Fixing Your Car at Home

Submitted by Toolsmith Direct

From time to time, everyone’s car needs a little help. It doesn’t matter how well you take care of it or infrequently you drive it, no car is capable of making it through the years without needing some maintenance.

Of course, most of us try to ignore this for the most part because maintenance and repairs are both expensive and time consuming. Plus, when you leave a car with the mechanic, you never know what they’re going to claim is wrong or what kind of bill they’ll land you with.

That’s why more and more people are trying to handle their mechanical needs at home, in the comfort of their own garage. With the help of some simple tools and the proper know how, they can give their cars the tender love and care they need without breaking the bank. Plus, who wouldn’t be better off by understanding how their cars work?

If this sounds like a plan you’d like to take on, you’ll need some basic tools. A 3 ton floor jack could be necessary or at least a bottle jack in order to get your vehicle up off the ground. Otherwise, a basic mechanic’s toolset should be enough to get you started. Look to rent expensive tools as their need arises to save money overall.

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No matter what your home project calls for, Toolsmith Direct can help. The company carries everything from powerbuilt jack options to just about any tool you would need for all your home projects.

Hyundai: Corporate History

Written by Phin Upham

In 1947, Chung Ju-Yung founded an engineering and construction company he called “Hyundai.” It took twenty years for Ju-Yung to go beyond construction and into motorcars, releasing his first in partnership with Ford in 1968. But Hyundai wasn’t satisfied with resting his company laurels on this joint venture.

He hired George Turnbull along with five other top British automotive engineers. They designed and built the Pony, a small 4-door sedan that used rear-wheel drive to get around. The first exports went to Ecuador, then to Benelux.

Hyundai brought the Pony to Canada in 1984, but the vehicle couldn’t pass the strict emissions standards set by America. The Pony quickly became the top selling car in Canada, and Hyundai rolled its one millionth car off the assembly line in 1985.

A year later, Hyundai brought the Excel to the United States. Fortune called it the tenth best product of the year, owed almost entirely to its affordability. The Sonata, a line that continues today, went into production in 1988. By ’91, the company had developed a proprietary gasoline engine it called the Alpha. It also built its own transmission, which helped to create technological independence for Hyundai.

An Indian division began production in 1996, but the big break came in 2004 when J.D. Power named Hyundai the second best brand in initial quality. Hyundai also gained significant market share after its sponsorship of the 2002 World Cup, a deal which still continues today.


Phin Upham

Phin Upham is an investor from NYC and SF. You may contact Phin on his Twitter page.

Sporty Chevrolet Corvette stingray

It appears that more and more people are looking at connectivity to the Internet when choosing a new car. Many automakers as well as others who are interested in making driverless cars are attempting to get a new one to the market sooner than later. This may be why new sports cars are loaded with new technology advancements.

Chevrolet Corvette from the General Motors is no exception. The revamped 2014 Corvette comes with 6.2-liter V8 delivering 17 city, 29 highway and 21 combined miles per gallon. The 7-speed rear wheel drive has side air bags, stability control (even though it is lower enough to hug the road), and a rear view camera. The seven speed manual gearbox operation gives the driver power when needed. As expected from a sports car it has superior handling, steering and an excellent throttle response.

The 2014 is the 7th generation Corvette from Chevrolet and still lacks the quality of a European or Japanese counterparts. But the lean mean machine can compete with its European counter parts. However, interior fittings of the car worth a second look and seats are more comfortable than any other before. It comes with a price tag around $59,000 with the rag top costing $5,000 less.

Image sensing and other hot technology to improve automotive industry

Now that Google and many other high tech companies are looking at technology loaded driverless vehicles, technology in automotive industry is getting much more attention. The automotive industry is becoming a fertile ground for the technology industry. Add to that, the Federal government is requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with rear-view backup cameras by 2018. Another area that is growing leaps and bounds is image sensing for safety. Luxury vehicles are touting not only back-up cameras but also lane departure sensing and warning systems, 360-degree surround view, forward facing machine vision and autonomous driving. Many expect side mounted mirrors to be replaced with cameras which will contribute to reduce vehicle weight and reduce wind drag.

This kind of improvement calls for new and improved chips and the industry will benefit from demand for new technologies from the automotive industry. Aptina Imaging (recently bought by ON Semiconductor) is the leading supplier of image sensors to the automotive industry closely followed by OmniVision. By 2018, the auto industry experts expect to see more than 100 million sensing devices to be sold worldwide. Daimler, Toyota, Volvo, Aston Martin, Hyundai and many other auto makers are paying close attention to technology advancements taking place in the technology industry.