Car Modification

I discussed in my last post about the implications because of installing an aftermarket sports exhaust system which are obviously great for your car. The performance of the exhaust system is mainly dependent upon its bent of tubing so first I will discuss what types of tubing you may find in the market. There are two types of bents. Crush Bent and Mandrel Bent. The later is much appreciated by the car enthusiasts however the crush bent is generally found in factory fitted exhaust systems of the cars. Making the story short, coming quickly to the merits and demerits of mandrel bent exhaust tubing.

Advantages:

As I said mandrel bent exhaust tubing is much appreciated by those who love to drag their cars beyond its limits. The reason is fair enough. Exhaust tubing with mandrel bent have an even diameter through out their piping system and due to this evenness, the gases produced in the engine bay easily pass through the system and outside the car without the restrictions as they have to face in crush bent exhaust tubing where the diameter of the inside becomes smaller and uneven as it is caused to "crinkle" by pressure bent.

Mandrel bent are similar to crush bend to the extent that they are also pressurized but an additional die is added which prevents the tubing to crinkle and hence the surface remains even. As a result, a constant circle allows a smooth flow of gases and better power and efficiency of the car. The mandrel bent are also adored because they also create the famous growling sound of the car which reflects the power of its engine.

Disadvantages:

The demerits of such type of exhaust tubing would definitely be the cost factor. Generally these type of sports exhaust system are more expensive than normal, factory fitted, stock exhaust system. Similarly an advantage of it can also be regarded as a disadvantage. i.e. the sound it produces. This sound can be disturbing for many "peace lovers" and can deem it as a mere "sound pollution". In the end, its not necessary that every car will compliment the mandrel bent exhaust tubing (system). Some power loss has been observed in the cars and apparently the exhaust system did not work as it was suppose to. So car keeping in mind the engine's specifications are necessary otherwise all your hard work and wealth will go in vain.

Installing an aftermarket, high performance sports exhaust system are a great way of enhancing the performance of your car. Besides that can also be used for cosmetic purpose as well as to produce a beloved roaring and growling car sound which makes your car prominent and more prone of being noted by your friends.

First of all I want to tell what an "aftermarket" means for car parts and accessories. Aftermarket part means that the part has not been and factory fitted or it has been release after the release of the car's model. It may also mean that the certain part has been manufactured by any other manufacturer.

The exhaust system acts just like a respiratory system of a man where the different gases produced by the working of the engine are provided a passage way or exit route through the exhaust tubing. When a man works out, the lungs helps in expelling out the carbon dioxide from the body and provides a departure platform. If the gas does not exit from the body we will suffocate and you know better what happens next.

So in order for an engine to work more efficiently, the best thing would be that exhaust piping are of larger diameter so gases exit more rapidly and there is less restriction for the gases to pass out. This benefit is what we gain when we replace a factory fitted stock exhaust system with an aftermarket sports exhaust system. Since they provide relatively a larger diameter piping, there is a less pressure of exhaust fumes which results in higher horse power but on the other hand a larger bore size of the pipe slows down the movement of the gases. So performance gain does not lies with fitting the biggest possible bore size pipe as it may result in the loss of low end torque, but an optimum size is suggested which definitely varies with the type of engine according to the RPM produced. When a standard exhaust system is replaced with a new high performance sports exhaust system, generally 10-15% increase in horse power has been observed.

Another problem with the normal exhaust system is that they manufacture a crush bent exhaust tubing which means that there are spiral rings around the exhaust piping due to which the diameter remains uneven and restrictions for gases to pass through. On the other hand high performance exhaust system generally provide mandrel bent exhaust tubing where the diameter remains same all over the system.

So making the debate short, while replacing your standard one with a high performance sports cat back exhaust system, you should be considering the size of bore of exhaust tubing related to your engine specifications. Similarly one general tip of making the gases to exit with a greater velocity is that the the big pipes are connected with small pipes along the entire exhaust manifold are connected in a cone shape. This of course has some demerits too. Similarly if your exhaust system creates an unwanted sound, you can use aftermarket mufflers to kill it.

I've been posting few posts about car dent repair and trying to convince that car dent removal is not an expensive job and can even be performed by some household items. Regarding this I've come up with another way of removing car dents, and it can be done with the help of a hair dryer and CO2. So all you need is a hair dryer and a liquid CO2. Even a spray can can of carbon dioxide can be used. I will tell you how to make the spray can emit CO2 in liquid form. So when you are ready with these two items just follow these steps and witness that fixing car dents is too easy and cheap. Note that the experience of many people has revealed that the diameter of the dent should be at least 3 inches in order for this method to be effective. Now coming to the method.

