DIY Life

Want to dump your gas guzzler? Confused about the Cash for Clunkers program? You're not alone. This government program, actually titled the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), officially kicked off on July 27. Let's run through some common FAQs about CARS, shall we?

1. What is this "Cash for Clunkers" I keep hearing so much about? CARS lets qualifying car owners trade in their gas guzzlers at participating dealerships for a $3,500 or $4,500 rebate. The catch? The rebate must be put toward the cost of purchasing or leasing a more fuel-efficient vehicle.

2. What's in it for the US government? A few things, actually. According to the official CARS website, the program is intended to boost car sales, get fuel-wasting cars off the road and just generally help to energize the economy. Yes, that is kind of a tall order, isn't it?

Your front yard doesn't have to be perfectly manicured or professionally landscaped to look good. It is, however, your public face -- of sorts. Plus, your neighbors are forced to look at whatever you put out there!

Be a good neighbor: banish the following items from your front yard.

1. Plastic foliage. I'm talking anything you got from a craft store. Like this, for example. Plastic ivy. Faux dried sunflowers. Silk chrysanthemums. Plastic wreaths. Fake autumn leaves strung into streamers. Shudder.

Plastic flowers are tacky in the garden. They're unnecessary. After all, you have Mother Nature at your disposal! Why choose fake flowers? Finally, they evoke the cemetery. Enough said.

OK, as we all know the economy is in a downward spiral. The housing market is so far down the drain you can't even get at it with a plunger. The dollar has fallen farther and faster than Elliot Spitzer's trousers at a gentleman's club.

The only thing rising is gas prices. (Think mushroom cloud here) As a result we are all scrambling to find new and exciting ways to pinch pennies hard enough to make Abe Lincoln cry.

I used to do a lot of work on my previous car myself to save some money back in the day. When my wife and I purchased our '05 Touareg from VW I decided that with the new car, vast jumps forward in technology, and our economic stability, I would let the dealership deal with all the issues that arose. As economic fortunes have turned I have decided to start doing some easier things myself. Ooops...

While I silently smirk when people refer to their car with endearing names, there is something to be said for giving your car the love it needs to love you back. A well maintained car will serve you faithfully for years. We all know the basics: Keep up on your oil changes and make the necessary repairs as they come up. If you really want to extend the life of your ride you'll want to take extra care, considering all the details and tending to some seemingly obscure tips.

These 75 ways to keep your car in top-notch condition will minimize your headaches and significantly extend your vehicle's life. The Reader's Digest article covers everything from the break in period, to sun protection and tire tread safety. I found this to be the most clear and comprehensive collection of tips. One of the easiest ones to implement and probably the most effective tool for easily detecting a problem is #8: Keep an auto log. More details about this tip after the break.

We all know how important vehicle maintenance is. Keeping up on regular service appointments or doing the maintenance yourself is key to your car's continued performance. Most of you will diagnose and fix your car problems independently and quite successfully. The real problem is that if you wait for an issue, you've already lost time and money. Maintenance is key and it is so easy to lose track of our maintenance schedule. Dumb Little Man points us to the perfect solution: Service Beacon.

For car owners it's completely free. You can store all your car maintenance records on their site. While the idea is that you can book your service appointments through your dealer online, most of you will opt for the DIY method. I know it would be useful to us having a reminder each time we're due for a service. The site will also keep you up to date on all of the recalls and notifications relevant to your vehicle. Let Service Beacon track your car maintenance schedule so that your car keeps serving you. Take the tour, it's quite impressive.

[via: Lifehacker]

Most DIY projects have some greater purpose; helping you do things by your own devices, faster, cheaper, and more creatively. This isn't going to fill any of those, but it is very cool and it will give you a 30 second thrill. The original rocket powered matchbox car inventor, kipkay, calculates that it travels 1800 scale miles per hour. You're sure to have a blast, but be careful.

Materials

1. A10-PT model rockets
2. 32 gage wire
3. Coffee stirrer
4. Glue
5. Sharp knife
6. String - 100 ft
7. Race controller

Recently I was at the store while listening to my brother yack at me from the other end of the cell phone. What he was saying made absolutely no sense to me. He was asking me to buy the various items he needed to change the oil in his car. There was the wrench type thing, the oil filter and then the oil. The wrench was easy enough to locate. Then the filter took some detective work; there are different types for mileage, best performance and the like. But when it came to the oil I was flummoxed. There were different brands, different weights and then some appeared to be real while others were synthetic. I asked him over the phone which kind was best whereupon he faltered and finally told me it was something that just couldn't be explained over the phone. My suspicion was that he didn't really know the difference but that he wasn't going to admit such a thing to his little sister.

After I got home I looked up some facts about motor oil. I learned far more than I ever thought possible on the subject. For example, synthetic oils actually have more staying power than traditional oils. They are manufactured to withstand stresses that regular oils cannot take. Synthetic oils do not foam when they reach higher temperatures. Engines are able to run cooler with a synthetic oil in them. These oils are more expensive than their traditional counterparts, but if you figure in not having to change your oil as often and better gas mileage for your car, the cost is well worth it.

I suppose it all might have been a bit much for my brother to explain to me while I was standing in a daze in the automotive aisle. But it is some helpful information to have for the next time I take my car in for an oil change. What about you? Do you have any oil knowledge? If so, please share it with us.

When I was a kid we lived across the street from a fellow who had what I thought was an uncanny ability to park his cars in his garage with perfect accuracy every time. There was always room to open all car doors without striking the other car and there was always room to get in and out of both cars from either side. His garage wasn't any larger than a standard two car garage and he also had some of the extras in there that many people do, such as a snow blower, a chest freezer and of course the lawnmower and some lawn tools. So how did this fellow get his cars situated in perfect fashion as a matter of course? I went one day to find the answer.

What our neighbor had done was to park his cars in the garage one day in the exact position that he wanted them. Then he took two tennis balls, threaded each one on a string line and hung them both from the garage rafters in position so each one would just touch the windshield of each car right in front of the rear view mirror. From then on, all he and his wife needed to do was ease in either car until the tennis ball came to rest on the windshield, in front of the rear view mirror. Presto! A perfect parking job every time.

Check out 17 good uses for a Tennis ball, from DIY Life's own Dan Chilton.