Archive for the ‘General Information’ Category

How a Car Hood Scoop Can Instantly Transform Your Car From Green to MEAN

Friday, July 24th, 2009
SCP-1 Hood Scoop

SCP-1 Sport Trac Hood Scoop

These days most of us are fuel conscious. With the gas prices so high there are some that just can’t justify buying a big car or SUV any more, let alone getting the big V8 engine in it. But then there are lots of us that still want to look like we have a monster motor under the hood.

An easy way to accomplish this is to install a universal hood scoop to the existing hood of your car. There are no parts to remove. You will not need to get a new hood. However, once a hood scoop is installed it will appear like you changed the entire hood to accommodate this huge motor that you are hiding under your hood.

So you may have a few questions at this point, so let’s address some of them:

Will I get any better gas mileage with a hood scoop?
- No you won’t!

Will my car go any faster than it did before?
- No it won’t.

So then what will I get?
No doubt, you are sure to get some looks. You will turn a few heads, and you will make them wonder what it is that makes your car or truck so tough looking. Even the people that have the same type of vehicle that you do will wonder what motor it is that came with your car or truck.
In the end, it will surely get you attention.

Hood scoops are not expensive. Good fiberglass hood scoops generally run between $110 and $125 dollars unpainted, and a little bit higher if you want to have one prepainted and sent to you.

Installation is not hard. It’s just like installing a car spoiler. Usually hood scoops come with instructions and all necessary mounting hardware, which includes stainless steel screws, drill guides, 3M two way mounting tape, front inserts, and vinyl trim so your front inserts will not scratch your hood..

Before you purchase one, check the sizing of the scoop that you are looking at, and see if those measurements will work out on your hood. It’s better to find out if the hood scoop will fit before you purchase one rather than after, especially if you are having one prepainted.

There is no doubt that adding a hood scoop to your car, truck or SUV will help increase the resale value of your vehicle. Usually it is just by the fact that the buyer likes your vehicle better than any other that they have seen. Your car is different, and it is understandable to most that others that are looking at the same vehicle will think in this same manner.

This is what drives up the sale price. The fear alone of losing this vehicle to another buyer will make someone commit even earlier at a higher price just to they ensure that they get the vehicle that they want.

 

About the Author

Mike Briglia is the owner of Custom Auto Trim, a auto accessories company based out of San Diego CA. Find more information on hood scoops at http://www.customautotrim.com/

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Simple Ways to Protect Your Car From Dents and Dings

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

So you finally got that new car or truck. Congratulations! I really don’t want to be the one that blows the candles out on your cake but did you get your first dent yet? Maybe a door ding in a parking lot? If not, I’m sure you already know that you are likely to get at least few while you own that car. So how do you defend against this? Is there some way to protect my car?

Color Keyed Body Side Molding on a Toyota Camry

Color Keyed Body Side Molding on a Toyota Camry

The best way to protect your car or truck from dents and door dings is by installing a professional grade body side molding. You can also protect other areas of the vehicle in the same way with wheel well molding and door edge guards.

Body side moldings are usually strips of rubber or vinyl that attach horizontally to the side of your vehicle. By installing them down the center of the door this rubber strip usually protects you from another door hitting yours. Usually the moulding will stick out farther than the body of the vehicle itself, so if someone swings their door into the side of your car it will hit the body side molding first. They usually come in black, chrome and there are some colors available as well.

Body side molding installs easily. Almost all car molding attaches with 3M automotive grade attachment tape, which is the same way that the car manufacturers use to attach factory body side molding. If installed properly the molding should never come loose. There are other areas of your car that should also be protected. These areas are the wheel well area and the door edge areas.

Wheel well molding attaches in the same manner with a 3M tape. These mouldings will trim the area of the wheel well with a thin vinyl bead that will protect this exposed area. You can also use this molding to cover up an existing dent in this area. Once applied over the dent or scratch you will never know the damage was there. This trick is used at the car dealers all of the time. Sometimes it used to just dress up the vehicle with a chrome or black trim.

Door edge guards protect just that – the edge of your car door. They also protect whatever you are hitting with your door. Because of the soft vinyl edge, if you were to open your car door into another car the likelihood of you damaging either car is minimal. The door edge guards will act as a shock absorber and help prevent any damage that would otherwise happened.

