If you are crazy on car modification, you will surely know the advantages of LED bulbs. This is one aftermarket product, which are used by most of the people to modify their cars. It is not only used for cars, but also for the modification purpose of the bikes. There are different colors of LED lights available in the market. However, most of the people opt for white LED bulbs.

Fixing an LED bulb to a car is an easy task, but if you need to fix it to a bike, you should also have the LED kit with you. These kits will provide more power focus to the light. Therefore, if you are planning to fix such a bulb to your bike, it is wise to do the work done by an expert. Most of the stores, which will provide you the LED bulbs, will also help you in fixing the lights to your vehicle. The light focus of the Led lights is amazing when it is compared with other bulbs available in the market. This will not only help you by providing more power but also give an elegant look to your vehicle, once it is installed.

If you want to know the real advantages of these bulbs, you should ride your car or bike after installing it. Fully utilize the online resources to buy the right bulbs by comparing the different models and the prices. Be very careful in choosing the right bulb for your vehicle for long-term effect.

Remember these tips on LED accenting your car and bike.

By: Faisal Farrukh

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The Tremec TKO is a great choice for retrofitting into the old muscle cars, but it isn’t quite a direct bolt-in replacement for a four speed. There are a few areas that will require modification and/or custom parts for a TKO conversion into any muscle car.

The Tremec TKO’s three rail internal shift mechanism is positioned at the top of the transmission, making it taller, wider and flatter across the top than most of the old four speeds that were common in the 1960s and 1970s. Some cars such as the 1967-1981 Camaros and Firebirds typically have ample room to install a TKO without any tunnel modifications. Other muscle cars have transmission tunnels that are barely big enough for the old four speeds, and will interfere with the TKO. Body mounts that are in bad condition will make things worse, so make sure your body mounts are in good shape before installing a TKO. Some cars can get by with just dimpling the transmission tunnel in a few areas, but on others there just isn’t any way to get around cutting the tunnel and reshaping new sheetmetal around the transmission. However, the modifications can almost always be covered by the factory carpet, and with a console may be completely invisible from inside the car.

Your transmission crossmember or its location will have to be modified in some way due to the mount pad location on the TKO being further rearward than the mount pad on most four speeds. On some cars you can just move the crossmember further back on the frame rails and drill new holes, but others may require sectioning your factory crossmember and welding it back together, or possibly fabricating a new one. Before removing your old transmission, it is wise to record the height of the transmission output shaft relative to some fixed point on the car so that you have a reference point to shoot for when modifying your crossmember or building a new one. The transmission height may need to be raised or lowered slightly in the end in order to obtain acceptable driveline angles, so keep that in mind if you are fabricating a new crossmember.

The TKO at 24.07″ long is not exactly the same length as any factory four speed, although it is very close to some versions of the Ford Toploader. Plan on either having your old driveshaft modified or having a new one built to work with the TKO. The TKO requires a Ford C6 pattern 31-spline slip yoke, but there are slip yokes available that will adapt the TKO to common 1310, 1330 or 1350 universal joints. You may want to keep your original driveshaft intact in case you ever decide to sell your car and want to convert it back to the original configuration.

Most four speed transmissions use a solid bronze pilot bushing in the crankshaft, but a roller pilot bearing is a good idea with almost any transmission. The TKO requires one. Make sure you install a roller pilot bearing along with the TKO.

The Tremec TKO has tapered roller bearings supporting the input shaft, and is designed with relatively tight tolerances. It doesn’t have the “slop” in the input shaft that the old 4-speed transmissions have. Tremec requires that you perform a bellhousing runout check to make sure that the transmission is properly aligned with the crankshaft. If you have more than 0.005″ of misalignment, you will need to install offset dowel pins to correct it.

Some cars have other challenges to overcome, such as the torsion bar front suspension on Mopar muscle cars. The support structure that the rear ends of the torsion bars attach to interferes with the TKO. A Mopar installation will either require a specially modified transmission, a serious amount of fabrication and reinforcing after removing the torsion bar support structure, or a new front suspension that eliminates the torsion bars altogether.

The areas of concern above are common to almost all TKO installations. Even considering these obstacles, the benefits of increased fuel mileage and decreased noise, heat and engine wear are worth the effort if you plan on driving your muscle car any further than just across town very often!

By: Keith Farren

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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?

