Customizing the Interior

Today I want to talk about custom interiors and the many varieties thereof. Also, I finally have my interior to where it's alright. I'll talk more about it below but thanks to the handmade seat covers and an LED kit kindly donated by a fan, it's respectable and most importantly to me - unique.

Interior as of the date of this article.

There's two basic types of people when it comes to this question: if you had to pick, would you rather have your car look like s*** on the inside or on the outside? A friend of mine mentioned that he wants to take care of the outside of his car before he starts working on the inside. I imagine most people are like that but consider this.

You want your car to have a 'wow' factor. If somebody doesn't notice anything special when they first see your car but they step into this interior...

They will probably be 'wow'ed.

I walked up to this gentleman with a raggedy looking old muscle car. I think it was an old Pontiac of some sort. Well, I asked him if it runs well. His response was "Get next to it and find out!" Implying that I should race him. Well he lifted the hood up and under it was a METICULOUS 350 engine. It looked like it had been rebuilt with everything spotless.

The feeling you get from that as an owner is the same reason people build sleepers. The satisfaction they get when you realize their stock-looking car is pushing a ton of power is what drives them. It's the reason anyone builds any type of car or even boat or airplane (ever seen fastest takeoff competitions? those things fly!).

And it's the same thing with looks. Personally, my car has to be running good mechanically before I will spend any money on fixing aesthetic things. As soon as it's running good, I'm starting on the exterior and interior. Of course, if I can do some things cheap or free, I'm going to.

And it's actually pretty cheap to get a good looking interior going.

My old car's (the black Lexus) seats were torn up and the interior was mostly a light brown which I thought was boring so I got black seat covers, painted the floor mats black, and reupholstered plus wrapped the center console black. It completely changed the way the car felt. Just that, which cost me about $60 for everything, made it very enjoyable to sit in the car again. It became clean and fresh again.

The amazing interior in the second picture actually mainly consists of covers and things you can order online for the LS400, such as the table and the dash cover. Still, the items in that picture are of a great quality and quite expensive.

I went another route with the new car. I kept the beige and instead of something VIP-like, I'm treading where no one has with these cars. It was around 06/15/2017 when I got the first car. During this whole time, my tastes really changed.

Lately, I've been inspired by drift cars and especially the Bosuzoku style of cars in Japan. I'm also a fan of function over form. I started wanting something that wasn't completely clean. Something that you can tell I put a lot of hours of work in, aswell.

After a while, I started noticing that things people haven't even really tried work very well sometimes. The idea is to apply all of the skill you have into customizing your interior, no matter if you are a complete amateur like me, and that work shows in the end. Just don't be afraid to throw away stuff that even you can tell looks like garbage but use what you learned to do it better. Don't put anything out there that you know looks like sh$#!

Listen, developing a skill is simple; you do it, maybe fail. Do it again, use what you learned from the mistakes you made last time, and get a slightly better product. Do this over and over again and you will eventually become a pro. It's just practice, people, and it's okay if your first few things look kinda crappy. But like I said, learn to do it better and re-do it.

If you follow these rules and don't lie to yourself, I promise your interior will come out good. It's patience, mainly.

Some of the things you will learn doing your own interior work;

- Being able to stitch a rip.
- Being able to create custom seat and dashboard covers; you can learn to truly upholster seats aswell. This is a trade.
- You will learn how to apply wraps.
- You will learn what to do and what not to do, as well as the best techniques, for detailing and cleaning your car.
- You will learn the use of different adhesives, cleaning chemicals, specific tools, different paints, and more.
- Applying tint shouldn't be a problem.
- You will learn patience or your quality will suffer.
- You will develop a sixth sense of how panels come off so you can do it in any car without a guide and without breaking anything.
- Depending how far you want to go, you can learn to install sound systems, nav systems or screens, and;
- You can learn to create your own interior panels which creates a one-off interior.

Let's look at this Honda Civic I saw today.

I think it was spray painted (good job), the bumper doesn't really align, and you will find small things like that if you look. But you know what?

It hauls. Butts. There's a boost gauge, the car has nice rims and tires, and I'm sure it's faster than prettier. But to me, it looks great just like that. It screams "I made a fast car... Oh the trim is off? Whatever, wanna race?" Pure fun - that's what this is about, people!

And not just from driving it. Just tinting your headlights, maybe changing out the shifter... You get the sense that the car is evolving and it's getting better with time.

It's inspirational if you are a car enthusiast. I've had depression my whole life, just about, and it's severe now. My happiest moments? Driving the car when it's driving good (it's okay right now, has a small misfire issue - my neurons, I mean). Finishing stitching together a seat cover. Installing LEDs all inside the car. All of these things take my mind off the copious amounts of BS that life sometimes throws at you.

You gotta have that something unique, even if it's hanging on your rear-view mirror. The scorpion was given to me by my beautiful, loving wife and it fit the theme. For me, it represents the sting or power that spirituality (in my case) can have. I always say I'm not trying to preach to anyone who doesn't want to hear it; I am talking about a part of my car that is obviously going to reflect my character.

You gotta admit, it just looks cool.

In the daytime picture above (pretty high up in this article), you can see that the center console had a hole I needed to patch so guess what I used? I thought reupholstering the whole thing would be too much in this case (I've done it before) so I'm trying this for now. I'm using a piece of cloth cut into the shape of a cross as my patch. I can always change it if I feel like it. I also didn't want to just slap a block of cloth on top and call it a day.

As far as what's next, you know, I'm not really sure right now. The back seats are in good condition so there's no reason to touch them, I'm using the leather headrests too so there's enough leather in the front to prevent the tweed seats from looking out of place.