1. Heat the dent with the hair dryer for approximately 30 secs to 1 minute. Make sure that the panel is hot enough when you are done.
2. After heating it spray CO2 on the region. Make sure that you hold the spray can upside down while you spray it. The reason for this is that CO2 comes out in a liquid form when you spray it upside down.
3. The panel will be covered by a foam of ice. You just wait and listen until you hear a popping sound which tells you that the metal has retained its original shape.
4. When the white foam disappears, clean the area with a piece of cloth.
5. The dent is no more there.

This technique does not cause any harm to your car paint so you don't need to worry about it. The secret is warming the metal hot so that it expands so this technique is very effective and works well in warmer regions of the world.

P.S Many people have said that using even a boiling water instead of CO2 even does the trick. I cannot say anything because I haven't tried it yet. If any one has done it then you are welcome to share your experience. Anyway watch the video of the above procedure.

Car performance body kits are now a days being manufactured by different materials. All have some advantages and disadvantages and selecting a body kit of a particular material depends totally on the price, conditions, usage and other various factors. The different materials could be polyurethane, fiber glass, carbon fiber, ABS plastic e.t.c.

In this post I intend to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of car body kits made up of polyurethane. I hope this will make your mind even more clear and lead you to a better decision making when selecting the performance body kit for your next exterior car modification.

Advantages:

The biggest advantage of attempting your car body kit modification and then replacing it with polyurethane is its durability. These are more long lasting than the famous fiber glass body kits as the material is more flexible. This flexibility makes it to get mount on your car very easily. So if you are reluctant in changing your car's body kit and consider installing a new one very tough job then polyurethane body kits will change your opinion once and for all. This attribute makes a car modification quite simple and pretty much a DIY job hence saving time and money.

Since polyurethane is a hard and flexible substance, it does not damage easily as compared to its other competitors. So you need to bang real hard your car in order to place an impact on the kit. But wait. Did I say "Bang Real Hard!!!" you definitely would not love to strike your car anywhere no matter what material your car body is and this feeling become even more extreme when the material is polyurethane. Because the moment your car strikes and an impact is laid on the kit, there's a great disadvantage waiting for you which I will discuss in the disadvantages section.


Disadvantages:

Since it is a high quality material so generally the polyurethane body kits are more costly than other materials so you really need to have tight pockets if you are going for it. This is a great drawback as it goes out of reach for many car enthusiasts and they cannot afford it at all. Secondly, painting over polyurethane is not a convenient job at all at paint requires more adhesion and also sags more quickly over time when exposed to sun or heat.

Furthermore, these are more heavy than fiber glass, so when you mount them over your car keep your mind well prepared for more fuel consumption as more power is going to be required by your car to drag it. Now coming to the disadvantage because of which you would not love to hit your car and cause an impression on it. Polyurethane body kits are not easily repairable or in some cases, it is impossible do retain the original shape of it and you will only have to replace it with new one as the car dents are not going to be removed. So you have to be even more careful on the road.

Bringing my discussion to an end, polyurethane sure is an expensive material to afford but think of it from the positive angle. The less the people will have them, the more your car is going to be unique. The decision is sure in your hands.

With the advent of modern technology, even the cars have been made smart and their performance tuning has been made even simpler. Now a days engine tuning can be performed via computers. Car engines can be made more efficient, producing more torque and power and become economical as well as far as fuel consumption is concerned. This all results can be achieved by remapping your car's ECU settings.

Now a question arise what actually is ECU remapping?

Before telling you about it lets talk about some fundamentals. Different car's performance parameters are now judged by sensors embedded at various places in the car. These parameters may include ignition timing, fuel consumption, air flow, throttle position, crank position e.t.c. All these are closely monitored via sensors and their performance reports are send to car's engine management system or electronic control unit (ECU). So ECU basically is a software program which process the signals send by the sensors and helps in better performance of the car in any given condition.

Having said that, the question is automatically replied that why you should have your ECU remapped. Of course for better engine performance. The car manufacturers do not always tailor make their ECU settings at sports performance level. It may sound weird for all car enthusiasts but its a fact. The logic behind it is that why would a granny still able to drive or a mother who drives along with her kids, would require a high performance engine. So they address the concerns of all the end users and make sure that their product is well enough for almost every conditions.

So ECU remapping can be done by just over writing the existing software program of your car and replacing it with a more tuned software, best fitting your conditions. The remapping, until recently was done by removing the existing chip containing the software. It has been made easy after the advent of serial port remapping, and now ECU remapping can be performed by just plugging and overwriting engine map by a better sports performance version in to the serial port.