 

For most of us, buying a new car or truck is one of the largest investments that we will ever make in our lives. We take pride in what we drive. It doesn’t matter if we drive a Hyundai or a Porsche (okay maybe it does, but follow me here for a second). We like to drive in clean, shiny, dent free cars. Spending a few dollars on molding protection now will no doubt save you potentially hundreds of dollars in the future repairing and repainting your new car or truck.

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How the Weather Can Influence your Car Accessories

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Here in the USA it seems that depending on what city you are in influences what car accessories are actually popular to you and your friends. And a lot of it actually has to do with the weather.

Case and point, in the Ohio Valley and the northeastern states like Pennsylvania, New York or New Jersey, one of the most popular truck accessories on the market would be the truck tonneau cover. This is truck accessory purchase is totally weather related because people in the northeast have to put up with a lot of cold, wet and snowy weather in the winter and want to try to keep their truck beds dry if they can, and keep the snow out as well. Yes, a tonneau cover looks nice, and yes it might help you save a few gallons of gas on a nice long trip, but the main reason that customers ask for the tonneau cover would be to keep out the weather.

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How To Choose The Right Body Kit

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Before you can begin working on your project, you will have to make a choice of which type of body kit you want to purchase. There are a lot of choices out there, so I have done some research for you and hope to take some of the guesswork out of the process.

The major players in the body kit game are: Wings West, Extreme Dimensions, Kaminari and Xenon. Ask around; see which kits your friends or competitors have used. Do you like your body kit? Are you happy with the decision they made? Is your body kit shown in movies like The Fast and the Furious? Why do you like it and why don’t you like it? Our friends are loaded with useful information in this area.

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“I’ve Gotta Know” – How the Truck Nerf Bar was Born

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Are you up for a little “Nerf Bar Trivia”?

Some wonder why such a rigid shiny tube on the side of a truck is called a nerf bar. Sometimes people refer to them side steps or chrome tubes because they cant grasp the concept of “Nerf Bar” as being a hard shiny stainless steel object. “Nerf” material, like the material used to make soft footballs, baseballs & frisbees you may have thrown around as a kid, doesn’t really relate to some hard chrome tube you would use to step on to help you step into your truck.

So here it is. The nerf bar was a tubular device that was originally intended to be fitted to the side of a racecar – often single seaters like a midget race car that competes on a race track.

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How to Refinish Plastic Tail Light Lenses.

Saturday, March 10th, 2007

Well here we are, back again with another issue and another bonanza of can’t miss deals for you to check out. This month we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, so pull up a mug of green beer and get ready to have some fun. Did you know that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland? He died March 17th in the year 461, the date that has since that time been known as St. Patrick’s day. Though actually America didn’t begin celebrating St. Patrick’s day until 1737. And there’s your trivia for the month. You can share that information with anyone who tries to pinch you for forgetting to wear your green next Thursday! Now, here at AUTOMEGA® we’re definitely feeling a love for the green, and while we can’t ship you green beer and shamrocks, we can offer you THREE great deals this month that will save YOU a little green.

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Saving Money at the Gas Pumps

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

Hi again from AUTOMEGA® world. Can you believe it’s already November? It seems like once we get done with August the rest of the year just flies by. In no time we’ll be ready to ring in another new year. I like the fall, aside from the whole “fall back” issue. In theory it seems like a good deal—who would turn down an “extra” hour of sleep? But then that first Monday evening commute when you’re driving home in the moonlight it hits you that, hey, my day is missing something. Like, I don’t know, daylight maybe. It’s not until then that you really realize what that extra hour of sleep has cost you. Maybe we should all move to Arizona, where for whatever reason they’ve decided to buck convention and bypass the entire fall back/spring ahead extravaganza completely. In any case, these shorter days do make it a little more difficult to get in that quality time with your car or truck, but we’ve got a few things to get you excited about spending Saturday out in the garage.

