Bleeding your car's hydraulic brake system is a fact of life for the mechanically inclined car enthusiast, especially for those of us who participate in track days, race, or enjoy a bit of spirited driving. Unfortunately, brake bleeding is a terribly boring task. It's so tedious that your closest friends and family will quickly learn to ignore your requests for help and you will inevitably be stuck doing this two-person operation by yourself. Believe me, I've been there. Here's what I have from years of collecting and using one-man brake bleeder tools on cars of many different shapes and sizes: Plastic Bottle Type Cost: $6 - $20 Where to buy: AMPRO T71658 One Man Brake Bleeder (or literally any auto parts store) Nicer version: Genesis One Person Bleeder Bottle First up is the ubiquitous narrow hose in a tiny plastic bottle type brake bleeder. You can find this type at pretty much any auto parts store. Just plug this onto the bleeder nipple of your brake caliper, crack open the brake bleeder screw, and slowly pump the brake pedal. As long as the hoses going into the bottle are full of fluid, you can keep pumping without letting air back into the brake pedal. The downside is that the bottles tend to be tiny (by design) so they fill up very quickly. If you are bleeding large brake calipers or are doing a flush of the brake system, you will be running back and forth to empty the bottle every 5 or so pumps of the brake pedal. The construction of the bottle also tends to be cheap, as are the rather hard plastic hoses which rarely do a great job of sealing against the bleeder nipple. If you use this type of brake bleeder bottle, expect to replace it once every few brake jobs. Pros: Cheap and universal Works well for quick brake bleeding jobs Available pretty much everywhere, so no worries if you forget yours at home Cons: Hard plastic hoses may not seal well against the bleeder nipple Small bottle means you have to stop and empty the brake bleeder bottle often Bottle is pretty fragile. Don't let this roll around in your toolbox or it will come out in pieces. Inline Check Valve Type Cost: $11 - $15 Where to buy: Motion Pro 08-0143 Hydraulic Brake Bleeder The cheap plastic brake bleeder bottles are ok for quick brake jobs, but running back and forth to empty the liliputian bleeder bottle can get annoying if you have to flush out more fluid. While they do sell more expensive kits with larger bottles, there is a better solution. This motion pro kit is basically a metal check valve between two pieces of flexible plastic hose. The one-way valve keeps the air from getting sucked back in while springy hose clamps keep a tight seal around all connections. Because the ends are open, you can also bleed straight into a catch pan or a larger bottle. Despite its simplicity this design works well. Because the old fluid is retained in the hose, it's easy to step out and see the condition of the fluid as it leaves the brake caliper. The metal check valve shrugs off accidental drops and it doesn't seem to degrade over time like the plastic bottles. And if you do manage to lose or break it, it's still cheap to replace. Pros: Durable and portable Lets you bleed directly into a larger container instead of going back and forth to dispose of fluid Cons: Check valve doesn't work well for bleeding clutch systems Can't be used to bleed master cylinders Speed Bleeders Cost: $12 - $25 per pair Where to buy: Speed Bleeders at BestBrakes.com Another option is to put the check valve into the caliper itself. Speed Bleeders are bleeder screws with a spring-loaded ball valve built into the body. I've tried a few designs over the years (including some really crazy looking variants) and found that the original Russell Speed Bleeders tend to work the best and be the most durable. The concept is that you unscrew your existing brake bleeder screws and replace them with these screws. When you bleed the brakes, all you need to do is to put a length of hose on the bleeder nipple, open it a quarter turn, and start pumping out the old fluid. The biggest challenge is finding the right screw size for your calipers. If your car still has the OEM brake calipers, this shouldn't be an issue. But most aftermarket and rebuilt calipers come with larger brake bleeder screws than they had from the factory. In these cases, you need to measure your existing bleeder screws to make sure that you are ordering the right size. Still, this is a great option if you primarily work on one car. Pros: Set and forget - All you need is a length of plastic hose to bleed your brakes Easy to use once installed Cons: Not transferrable across cars Finding the right fitment can be a challenge with non-OEM calipers Metal tends to softer than the OEM bleeder screw. Be careful not to over-torque when tightening. Pull Type (Negative Pressure) Vacuum Bleeder Cost: $30 and up Where to buy: ARES 70923 Vacuum Brake Fluid Bleeder (Compressor Assisted Type) Mityvac MV800 Automotive Tune-up and Brake Bleeding Kit (Manual Pump Type) All of the tools that we've talked about so far do a good job of bleeding air and old fluid out of your brake calipers. But what if you let the fluid level drop too low and there's air in your master cylinder? Or if you need to change out the ancient fluid in your clutch hydraulic system? The tools we've talked about so far won't work in these cases. That's because they rely on force from the master cylinder to push out the old fluid. If the master cylinder can't produce enough pressure in the areas that need to be bled, you can't rely on them to effectively bleed the system. Enter the vacuum assisted brake bleeder. These bleeders rely on vacuum to suck the fluid out of the hydraulic system, using either a hand-operated pump or a Venturi valve connected to an air compressor. I connect mine to a 21 gallon Harbor Freight compressor using the quick connect port on the grip. I have also used the manual pump ones and can confirm that they work just as well. Because they are vacuum assisted, you can use this type of bleeder to bleed pretty much any hydraulic system including your clutch fluid or ABS module. You also have to do less work because you don't have to get into the car and push the pedal. Once the pump is attached and you are drawing a vacuum, all you need to do is sit patiently as all of the old fluid is sucked out of the hydraulic lines. The one drawback is that your car's hydraulic systems were not designed to contain a vacuum. Using a vacuum bleeder puts stress on the seals in the master cylinder as well as the rubber brake lines connected to your brake calipers. Generally this isn't a problem, but if your car has older brake lines or if your master cylinder is older, vacuum bleeders can cause leaks. I learned this the hard way on an old Nissan Quest that had seen better days. Because of this, I tend to use vacuum bleeders sparingly. Pros: Doesn't rely on pedal pressure, so you can bleed master cylinders from the caliper Can also bleed clutch hydraulic systems and some ABS circuits No need to get into the car to push the brake pedal and risk getting brake fluid all over your interior Cons: Can cause leaks in old master cylinders and worn rubber brake lines The manual pump models can be surprisingly expensive - more than the air compressor powered ones Push Type (Positive Pressure) Power Bleeder Cost: $50 and up Where to buy: Motive Power Bleeders Kits on Amazon For those of you who need to do a full brake system flush and/or are worried about the condition of their seals, we have the push type power bleeder. This one is a Motive, and at $50 + extra for adapters, it is the most expensive brake bleeding tool in my garage. Setting up the Power Bleeder is a bit more involved than with