You never know what you'll see at a car show. Today was all Chevy Nova day and I was ecstatic! Now, I'm all about the 3rd generation body style, it has always been my favorite car but I can appreciate a good Chevy II or a 2nd gen--and they were ALL out today!
Here's a beauty of a Nova. It's at all the car shows which is fine because sometimes he's the only Nova there. These aggressive front ends, like a shark. Novas look like they're moving when they're standing still.
1963, 2nd generation. You can tell from the grill work how the Gen 3, the Chevelle, and the Camaro will eventually evolve.
White Nova, 2nd gen body. Flawless interior!
And this beauty of a Chevy II converted into a race car
Super Sport Chevy Nova
They had other cars out there, of course. Here's a little something from the stables. All the pony cars were grouped together this time
YEAH! This is a thing of beauty! The living embodiment of all my Matchbox Cars as a kid!
Every skull is different
Art on wheels
Interior of an AMX. Back in the day, car manufacturers made spaceships.
A story about microfiber towels.
I have a big bag of microfiber towels that I bought at Costco. Ok, they're gross. They stick to the skin of your hands and it's just...gross. I hate them.
This is just me doing laundry, I had to take a picture of this. See how plush these edgeless towels are? And yes, you CAN wash these towels. Hot water wash, no softener in the wash or the dryer.
So what do I do with the other icky towels? Well, microfiber, they must be a dust magnet and you can really dust off your furniture, right? Not so much. But they are awesome at cleaning windows! Yeah, I wash my windows once a year in the spring and there was one room where the windows were REALLY grody because I didn't wash them when we moved in--it was still the filth from the original owners. And THAT was a major clean-up effort, but I digress. You know how when you wash a window and you have the spray cleaner and you have to use maybe 4 or 5 paper towels for 1 window to get it right? One Costco microfiber tower cleaned 4 windows. No paper towels, no streaks. So those cheap microfiber towels are great for windows and house chores but I'm using these new plush towels from The Rag Company solely for car washing.
If you were a child in the 60s and 70s, you were promised a bright
future of jet-packs, flying cars, and space travel would be utterly
commonplace. Why, everyone would vacation on the moon, it was a given.
And why not? We would have space colonist terraforming on Mars and Venus
as well as the far planets like Jupiter and Saturn.
We were promised.
THIS was our future.
As teenagers and young adults we watched cars become monotonous and
uninspired. Houses were no longer trying to be the cutting-edge homes of
tomorrow and cities grew uglier instead of the shining beacons of an
enlightened society.
What happened?
Cool Concept Cars For A Future That Never Happened
We Were Suppose To Take Off On The Highway Of Tomorrow
Everything was geared toward the future, outer space, convenience,
luxury, and gorgeous lines on cars that looked like rocket ships.
Compare it what you're driving today.
And what do you think the next generation will be driving tomorrow? Oh
wait, probably nothing because we're running out of oil. Our
short-sighted society isn't concerned with that either.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
"We stopped dreaming."
"Do you remember the 60s and 70s? You didn't have to go more than a
week before there was an article in Life magazine - "The Home of
tomorrow," "The City of Tomorrow," "Transportation of Tomorrow." All
that ended in the 1970s, after we stopped going to the moon, it all
ended. We stopped dreaming. And so I worry that decisions that Congress
makes doesn't factor in the consequences of those decisions on tomorrow.
Tomorrow's gone."
Space Was Our Playground
Vintage Playgrounds: Compare these amazing playgrounds of the 60s and 70s to the lame playgrounds of today. As children, we accepted our destiny in space as a given. What do children today accept as a given?
Rocket Slides
Does Your Playground Have A Rocket Slide?
How can children dream about tomorrow, about space travel, about the great beyond if we don't encourage them? We are dooming our children to this planet; to over-population and diminished resources and, eventually, death because our sun is not going to shine forever and no planet is safe from the errant meteor or asteroid.
"I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years,
unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can
befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out
to the stars."
~Stephen Hawking
Our Destiny Is In Space
We Have No Tomorrow Without Spaceflight Today
I want you to look at the saddest thing on the internet for a minute.