I am frequently thinking of painting, yes, painting the carpet beige with vinyl paint. Reason being is that for whatever reason, the passenger side of the car's carpet is dark brown from all the stains. There is some in the back as well and a good cleaner only made it somewhat better.

I figure I can cover everything like the seats and dash in plastic painters cover. Re-painting the whole carpet - at least what you can get to and see without having to look for it - might be the only way to bring it back to looking like new again. It's bad in some parts, really.

And so are a few other things that vinyl paint works on aswell. The armrest on the door is especially dirty so spraying all of those maybe some sort of Maple-brown would greatly restore the doors' appearance. Maybe not Maple-brown, I'm just saying, a tone that fits the car really well, maybe matching the console or something which is a darker redwood in my car.

You can see one of the LEDs in this one and the car is also lit up by the top light. These LEDs make at least five times the light. 

All of this is still rolling around my head so I will let you people know when I get some more of this done. Tell me what you think about the seats. Some are gonna scream blasphemy! because they're not tight or whatever. Look at it without those goggles that say "worth = value" if you know what I'm saying. Dang, I'm an automotive philosopher and I never knew. I personally love the seats. Like I said, cheap car seat covers are NOT for me.

Transition to Phase 1: Goal

I toyed with the idea of keeping the car a secret for half a year and then revealing it but then I realized that's not fun and it's kind of a tease. Furthermore, this website is for gear heads. I'm going to share with you the image I have in my head of my car in Phase 1.

(To prevent confusion, no I am not copying this car. Just saying.)

This way, you can watch me struggle to get there. Okay, that's not funny anymore (it's pretty tiring) so how about something positive? On my list, I will include things I can do by myself when I have no money along with things I DO need money for. This is kind of nice because while waiting for that mulah, like I said, I have plenty of things I can do in-between.

Wait, wrong picture.

And as my readers know by now, everything I learn during this process, I will teach you. This is what I am going to be doing to the car. Lord help me.

-Replace spark plug wires (fix misfire in general); spark plugs have been done - wires are old.
-White border on top of windshield.
-Sleepy eyes. Need to figure out a way that's not too ghetto to create some headlight covers.
-Paint the rims flat black. I've had the cans forever so I'm gonna do it. If I don't like it, it will be primer for something like burnt bronze.
-Paint the car. I will be rattle-canning it, yes, but I'm actually going to do a good paint job with clear coat. That will be a good tutorial.
-Tint headlights yellow.
-Acquire clear fog lights.
-Finally install hood pins.
-Exhaust; doing 2.5 in. with one set of catalytic converters taken off. Might try muffler delete first.
-Maybe I need stickers? You let ME know! @rokask1 - that is my Instagram where you can reach me and get updates on this website.
-Reupholstering the interior. Front seats are almost done. I'm teaching myself the trade so I'm completely re-doing my own car.
-I need 18 in. rims. Maybe 17 if they look good. I have sports tires for 18.
-Biggest problem right now; strong oil leak.

With having to completely re-do the interior, this is going to take a while. I'm personally setting a goal of six months to get it to what I have pictured in my head.

What is this? This is one of the skins for the seats completely done (not the wolf pelt - the tweed thing on it). Rolled up, you can tell it's even, that's for sure. Anyway, it took a long time and I'm almost done with the other one but it was worth it because it fits like a glove. I will be updating you guys with the finished product soon.

My main concern is keeping the car reliable so the mechanical things will be done first no matter what. However, I am blessed enough to be able to do upholstery for free basically so that's what I will be doing in the meantime.

My life in general is very hectic again because me and the wife are moving again. This time, unlike the previous times we've moved, I should still have time for articles.

I want to keep this car for years to come and I want to look back in ten years and remember this crazy ride, so to speak. For me, it is a crazy ride. Lexy 2 has been much better than the '95 I had. That one, I was worried that it would just die at any moment and eventually it did croak. I've had Lexy 2 for half a year now, I think, and the car never left me stranded or anything.

It has a pretty bad oil leak and a misfire that it had from the moment I got it. I got the motor firing good enough to daily drive it but I can't floor it. I just got the timing belt and water pump replaced because what good is fixing a misfire if your engine blows right after? The belt was cracked all over.

It took the ECU a few days to get used to it. I was really frustrated when I got it back because it was shaking like a mofo at idle! Every time it would misfire (once a cycle or two), shake. That's fun when you have strong anxiety; you get to shake along with it!

Needs work and a cleaning but this is much better than the last car. I'm not going to clean it until the oil leak is fixed. 

It started getting better over time. The shaking became less pronounced. Also, it was shaking like crazy going from about 40 to 60 mph and that went down too. Even better, I can adjust the throttle a little bit - up or down - and the shaking would stop. That's now.

Before, if I hit that spot where the car starts shaking around 45-60mph, the car would buck on me completely and I'd have to let off the gas. It would skip the whole cycle, I suppose, while now it manages to keep going, just without that one cylinder firing. It doesn't seem to be damaging the motor so I'm super grateful for that.

This is how broke I am. I'm gonna get my spark plug wires from the junkyard. Good ones are at least $150 online or $2 each at the junkyard. I'm just doing this for now to hopefully get rid of the misfire. For my old LS400, I had found a brand new set of NGK wires on a car at the yard. It was a $180 set that cost me almost $20 with tax.

Hindsight is 20/20 but if I knew I was gonna be junking the old car (I was hoping an enthusiast wanted it so I left most things), I would have taken so many parts. There was a brand new alternator, the wires, a brand new MAF, a new Coolant Temp Sensor and Engine Temp Sender, air filter (this one is dirty), and a few other things things. I only grabbed the original first-aid kit that contains every single medicinal item it came with, including over 20 year old ammonia caps to wake someone up.