some of the others. First, you fill the power bleeder with fresh brake fluid. Then mount the bleeder to the master cylinder reservoir using either a model-specific adapter or a universal adapter like this. Then use the integrated pump to pressurize the master cylinder to 15 psi, attach a hose to the brake bleeder nipple, crack the valve, and wait. The bleeder will force new brake fluid through the system from the source and push all of the old brake fluid, along with any air, out of the bleeder. Because these power bleeders push fluid in the same direction as the brake pedal, they won't put undue stress on your seals or brake lines. Once you have it set up, it's very easy to do a full system flush of your car's brake or clutch system. The downside is that the adapters are model-specific, so if you plan to service a large number of cars, you need to have a few adapters on hand. Motive makes universal adapters, like this 3" metal adapter pictured here, but they can be fiddly because they are designed to be attached to the master cylinder with hooks and chains. Pro tip: Skip the chains and use pair of ratchet clamps to hold the adapter to the brake reservoir. Pros: Sure fire way to bleed all of the air and old fluid out of your car's brake or clutch system Continuously supplies fresh fluid to the system as you bleed Won't cause undue stress on rubber lines and master cylinder seals Cons: Some adapters can be fiddly (e.g. all of the ones that aren't the screw-on type) Not very portable Expensive, especially if you buy adapters for different cars Conclusion and Recommendations So which of these one-man brake bleeding tools is best? For the home mechanic or the track-day enthusiast, I recommend either the Inline Check Valve or Speed Bleeders. They are durable, cost effective, and are easy to use whether you are working at home or bleeding your brakes between track sessions. If you plan to work on a large number of cars or are planning to do major brake system work on your car, I recommend investing in a Push Type Power Bleeder. Yes, it's the most expensive tool but it's well worth it when you consider the amount of time and frustration it saves you during big jobs. Stay safe and keep those brakes in good shape. See you at the track. ~R Disclosure Section: StudioVRM is not sponsored or supported by any brake companies. All of the items here were paid for out of Roger's own pocket except the Motive Power Bleeder, which a friend and former roommate left behind when he moved out. I bought the universal adapter though so it wasn't really free either.

It's been four months since we started our long-term test of PTH Racing Oil, and we've been busy putting this new racing oil through its paces. As we use up the last few bottles in our first case of PTH 5w30, I thought I'd do a quick report on all of the work that we've been doing to see if PTH Racing Oil really is a top tier racing oil. The Testbed The testbed for this long-term test is the recently re-liveried #7 StudioVRM Prelude, a 1993 Honda Prelude Si prepared for SCCA Improved Touring S. The engine is a Honda H23A1 non-VTEC, a stout, undersquare engine that came from the factory producing 160hp and 156 lb-ft of torque at the crank. Rather fortuitously, this motor is ideal for this type of testing. Being fairly simple, the H23A1 is pretty representative of popular production engines of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000's. No variable cam lift, no direct injection, no electronic throttle, and no unusual behaviors that could help or hinder the performance of the engine's oil. The engine itself is close to stock as the Improved Touring rules prohibit significant modifications to engine internals. Even more so than usual in this case, as Robert Oliver, all-around powertrain wizard and my go-to engine builder, insisted that I use dealer-sourced OEM parts wherever possible. So that's what it has. The valvetrain, bearings, oiling system, electronics... even the water pump and timing belt are from American Honda. Although the rules allow for it, the car is not equipped with an oil cooler or an Accusump. For measurement purposes, I've added a fast-acting Autometer mechanical oil pressure gauge and a PCV catch can to prevent blow-by from being sucked into the intake. Aside from that, an AEM intake, Hytech header, custom exhaust, and a Hondata S300 ECU are the only other power adding mods on this car. If you are like one of the many people out there who track or race a stock or relatively unmodified production car engine, the results of this test should be pretty applicable to you. Preparing for Testing As the engine had run two race seasons since its last rebuild, Robert meticulously inspected the internals in the 2017 off-season. He confirmed that both the head and block were in good shape and installed a new timing belt, tensioner, and water pump for good measure. Aside from a bit of nominal bearing wear from hard racing use there was little to worry about with the motor itself. Second order of business was getting the old oil out and getting the crank case full of PTH Racing oil. So as part of pre-season prep, the Prelude's crankcase was completely drained of PennGrade1 and refilled with 4.5 quarts of PTH 5w30. The oil filter of choice is Denso's FTF, a reliable and affordable OE replacement filter. Of course, it's nearly impossible to get all of the old oil out of a production car engine in one oil change. So this first batch of new oil was only used to protect the motor while it was driven around the garage and between shops while the car was prepared, aligned, and set up for the 2018 race season. Once the car was in good mechanical order, I changed the oil again with another 4.5 quarts of PTH 5w30 and a new Denso oil filter. Wasteful? Yes. Call it a sacrifice in the name of science. Dyno Tuning Time The first test for the PTH 5w30 would be a dyno re-tuning session at Evans Tuning. The map on the car's Hondata S300 ECU had become corrupted over the winter, so Jeff Evans had to re-tune the car from some older code. Jeff ran the car on the dyno for a full hour, adjusting it, revving it, and performing a number of full-throttle runs on his DynaPack until the car was running to his liking. The motor accepted this rude awakening from its off-season slumber without a single issue. Oil pressure remained a healthy 40 to 80 psi with no increase in valvetrain noise. As expected, the catch can remained empty. The power numbers? A stout 157 hp and 162 lbs-ft of torque at the wheels. So with the H23 now idling happily and a successful first test completed, it was off to the racetrack. On-Track Testing - By Racing A few days after the dyno tuning session, we towed the Prelude to the Lightning circuit of NJ Motorsports Park for two days of on-track shakedown. Lightning is a fast, flowing 1.9 mile road course with long straights and a banked high-speed 180 degree turn affectionately known as "the Lightbulb", Lightning provides a good workout for engines while rewarding drivers who can conserve the most momentum at racing speeds. With this being the third season for the Prelude in its current trim, there was little to do in terms of mid-session adjustments. So we maximized our track time and ran every lap of every session. This meant a little under two and a half hours spent between 4200 and 7000 rpm, mostly under full throttle conditions in 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear. It's fairly hard work for a production based motor. As expected, there were no unusual noises and no oil consumption throughout the whole weekend. Oil pressure never dropped below 40 psi, even as the engine temperatures climbed throughout each session. What was unexpected was that the PCV