Tuning ECU is a simple performance upgrading but it may become complicated if you are not aware of your car's specification and would end up in creating a mess if you do not pay consideration to the conditions, the car will have to endure. If you are a newbie and want to perform a rather non professional remapping, I would advise you a simple tool best fit for this purpose. It is known as "Galletto" and use to read your car's ECU tuning file. It's available at more or less $100 from the internet. You need to connect this tool with the obd socket and can be used to diagnose any fault in the car. When the information in the ECU tuning file is retrieved you need to edit and amend it according to your desire using a better tuned software program. But be careful here as the information would be in the form of binary numbers. The software programs which are used to edit these information can be either "race 2000" and "winol". Don't forget to put back tuning file back in to the ECU after you are done.

ECU remapping do have some fuel implications if you are looking for an increase in engines power and torque. However an car can be tuned to an optimum level to save fuel and raise the power and torque as well. The results of the ECU tuning vary according to the engines on which you performed the remapping.

For a turbo charged petrol engine, you can achieve an increase of 20-30% in power and 20-40% in torque. The increase is about 10-15% in power and 15-20% in torque when there is a normally aspirated, non turbo petrol engine. Similarly turbo charged diesel engine ECU tuning may yield a result of 25-50% and 50-75% rise in power and torque respectively. With all these engine upgrading, high power, more torque and better fuel efficiency, why would you not go for DIY ECU remapping?

Dents on a car are hated all around the world by the car owners as they seem to sabotage the whole look of your shiny, pimped out, modified car. Many car lovers, rush to their their nearest car body repair shop to fix a car dent as soon as they get one and empty their pockets by paying heavy bills of these body repair shops. Not all the car enthusiasts know that they can easily remove car dents simply by using common house hold dent pulling tools as well as some specialized tools and the cost of removing them is pretty nominal as compared to those heavy bills of body repair shops. In this post I will discuss some easy "how to remove dents" techniques which can be performed via the help of some specialized or common tools which are available every where at economical price. Its so easy to remove car dents that after reading this post you will say for yourself that "car dent fix" is definitely a DIY job.

I will discuss a some general steps of removing car dents. But first just a quick peek of some tools that are considered effective as auto dent puller.

Dent Pulling Tools:

Now there are different dent pullers or dent removers which are used to remove dents from the car. Some of these are specialized for this purpose while some of them are common house hold tools which cab also be used for this purpose. These tools or materials can be:

1. Wooden block and a hammer.
2. Suction cup dent puller integrated with air compressor.
3. Dry Ice.
4. Plunger

and many other tools which I will discuss later, can be used as dent pullers or dent removers.



How To Remove Minor Dents On A Car:

Note that these steps are recommended only for minor dents on a car.

1. First clean the area with water and a piece of cloth so you are in a clear contact with the surface area and the dented region can be easily seen.
2. Drill a hole right at the center of the dent.
3. Insert the dent pulling tool inside the hole.
4. Try to pull the dent puller towards you until it pops out.
5. Once the dent pops out, remove the dent puller.
6. If the dent has been removed, fill the hole with the body filler and cover the area with touch up paint.

Remove Car Dents By Suction Cup Dent Puller:

Most non violent way of popping out minor car dents is using a dent puller which when combines with air compressor attempts to pull it by creating a suction. Therefore I would call it as a suction dent puller. Following are the steps to use this tool effectively.

1. Clean the area with water and a piece of cloth.
2. Combine the dent puller ( suction dent puller) with an air compressor and activate it.
3. keep the dent puller on the area of the dent.
4. Make sure that there is no gap or space left open between the dent puller and the dent area of the car. As any space left opened will make it impossible for creating a vacuum and no suction would be created.
5. Once the dent puller is nicely placed it will attach to the car's metal where it has been placed. This will testify that the tool is working effectively.
6. Pull the tool towards yourself. Since there's a vacuum between the car body and the dent puller so the car dent will also tend to pop out with the dent puller.
7. That's it. You are done. De-activate the air compressor, remove the dent puller and ta-daa!!! The minor dent on your car is a history.

How To Remove Relatively Larger Dent From A Car:

If the dent is relatively larger to pull it from a dent puller you can use a small sledge hammer and a small 2"x 4" wooden block. Follow these steps.

1. Remove the upper layer of the dented area from inside the car. For instance if you want to remove dent of a car door. Reach inside your car and remove the clothing or leather layer from inside your car so that you reach the effected region from inside.
2. The area must be popping out from the interior side as it must be appearing as popped in from outside.
3. Take a wooden block and keep it on the surface area of the dent area.
4. Now take a hammer and hit the block with the hammer. Make sure that you hit the block gently or you will cause a permanent damage to the car body.
5. Your job is done once the dents pops out from exterior and the body returns to it original position.

If the text is becoming difficult for you to understand, watch the video below. Explaining the above methods in visual.


How to Fix a Dent on a Car -- powered by eHow.com


Useful Links:

Remove Dents Using Dry Ice

Remove Car Dents With Hair Dryer And Liquid Carbon Dioxide CO2