Audio Clips

https://soundcloud.com/user-98663802/sets/basic-car-maintenance 

MotorTrend Channel

 

The MotorTrend Channel! Now, if you haven’t ever stumbled across this trove of automotive shows and videos, you don’t know what you’re missing. There are a lot of ways to access the MotorTrend Channel, whether you’re an Amazon Prime Subscriber and add the MotorTrend-on-Demand subscription, you can watch the most current episodes of all of these shows that eventually make their way to YouTube. After a set period of time for their paid subscribers to preview episodes first, the videos are then added to their YouTube channel, which I have provided a link to below.

Of the many shows and topics that are covered on MotorTrend, some of the more popular shows that we watch at my house include Roadkill, Roadkill Garage, Engine Masters (which I believe is only available through the paid subscription), Dirt Every Day, Finnegan’s Garage and Faster with Finnegan. These shows are produced and created by the combination of Hot Rod and MotorTrend magazines coming together to create content that satisfies current formats. In these shows, writers, staffers and editors of the magazines are the stars, and often times, they’re showing you what happens when they put a few upgrades into an old, ran-hard, rust bucket and then their journey and result.

These shows have countless hours of great entertainment that could keep you busy for weeks as most are several seasons into production. Check them out and let me know what you think!

MotorTrend YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/MotorTrend/featured

Red Bull's Soapbox Races

Now, whether you're actually into motorsports or not, this is one that anybody can enjoy and get into. Red Bull has annual events in several major cities around the world where people come to race downhill in their themed and decorated soapboxes. There are no engines involved, just gravity and four wheels. The teams often choose a theme and design their craft or soapbox around their theme. They often dress up and dance around before pushing the driver off the starting platform and down the hill. 

There are some judges and score cards, but it's more about the fun of the overall event and seeing when and where they commonly wreck and examining the common failures of the crafts that wreck. It's something amusing to sit and watch with your friends or family. 

Here's a link to a Japanese soapbox race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P331gMAqS8A&feature=youtu.be

And another one in London, England:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYqIMv_LApE&feature=youtu.be

Racing videos and lazy Saturdays

What do you like to do on those cold, wet Saturdays when all you want to do is sit around and be lazy? At my house, these days consist of hours and hours of motorsports. We’ll spend the day on YouTube perusing all kinds of engine related sports that have been shared. One of the most frequently chosen motorsports that we pick to watch would be drag racing and street races. For this, we follow 1320 Video.

My understanding is that this guy named “Kyle” started and owns the channel. It’s gotten really big and while he is still seen with camera in hand recording races, interviewing drivers and the like, he has numerous camera guys that work with him. Funny enough, Garrett (who does the Cleetus McFarland channel) was his social media accounts guy, and might still be the one operating their pages, which is part of how he got started.

There’s a variety of styles of racing that they follow and it often includes drag events. Events like Drag Week and Rocky Mountain Race Week, no prep races and anything in between.  Check out the channel and some of the pages and channels that they’re subscribed to.

1320 Video Channel on YouTube.com:

https://www.youtube.com/user/1320video/featured

 I thought I should share some of the folks that my husband and I enjoy following, as they keep themselves busy with never-ending automotive projects. One of them is a YouTuber who goes by Cleetus McFarland. Well, that’s his YouTube persona. His name is Garrett, which is incredibly fitting, if you’ve ever met another Garrett. Anyways, he has fun with his redneck, NASCAR-loving, do-it-for-Dale, Cleetus persona.

We started watching him some years ago when it was just him and his wrecked C7 Corvette, Leroy. Somewhere along the lines his viewership and popularity really took off and he has grown his show, and car projects into a thriving business. He and some friends even got together to purchase an otherwise abandoned racetrack. They’ve renamed it the Freedom Factory and have already live-streamed events, all while they clean and improve the place, making it safe again for spectators.

The Cleetus McFarland YouTube channel has a ton of content to check out. There are several different projects, and countless hours of entertainment. Check out the links to his channels below!

The Main Channel!

https://www.youtube.com/user/GARRETTmitch

The Secondary Channel for podcasts, fan-mail and more:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMJbbWyIziiUamP5JKK9yAA

The Special Third Channel, just to document all the unique locations the dog, Holly, poops:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMJbbWyIziiUamP5JKK9yAA

My Super Awesome and Unique Automotive themed wedding reception!

When my husband proposed marriage in 2017, the hardest part in deciding on what kind of wedding we wanted to have was figuring out our guest list. When we realized that we would be having a rather large gathering and traditional reception, we knew we wanted it to be easy for us as well as fun. Matt made one joke about burlap and lace and my face immediately revealed that our wedding would have none of that. Instead, I looked to the sizeable collection of model cars in our living room and said, “These are our decorations.”

 It may have seemed odd to anybody who didn’t know me, but I like to do things my own way. I will follow traditions, but add a something unique to make whatever it is mine. In this case, I chose a less than traditional wedding reception theme, reminded myself to K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid.), and to really focus on what makes Matt and I such a strong pairing. Then we jumped into planning and preparations.

 I shared some ideas with Matt for decorations and things that I wanted to make. He made them happen. Any time I came across an item that was considered a standard amenity that we needed to figure out, we went back to our theme and brainstormed together. It was a ton of fun to plan my wedding to my best friend and companion, with my best friend and companion. You really want your guy to help out, pick something he’ll get excited about! (Kind of kidding, but it’s true!)