catch can remained empty through the weekend. We usually expect to see 1/4 of a quart of engine oil in the catch can after every hour of running on Lightning. This time there was no oil at all. It was a welcome surprise - with no Accusump and only the stock baffles in the OEM Honda oil pan, we can't afford to lose any oil from the crankcase. A badly flat spotted tyre cut the second day of the weekend short. Still, the car and the oil clocked up the track miles as if it was just another day in the office. With plenty of time logged on the Hobbs meter, we loaded up the car and headed home. At this point, we would normally call time on the engine oil and change it along with other worn-out fluids and consumables. But this wasn't a normal race weekend. It's a stress test. So against better judgement, we kept the same oil and the same filter and ran it in the SCCA Lightning Challenge races a month later. One decent qualifying, one strong qualifying race, and one race-cancelling downpour later, we came away happy with an award for 1st in class and 4.5 quarts of well-used PTH Racing Oil sloshing around in the heart of the Prelude's H23A1. Now to see what sort of damage that all that hard use had done. Used Oil Analysis The next day I pulled the oil drain plug and relieved the Prelude of its heavily abused motor oil. While it was draining, I took a small sample and sent it off to Blackstone Labs for a Used Oil Analysis. Here's what they sent back: For comparison purposes, here's the virgin oil analysis that Blackstone did on a sample from the same batch. Blackstone didn't have much data on road raced H23A1s, so I consulted my engine builder as well as a few Honda racers for their opinion on the metal content that appeared in the report. The general consensus was that this level of bearing wear would be expected from a regular oil change in a track driven H series motor. However SCCA racers change their oil after every race weekend (usually 2 hours or less for a sprint race weekend), while this oil was thrashed on for nearly 3 times as long. While I won't say that the oil protects the engine 3 times as well, it does indicate that PTH 5w30 is doing an above-average job of protecting the engine's internals. Surprisingly, the on-track abuse and extra-long oil change interval didn't have much an effect on the oil itself. SUS Viscosity and cSt viscosity remained well within the acceptable range, and the Flash point remained a very high 415 degrees. The PTH 5w30 remained chock full of anti-wear additives with the Phosphorus and Zinc numbers barely changing from the new oil analysis. A still-high Total Base Number of 5.7 indicated that there was still lots of life left in the oil. Although Blackstone recommended that I go back to more sensible oil change intervals, the numbers indicate that I could have run the car even longer on the same oil. That is pretty impressive, to say the least. Results so Far Shortly after the Used Oil Analysis, we towed the car back to Robert's garage. Once there, he removed the camshafts and I did a visual inspection of the heads. As expected, there was no additional wear on the cams, the rockers, or the caps. All mating surfaces looked shiny and unblemished, with no scratches or bluing from heat. So far so good. Between the results of the Used Oil Analysis and the condition of the valvetrain, it looks like PTH 5w30 is doing a very good job of protecting the fast-moving metal parts within the motor. From the driver's seat, it's very difficult to tell if the PTH Racing Oil is extracting more power from the engine compared to other high performance oils. I did notice that the car didn't seem to lose as much power over the course of a race weekend compared to when it was on semi-synthetic PennGrade1. Normally after 2 hours of hard racing, the motor would start to feel slightly sluggish - The revs would be a little slower to rise, and when blipping the throttle under downshifts you could tell that the engine just didn't seem to want to turn as freely. Not so in this case. Even after 5+ hours of time, the motor responded to quick jabs of the throttle just like it did the day after the oil change. As I understand it, this is the difference between a semi-synthetic base stock and a "pure" synthetic Group IV or Group V base stock. Many petroleum based "dino" oils become more viscous with heat and shear. So over time the engine internals have to fight more and more against internal friction caused by the "thicker" fluid and has a hard time spinning as freely as they could. Most Group IV and Group V synthetic motor oils don't exhibit this property, with many of them becoming thinner over time. Of course, you could change the oil more often. But I do like the idea that I could potentially run my engine oil through a 6, 12, or even 24 hour endurance race and not have to worry about protection or power loss. Based on my experience so far, PTH 5w30 seems to be an oil that could do just that. Coming Up Now that we've seen what PTH Racing Oil can do in a well-maintained stock motor, it's time to find out what it will do for a more modified engine. In preparation for this test, Robert is working with Racer Brown Camshafts to have a set of custom racing cams ground for the StudioVRM Prelude. The hope is that it will be ready and installed prior to the Summer Thunder weekend in early August. How will this promising new oil stand up to the stresses and strains from aggressive high-lift cams, faster moving valvetrain, and a higher redline? The answers are coming in just a few short weeks. In the meantime, I'll see you at the track. Disclosure section: StudioVRM is not sponsored or supported by any oil companies including PTH. Or by any dyno tuning companies including Evans Tuning. Or by any oil analysis companies like Blackstone Labs. Basically everything mentioned here was paid for out of Roger's own pocket. Except that oil drain pan. I nicked that from a friend.

How much rain does it take to shut down an SCCA Regional? Based on my experience from two weeks ago, the answer is this much: Thank you again to the workers and volunteers of the North Jersey and South Jersey Regions of the SCCA who organized the event, did everything in their power to let us race, and ultimately made the tough call to shut the track down instead of risking a dangerous situation. No worries. We'll live to race another day.

About 10 years ago, a well-respected suspension guru taught me a little trick to stop polyurethane bushings from squeaking and binding for a very long period of time. It's so bizarre and effective that I had to make mention of it. Here it is, in all its simple glory: Parts List: 811-5 1/2" x 520 Teflon Thread Seal Tape (5pcs/box) - $6 on Amazon 10 x Super Lube 82340 Multi Purpose Synthetic Grease USDA Dielectric PTFE 1 ml - $7 on Amazon (in case you don't have any grease left) So who is this mystery suspension guru? It's actually none other than Mike Kojima of MotoIQ.com. He actually taught this to me when we were both active members in the Nissan community. Those days are long past, but I use this method to this day. All I can say is that you should check out his site. And to extend my gratitude to the man who stopped that annoying noise coming from my wheel wells - Thanks Mike! See you at the track.

It's difficult to get away from the fact that in-car video is inherently boring. There's something about the sturdy fixed camera mount and the static framing that sucks all of the energy out of an otherwise exciting moment. So I took a little bit of footage from the 2018 March Lion Test Weekend and made an attempt to squeeze some drama out of some otherwise dull lump of video footage. Boy, what a mistake that was. See you at the track.