"The United States government temporarily ceased manned space missions in July, 2011 after STS-135."
According to Wikipedia, The United States of America is no longer a space-faring nation. We have to use Russia's rockets to get our astronauts into space, when they go. And what happens when Russia won't or can't get American astronauts launched?
I have two important reasons why we can't let this be our future:
1 Lewis and Clark
2 The Next 100 Years
Why Lewis and Clark Are Important To Our Tomorrow
We Have No Future In Stagnation
We all remember Lewis and Clark. About 200 years ago, they opened up the West to colonization.
Think about that for a minute, 200 years ago all the land between the
Mississippi and the Pacific ocean was empty. Aside from a few handfuls
of American Indian tribes, there was nothing but vast open spaces.
Now visualize the thousands of people that live in that space today. And
visualize again what it will look like in another 100 years. 200 years.
Visualize the whole world in 200 years.
Are we willing to either curb world breeding or encourage eugenics for the old and sick--for the whole planet? "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
It's a fact that we will outgrow this world. We MUST expand to the stars.
"We have not journeyed across the centuries, across the oceans, across
the mountain, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."
~Winston Churchill
The Next 100 Years Are Critical; We May Not Make It
We Can Still Doom Ourselves
There are three types of civilizations on The Kardashev Scale.
Type I: Uses all the energy that falls on its planet.
Type II: Uses the energy output of a star and its planets.
Type III: Uses the energy of an entire galaxy, the blackholes, stars, and planets in it.
What are we using for energy? We're using dead plants. We get all our energy from dead plants. We're Type 0.
How can we move forward if society stops believing in basic science and no longer strives for a presence in space? Why do 1 in 4 Americans believe that the sun revolves around the earth? How is that possible? If we continue to allow our children to be uneducated, how can human civilization move forward?
"The world has changed far more in the past 100 years than in any other
century in history. The reason is not political or economic but
technological - technologies that flowed directly from advances in basic
science."
~Stephen Hawking
Technology For The Future Begins Today
We Must Prepare For Tomorrow
Our civilization cannot stay bound to one planet. We cannot stop our
inevitable forward progress unless we destroy ourselves. If nothing
else, the end of the world will come and our mankind will be snuffed out
completely if we are completely earth-bound.
The end of the world is coming. It's a FACT:
Our Milky Way is on a collision course with Andromeda. They WILL collide in 3 billion years.
Our sun will die in 5 billion years.
In between that time, anything could happen.
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
~Carl Sagan
"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."
~ Carl Sagan
Mankind's Future?
Growing up, we were surrounded by outer space. Space toys, sci-fi
movies, science fiction paperbacks, science magazines, sci-fi art on our
lunchboxes, our notebooks, and even our commercials.
What do we have today? Seen any space-related commercials lately? Know
the names of any astronauts from the last 10 years? 20 years? We need to
get back to that whole retro fascination with space and ditch the dark
ages mentality about science that has become so trendy.
I hope the art here inspires you to consider the future.
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off
the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the
Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in
rain... Time to die."
~Roy Batty in "Blade Runner"
TAM Panel-Our Future in Space
Where do our astronomers and astrophysicists think we'll be tomorrow?
Watch this 1 hour video to find the answers to these important questions:
Do they have hope for mankind in space?
Are robots our future?
Are NASA's glory days over forever?
Did Bill Nye kill the ozone layer?
Are Europeans from another world?
"It does seem slightly pitiful that so many of our great
scientific and engineering minds are being wasted on creating fine new
ways to pay for your shampoo with your iPhone, rather than on creating
machines that can swiftly and safely transport humans to occupy the
Planet Yog."
An empty NASA launch pad dreaming of Mars.
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
~ Albert Einstein
What Do You Think?
Is space travel over for the United States?
Can we become a Type I civilization?
Do you have space dreams?
Were you promised a flying car?
Have we reached the tipping point for Type 0?
I've always found that detailing my car
is very zen and calming. I love to spend the time making my vehicle
look better, making it shine, keeping it looking new. A lot of
motorheads love working on their engine because it's like figuring out a
puzzle and at the end of the job, they can feel proud of their
accomplishment.