 Some of the big items we made include the three-tiered cake stand and the single tiered stands with pistons and rods for legs. These were my brain-child and Matt’s masterpieces. Matt’s Grandma let us borrow the grille from the Ford Model A in her shed, which I carefully crafted into our dinner menu. I had a small toolbox dressed up for cards. There was an empty tool box with paper that had wrenches on them, so that guests could “Give us the ‘Tools’ to a Happy Marriage!” We built a wooden “Tailgate” that we affixed a spare classic FORD truck emblem to so that guests could sign this as our guest-book.

 Matt also collected some spare scrap parts over a few months and we created a handful of candle-holders and interesting centerpieces with them. We also made flowers from valve stems and worn turbo wheels that we placed on the interactive tables. I also got on e-bay and acquired over 250 hot wheels, matchbox and other small cars for a low overall cost. We placed these cars at every table. The best part was seeing the kids respond to them and play with them throughout the reception.

 We had all sorts of cars pictured on the walls, and car parts everywhere. We even made drainable tubs from old racing slicks for the drinks! I found wrench shaped bottle openers and even had tiny wrenches in the boutonnieres! My dream Corvette dangled from my bouquet. My shoes were even cars! Matt’s wedding ring is made to look like a piston, and has a black diamond above the rings (which he is not obligated to wear at any point because it’s dangerous in his line of work). I even planned the music and the reception to go with the theme. Serapes on the hay bales and good old classic tunes that take one back to the American automobile era. Chuck Barry, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis: you get the idea.

 We had so much fun and our guests loved it. And I genuinely mean it when I say that the kids of all of our friends and family made our theme that much more fun. Their faces and intrigue at the cars everywhere was priceless. We announced after toasts that everyone was welcome to a matchbox sized car and then we watched as the adults quickly claimed a car too! Everything was wrapped up before 9 PM. It was wonderful. Check out some of the pictures I’ve included. And yes! I chose a non-white gown and married that skinny guy you just can’t believe works on heavy machinery. ;)

 

What am I here for? We'll start with the Beetle.

 I'm Elisabeth. I was challenged to start a blog, so I decided to focus on my interest in cars. My mom has often joked that my first words might as well have been, "Ooh, pretty car!" I remember spotting every Corvette I could when we would drive through the big city, and fawning over them. I had a keen eye for the VW Beetles and loved to play the "slug-bug" game, even though mom forbade the slugging.  As siblings, we still got too competitive anyways and eventually weren't allowed to play.

I started eyeing anything unique or interesting on the road with us. I began trying to make note of the make and model, but without a badge, I didn't really know. My parents and siblings weren't interested in cars quite like me, so my interest developed slowly and quietly on its own. I was seventeen when I bought my 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. It only took two trips to the local hippy VW repair shop for me to decide that I was going to learn to maintain my car myself. 

I got myself a Hane's manual and some basic tools. Through this, I learned to change my own oil, replace my spark plugs, plug wires, points, rotor and cap, etc. I got it all done and learned at a snail's pace, but learned how nonetheless. My biggest undertaking was replacing the generator when it failed, and that was one hell of a job. 

I was twenty-five when Matt and I encountered one another at our mutual friends Birthday party. I had been having bad luck with the Bug. One thing after another was failing and daily driving was showing its toll. I had picked up the Bug from a shop that repaired my failing gas gauge with a used one that still worked. I took it straight to a gas station and my emergency brake cable snapped when I engaged it. Matt offered to replace it for me after my car woes had come up in conversation. 

I took him up on the offer. This was one another item that was not well covered in the Hane's manual and required a level of finesse I knew I lacked. Matt and I exchanged numbers and set up a time for me to bring my car to his house for him to fix it. He fixed it easily in a couple hours and I hung out with him and lent the occasional hand during the process. We got along really well and it was easy to talk to him. 

I was surprised when Matt refused to accept money for his time. I was really insistent. But when he walked me to my car and asked me to dinner, it finally made sense. I didn't know it, but it was the start of the best relationship I've ever had. And, not to mention, the best and most thorough care my Bug had ever seen! We upgraded oils, and additives and she ran better than she had in ages. 

Unfortunately, the Bug had also seen its fair share of wear and tear. In near mint condition when I bought it, it was in rough shape when I finally parked it a couple years later. Even though we improved how it ran for a while, two cylinders were losing compression, and then metal shavings and pieces came out in the oil change. The time had come to cease driving it. 

Matt and I have since gotten married and made a lot of changes to our lives. However, my indecision has left the Bug awkwardly parked in a corner waiting for an engine upgrade. The issue is too many options. I want the Bug to have more power than before, but with more power it will require more suspension upgrades and modifications. I want to try to keep the original style and factory look; however, lowering it may be necessary depending upon what ends up under the deck lid. 

Matt and I have talked about the option of putting a Subaru engine into it, but then there's the dilemma of sorting out a liquid cooling system for a car that is not designed for one, and many more modifications. We've discussed Porsche and other VW engine options and find a lot of similar issues. I find myself going back to the new versions of the air-cooled engines that have been manufactured in the last twenty years or so. They're lighter, more powerful and easier to add top end upgrades to as well as still be air-cooled. I find myself leaning toward the air-cooled upgrade. 

In the meantime, my husband and I make some sculptures and yard art, table decorations and items for everyday use from broken and used parts that are otherwise scrap. Next post, I'll share some of the stuff we did for our wedding decorations after we decided to have an automotive-themed reception.