free surface
25. Use a new microfiber towel and the bottle of Rain-x and coat the windows following the instructions
26. If you have chrome use mothers chrome polish and follow the instructions
27. If you have faded black plastic exterior parts use Armor all outlast trim restorer and follow the instructions
28. Coat the tires with armor all outlast tire glaze and follow the instructions (be sure to get the whole tire and move the car to get the area that was on the ground)
29. Lastly use Meguiar's PlastiX to buff plastic light housings to bring out clarity and shine follow the instructions

Maintenance: 

With your car completely washed to a perfect finish and protected by wax, all you have to do is keep it maintained, all these steps are only required once every season of the year.
But, using Meguiar's car wash, or even better, wash and wax, you can keep your car looking perfect in-between deep cleans. Some people wash there car once a week other more, BUT NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO A CAR WASH!
A car wash will use the wrong soap and remove all your hard work, also car washes with brushes just end up scratching your paint or cause swirl marks. Car washes really don't actually clean the contaminants from your car, your still left with a dirty car in the end.

Preventative modifications: 

Mud flaps are a great add-on that can help keep road debris, mud, and rocks from scratching your car.
Car Bra can protect the front of your vehicle from rock damage.
There is also clear plastic coatings that can be applied to rock prone areas.





This advise is only to be used as informational, I am not responsible for your car!

DIY PID Controller for BBQ Smoker

 A good BBQ smoker requires the ability to maintain a constant temperature almost like an oven. Some of the best smokers are insulated and able to be set at a specific temperature. My smoker is a gas smoker that is not insulated, so it loses temperature and the temperature is very uneven. I plan on building my own smoker in the future, but for now I made a temperature controlled electric heating element that works almost like and oven.

I built this device using a PID controller that I bought online. Since I am using this outside, I had to make it weather proof. The device is fully sealed and safe from rain water damage.

The way it works is by setting a temperature on the device. If the device senses that the temperature probe is below the desired temperature it triggers a relay to power a 110V outlet. I use a electric heating element that I plug into the 110V outlet. The outlet is triggered on and off until the desired temperature can be kept constant. I also installed an audio alarm that sounds when the temperature gets higher than my desired temperature.

Here you can see all of the electronics and required wiring that went into the construction.

DIY Knife Sharpener

After sharpening my knives with low quality sharpeners and having them be somewhat sharp but not sharp enough, I looked to a professional. A professional usually has a polishing wheel or some other type of device that is used to sharpen knives. These devices work extremely well but each time you need your knives sharpened they must be brought to the shop. I wanted to be able to sharpen my own knives, so I looked to the internet and found that there are multiple websites devoted to knife making and knife sharpening. After researching different types of sharpeners that can be bought and different levels of sharpness that can be achieved, I decided to build my own knife sharpener.

I decided to build this sharpener instead of buying one to get the level of sharpness that I wanted to achieve. It can achieve a high level of sharpness with a small amount of skill needed, unlike a wheel which requires skill and practice before proper results can be achieved.

 

The construction required a lot of metal working, wood working, grinding, drilling, threading, and creative design, but turned out to be a great knife sharpener.

The finished assembly

Upgrading Chevy HHR Lower Control Arms

Chevy HHR 2LT 2.4L A/T FE3 Suspension

The lower control arms on Chevy HHR's can have some problems.
Mainly they are to do with the rear bushing or ball joint.(other cars have this same problem, check to see if yours is listed on this sheet)

Luckily MOOG makes a problem solver line of products that takes care of poor designs on car suspension. MOOG makes a special replacement bushing that will last and perform 10 times better.

It's called the problem solver vertical control arm bushing k200792.
Check out this cool video explaining it, or read on.

Because the standard bushing that comes from the dealer is made of rubber with spaces between it, it flexes constantly and the rubber will separate itself causing knocking or other driving problems. This new bushing is almost like a ball bearing making it able to have free motion.

passenger side stock control arm

In the video you can see that the arm has three pivot points. The front bushing witch has an easy job of moving up and down, the rear bushing which has to flex and is the problem bushing, and the ball joints.

Because I am using the existing control arm, the bushing will need to be pressed out and the ball joint rivets will need to be removed.

After that is done you can press in the new bushing, and bolt on the new ball joint.