By: Muhammad Saad Ul Haque

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When you want to enhance the performance of your engine and looking to boost it up then you have to make sure that all the components perform at their optimum level. When it comes to performance optimization of the engine, the motorsports most favorite technique or treatment is applied in order to enhance the durability of the engine, which is known as cryogenic treatment.

What Is Cryogenic Engine Treatment

Now the question arise that what really is cryogenic treatment??This treatment involves the cooling and heating of the engine block to temper the metal, changing its structure. It takes place in more than one step. I n the first step, the engine is very slowly cooled down in liquid nitrogen. Be careful not to rush or you will cause the threat of stress fracture on the metal. The liquid nitrogen is added very carefully and precisely to the sealed tank.

Let the engine be there for a period of 12 hours or so with the engine temperature at 300F. This whole process is repeated 3-4 times during a week. This process is practical on any metal engine part with popular use for hardening the block, pistons and crank. The high wear area of performance tuned engine, i.e. Camshaft, will also benefit from this “Cryogenic Treatment”. However it is advised that the parts are treated separately and then assembled integrated.

The logic behind this treatment is a basic science. The heating and cooling effect of the metal engine causes its molecules to pack tightly as a result the carbon atoms are trapped and they do not have time to diffuse the crystal structure, thus forming a more crystalline lattice which is much more rigid than non-treated metal and can therefore endure wear and tear more effectively than a non-treated metal engine. This process is also used to strengthen blades and other cutting surfaces and now it is being used for engine treatment.

This treatment also improves the efficiency and power of the engine as It allows the head gasket and valves to seat better. After the treatment the lubricity of the two surfaces also increases thus causing less friction and therefore more power and efficiency. This reduced friction enhances the reliability of the engine. Some experts have even claimed that the certain cryogenic treatment has increased the wear and tear resistance of the engine by eight times along with improved tensile strength.

The major drawback of cryogenic treatment is that as it is regarded as one of the most sophisticated car engine treatments, therefore very few specialists are available to provide this service. Furthermore, it may put a little burden on your pockets but at the end of the day you are definitely going to be contended as the cost benefit analysis reveals some encouraging results as cryogenic treatment is going to give you a better fuel consumption because of the reduced friction and therefore less work to be performed by the engine. Along with that if you happen to be in the “motor sports” field then I can say for sure that you are going to love it and it will give a decisive edge over the racers who are ignorant about this treatment.

By: Muhammad Saad Ul Haque

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In my last article I talked about how I was able to find a location for the engine/transmission combo in the engine bay of the second generation Toyota MR2 Turbo (1991-1999 body style). I was able to fit the engine and trans into the car with only minimal modification to the engine bay of the car, and to the cross member. This amounts to pounding a couple of small dents into non-visible portions of the car, and cutting some clearance notches.

Now that the right spot for the engine and trasmission was found, I could proceed with the motor mount fabrication. I had the engine and transmission bolted together, and they were lifted up into the engine bay using a transmission jack that I fabricated a wooden platform and attached it to the jack pad. This jack had the ability to tilt the engine and transmission forward or back as well. I found that to be extremely helpful. I discuss the details of this jack and the other tools I used in my newsletter (free to sign up for on my website–see my links below).

I looked through the Fiero forums to see how they fabricated the mounts for this engine and transmission combo. The Fiero differs greatly from the MR2 in that there is an “engine cradle”. The cradle is mounted to the car using rubber mounts, and the engine and transmission are attached to the cradle using solid steel. Vibration is dampened by the cradle-to-car mounts.

I did an analysis of the way Toyota mounted the original engines and transmissions in the MR2.

The MR2 and MR2 Turbo have no cradle, and the engine mounts have the rubber isolators built into them. There are 4 mounts. The left and right side mounts are mainly to support the weight of the engine, and locate the engine laterally, and do not let the engine move laterally. This means that it keeps the engine in place when the car goes around corners. The left side mount is attached to the top of the transmission case. The right side mount is attached to the engine, above the main crank pulley.

There is one mount on the front side of the transaxle, which attaches it to the integrated cross member (not to be confused with the bolt-on cross member I discussed in my last article) at the rear of the cabin, at the bottom of the firewall. The last mount is attached to the rear of the transaxle, and bolts to the top of the removable cross member. Both of these mounts hold the engine and transmission weight, but more importantly, the resist the rotation of the engine and trans under power or under engine braking. Note that both of these mounts are attached to the transmission case, and NOT the engine itself. This is because the maximum reactionary forces to the torque produced at the axles goes through the transmission case and into the mounts, and never through the engine to transmission bolts. The engine to transmission bolts only have to resist the engine torque (around 300 ft-lbs, depending on how strong the engine is), and not the torque produced at the axles, which is well over 4000 ft-lbs!