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Caring For Your Body Side Molding

Friday, May 19th, 2006

Happy Memorial Day! Looking forward to that three-day weekend? Have you noticed that the holidays are pretty poorly spaced, if you really think about it? We get a bunch of days off from the end of November to the beginning of January, and then pretty much nothing for months. It’s basically a holiday drought from January to May. But now, finally, the end is in sight. Did you know that this year is the 136th year our country will celebrate Memorial Day? Just another fact for you from your good buddy, Mike. In any case, I hope that you’ll find something fun to do to mark this “unofficial start of summer.” And if you’re ready to kick it into high gear and really get summer started right, be sure to check the Blog section below for details on this month’s hottest items and biggest steals.

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How To Keep Your Paint Looking Brand New

Monday, November 28th, 2005

Happy Holidays! Hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving last week, and you didn’t crash and burn too hard after all that turkey. I think I’m still recovering, and could probably live the rest of my life happily without ever setting eyes on a turkey sandwich again. So, I guess it’s time to ask that age old question once again: Have you been naughty or nice this year? Fess up, have you been blacklisted by Santa, or do you expect to see all those things you’ve been dreaming of all year under your tree this month? Take your time, you don’t have to answer now.

Our little AUTOMEGA® elves have been super busy cooking up some great deals and working their magic all over our website. Take a look at our Web News section to figure out what you’d like to add to your wish list.

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How To Take Care of Auto Graphics

Thursday, September 1st, 2005

As another long and eventful summer fades into fall, I want to welcome you back again to AUTOMEGA® and remind you that we’re the real place to shop for “back to school” savings. And here’s a special welcome to our friends on the Atlantic coast. Hope you’re safe and well and Isabel doesn’t stick around too long.

So now that you’ve gotten the kids back to school, and your normal, comfortable routine is starting to resume, isn’t it about time to sit back and think about what’s ahead? For instance, did you know that according to the most recent census data available, 35% of Americans spend an hour or more in their commute to and from work each day. That’s 90+ hours between now and the end of the year alone. Now, if you enjoy your car and are happy with it, that’s not so terrible, right? But man, if you’re not happy with your car that’s an awful lot of time to be stuck in it. Not to mention the fact that, like it or not, you’re depending on your car to get you there safely and in style. This, as you may have guessed, is where we come in. Take a look at our Blog section to find just the right something to make those days in traffic a tiny bit brighter. And don’t forget to look below for this month’s coupon, because while we can’t alleviate your commute, we can make getting there a little more fun.

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Waxing a Car with Pinstriping

Tuesday, March 15th, 2005

Well hi there. Welcome to spring. While I have you here, let me take this opportunity to remind you to change your clocks this weekend for Daylight Savings Time. That is, of course, unless you live in Arizona, Hawaii or Indiana. That’s right folks, did you know that those three states do not observe Daylight Savings? Just a little bit of trivia from your good buddy Mike!

Anyway, I hope that you and your cars have all made it through this very long winter none the worse for wear. Isn’t that first good washing and waxing you give your car in the spring a great feeling. Getting off all the salt and dirt and generic road sludge that’s been piling on week after week and coming out with a bright, shiny car that looks brand new all over again. And speaking of which, be sure to check out our tips section below for some helpful hints hints on getting that wax done just right.

This issue we’ve got all the latest on our hot new products and the low down on some really cool happenings on the website down below in the Blog section, and even a money saving coupon. So sit back, relax for a few minutes, and don’t even think about the fact that you’re losing an hour of sleep with the whole “Spring Ahead” thing, and prepare to be transported, if briefly, into a world where your car is all that matters.

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Protecting Wheel Wells and Door Edges from Chips

Tuesday, January 11th, 2005

Well, the holidays have again come and gone and once more we find ourselves facing a brand new year. First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful 2004, and here’s to a prosperous and happy 2005. Last year was an exciting year for us here at AUTOMEGA®, and we’re expecting 2005 to be nothing short of spectacular. And we’re glad you’re here to share it with us!

So, did you get everything you asked for for the holidays? If so, lucky you! If not, let’s see what we can do to help you out. Just like all your other favorite stores, CustomAutoTrim.com has a wide variety of product deals this month and you can read more about them below in our Blog section. And while you’re at it, be sure to take advantage of our coupon for even more savings.

Elsewhere in this issue, we’ve got chances for you to learn a few things, win prizes, and even make some extra cash. So sit back, get comfy, and settle in to spend a few moments with us on your favorite subject and mine—cars.

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