The ball joint will be the MOOG K80567 replacement with bolts for easy replacement in the future and it is grease-able. You must be able to remove the rivets that hold the old ball joint in order to add the bolts for the new ball joint.

The front bushing rarely has to be changed, but you can if it is needed, remember that one has the easy job of moving up and down.

----------------------------Removal process below!----------------------------

Tools needed:

• sockets: 15 mm, 16 mm, & 13/16"
• 15 mm box wrench
• socket extensions
• rubber mallet
• 2x floor jack and blocks

Removal Steps:

1. Loosen the wheel lugs and jack up the side of the vehicle you will be doing first.
2. Support it securely with blocks under the frame and remove the wheel
3. Position a second jack under the knuckle to keep the suspension up.
4. With a 15 mm socket and long extension loosen, but do not remove the two front frame bolts
5. With a 13/16" socket loosen, but do not remove the rear vertical bushing frame mounting bolt 
6. With a 16 mm socket and 15 mm wrench, completely remove the nut and bolt that holds the lower ball joint, make sure to tap out or cleanly remove the bolt don't unscrew if its stuck! (you will ruin the threads and get the ball joint pin stuck)
7. With the ball joint bolt removed, lightly tap the lower control arm with the rubber mallet until the ball joint falls out of the suspension knuckle. (try moving the supporting jack up and down to ease the ball joint out)
8. Now that the ball joint is removed, remove the previously loosened frame and vertical bushing bolts on the rest of the lower control arm.
9. With every thing free you can now remove the lower control arm from the vehicle.

--------------------------Upgrade process below!--------------------------

Tools needed:

• Electric Grinder (if possible)
• Drill Press (if possible)
• Hydrolic Press with 2 1/4" OD pipe (if possible)
• If not...
• Electric drill
• Bushing press kit

Upgrading Bushing Steps: 

1. Place the control arm in the hydrolic press and use the 2 1/4" pipe to press out the old bushing by the aluminum ring. (make sure everything is level and pressing out evenly)
2. With the old bushing removed, use the same pipe to press in the new upgraded bushing.
3. If using the bushing kit follow the instructions in the kit.

 
Upgrading Ball Joint Steps:

1. With a grinder remove the rivets holding on the old ball joint. (grind the side with the ball joint to not ruin the aluminum control arm)
2. With the rivets removed place the lower control arm in a drill press and drill out the remaining portion of the rivet, or try pressing them out. (you can use a regular drill, but have to be perfect to not drill into the aluminum control arm)
3. With the ball joint removed you can install the new ball joint with the included bolts. (Torque to 50 ft/lbs)

----------------------------Installation process below!----------------------------

Tools needed:

• sockets: 15 mm, 16 mm, & 13/16"
• 15 mm box wrench
• socket extensions
• torque wrench
• rubber mallet
• 2x floor jack and blocks

Installation steps:

1. Reverse the removal process
2. Once the ball joint is in place, put in the ball joint bolt and nut and tighten to 37 ft/lb, then loosen it 3/4 of a turn and re-tighten to 37 ft/lb and an additional 30 deg.
3. Tighten the two 15 mm forward frame mounting bolts to 41 ft/lb
4. Tighten the vertical bushing bolt to 74 ft/lb and an additional 180 deg.
   

----------------------- Here are the old cracked and separating bushings. -----------------------

-----------------------The new Problem Solver Parts-----------------------

 

This information is provided to be informative and I do not take any responsibility for anything that you do to your own car.

Homemade Vietnamese "Bun"

After visiting many Vietnamese restaurants I have found a great dish known as "bun". It is like a salad with noodles and meat. I liked it so much I tried making it for myself.

Restaurant

Ingredients:
1 package of rice vermicelli noodles
1 cucumber
1 carrot
Handful of crushed peanuts
Lettuce
Hoisin sauce
Fish sauce
Some sort of meat

Steps:
1. Boil a pot of water to cook the noodles, and follow the directions on the bag.
2. Cut up the lettuce to make a salad and place in a serving bowl with the finished noodles.
3. Add on julienned carrot and cucumber with the peanuts.
4. Place your choice of cooked meat on top and serve with a side of fish sauce and hoison.

My Version