As part of my long-term experiment with PTH racing oil, I took a small sample of 5w30 from one of the bottles I had bought and sent it out to Blackstone Labs for an oil analysis. For those of you who aren't familiar with the name, Blackstone Labs is one of a few independent laboratories in the US with the equipment to break down and analyze the components and characteristics of engine oil for automotive, aeronautic, and industrial equipment. They offer an inexpensive service where you can send in used motor oil out of your street car, and based on the properties of the oil, tell you about the condition of your engine internals and give you an early warning about any potential problems. They can also perform a similar analysis on fresh oil (aka virgin oil) and give you detailed breakdown of the types and amounts of common metals and additives. I wanted to verify PTH's claims about the properties of their oil. So I ordered one of their free sample kits, filled it up with PTH 5w30, sealed it up, and mailed it back to their lab in Indiana. Here's what came back today: The Report The Analysis The first thing you'll notice is that I neglected to put the letters "PTH" on the analysis request form. Rest assured, this is PTH Racing Oil 5w30, straight out of the bottle I bought a few weeks ago. Not some unlabeled mystery oil that I found on the back shelf of the Studio. The second thing you'll notice is that the properties are consistent with what PTH Racing Oil advertises on their site. In fact, the Zinc and Phosphorus numbers are actually about 10% higher than what PTH advertises. This is really impressive, because the Zinc and Phosphorus content that they advertise is already amongst the highest in their class of high performance oils. The viscosity @100C is basically exactly what they advertise (all racing 5w30 oils have a viscosity that's on the high side of the range), and the flash point is where it needs to be for an oil like this. It's encouraging to see the comments from Blackstone. They've seen hundreds of thousands of oil samples and generally aren't prone to saying nice things about random oil that they haven't seen before. I also commend whomever did the comments writeup. People usually tell them what oil brand and make their sample came from so they can reference it against their massive database of motor oil data. By leaving three very important letters out of the request sheet, I gave them almost no reference data with which they could draw any conclusions. Yet they still did a nice job. $28 well spent, I'd say. The Conclusion As I mentioned in the first look post, oil analysis is a lab test in pristine conditions. The inside of a high-revving, high-strung racing engine is a slightly different environment. That said, there are two conclusions I can draw at this point. The first is that PTH's claims about their oil are accurate. In fact, the Zinc and Phosphorus numbers exceed their claims by almost 10%. Truth be told, this was not the result I was expecting. Additive content, flash point, and viscosity numbers usually come in lower than what the manufacturers claim, sometimes by a fairly significant margin. To have the anti-wear additives come in higher, the viscosity numbers to be spot on, and flash point to exceed their specs is a very nice surprise. The second is that the guys at PTH were being honest when they told me that they were a bunch of experts out to make a quality product. In an industry full of superficially impressive presentations backed by hollow shell companies, these guys are a breath of fresh air. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually excited to test the limits of PTH Racing Oil on track. Maybe I really did stumble across a diamond in the rough. See you at the track. Disclosure section: StudioVRM is not sponsored or supported by any oil companies including PTH. The oil mentioned in this post was purchased at full price out of Roger's own pocket, as was the oil analysis. At least it didn't cost very much.

Seven years ago, I was sitting on a wooden picnic table in the paddock of Lime Rock Park, taking a written licensing test for my first race license. Chief instructor, old friend, and motorsport mentor Charlie Greenhaus had authored the test himself, condensing many years of experience the professional motorsport industry into thirteen questions to determine whether we actually understood what he was teaching us. I distinctly remember that the very last question was both the shortest and the hardest. It was just two words - "Why Race?" It's a great question. As strange as it might sound, the life of a racer isn't glamorous or all that enjoyable outside of the brief moments when you're actually driving. Racing requires a lot of preparation away from the track, so you end up spending most of your weeknights getting greasy and stressed out under your racecar in a garage. You skip nights out with friends and parties with colleagues because there's so much work that needs to be done before the next event. And when you don't have something that needs to get done, you're going to bed early. Like 9 PM early. Because racing, even at this level, is surprisingly physically involved and your mind and body need to be in the best possible condition for the next race. When the big day finally comes around, you set your alarm clock for 2:30 AM so you can wake up in time to tow your car to the track. The tow is long, boring, and dangerous. I've probably come closer to getting killed while going to and from racetracks than while driving on the tracks themselves. When you finally get to the track, you spend your entire early morning unpacking your gear onto a damp paddock in near-total darkness while freezing your bottom off. Daylight breaks and you quickly realize that race events themselves are loud, dirty, and Spartan. Spectators do show up to watch and I am always amazed that they do. The paddock is a generally inhospitable place characterized by scorching sunlight, swarms of mosquitos, terrible concession stand food, and a strict no alcohol policy. You have to bring your own seating and shade. World's worst sports arena as far as I'm concerned. And to top it all off, none of this makes any money. I have been fortunate enough to have the support of some generous sponsors over the years, but a single season worth of racing costs far more than what they could offer over an entire decade. In 2017 I earned a cash prize for my modest results in the Pro-IT Series. Within two hours of getting it, every penny of that prize money was invested back into the race team. Never mind contingencies. For every contingency dollar I've ever earned, I ended up spending an additional $1.50 with the vendor that gave me that money in the first place. So why do it at all? Why race when you could be doing something easier, cleaner, or cheaper? After thinking about it almost constantly since that fateful license test, I finally have an answer. I race because I want to entertain. It's a very simple answer that fits many of life's racing related questions. For example: Q: Why do people watch car racing? A: They find it entertaining. I want to help entertain them. Q: Why do sponsors pay to put their logos on racecars? A: Entertainment makes people happy, and happy people are more willing to spend money. I want to help my sponsors entertain future customers. Q: Why do drivers and crew spend so much of their hard-earned time and money to race, when they aren't even pros? A: Being part of the action gives them entertainment that they can't get anywhere else. Oh, and by "them" I mean "us." More importantly, it gives me a reason to strain every element of my very being to make every race an exciting battle to the finish line. I want to deliver an immensely entertaining experience to anyone and everyone who might be watching. That's why I'll run my race program seriously even if I'm not a pro race shop. I'll fight to put on a thrilling show regardless of whether I'm racing for 1st or 15th. I'll choose the events where my friends and business partners can hang out and enjoy themselves, even if it means I'm missing out on national championships or world famous venues. When the successes do come I'll wear a huge, idiotic grin and celebrate with the crowd like it's the biggest win of my career. And when things go wrong, I'll proudly display my battle scars alongside the trophies. If I'm successful, I'll have put smiles on the faces the people who were at the track that day. Maybe they'll come back to watch another race. Maybe they'll want to get more involved. Maybe they'll join the team. Every time I show up at a racetrack, I get the opportunity to entertain a huge number of people who are just like me. That's why I race. See you at the track.