Wanna see the leak? It's BAD.

Bet you $20 you can't find the leak just visually. I'm just glad it's dripping on the part of the alternator that shouldn't damage it. I had a leaking PS pump kill one before.

So for now, you can imagine how anxious I am - daily driving this thing, slowly saving money, hoping it doesn't blow up. That would hurt. But I honestly believe it will be fine.

Wish me luck, post your opinions, add me on Instagram. Again it's @rokask1. Until next time. I will be revealing the front seats soon.

Phase 0.5: The Struggle

A few days ago, I picked up my car with a new timing belt and water pump installed. No problems along the way. Awesome, I'm stoked. I thought I could finally give it some throttle... But this misfire reared its dumb head!

I knew it would cause a problem sooner or later. It already was. With this misfire*, before this timing belt job, the car would shake a little bit at idle. It would misfire, obviously. But it was fine as the car even started moving forward.

The other problem I had with it was that around 40-60 mph especially, if I gave it a little too much throttle, it would buck on me. Now, instead of bucking on me, a cylinder misfires, the car shakes, and I keep going.

The shaking is extremely annoying as you can imagine. My mechanics think it's the spark plugs or wires so I'm going to do the wires now because I already put new spark plugs in there (yes, Japanese brand, NGK). When I did the spark plugs shortly after getting the car, it went from constantly bucking and shaking to only mildly shaking at idle, like I said, and bucking only at strong acceleration. 

I hope to God it's the spark plug wires. I should be able to get a new pair ASAP but I couldn't imagine dealing with something else if it, indeed, is not the wires.

My engine is completely covered in oil, they said. The leak is weird. Only a very small amount leaked out the whole time I left the car at the mechanic's. Then I drove it for another day before checking and it was at low so it seems like it slowed down a little bit. The mechanics cleaned the engine a little and I see that there's a leak around one of the valve cover bolts.

$1,000 to do the camshaft and crankshaft seals. This is what I was quoted at the same mechanic. They did a good job on the belt and stuff but I don't know why they would then try to rip me off like this, ESPECIALLY when they would have been able to access those seals and possibly put new ones in for $200 extra or something. But no call, nothing.

I can't find an honest mechanic in Florida. I just can't. I've had my car returned to me with bolts missing (multiple times), stuff like a hose left disconnected, or they didn't tighten the battery connection. What is going on guys?

But those seals, that's my main goal. Lexy the Second will survive. I don't have to worry about the belt messing up so I'm not so bad off.

I mean, yeah, the car shakes a little like it's a race car at stop lights but also accelerates smooth as long as I drive it like before. Quick enough to not slow down traffic. Again, with the new timing belt in, the misfire is extremely prominent if I do give it enough throttle for it to shake and it accelerates but I just know the motor doesn't like it. Also, the shaking has become milder (maybe the ECU is still adjusting) and actually didn't shake at all for a moment this morning.

What does that mean for me? It means I'm gonna keep driving it slow until I get a set of spark plug wires and replace them. I looked at cylinder #4 yesterday and there was oil around the perimeter. I'm going to find out today but there is a possibility that that oil was external, meaning I was topping it off and spilled some and it could have run down in between the plastic cover because I bought this car with a broken one.

Honestly, the wires need to be re-done in general. There's a certain way you place them so they all fit in their covers but on this car, the wires coming from the distributor cap are set up such that the cover there doesn't go down all the way. The cover is broken in two pieces to pull off this stunt...

People, have some damn pride in your work!

It's okay, I just need to adjust the way the wires sit when I get new ones and I'm gonna have to find a new cover at the junkyard. Today I'm gonna try switching out that one spark plug wire with one of my own. I did this when I first got the car to replace a torn spark plug wire so I might as well see if that works for now.

If that's not it, it may possibly be the fuel pump although those wires are very old. I have hope. That's why this is a struggle for me. Spend $100 for a diagnosis to tell me I need new wires? Or spend $100 on a new set of spark plug wires and install them and see?

The problem is when you throw five parts at it only to still have the same problem so if it's something you're really not sure of, take an L and just go to the shop.

Trust me, it blows to have this tiny little job (hopefully!) to do before I can tear ass with my new timing belt. Of course you will get a big update at that time. It's been two years... 

I've been working on upholstery stuff too that I have to show you right now. I've been working on finishing the front seats. All that is left is the part of the job that I haven't seen anyone ever use so I'm going to keep it a little bit of a secret for now. Essentially I just have to sew on the part that will hold the fabric onto the seat and I'm doing that after I finish this article.

I know not everybody reads every article so the fabric in the picture above is what I'm going to be using to reupholster the back seat. That's also the trim - there will be some on the sides of the front headrests - simple and clean. This fabric is amazingly soft and for those who don't know, I'm going with two different fabrics for front and back for a reason. But it's all tweed-like which is what I love. 

I have to put the LEDs in that I missed, like the trunk light, sun visor mirror, and a couple other spots. 

I have a lot of hope for the car. I was nervous that the misfire might hurt the engine in some way but it doesn't appear to be doing so. I've been driving it like that for six months now and the mechanic agreed that it's probably fine. The oil leak? It sucks but I can afford to add the oil.

There's usually - almost always - something that gets between you and your goals. It's like some sh#$&+ rule of life or something! But we overcome. Hopefully Lexy 2 overcomes these two little problems and can finally run like she's supposed to. At the very least, I am in reach of that. Thanks for reading, people.

Notice the small covers on the top of the headlights on this car. I want that for Lexy 2 but more pronounced.