I decided to use part of the MR2 Turbo front engine mount, specifically the round portion that contains the rubber “donut” isolator. This saved me some fabrication work, and I could easily get an aftermarket urethane insert to stiffen this mount. This is a part offered for the Toyota MR2 Turbo, and I had used one on my 1993 Toyota MR2 Turbo previously with great success.

I needed to fabricate the other 1/2 of this mount–the part that is bolted to the front side of the transaxle. I also decided to move the front part of the mount (the Toyota built part) further to the left, where it attaches to car as, the 6 speed GM transmission I am using requires the mount be further to the left than the original Toyota transmission mounting. I found that Toyota had beefed up the body where the original mount attached to the car, and since I was moving it further to the left, I needed to beef up the body in that location. I did this by welding a double plate to the body. It was welded in the engine compartment and so would not be visible to anyone outside of the car. The reinforcing plate also acted as my nut plate. I needed to weld nuts to the backside of the plate, so that I could bolt the Toyota mount to the car.

Stay tuned for Part 5 of this series!

By: Chris Bulen

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Car Modification Parts

Car modification is an area I have dabbled in myself and I must confess to finding great enjoyment in it. There will always be those who see anyone who modifies their car as a “Boy” or “Girl” racer. Of course, this may be the case for some, but others spend a huge amount of time and money on their beloved cars. The last thing on their mind would be driving dangerously and jeopardising the safety of their most precious item.

The modifying of your car can provide a welcomed focus and is certainly very enjoyable. There are many hobbies that appear superficially to follow a similar theme. Modifying a Pc and adding the latest parts, such as a new processor to increase performance is very similar to adding a new component to a car to increase speed and performance. Indeed, it can be said that to many of us, most things in life can come down to speed or performance in one way or another.

The topic that will never be far from this one is that of modified or performance car insurance. Of course if you modify and improve the performance of your car you will pay a higher premium price. Nevertheless, for some of us it can be a struggle to find a car insurance company even willing to insure a modified or performance car in the first place. Then you will have to consider paying an extortionate amount to cover your car, leaving most us a nervous wreck.

The problem lies mainly in the engine modification department. Changes to exterior fittings such as tailgate spoilers, new alloy wheels and body kit will make a noticeable difference in your premium, but at least this is an area most insurance companies are willing to cover. When it comes to engine modifications and cars with extremely powerful engines, a lot of them will not even enter into giving you a quote.

If you have added only exterior items or changed the in-car entertainment system then you can pretty much go ahead and search through quotes in the usual manner. You must remember to ring the car insurance company you have chosen after selecting the best quote for your car as standard. I would suggest picking several of the better value for money quotes, ensuring they give you the coverage your looking for (remember cheapest is not always best) and then ringing the company to continue the quote and give details of your modification. You should find most companies are pretty modification friendly as long as there only minor changes.

If you have modified you engine by way of a chip, induction kit or similar then things start to get a little trickier. This is also the case with having a generally high-powered performance engine. Many mainstream insurers will not insure a car with engine modifications or a high-powered car with a young driver. Here you will be best to follow the same procedure as above and seek quotes from specialist insurers. You may find the process a little slower but you will be rewarded with a more tailored and possibly cheaper policy.

Above all, you must remember to be honest to your insurer. Something as small as misinforming the insurer as to where you car will be kept overnight can be seen as fraud. Altering details to give yourself a cheaper policy, if not accurate, will ultimately result in voided insurance when the issuing company finds out.

By: Chris Rowlands

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The biggest challenge facing many people today is the rising fuel prices at the local station. Nowadays, an average household has more than one car. Hence, gasoline expense bill is fast becoming a major concern. Are there any solutions to solve this problem? One suggestion is to use electricity as an alternative energy source for your car. How does to system works? This article will reveal the secret of using an electric car conversion kit to convert a car into an electric vehicle.