I love racing simulators. When I moved into my first apartment with two of my closest college friends, we built our own simulator rig to supplement what little track time we could get in DE events. It was a hilariously crude rig, fashioned together from a Sparco Speed tube frame seat, a wooden coffee table, a sturdy 28" CRT TV and the original Logitech Driving Force Pro. The whole setup was a clunky mass of parts but we spent many a night in front of it working out setups and driving different types of cars in Gran Turismo 4 and Enthusia to hone our skills as much as we could. It was good training and it was cheap. An average HPDE weekend came with an end-to-end cost of $500+ while we could run the Playstation 3 as much as we wanted for an extra few pennies on the electric bill. My two roommates and I were convinced that this was the driver training tool of the future and it would be the only way that we could ever get good enough to compete with the fastest racers out there. Fast forward 12 years. As of last year I've built five generations of driver training simulators for my PC using at least ten different racing games. In the commercial realm, full-motion simulators have escaped from their traditional confines of the trade show floor and are now making their way into race shops and even some (rich) people's homes. They say that the current generation of full feedback simulators running iRacing or rFactor Pro are as close as you can get to actually driving a car on track. Having had the opportunity to try some of them myself, I can say that they are very, very good. But despite offering full floating cockpits and 3 degrees of freedom of seat-of-the-pants feedback, I still find myself passing on them in lieu of the latest version of my DIY driver training simulator. Unlike these high-dollar simulators, mine cost only $12 in hardware. The Hardware and Software So here's the hardware: It's a 65cm heavy duty Swiss ball. I sit on it. It has a bit of sand in it to keep it from rolling away while I'm focusing on driving. And here's the software: I wanted to post an actual CT scan of my brain, but I seem to have misplaced the one I took a few years ago*. This stock photo would have to do. Point is, my brain contains the software. Uh... What? You've probably figured out by now that my favorite driver training simulator is actually a dedicated place where I do mental imagery training. Yes, the tech-loving programmer would rather spend time in his own head rather than geeking out on the most advanced simulators money can buy. Ironic, maybe, but in many cases this works a lot better than even the best sim rigs. How does this even work? Mental imagery is an age-old training mechanism popularized by athletes in many sports, from tennis to basketball to cycling to swimming. The idea is that every time you come off the track after a clean set of laps or you set a new personal best lap time, you take some time to soak up the sensations that you felt while you were on track and burn them into your memory. Essentially, you're building a mental model of how your car behaves on a real racetrack. Then, when you're relaxed in a quiet space at home, you play back the sensation of driving on a track using the mental model that you programmed in your head and "drive" the track. By doing this over and over, you build get your body so attuned to the feeling of driving a car that you can trick your brain into thinking that you are actually driving on track even when you aren't. It's like having a portable driving simulator in your head for you to pull out any time you want. Pretty cool, right? Here's how you do it, in broad strokes: Step 1. Programming the Mental Model The hardest part about all of this is building a good mental model of a real car on a real racetrack. And the best way to do this is to actually go out and spend some time putting in quality laps at a regular non-competitive track day. Mount your smartphone to your windshield or bolt your action cam to your roll cage and spend the entire day putting in moderately fast, mistake-free laps. While you're in the car, spend extra care feeling the sensation of everything in the car while it's in motion. Look around and take in the scenery that's coming at you through the front windscreen. Concentrate on what vibrations and forces come through the steering wheel versus the pedals versus the seat. Take in the smell of burning rubber and the thunderous roar blasting out of the tailpipe when you mash the right pedal. When you get back into your space in the paddock, shut the car off and close your eyes. Try to recall the sensation of what you felt through your hands in feet, what you saw through the windows and the sounds you heard. It should be very easy since you just came off track. After the day is done, go to a quiet space in your home and try the same exercise again to see how many of those sights, sounds, smells and tactile feelings you can reproduce while you replay a lap in your mind. If you focused on the right things at the track day, you should be able to produce a vividly visual replay of how you gently guided the car through one or two corners. Maybe you'll recall the smell of the brakes under hard braking or the feel of the accelerator pedal as you feather the throttle through a fast right hander. Keep focusing and try to stay zoned into that mental image for as long as possible. When you feel like you can't keep a good steady image, stop. A day or two later, do the same exercise again - Find a quiet space in your home, close your eyes and try to remember what it's like to drive a clean line through the track you were at the other day. If you're having trouble recalling the feeling of the car, sit in your track car with the engine off and go through the motions with your hands and feet. If you're having trouble remembering how the track looked, go take a look at your in-car video from the track day. Can't seem to get into the zone? Put your helmet and gloves on. I'm not kidding. As gross as it sounds, the smell of weather-beaten helmet padding is often enough to get me into the right mental space for a productive mental simulation. On occasion, I will do my mental programming in the driver's seat of my race car while it's sitting in the garage. It probably looks like a bizarre spectacle to anyone who doesn't know what I'm doing. Fortunately the garage doesn't have too many windows. Make this a regular part of your routine. At first it will all feel a bit silly, but keep at it. Before long, you will have calibrated your mental image of the car to the point where you will be able to play back an entire lap of your local track in your head in real time. How do you know when you have a really accurate model? Take a stop watch and time yourself doing a clean lap of the track in your head. Then compare that time to an actual lap from you on track. If you can consistently get your metal lap to come within a second of your fastest laps on track, you have a pretty accurate mental model programmed into your head. Step 2. Putting your Mental Model to Good Use So now that you have an accurate mental image of how the car behaves, what do you do with it? My answer is: The same thing that you do on any driving simulator - Practice. For example, here's what I will often do during a mental playback session: First I'll visualize myself putting in clean, fast laps on NJMP Lightning or Summit Point Main. And when I say fast, I mean qualifying pace. I'll visualize myself pushing it right to the limit, kissing kerbs and taking the car to the brink of lockup, all without making a single mistake. During this process, I will actually move my hands and feet as if I was sitting in the car and recall the feedback from the steering wheel and the G-forces from the seat supports as I go through the tightest corners. I'll focus on putting in fast lap after fast lap, just like I would if I was actually behind the wheel in my race car. Your mental image may look a little grainy and a bit surreal, like watching film footage on an old projector. This is roughly how things look when I replay laps in my head. Fortunately, you get a lot more than just visual feedback when you do this exercise. Then I'll experiment a little, one corner at a time to see if there's any place where I could potentially find that additional bit of time. Maybe I'll try braking a bit later for turn 1 or take a slightly different line through the carousel. What's interesting is that when I visualize myself taking the turn later than I've ever actually taken