* The mechanic's computer showed a misfire on cylinder #4 but my scanner showed a "random misfire" when I first got the car. I probably should have scanned it again. If the wire I changed out a long ago fixed that cylinder, it could have went from random misfire to just misfire on #4. That's my hope and it's the most likely problem. 

Phase 0 is Coming to an End: Great News

Lexy the Second is finally going in for a timing belt and water pump change. Matter of fact, she's at the shop and it coincides with a couple other things.

You'll be OK baby, they'll take care of you and replace your diseased timing belt and rotting water pump so you can properly haul a$$ for hundreds of miles. -Me talking to my car.

This is a huge milestone for me for personal reasons. The reason there is a Lexy 2 is because I think the first one's timing belt slipped. It was forever doomed after that.

As I was working on that car, I was praying for the belt to last long enough to fix it... But also that it would fail if it wasn't worth it. That car was a lemon and I knew it. It was two cars made into one - a rebuilt salvage title. But she showed me how awesome these cars are.

And then, an angel appeared. I was looking for other LS400s on Craigslist because I knew inside that the '95 was dying. I had a gut feeling. It just so happens I got a great deal on a much better maintained LS400 and junked Lexy the First. I never regretted it.

I'm going to warn you guys now, this is not a typical article. I'm going over the whole history of my car and thus the website - 2 years back. You're going to be getting an insight into my life a little bit so if that's not for you, there's quite a few other articles that should fit your interest. 

I've shared this same picture here before but it's one of the best ones I have of the car. It was a Kodak moment (do they still exist?).

This car, the new one which is a 1996, had 210,000 miles on the odometer. It had just had an oil leak fixed, has ice cold AC, had a small misfire at the time, and was good but it was due for this job right about now.

The timing belt was cracked and I babied the car the entire time I've had it. Now, my dream of just having a reliable LS400 is about to come true. Sounds like I'm reaching so low but yet right now I am struggling in life and was able to do this. That is only because of dedication and someone looking out for me... I truly can't wait to pick the car up. I was able to save up for this by not buying that $2 soda or whatever it was. I always thought to myself, "What do I want more? Some small temporary things now or to get the car fixed before it goes?" Maybe that could help you too.

Just to put this in perspective, I went from a crashed LS400 that I personally changed a good 20 parts out on, hoping to get it to drive without worries. It pooped itself so I junked it. Then to actually get that model in white (much better) and to be on the precipice of having that car, but a better version with a lot more things working, and to have that finally be reliable about 2 years later...

It was a struggle. I mean, really it was hard but worth it for the experience.

And I feel so rewarded right now for not giving up. In a couple days, I will be taking a Lyft to go get my dream car in Phase 1. I mean it when I say elated. You know what? This car alone taught me how to get another 10 and have them all running good. That's pretty rare. It was motivational to me to know I could earn nice things. Save up for them and all of that. Watch my money.

I'll share this with you guys but for years I said I was gonna get a car nicer than my neighbor's 1990s Jaguar XJ-Series. It's an early 90s one and immaculate on the outside, pretty good inside. I finally beat his car depending on who you talk to!

Listen, I'm not a person that chases after objects. I just realized that what I wrote sounds like I was jealous but it wasn't so. I respected the man for having such a nice car and I set a goal of mine to beat that. No jealousy involved. Well, except for his 1969 Chevy Caprice convertible. I'll beat that one too old man!

1969 Chevy Caprice.

As some of you may know, a dear reader sent me an LED kit, something to give the interior a little bang. You will find the picture as you scroll down and it shows the backup lights. I'm also reupholstering the seats. I know I said you guys wouldn't see anything else before I had it all together, but you know what, I'm celebrating.

What's that? Why, that's most of the new fabric going on the front seats. I am truly teaching myself to do upholstery and this is the first big project that I've undertaken that is coming out even better than expected. 

You should be able to tell what the deal is. The parts on the top go over the back of the seat, allowing the measured seat part to go over the bottom part while an extra flap connects everything behind the seat, locking this into place.

The picture above is a mock-up of what I'm doing. To be more clear, I simply overlaid this on the driver's seat with the back part actually slipping on like how it's supposed to. The passenger seat has a typical car seat cover. Little bit different...

I have learned so much doing this. My knowledge base concerning cars in general has grown a few times over. A job that was quite literally impossible or near impossible to do for me to do not long before starting this website is now something relatively easy. 

Recent LEDs - gift from a reader!

I hope to inspire young people to invest their money into a car they can work on instead of running around on the streets (drive around instead) and also I hope certain people realize that they have a trade, something they can live from. Cars mean a lot to people because the sky is the limit as far as what you want to do in this huge auto business if you so desire.

You can truly carve a life out for yourself that is respectable and rewarding but I mean it when I say carve because some days you're going to be dragging your body by your bloody fingernails but one day... That one day... You will realize that, well, your dreams? They came true.

Back to the whip, quick. It's leaking oil and quite a bit so I'm praying it's something relatively cheap. I literally told the mechanics to ignore it but let me know if it's something that could be fixed while they're doing the timing belt and then I have to hope I can afford it.  Otherwise I guess I'm adding a quart every few days until I can take it back. You know how annoying that is? 

Still, I won't get the chance to spend the amount of money I am to do the belt and pump for a long time so I'm doing it now. No choice. Not even considering any other option. The life I live, one that is very random, has taught me to take something you need when you can and that time will come. Don't miss it and wonder what's going on!

Let's talk more happy things. I am excited to move into Phase 1. What that means is the car has to run right, look good, and perform well. To me, it looks good but yes, the paint is flaking and there's minor dents on one door.

I plan to pop those and spray paint (Rust-Oleum 2x) the car white. I think I'll do the hood pins at this point. The upholstery will be finished, including the center console, shifter, and entire back seat once the front seats are finished. 