What does your boyfriend, husband, or father like best about cars? Or are YOU the car lover?
So what do you get someone who loves cars?
There's so many items to choose from, so many confusing brands, where do you start? And what if they already have everything?
Well, I've bought and thrown away many car products so I'll give you
advice as to what works and what every car lover HAS to have in their
garage. If you need a gift for Christmas, Father's Day, or a birthday, I
know what you should buy for you favorite gearhead or car buff.
Quick Gifts for Car Lovers
Last Minute Gifts for Car Buffs
When you need to buy gifts quick and don't have a lot of time, what do
you buy for someone who loves cars? Easy! Make a gift basket! Sure, you
can get a basket, that no one will have any use for, but I say, buy a
new bucket. It can easily be used for a 2 bucket car wash.
These will make fine stocking-stuffers for the car enthusiasts on your Christmas list or Father's Day!
A gift basket like this can be thrown together
quickly with a just a couple of stops at the grocery store and the auto
parts store.
Inside that bucket you can stuff all sorts of presents for petrolheads and gifts for gearheads. Once you detail your daily driver, it'll feel like a garage queen!
Bounce Dryer Sheets with an optional bottle of bug and tar
remover. Nothing gets bugs off the front of a car better than a wet
Bounce sheet. Combine that with bug and tar spray and you can remove
every bug every time.
Microfiber Towels. You just can't have enough. Use them to buff
off wax, clean windows, wipe excess spray while claying, use with
detail spray, and with Armour-all. I bought a big pack at Costco and you
can buy small packs (that aren't enough) at your local auto store. You
can really fill a bucket with microfiber towels! They're great!
Clay Bar. Mother's has a 2 bar pack that you can pick up at
your local auto store or buy on Amazon. I clay both cars every few
months and you have no idea how smooth your paint can be once you pull
out all the grit. 1 clay bar (for windows too) will last a very long
time.
Gloves. If you watch The Velocity Channel, you see that most of
the mechanics are wearing gloves these days. They protect your hands
from sharp engine parts, engine grease, and heat. Once again, you can
buy mechanics gloves at your local auto store or you can buy them online
to get a better selection of styles and colors. Mechanix online has them in pink and zombie green and camo...
Rubber Gloves. Ok, they aren't rubber anymore, but you can pick
these up by the box at the grocery store. Find heavy duty rubber gloves
at your auto parts store. Great for greasy brakes jobs or oil changes.
Hand Cleaner. If you want to try a more personal touch, here's a
recipe for hand cleaner: "About a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap, a
tablespoon of corn meal, and just enough water to make it "useable".
Exact proportions are not crucial." Or just go buy some of that orange
smelling squirt pump bottles from your local auto store.
4 Ought Steel Wool. You can buy this at Home Depot, Lowes, or
some auto parts stores. Dry 0000 steel wool will absolutely, 100% clean
the nasty off of your windows. It is so fine that it will NOT scratch
your glass. Also the exact right tool for polishing chrome. If you are a
chrome fanatic, I've heard that Harley Davidson makes THE best chrome polish on the market.
Rain-X. Once you're moving over 40 mph, you don't need
windshield wipers. Been using this for years. Now they have a 2-in-1
Glass Cleaner + Rain Repellent. Spray some on your windshield wipers
too.
Wipe-New. I bought it on sale at the auto store. It made my weathered old trim look a LOT better.
Mothers Back-to-Black Trim Care. The Wipe New worked better on
my fenders because they were REALLY faded. This stuff here made the
not-so-bad trim around the rear lights and the trim on the back bumper
look brand new. I have bought other brands at the grocery store and at
the cheaper auto parts store that claimed to do the same job. They
didn't do a thing. Nothing. Mothers not only brought the black color
back, it's a wax and water beads nicely. Buy it on Amazon or a good local auto parts store.
Tire Dressing Applicators. They're always falling apart so it's an item to always keep buying. I haven't tried these yet but I suspect it's better quality than the ones I keep replacing. Also, a better tire dressing is Opti-Bond Tire Gel.
It's also sold on Amazon, sometimes for cheaper. Check. It goes on like
a lotion, but you can thin it and spray it on. Last longer than the
tire shine products that I've bought so far.