it, the mental model in my head will adjust to give me an estimate of what would happen if I tried that in real life. Sometimes this means I get a mental image of me sliding off the track into the grass. When that happens, I immediately open my eyes and start the lap again in my head. After all, there's no point in visualizing a massive car crash. Sometimes I'll get the sensation that the car will grip through the extra-hard braking effort and I'll rocket out of the corner with two tenths shaved off my fast lap. When this happens, I take note of it and actually try it out during my next test day or practice session. I distinctly remember the first time this actually worked. I found a half second of time in the carousel at Summit Point doing nothing but trial and error simulations in my head. Imagine how good it felt to have discovered that much time in one corner without spending a single cent on 93 octane. It was a big confidence booster that put a huge grin on my face. Mental Imagery vs Driving Simulator - Pros and Cons Of course, every approach has its advantages and disadvantages, and mental imagery is no exception. The biggest pro of using mental imagery over a computerized simulation is that you get to simulate miniscule sensations that even the best full motion sim rigs can't produce. You can also practice the sensation of driving your car with its unique handling characteristics and behavioral quirks. It takes a lot of work to get a computerized simulation calibrated to behave anything like your individual car. While you can practice driving a Spec Miata in iRacing, you can't really practice driving your spec Miata in iRacing. That makes a big difference when translating your training to actual on-track improvement. The cons of using mental imagery is that your images won't work without prior programming. Want to practice driving an ARCA stocker around the Pocono Tri-Oval? You'll need some time in an actual ARCA stock car and a fair number of laps around Pocono before you can even start using mental imagery to train for it. Curious about a new setting change you've never attempted before? Unless you have an exceedingly accurate mental model around the mechanical setup of your car, it will be very difficult to accurately experiment with things like car setup changes with mental imagery alone. Conclusion and Recommendations Mental imagery is a powerful and convenient tool to help you train your track driving skills even when you can't get to a racetrack. Even though it doesn't require a lot of equipment, it's far from free - You need to invest a good deal of your time and effort to build up a mental model to do this and this means putting in real work to do it. While it can help simulate some what-if scenarios, it can't simulate a situation you've never been in before. If you're preparing for your first outing in a 800hp stock car, break out that Logitech steering wheel and start up iRacing. It's the better tool for that job. When it comes to finding lap time in my own car, I've found that the organic computer in my skull still does a better job than any computerized racing simulator that's available today. If you've never tried it before, I would recommend doing some research for yourself in a good sports psychology book. My personal favorite is the near-ubiquitous Speed Secrets 3: Inner Speed Secrets by Ross Bentley. He does the best job of covering mental programming in practical terms in a small number of pages. The best thing about doing all this mental imagery training? When I get bored, I'll use my mental model to just do some gentle laps around my favorite track from the comfort of my own home. Regardless of whether it makes me faster or not, the sensation of driving on a track it puts a smile on my face. And sometimes that's all I need to get through a tough day. *And no, I don't have a brain tumor. Thanks for thinking about me though.

It turns out that there is actually a Honda-recommended method for removing those Brake Rotors screws that everyone has trouble getting out. And for some odd reason, no one had it up, so I turned it into a how-to video: I figured this out while flipping through the Japanese-language version of the 95 Accord Factory Service Manual at a used book store in Yamaguchi. The brake rotor screws had a "#3" and torque values in N-m, which seemed unusual. Not in the least because the #3 didn't seem to correlate against anything on the page but because they normally don't specify torque values for cross-headed screws. It took me a long time to figure out "#3" meant "use a JIS B-1012 Cross-Head #3 screwdriver" and the torque value is there because they have torque wrenches with bit driver heads over there. Hopefully this helps if you still have these screws in your Honda. ~R PS: For those of you who are having trouble finding this screwdriver, here's a link to it on Amazon: Vessel 125943 908 P3x150 Impacta Screwdriver PPS: No, I don't work for Vessel and they don't sponsor me. In fact I paid $18 of my own money and waited 2 weeks shipping from Japan to get mine. Now you can get them off of Amazon for $14 with free shipping.

Through all of my years of racing and modifying the Prelude, there was one thing that I kept putting on the back burner: The installation of a Limited Slip Differential (LSD). The reasoning was very simple. Despite knowing how they work and reading many reputable articles in big name motoring magazines, I couldn't tell if installing an LSD would actually make my race car faster. So this off season, after finally clearing off everything else on my modification to-do list, I broke down, bought a WaveTrac Helical Limited Slip Differential, and used it to find out whether a LSD will actually make you faster. Why a WaveTrac? Despite all of the heated brand arguments littering the internet, pretty much any of name brand aftermarket LSDs will do what they advertise. Ask around the paddock at an SCCA race weekend and you will find cars equipped with everything from Quaifes to custom-built clutch packs to knockoff OBX diffs. I won't go into the details of different differential types work, since Engineering Explained does such a good job of it. What I will say is that the process of choosing the WaveTrac was nothing more than the simple process of elimination. There was no OEM LSD option for the H23 powered Prelude so junkyard diving for a viscous LSD wasn't an option I don't have the resources to rebuild differentials on a regular basis, so clutch pack LSDs were out Welded differentials have an unfortunate tendency to snap axles in the paddock and produce snap oversteer in the rain, so that came off the list That left helical differentials as the only practical option. Quaife, MFactory, and WaveTrac all manufacture aftermarket helical LSDs for the H-series Hondas. However, WaveTrac happened to have theirs on clearance. So, a few days and $595 later, I had a WaveTrac LSD shipped to my garage. While we're in there… Since changing the diff in a FWD transaxle is a fairly involved process, this is a good opportunity to do some other internal transmission work. When I ordered the WaveTrac diff, I also added the following items to the old virtual shopping cart: OEM-replacement synchro rebuild kit from Synchrotech - $550 OEM-replacement differential bearings from Synchrotech  - $100 Replacement friction dampers from Honda - $25 A big box of brake parts cleaner - $30 4 liters of Genuine Honda MTF - $40 I would also have put a Mfactory/Synchrotech 4.64 Final Drive in too, if my gearing wasn't already spot on for NJMP and Summit Point. Yes, it seems like an expensive list of optional parts, but how often do you get the opportunity to get into the guts of your transmission? I figured I may as well use the opportunity to freshen the worn out bits of the gearbox while it was all apart. The actual rebuilding of the transaxle was entrusted to my go-to powertrain expert, one Robert Oliver. So sorry, no pictures. I will say that Robert did a brilliant job of it and he did it for significantly less than what I thought it would cost. If you are interested in his services and are in the Mid-Atlantic area, drop me a line and I'd be happy to give you his contact info. Is it Faster? As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a million. While I dispute the mathematical accuracy of that assertion, I made a video anyway. This is this is a split-screen video comparison of two in-car shots videos around NJMP Lightning, one from when the car had an open differential and the other after the LSD was installed. I