What else? I always forget what they're called but they go above your windows and provide a little shade. I want those for sure. I'm doing my headlights yellow when I can get enough yellow tint film. I had ordered some but it was about the size of a piece of paper so my back-up lights are tinted. Also, they are extremely bright thanks to that LED kit now.

My car is slowly starting to stand out. If it wasn't for a couple minor (hopefully) problems that I mentioned such as the leak, I would be saving for what my original readers know I want and have wanted for a long time.

A catback exhaust or possibly just a muffler delete, although the former is probably what I'm going to end up doing. It's not for power because you won't get any. It's so the car actually sounds as powerful as it is! I want to hear that engine. On this car, a straight pipe is super loud and I don't want that. It has four (read 'em, 4) catalytic converters and deleting two greatly increases the sound already.

Working on the seats' skin.

Anyway, this car has literally brought me joy, tears, different paths to take in life... I've never had a car that literally inspired me to do better.

I know some of you may have noticed my upholstery skills have gotten much better. When I say the car opened up new paths for me, this is one of them. I want to learn this trade that is truly rewarding for me. I haven't done anything for work that was nearly as satisfying. I see that as a big thing in my future.

Guys, I hope you enjoyed my rant and please share this website. It's hard for me to get the word out and I only do this because it's part of my passion. Whatever car you own, don't be afraid to try things on your own and make it unique. If you have an interesting build you want to share, want to write for the website, or just simply want to ask me a question or cuss me out, you can email me at norgin@gmail.com. 

Why You Should Repair Old Cars

I overheard a conversation between a group of guys and what one of them brought up was a little bit ridiculous and a true show of a throw-away culture. He said there is no point whatsoever to do big repairs like the timing belt on cheap cars like the Lexus LS400. His reasoning was that it is cheaper or at least costs the same to buy a new car.

And you can also buy a new TV when the remote breaks. What was dumbfounding to me was that most people there agreed, except one lonely individual in their group. I pose a question.

Why should you spend the money to do all of the repairs around the 200k mile marker and further after that?

Isn't it about time for the car to die? Absolutely not!

Some cars should be trashed, there is no doubt about it. Maybe even most cars around 200-300k. However there are those stand-out cars that, if maintained properly, will make it to 500,000 miles and more. I'm talking about cars like the Volvo 240/740/850, Lexus LS400, certain 90s Mercedes said to never die (except electronically haha... sorry, not funny).

These cars each have their own peculiar fault and it's important to take care of that before it fails. Kind of like doing the timing belt at 80k miles on your 32v Northstar engine so it doesn't snap and destroy your engine at 90k except more sane. It's equally important to actually give the car a tune-up every once in a while and keep the fluids fresh. Anything small that comes up, fix it. Oil changes and tune-ups keep an engine from damage over time.

It seems like a pain when you're at this precipice, I know. But once you put in some money (for a car that would have cost $90,000 today, like  a Mercedes 320 or Lexus LS400), you can drive it without worrying about anything for miles and miles. That's when you really fall in love with your car. Get it to a state where flooring it won't kill the motor, you know? I've gotten out of accidents by just flooring it. Just don't do that a lot because that, too, will eventually kill something on your car.

I learned the hard way.

Listen (read?), I have something to say about newer cars. Nevermind the styling (most new cars look like crap to me), new cars are literally built to last about 2-300k miles at the maximum, are full of useless electronics that fail, and are often made with parts that require special keys that only the dealership has. When manufacturers made cars in the 90s and before, they built them to last. That's why there's an 800,000 mile Mercedes 300SEL (80s car) and Matt Farah's Lexus LS400 (90s car) that is about to reach 1,000,000. That's semi-truck mileage. Besides normal maintenance and minor things, the worst that happened is that the car blew the tranny around 750,000. That was the Lexus. I'll take that.

Are you going to really tell me that it's not worth spending $3,000 on a car that sells for $1,500 now?

I want to beat this point into your head. Yesterday someone told me his friend recently bought a new car, a 2017 although I forget what brand it was. Three weeks into his ownership, the front brake assembly broke and fell off while he was driving. Yes, both sides. My parents bought a 2015 Ford Focus... About a month later, they go on a road trip in their obviously road worthy car (right? they had just got it and it was inspected). They spent it in a small town where the transmission blew. From what I heard, the third and fourth gear got stuck together.

Thank God but my 1996 car with over 200,000 miles has the original transmission that doesn't show any signs of giving out soon. I paid under $2,000, they paid five times that with the transmission. For a Ford Focus.

I've noticed something else too that kind of bothers me. You can pull up in the sickest car and the young man over there will look at a NEW car that's right there aswell over yours. To a lot of people, old car means piece of dookie.

See this Volvo 240? It's a pretty rare car (740s are so much more common that these are almost rare). The interior was immaculate and when I say that, I mean it. A 16 or 17 year old kid was driving it and the car is for sale, I noticed. I assume his father had that thing since it was new. I asked him why he's selling it?

It's too old, it's a piece of doodoo, and I want something that looks nicer.

I understand; opinions - everybody has them. I feel like I'm old and I'm just complaining.

But really, there are so many good cars constantly showing up at the junkyard like an immaculate black-on-black 1990 Lexus LS400. Whatever the problem was, I'm sure it was worth more than the $200 you get for scrapping it.

Knowing this, I tried something. Whenever I would be in a neighborhood cruising and I'd see an older nice car - and ESPECIALLY if I see it a few times and it's not being used - I would leave a business card offering to buy it. I was broke at the time so this was a test I did and man did I get a couple amazing offers. Older people in general will sometimes park a Cadillac or even a Lexus or something, not worrying about getting rid of it but also they might not be driving anymore either - well that's your chance to get a great deal. Show up with some cash and just give them an offer. People's senses are strongly based on sight and when they see the money, it becomes real. Trust me. Only asking them, they might and probably will still not want to bother. But if you have them good pieces of paper, they might just grab the title.