California Duster. At your next car show, lightly use a
California Duster to remove grit before you spray on detailing spray or
waterless wash. Can be found at Target or some local auto stores.
Langka Chip and Scratch Repair Kit. Use the Langka Chip and Scratch Repair Kit, along with your matching paint from the dealer, to touch up scratches and chips from daily driving.
Travel Mug gifts for Car Buffs
if they allow eating and drinking inside their vehicle
Used Wipe-New on the fenders and the trim around the top of the bed. Looks great!
This is the edge of my fender where I didn't get the WIpe-New all the
way to the edge. You can see the difference in the faded lighter color
versus the rest of the fender.
If you're wondering about the wheels, I spray-painted those with Plasti Dip. Bought it at Lowes.
Junkman's 2-Bucket Wash Technique
Because you better float that dirt off
What happens to your paint if you get leaves or grit on your car washing sponge?
The Junkman is a little wordy and his videos made to show you 1 thing stretch out to 4-5 or more but he's entertaining.
"This is a brother in his garage production."
If you don't like his style, google, "2 bucket car wash," and you'll see, this is the way professional details wash cars.
"Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines."
I know that when I suggested a big expensive polisher for your car, you flipped out. I know you did. I know you're thinking it can't really be necessary or maybe you heard stories about someone who tried a machine on their car and it ruined the paint! Got too hot and burned it or put a bunch of swirl scratches into it.
I have good news for you. If you use the right equipment for the job, you will get the right results. My husband bought a 2010 Camaro SS and the original owner put swirled scratches all over that black paint because they didn't know what they were doing plus they used the wrong tool for the job. I fixed it using an orange hexlogic pad, 105, and a my PC7424xp. I made those scratches disappear. If you can find this stuff at your local auto store, then great, buy it there. I found that only one store carries the 105 and the 205 and no one had the Porter Cable 7424xp or the pads so I bought them on Amazon.
WHY Are These Ideal Gift for Car Collectors, As Well As Every Car on the Street?
Are your headlights a cloudy yellow mess?
Listen, you people have gotten so used to clouded dim headlights that I constantly am flashed with brights from oncoming traffic because they think I have my brights on! Sorry, dimmies, those are just stock original 2002 headlights--that are clean!
Renew your headlights with the same tools you used to polish your paint. I also
polished the rubber gaskets around the windows and brake lights and that
all looks new and smooth. The older the car, the more you need the
PC7424xp. It cleans everything.
After I detailed the car.
Washed, clayed, polished with 105, then 205, and then waxed.
"Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall.
Torque is how far you take the wall with you."
Need new micro-fiber towels? Visit The Rag Company, click here for edgeless Pro Eagle blue micro-fiber towels that aren't the cheap Chinese ones that stick to your hands. Exactly, that whole sticking to your hands thing is bad. These Eagle Blue edgeless towels are approved by The Junkman, himself! Excellent price and FREE SHIPPING on FRIDAY!
Automotive Interior Gifts for Car Buffs
Gifts for cleaning the interior of the vehicle
These are the tools for getting the best results and make your car
look like new. Notice the use of the PC7424xp? This really is THE tool
for every part of your car detailing.
So I hope the videos gave you some ideas of what tools the pros use and what you can buy for your car lover or even yourself. If you love your car, don't scratch swirls into the paint. Speaking of paint, I recently had my truck painted. NOT because it was full of scratches but because I told myself when I bought it new, off the lot, that I would one day paint it the color I wanted. I mean, who wants thin paint with no depth? And why does the dealer get to pick the color? I only get what's on the lot? Nope. It's paid for and I painted it.
It's black cherry, the dragon is painted on in candy so it dances in the light, and I told Chris Cruz that there's no such thing as too much glitter!
And that's spray-on truck bedding (professional grade) on the trim and rocker panels with a shiny clear coat. And yes, you can buy that for yourself at Home Depot and totally do it yourself.
Here's how to do it yourself
Check out Chris Cruz Artistry and see the amazing art he's painting on new 2014 vettes, trucks, and motorcycles!
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