clocked the time it took to get through Turn 5 and let the stopwatch run through the bottom of the bridge. Here's what the GPS data showed: The LSD is worth almost a half second of time through Turn 5 alone. There's clearly an increase in exit speed as well, as I get another tenth of a second by the time the car reaches the entry to Turn 7. That's pretty good considering that's only one corner and we're only looking at time on the ideal racing line. While Turn 5 at NJMP may look unique, you won't have to look hard at your local track to find a turn where a LSD will work just as well. You know that one slow turn where you feel like you spend an eternity waiting to get back on the accelerator pedal? That's the corner where the LSD will give you the biggest time advantage. Does it change how the car drives? Installing a helical LSD doesn't change the behavior of the car very much. There was no less understeer and the car didn't magically pick up extra grip. I could drive the car in the same exact way on the same exact line as when the car had an open diff. The only differences I noticed were that: You don't need to back out of the throttle in the middle of low-speed corners The car tries to accelerate even if one of the drive wheels starts to lose traction The car is slightly more stable under hard braking and slightly more reluctant to turn in while the brakes are on It might feel a little disappointing knowing that a high-dollar modification like this makes so little difference in how the car feels. Of course, helical LSDs are designed to limit wheel slip when they need to and act like an open differential everywhere else. This is just the diff working as advertised. Is it worth it? If you are driving the ideal racing line in good track conditions, a helical limited slip differential won't make a huge difference in your driving. Sure you might be able to apply the throttle a little earlier through the carousel at Summit Point or be more aggressive with the Turn 1 kerbing on NJMP Lightning. But aside from shaving a bit of time off of one corner, adding a LSD won't transform the car the same way that stickier tyres or a good chassis setup will. If you spend most of your time running untimed track days or DE events, adding an aftermarket LSD probably isn't the best use of your hard-earned cash. Under wheel to wheel racing conditions, it's a completely different story. In a race, the expectation is that you will spend more time off of the ideal racing line than on it. Overtaking, defending, and going side-by-side with a competitor are all actions that force you to drive a less than ideal line so you can gain or retain a position. None of the cars in this shot are able to take the ideal racing line. Because of this, every one of these cars would benefit from a Limited Slip Differential. The main side effect of driving off the ideal racing line is that cornering speeds plummet. All of the sudden, high speed corners become medium speed corners and medium speed corners feel like hairpin turns. Sometimes you'll have to put a wheel on the grass to avoid car to car contact or to make sure that you can stay on the road for the next turn. It's times like this when you will want a limited slip differential in your car. Every time you get squeezed off of the ideal racing line, having an LSD gives you the option to apply a that little bit more throttle so you can get ahead of the competition. Conclusion and Recommendations A limited slip differential lets racers make the best of less than ideal conditions. They won't eliminate understeer or magically give you more grip. At some high speed tracks, they may not even help your lap time. But when you find yourself riding halfway up the tall kerb of a 2nd gear corner with your nearest competitor pulling his passenger front fender next to your driver's side window, a LSD is the best tool you have to keep him behind you by the end of the next straight. The downside is that it is costly and installation involves taking the transaxle apart in FWD and AWD cars. Because of this, my recommendation is that you make this one of the first or one of the last modifications that you make to your track car. And while you're in there, replace as many worn-out transmission parts as you can find in there.

A few weeks ago, an avid reader of this site sent me a gentle reminder that I never posted detail photos of the header and exhaust in my ITS Honda Prelude racecar. So in the hopes that it really is a case of better late than never, here are those missing photos, from the front to the back: Hytech 4-2-1 Header Here's a closer look at the Hytech 4-2-1 header. As you can see, the runners are nearly twice as large as on the stock exhaust manifold, merging once behind the radiator and travelling a ways around the oil pan to meet the second collector underneath the motor. The collector merges the exhaust into a 2.5" section of stainless steel pipe where the O2 sensor fits (roughly) into the stock location. Because of the size of the runners, Hytech chose not to segment the header with flanges, instead adding slip joints held together by these thin bolts that you see here. Surprisingly, these bolts seem to stay tighter than the flange bolts did on the DC Sports header I previously had. Generally speaking, HyTech really does a good job of making their headers pretty while keeping them durable. This header have been on the car for about 3 seasons and it still looks fantastic. Anti-Reversion / Expansion Chamber This is where things get a little less beautiful and a lot more practical. Instead of a catalytic converter, this car has a 22" long monster of a tube running through the center section of the car. This tube is an expansion chamber that my engine builder custom rolled for this car. This stainless steel monster is about the size of a muffler for an 18 wheeler, at 6" wide in the front and tapering down to a 5" diameter in the rear. The 2.5" diameter exhaust pipe extends into the mammoth expanse of the chamber, which makes it harder for hot exhaust air to be sucked back towards the engine. If you cut the chamber open lengthwise, it would look a bit like this: This chamber has three primary features and purposes: The increase in diameter slows down the airflow and gives the engine a better chance of pushing exhaust air out of the exhaust The section of pipe sticking into the chamber makes it harder for hot air to get sucked back into the engine The size and shape of the chamber gives it the same properties as a giant muffler, so it makes the car a lot quieter than it was The important thing is that it works. Adding this to the exhaust resulted in a big bump in power in the all-important 4000 rpm - 6000 rpm range. The change was so big we had to re-tune the ECU just to make sure that the car was taking advantage of the extra power. Just as importantly, the car became substantially quieter throughout the powerband. A huge plus because no one likes the deafening buzz of a loud Honda 4-cylinder engine. Muffler and Resonator I left the Borla resonator in the cat back pipe just to keep noise down to a minimum. This is your average corrugated core resonator and is frankly not as free-flowing as a better quality resonator . Removing it would probably give me 2-3 hp at the top end. But I like how quiet it is, so until I have the money for a good quality perforated core, that'll stay in place. This is the main exhaust muffler, a 17" Burns Stainless muffler. Burns Stainless mufflers are a model of simplicity. If you open it up, it's a perforated tube surrounded by fiberglass matting. Despite its seemingly basic construction, this muffler is substantially quieter than any other performance muffler I've seen so far. Despite its excellent noise attenuation characteristics, it doesn't sap as much power compared to similar aftermarket mufflers. I'm not entirely sure why this is. What I can say that this is $285 well spent. All Burns mufflers can be disassembled and repacked with fresh fiberglass. Repack mat kits cost around $30 each: A great deal considering that you normally have to replace the entire muffler when the packing material blows out. What's Next? Good question. I'm going to go take a look around the car and see what might be interesting for me to highlight for next time. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking maybe some of the ergonomic tweaks and items I added to the interior to make the car easier to drive. Any and all suggestions are welcome - leave them in the comments below or send them to my via the Contact page.

