With the workshop erected, approved and wired, now it’s time for storage. I chose to take some unique approaches.   Click here to read the rest of… A New Home Workshop, Part 8  Read More →

When you want an engine and/or front brake upgrade, buying a half-cut from a wrecker has always been a great way to go. But these days, is there an even better way? With the reduction in the cost of used cars, and changed regulations relating to the re-registration of seriously accident-damaged cars, we think so.   Click here to read the rest of… Buying at Salvage Auctions  Read More →

Imagine for a moment that air was as visible as water. As every car passed, you would be able to see the swirls and whirls of air disturbed by its passage. Some cars would drag behind them an enormous wake, larger even than the frontal area of the car. Others would have only a small area of disturbed air trailing them, these cars slipping easily through the air.   Click here to read the... 

While I don’t write new car tests any more, whenever I am interstate and have the opportunity to hire a car, I drive it with rather more than usual interest. So the Camry Hybrid (by now the previous model) was a great disappointment (surely a 10 year old Prius is better in every real-world respect?); and a Hyundai i45 was scarcely any better (what happened to the great Hyundai promise exemplified... 

In this three-part series we’ll be concentrating on casting in aluminium. Aluminium is easily cast, easily machined and (depending on the grade) can be heat-treated for additional strength. Aluminium castings won’t rust, can be powder-coated or painted, and are light. In Part 1 we look at patterns and moulds.   Click here to read the rest of… Metal Casting, Part 1  Read More →

In a home workshop, the efficient layout of the power and light is of great importance. Here’s how we did it.   Click here to read the rest of… A New Home Workshop, Part 7  Read More →

On June 1, 1951, Colonel John Paul Stapp sat in a sled that was poised on a 610-metre deceleration track. Moments later, rocket thrust blasted him down the track and into a braking system. For a brief instant, Stapp endured 48 times the force of gravity, or g’s, with a rate of onset at roughly 500 g’s per second. As his own volunteer subject, the colonel became known as the world’s... 

We’ve never seen anything like it. A 25 per cent increase in power across the whole rev range, reduced fuel costs, better exhaust gas emissions – and the government will pay half the cost of the work!   Click here to read the rest of… Diesel LPG – an Amazing Breakthrough  Read More →

In Part 1 of this series (Restoring the Ute, Part 1) we met my new acquisition – a pair of 1968 Austin 1800 utes. The uniquely Australian vehicle was made in small numbers on the BMC Zetland production line in Sydney.  So what had I bought – and how was…   Click here to read the rest of… Restoring the Ute, Part 2  Read More →

Last issue the erection of the big shed was finished. Now it’s time to organise stormwater collection and disposal, do the landscaping and get council approval in a final inspection.   Click here to read the rest of… A New Home Workshop, Part 6  Read More →