To be honest, neither I nor the rest of my family ever thought buying a car brand new is a good idea. In just a year, you're losing thousands of dollars in value. Is it the convenience of having a warranty for a few years?

You wait five years and a $22,000 car is $10,000. That's just how it works. So maybe think about that as another option. You can get some great deals, like when the Pontiac GTO came out (a great car) and then Pontiac gave it like 50 more horsepower a couple years later. Those first cars were cheap. And it's only the whopping difference of 400 hp versus 450. The newer ones quickly lost resale value too.

Oh, you guys want to hear about how I "wasted" a couple grand on an old car? It was the first Lexus LS400 I had, the black '95. All was good for a year. I bought it for $300, changed out the PS pump, radiator, and some other things. Except the pump, I did everything myself. Part of the reason I bought this car was because I wanted to really learn to work on cars. I knew basics but that's it.

The car was in a minor front end crash right before I bought it. Like I said, it ran great for about a year when I fixed it initially then things starting going bad. I forget the order in which these problems occurred but by the end, I had replaced maybe 5-6 parts (nothing major), had learned a LOT in the process of figuring out how to diagnose problems and doing everything I could myself. In retrospect, the ECU was probably going out because when I junked it, the car would barely make it to 30 mph with both the tranny and motor struggling.

The story has a good ending because I ended up with the white '96, Lexy 2. However I spent $3,000 on that first car. By the end, it had a couple bad problems at the same time and I would've spent a lot more so I had the good sense to get a different one.

(Editor's note: Do not buy a Geo Metro please.)

Let me say, however, that the money I spent was less than the tuition I paid to go to a mechanic school for a year or so and I learned way more working on my own car than I did at that school! I learned every damn system on that car. Now that I have this new one, if something comes up, I already have an idea of what it might be.

Now, if learning wasn't a big part of this, I would've let the car go earlier and would have spent only about $1,500. That's good for a year of good driving.

I got rid of it because it was a salvage rebuilt title, it was one car made out of two, and was a serious lemon because of whatever mechanic worked on it before. My suspicions were confirmed when I got the newer car. Now, I'm going to do the water pump, timing belt, and some other things. Because of all that I learned, I can tell this car is not a dud and is totally worth repairing. I'm not going to spend nearly that much but $1,500 would basically give me another 100k+ miles worry-free.

Get that project car. Fix that hooptie. What is money? Life is short, just never neglect your needs. Put those first.

Affordable Speed: 1992-2002 Pontiac Firebird

The fourth generation Pontiac Firebird was a bit of an underdog. The Camaro was basically the same thing with slightly more power and the Corvette was the flagship, if you will, of all of these cars.

The car voted as most similar in looks to the Batmobile by Auto Streetrader.

I want to tell you my secret. I thought the Trans Am and Firebird were different cars. Imagine my confusion researching this car. There's the standard Firebird, most if not all of which had the V6. The two trim levels you want are the Trans Am and the Formula. So, for example, you would be searching for a Pontiac Firebird Formula.

I know that sounds retarded to those of you who specifically love these cars but maybe I was justified not knowing. The two trim levels are basically different cars.

The 3.8l V6 is actually not horrible, producing 200 hp, but let's face it - that's like buying a V6 Mustang.

If this is CGI, I can't tell but the headlights look amazing like that.

The Formula and Trans Am versions both had the LT1 motor taken from the Corvette during years 1993 through 1997. In 1998, the V8 Firebirds got a refresh both in looks and performance. It now came with the LS1 from the newer Corvette.

GM didn't want the Firebird to compete with the Corvette so they restricted the airflow to the engine, bringing the LT1's specs down to 275 hp and about 300 lb-ft of torque. In 1996, the car got a less restrictive exhaust bringing its horsepower up to 285 and the torque to 325 lb-ft - respectable numbers.

I know what you're thinking and yes, it is super easy to get another 100 hp or so out of these cars with barely any modification. A better exhaust and intake will probably raise the power by 50 hp or so (that's being conservative). Do the headers, maybe bigger injectors... You got yourself a fast car.

Why are motors so pretty? This is an LS1 and if it's not, you can slap me. 

This generation kept the live rear axle, of course, but 90% of the car's parts are new.  The car initially came with standard dual airbags, four-wheel anti-lock brakes, 16 in. rims, and a rack and pinion setup for power steering. You could get the optional 4-speed auto over the 6-speed manual.

All V8 cars came with a Borg Warner transmission standard. Starting in '95, the V6 was the only engine for a base Firebird. This means you had to buy a Firebird Formula or Firebird Trans-Am to get a V8. No wonder I thought it was a different car.

In '96, the V8s got that huge, iconic hood scoop that literally looks like two nostrils of a fire-breathing monster. Which is exactly what you can make this car. It's simple to work on and parts are readily available. Especially if you have the 1998 model or newer. The amount of aftermarket parts and the potential of the LS1 is huge.

That's the gist of this car. In my humble opinion, it's one of the better rear wheel drive, go-fast-in-a-straight-line car of the '90s. Humans as a species love the feeling of acceleration. It's a great feeling when you make those tires squeal but they have just enough traction to catch the asphalt and you are shoved into your seat as the smell of burnt rubber perfumes the perplexed drivers around you. I'm there going "F&#$ yeah man!" and everyone looks at me weird as a screaming V8 is seen far off in the distance, still producing a mighty orchestra of a sound (because it's got a catback exhaust...).

