Reviews

Welcome to the Reviews section.

I’ve separated Reviews into three categories: Parts and Supplies, Tools and Equipment and last but not least, Media. Parts and Supplies will feature reviews on parts I have the opportunity to use on my own cars as well as supplies such as sealants, paints and lubricants. Tools and Equipment will feature reviews of tools and shop equipment I have the opportunity to use. The last section, Media, will have reviews on books, videos, movies and the like, both entertainment and instructional.

Parts and Supplies

GreaseMaster and Rusteco

Environment, people and substrate safe degreaser/all-purpose cleaner and rust removers.

EFS-2500

Environmentally Friendly Stripper that's extremely effective, easy to use and dispose of.

Tools and Equipment

Craftsman 1000w Halogen Worklight

An easy, cost effective and efficient way to throw some light on a project.

Media

Street Machines Idea Book: Classics • Muscle Cars • Modern

There are many ways to look at this book, but I think the best way is as a guide to automotive creativity – this is an excellent reference for custom street machine builders and enthusiasts alike.

How to Build a Killer Street Machine

Building a performance car from an old, broken down ride is a challenge that not even car manufacturers have to deal with. When you consider all the steps a car manufacturer goes through to create a finished vehicle, it’s daunting – and they don’t start with a car that needs to be saved, they start with every part brand new and both a plan and instructions on how to build it. It becomes even more daunting when you start the process to build your street machine and discovered it was beyond your means or worse: manage to get it done only to discover it doesn’t measure up to what you’d hoped it would be. That’s where this book comes in. It provides you with a rough template of the process involved with building a performance car and gives you some helpful hints and tips along the way.

Motion Performance: Tales of a Muscle Car Builder

During the Muscle Car Wars of the ‘60s and ‘70s there were a number of heavy hitters besides the legendary factory names such as SS, GT and R/T and one of the biggest names was Baldwin-Motion. Outside of Shelby’s Cobra nothing screamed performance like Motion Performance. If you wanted to go fast, the easiest way to get there was a Baldwin-Motion Camaro. This book is the story behind the Baldwin-Motion legend, Motion Performance and its creator, Joel Rosen.

Performance Welding Handbook – 2nd Edition

Welding is one of those mysterious skills possessed by people with unique, nearly superhuman powers that can perform the magic of fusing two pieces of metal together with fire sticks. At least, that seems to be the perception of the layperson. Just like welding seems to be a skill beyond the average Joe (or Josephine), welding high performance structures like racecar frames, airframes, aluminum castings and so forth – properly – is a mysterious skill that seems to be beyond the average welder. This book explains the black magic behind the art – and more importantly, science – of welding for high tech structures that see the kinds of stresses racecars and airplanes do and makes that knowledge accessible to the masses.

The Key to Metal Bumping – 4th Edition

In today’s hectic world, quality and skill often take a backseat to speed and “productivity.” As a consequence, skills can get lost to time. That means sometimes having to go back a ways in time to find the information necessary to learn those skills. This book has been around for nearly 70 years and is – as far as I’ve found – the single best resource for learning the skills to repair body panels with hand tools.

How to Rebuild and Modify Your Manual Transmission

The manual transmission is a fairly simple device, but even understanding how one works isn’t enough to know how to properly rebuild or modify it. This book provides a great deal of knowledge that will help you with everything from a T5 behind a plebian four-cylinder to a Muncie “Rock Crusher” channeling the power of a big block used for drag or road racing.

Dyno Testing and Tuning

I’ve long been a fan of properly tuning a combination on a dyno, ever since I’ve run several modified combinations and found myself unhappy with some or all of the aspects of the performance I’d gotten. This book gives great insight into the requirements and process of using a dynamometer for testing and tuning so that you have an idea of what you are doing before you get into it.

Engine Management Advanced Tuning

Tuning a modern fuel injected car is a complex process, however, this book lays out the procedures used to get a modified car running right and get the most out of an engine combination with fuel injection.

How to Understand, Repair and Modify Ford Fuel Injection and Electronic Engine Control

So, you want to diagnose, repair or modify your fuel injected Ford? The information in these two books isn't just invaluable, it should be required reading.

Smokey Yunick’s Power Secrets

When one of the greatest legends in auto racing history writes a book, it’s not surprising to find that it’s jammed full of useful information. What you might not expect is a window into a keen mind that may very well change your whole approach to making power.

The Do-it-yourself Guide to Custom Painting

That this book is well written is no surprise – it was written by one of my favorite automotive writers, Tom Brownell – but it's content might just do that.

Kevin Tetz’s Paintucation

This five-disc DVD educational series on paint and body repair is a great and inexpensive way to introduce yourself to the complex and often misunderstood field of automotive repair.

How to Build Horsepower Volume 1

As the title implies, it explains how to build horsepower and sheds light on the realities and intricacies of building horsepower. This was the book that truly inspired my appreciation of performance engine building. It’s written by acclaimed technical writer, researcher and engineer, David Vizard – a venerable fixture in the automotive field from racing and performance to OEM research and design.