The electric car retrofitting process starts by identifying which car you want to convert. The idea is to replace the internal combustion engine with an electric motor drive train. The electric motor will get its power from multiple lead flooded batteries stored behind the car. A voltage regulator is used to control the flow of electric current to the motor. The regulator will control the acceleration rate of your car. Next, the whole system is linked to a central circuit board. For safety reason, the circuit board will also act as a cut off switch in case there is a power surge.

For anyone who has no electrical or car maintenance knowledge, you may not understand what all these parts are used for. If you prefer, you can get a mechanic to do the conversion for you. What you would need is to understand the science behind an electric car conversion kit. By having some basic knowledge on the system, it is easier for you to communicate with the mechanic. This is also to prevent you from getting cheated of charged for some unnecessary parts. There are many electric car modification guides on the internet. All you have to do is do a search online for it.

By: Ken J. Maxwell

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Custom car modifications help to improve the performance of cars. They help cars to last long and function better. Such modifications can be quite technical; only a person who knows the technicalities can understand the modifications properly. Let us take a look at the probable modifications that can change your car performance drastically.

* Engine Tuning – This is the process of adjusting and modifying the design of the internal combustion engines, which help to produce the best possible performance level. Engine tuning also helps to increase the power output and the durability of an engine. ‘Tuning’ covers a wide range of activities like the routine adjustment of the carburetor and overhauling of engines. It also involves decisions regarding engine re-designing.

* Ignition System – The ignition system is the most neglected area when it comes to customization. Many people limit their ignition system modification to fixing the time. But it needs more detailed attention. You need to make sure that the spark is strong enough to ignite the fuel. The next thing that you need to take care of is the rate at which the flame travels. This depends on three factors – the turbulence of the fuel inside the combustion chamber, the quality of the fuel and the design of the combustion chamber. The other parameters that might need a thorough checking are the ignition coils, the ignition leads, etc.

* Cylinder Head Porting – This is the process of modifying the exhaust and intake ports of the internal combustion engine. This improves the quantity and quality of the gas flow. Cylinder heads that are supplied with the car are usually mediocre. Porting the cylinder heads helps to scrutinize them and modify them accordingly, assuring the highest efficiency level.

* Turbochargers – They usually serve the large diesel engines and high performance sports cars. Turbochargers are the types of forced induction systems. They compress the air that enters the engine. This facilitates the system to use more fuel. A turbocharged engine can produce more power than an uncharged engine.

* Suspension Tuning – The suspension system is responsible for comfortable driving. It assures safety by carrying the vehicle body and transmitting all the forces to the road. The modifications that take place due to the suspension tuning can change the car’s performance considerably. Many think that switching over to tougher spring systems can help, but in reality, the entire process can be rather intricate. One has to make sure of maintaining a proper balance between performance and drivability.

By: Alice Shown

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When it comes to modifying you car to make it a performance auto, there is no better place to look for than Buddy Club. It is one place that houses all the equipment, part and electronics you need to make you a performance auto. At this club you will find top quality parts from renowned manufacturers. You can also seek professional advice on to level of modification you want to achieve for your car. You can find custom wheels, performance suspension parts, exhausts, mufflers, engine modifications, interior and exterior modifications. This club is a one stop solution to all your needs and desires. Top quality products and expert advice makes this club stand out from its competition. At this club we believe that they can turn you car in to a dream machine.

Walk in to this club or access it online, you can view their latest full colour brochures and get your hands on latest performances upgrades available in market. Buddy Club not only offers quality they also offer competitive rates, so you don’t have to visit any other place for price comparisons. At this club you can choose from performance upgrade packages too, these packages are a bit cheaper than those individual upgrades. If you own a Japanese born racing machine you are at the right place. This club provides the Spec 1 Single flap type racing wing. You can adjust this wing depending upon your racing needs. Buddy Club also provides you with instruction manual to change wing’s settings at home without professional assistance.

Looking to reduce the drag factor of your car and achieve high aerodynamics, Buddy Club has a solution for you. You can get your hands on racing spec areo body kit by this club. This kit significantly reduces drag by increasing aerodynamics.

Buddy Club also provides interior upgrades. This club is rated among one of the top manufacturers of carbon fibre racing bucket seats. You can install these light weight seats in your car and enjoy your racing sessions. This club has put a lot of research in making these racing seats of top quality and on high safety standards. You can easily install these seats by following the instruction manual provided by this club. It also gives you freedom of colours to choose from. Whether you opt for a black or red pair, you are looking at one of the best racing seats available in the whole market.

By: Dan Henningsen

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