Unfortunately I don't work for Pontiac but if I did, I wouldn't actually have a job because they went out of business like five years ago... Yeah...

That was too easy, I'm sorry. I was going to say something about Pontiac having a catback option if I was there but again, they didn't want it to whoop the Camaro without at least a K&N air intake (that's a joke).

As far as aesthetics go, I don't think most people think it's ugly although some people really like the big hood scoops while others hate them. In my case, they grew on me. The car doesn't seem complete without those.

The car shares many parts with other GM cars and they should be inexpensive and easy to install. Okay, I really feel like I'm trying to sell you a Pontiac at this point but I swear I'm not, it's just... Good.

Affordable Speed: 1993-2002 Chevy Camaro

This car has stayed my favorite Camaro from the day I saw it. In my humble opinion, it's the best one for tearing a#$. Ofcourse the new ones are more technologically advanced and blah-bee-doo. It's a nice, fast car. I'm not knocking it because it is a good car but we're talking about the fourth generation.

I found this one for a little over two grand. 

Let me preface everything by saying this. Don't buy a V6 Camaro! You will regret it! We're talking about the V8 version which originally came with the LT1 engine, introduced in the Corvette the year before this car came out.

Yes, the Camaro uses the Corvette engine if there is anybody out there that didn't know. You try to buy a Corvette for two grand... Good luck. In 1998, the Camaro got the new Corvette motor - one still used for racing to this day - the LS1.

I want to go through the changes this car went through over the years to hopefully make it easier on you to pick which year.

Most will flock immediately to the 1998-2002 models and there's few being sold because of this. With the LS1, this car was making 345 hp and 320 lb-ft torque. Personally, I think that torque number is higher in real life. The older engine has more torque according to everything I read which is hard to wrap my mind around. Anyway, if you do find one that's decent, get it because the 1998-2002 versions are getting rarer like I said. You will mostly see V6s.

The 1993-97 Camaro V8 had 275 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. If you're not planning on extracting another 300 horsepower out of the motor then I would say you should take an older one in better condition over a newer one in bad condition. The LS1 is just easier to tune and has a huge aftermarket. That doesn't mean the LT1 has nothing.

I'm not saying to buy a pre-98 over the newer ones - only in crrtain conditions. If you have access to buy either one, like I said, the newer ones are becoming rarer and will start growing in value so go with that.

However, if your goal is just to have a pretty-reliable fast car and you don't plan on doing anything but maybe basic mods like an exhaust, then just go for whatever is best price-wise. Don't worry about the year but instead look at the condition the car is in and decide from there. I would take a '94 over a '98 if the latter had 50k more miles and a random misfire code (a simple check engine light code). That's obviously because I know that there's a chance that misfire isn't just spark plugs and there might be problems coming up soon. Versus the older one that has been taken care of and should keep running good as long as you do that.

The only exception to this is high mileage cars that, for example, have had a big service completed like timing belt and water pump, for example. In this case you can rest assured you don't need to worry about that big job that might actually be coming up soon on that older one.

This article wouldn't be complete without pointless information so you should know that the interior instrument lights were yellow ONLY in the '93 model - all others got white ones. Learn something new every day.

If you're willing to sacrifice the yellow lights, Chevy put a better automatic transmission in the '94 model year and up. The car got the 4L60E, a transmission found in the Tahoe and other Chevy trucks. I'm assuming it's pretty good considering this car is neither a truck nor a huge SUV.  That's only if you want an automatic.

The interior is very roomy in the front. 

That year Chevrolet changed the intake setup to use a Mass Airflow Sensor and the car was getting minor updates for the first few years.

The back? It will fit groceries... Or a dwarf. 

The 1998 model year, like I said, is preferred over the older ones so much that if I was shopping, I might just get an older one. It has 5 lb-ft more torque anyway... Oh but the LS1 is like 94 lbs lighter because they made part of the engine aluminum.

Anyway, this is a drag car. It doesn't corner very well but neither do Mustangs. That's not what they're built for. But off the line, if you're not a grizzled veteran that has driven every high powered car, it will surprise you. It will put you in your seat if it doesn't just spin the tires for hours.

For the speed, for the price, the aesthetics, the ease of working on the car... I would probably buy one of these over any other muscle car in this price range. I love the long hood, the spoiler, everything about it and did I mention it has a Corvette motor?

People say they're heavy but they weigh about 3,200 lbs which is not extremely heavy. If I'm correct, the 3000GT weighs about the same and has about a hundred less ponies.

On a personal note, I'm toiling away working on the Lexus and my business. I apologise that these articles have been taking more than a week, sometimes, to put up. It's life. I thank my readers who come back especially and I also invite my new ones to check out the other articles and hopefully, enjoy.

Learning the Trade Update: Bar's Stop Oil Leak and Upholstery

As promised, I'm going to run you through what happened with the product I tested, the upholstery, and a snippet of something special gifted to me by a dear reader!

These Chinese back-up lights harness the power of the sun.

Keep it fire and ice? Probably not but it's a nice contrast.

There's a few car communities out there that seem to create a big community of people with similar cars who usually tend to help each other out while barely knowing each other. It's because of the passion we have, I suppose. There's Jeep people (don't call an SUV a Jeep!), Honda people, BMW people... Car enthusiasts of specific brands tend to get together. The Lexus LS400 community, I am learning, is very nice. A reader contacted me on Instagram and offered to buy me an LS400 LED light kit! It took a month to get here from China but I love it. It replaces all of the bulbs on the interior (I think... I have most of them in) and even comes with backup lights. In blue. I absolutely love it - thanks again @heresjohnnyls400!

Anyway, let's get to the update of what Bar's Oil Stop Leak did. Well, it was very little and yes, I used two bottles spaced 200 miles and 4 quarts of leaked oil apart. Notice I didn't say it had no effect. It seems to have slowed the leak down a little - the car now leaks a quart every 3 instead of 2 days - so that's good but it's a miniscule change and I just need to get my valve cover gasket changed out, that's all. I knew this but I figured I would save you guys the trouble of spending $7.00 on two bottles of Bar's Stop Oil Leak (I bet I've changed that name up three times by now). Well, I was hoping... You know how it is...

Don't fret! 

Yes, this is why articles have been slow and I apologise, but I am going through a big change in life and hopefully at the end of this change, I will have my oil leak fixed as well as my timing belt and water pump before that blows. Those should have 5k miles AT LEAST so I think I'm okay for now. I'm literally comparing the state of my belt to the one on my old car which was ready to go and this one has some time. Strong belts... Seriously...

The one other issue that has been bugging me just a little (not a lot because I drive the car like a grandpa to save the belt) is that the car will sometimes shake once every 10-15 seconds as it misfires when I'm in drive idling at a red light or something. Also, sometimes the cylinder(s) won't fire for a second if  accelerating faster-than-normal in the 40-60 mph range. 

I think this is one of two things. The code is a "Random Misfire," p0300. This means that sometimes, a random cylinder won't fire. When I first got the car, it was hard to drive until I changed out the spark plugs and wires. That helped a lot and brought me to where I am now.

So what do I think it could be? I am guessing it's the fuel pump. When accelerating, like I mentioned, it's like it doesn't get enough fuel (just what I think - I don't know for sure). The fact that it's random points to this as well. And also, the fact that it does this at red lights may be due to it not quite producing enough pressure to send enough fuel at minimum idling pressure (meaning, at that setting it shows it has gotten too weak; when the gas is flowing, it's easier to pump). This seems to especially line up also with the fact that if I put the AC on and the RPMs go up by a few hundred, the car starts shaking more.

Also, quite embarrassing actually - one of the spark plug wires is a different brand because the one that came with the car was ripped. Remember though, it's a random misfire.

Enough with the boring stuff. What is this above, you say? Potato bags? No sir, it is the rolled up skin that is going over my front seats.

I've taken real care working on these and I think the quality is pretty good. The interior is far from done but I can show you how the seats will look.

You won't see this car again until the interior is completely re-done. If you've read some of my other articles, I'm redoing it completely. The fact that those LEDs came is perfect, too. I may do an article where I go through the major points from the beginning. From Lexy, the '95, to Lexy 2 in all her glory carrying the spirit of the original car. 

Please don't ask if I made the black car seat cover - we're looking at the driver's seat.

Happy working on gears, people!

Learning the Trade: Bar's Oil Stop Leak Test and Upholstery

This website will stop at nothing car related. I have been learning a lot, and I have truly learned more about cars in the last two years than my whole life before that, and at this point, I want to start sharing. It's hard to figure out where to start, I know. I have been teaching myself about cars for a long time now and I have been learning about upholstery for a short while.

Upholstery tools and materials. 

Learning the Trade will be typically short articles on what I am working on and we can both learn together. I have a little upholstery update as well as a test I am doing with a certain Stop Oil Leak product. I don't take much stock in these products, meaning that I have only found two that work. I'm talking about the magical liquids you pour in that fix a problem. SeaFoam works but I recommend that you do NOT use it in your LS400 - I had problems because of it but most other older cars benefit a lot. Google your car and see.

The other product that gave me instant results, including quieting noisy lifters and clearing out a ton of sludge, is MMO or Marvel Mystery Oil. This product came out in the 1920s if that's any indication it works.

Currently I have a pretty bad oil leak in my car and I don't have the money to fix it for a month or so. I decided that if this product has no chance of actually damaging something, I'll try it. Never use one of these products that COULD cause other problems.

The directions say to put the whole bottle in your oil. Add it first when you're topping off your oil. The bottle states that it will take about 200 miles of driving for the product to fully work which makes sense. It also states that if one bottle doesn't work, try one more. Makes sense to me. It hydrates your gaskets (my valve cover gasket is what's leaking) and I assume that if any leaks out, it hardens in that part to seal it but I have no idea about that.

I do know that it is mainly composed of petroleum spirits which is... Oil. I wasn't scared putting it in like some other products.

I have driven 40 miles so far and plan to come back with an update in one of these articles once either the leak stops or when I drive the 200 miles required for the second bottle. Fingers crossed. The next Learning the Trade will have an update on this as well as the upholstery.

75% of one front seat.

As far as upholstery goes, I am almost finished with the front seats. Teaching myself, I'm using a totally different method of sewing/attaching pieces together that I don't feel comfortable sharing just yet but you may be able to figure it out. And no, I'm not using 3M to do it (that's to glue one fabric on top of another).

If you look at the picture above, the piece that's rolled up is kind of like a sack that slips over the seat with the headrest removed. That goes back on after. The rest of the fabric will be connected with some leather trim pieces while the entire back seat will be upholstered completely in that leather. It's going to run down the middle, so the center console will be done in leather as well.

This is the leather I'm going to be using and no, it won't be like it's pictured. I just wanted to show my readers the leather.

This original interior will consist of this extremely durable cloth mixed with leather. Another thing I should mention is that I can always use vinyl paint to change the color of the cloth. For now, however, I love the fact that it actually looks like it came out of a 90s car - like a Celsior maybe? That was my inspiration.

Marking where the cloth needs to be cut.

I hope this article encourages you to work on your own stuff. Thanks for reading. Let's learn together.