Every auto enthusiast starts their wrenching career spraying rusty bolts with WD-40. Then they quickly realize that WD-40 is woefully inadequate for breaking stuck fasteners and embark on a quest to find the ultimate rust breaker, spending hundreds of dollars trying out pressurized mystery oil of all sorts in the process. Everyone does this, yet no one seems to ever share what they discovered at the end of their long and arduous quest. So I figured today I'd share my short list of the most effective shop chemicals I've found in the last 15 or so years of experimentation. Here they are, by category: Best All-Round Lubricating Solvent: Sea Foam Deep Creep Made by: Sea Foam Sales Company Cost: $10 - $15 per 12oz. can Sea Foam Deep Creep is my favorite general purpose cleaner, solvent, and light lubricant. It helps loosen lightly stuck fasteners while removing nasty dirt and grime from metallic surfaces. It also works well in cleaning carbon deposits off of engine parts. Deep creep comes out as a very thick white fluid and leaves a very fine layer of lubricant even after it dries. I've found this lubricant does a great job of protecting shiny threaded surfaces, such as coilover threads, from dirt and rust. I also use it to clean off polyurethane suspension bushings since it's one of the few solvents I've tried that won't melt them over time. The Good Above-average cleaner, solvent and lubricant in a single can Relatively inert - Doesn't react with rubber, polyurethane, or plastics as much as other solvents Sprays upside down and sideways for use in tight spaces Relatively low-fume and inoffensive smell The Bad What few fumes come out of it are extremely bad for you Flammable. Keep away from open flames There are better penetrating lubricants for seized bolts Best Penetrating Lubricant: New Holland Iron Gard Penetrating Oil Made by: New Holland Cost: $6 per 12oz. can There are very few products out there that breaks seized bolts better than the classic mechanic's homemade special, a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid delivered through a metal oiling can. Recently though, one of my closest friends dug this up from the parts of the internet inhabited by bored engineers. And after using it extensively for a few months, I now call New Holland Iron Gard my favorite penetrating lubricant. Obviously, the penetrating power is excellent. Based on some controlled experiments, I'd say it's better than any commercial penetrant I've ever used, and about as good at breaking frozen fasteners as 50/50 acetone/ATF or my old favorite, AeroKroil. Unlike the others, this stuff comes out in a thick, shaving cream like foam and sticks to whatever you spray it on. This means you can spray it from underneath, which is invaluable when working on cars. It also works in the searing heat as well as in sub-zero temperatures, where the others either separate or refuse to spray. The only downside is that, according to the warning labels, it's incredibly dangerous. The rumor from the sa.com forums is that it's a defattening agent, which means that it has the potential to suck all the oil out of your skin and turn you into a living mummy. Use with care. The Good Sprays in a foam, so you can get into tight spaces and on rusty bolts under the car Highly portable, sprays even in harsh environments and extreme hot or cold temperatures Rust breaking capabilities at least on par with Acetone/ATF Agricultural mechanics have nicknamed this stuff "Panther Piss." Anything with a nickname like that has to be good. The Bad Incredibly dangerous to your skin. Wear gloves. And long sleeves. Maybe a hazmat suit. Best Degreaser: SuperClean Foaming Aerosol Cleaner Made by: SuperClean Cost: $15 per 17oz. can SuperClean Foaming Aerosol Cleaner displaced my previous favorite degreaser when the local Advance Auto started stocking it last year. This aerosol cleaner is like a combination of the best qualities of three other very good household degreasers. It has the degreasing strength of Purple Power, an inoffensive odor like Simple Green, and a convenient foaming spray like Scrubbing Bubbles. The fact that I can spray it onto most surfaces without having to worry about diluting it adds to the convenience factor. The Good Excellent cleaning power in a convenient package Very little scrubbing involved Foam gets into crevices and tight spaces The Bad Don't let it dry completely or bad things will happen May react with polycarbonate. Don't use it on plastic lenses or they may cloud Best Metal Protector: Boeshield T-9 Made by: PMS Products Inc Cost: $18 - $20 per 12oz. can At one point I thought Amsoil MP was the metal protector to have. But after doing a fair bit of testing I discovered that Boeshield T-9 is a much better anti-corrosion spray. Apparently it was developed for Boeing back in the days when their planes weren't made out of composites. Compared to Iron Gard or even Sea Foam Deep Creep, it does not do a very good job of breaking stuck nuts or rusty bolts. However, it is an outstanding anti-corrosion spray and dry lubricant. Like the Deep Creep, Boeshield T-9 leaves a waxy film on everything you spray. However, the film that the Boeshield leaves is much thicker and stays on much longer. I've used it on the inside of the hitch on my tow vehicle, bolt heads on the underside of the Prelude, and the chain on my road bike. All three of those things have stayed rust-free for months despite being constantly exposed to moisture and road grime. I've also found that it's at least as good as WD-40 for drying things. I use it to clean the piston shafts on my Coats tyre changer and keep moisture out of my air tools. The Good Superb anti-corrosion properties Safe on plastics, rubber, polyurethane, and glass Very good dry lubricant, can replace lithium grease in some applications The Bad Not a great penetrating solvent VERY FLAMMABLE. Don't spray it on anything remotely hot Surprisingly difficult to find locally. Try the bike shop if you can't find it Best Heavy Duty Metal Cleaner: Easy-Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner Made by: Reckitt Benckiser Cost: $5 per 24oz. can No, this is not a joke. The best heavy duty metal cleaner available comes from the supermarket, not the auto parts store. Whenever I have a terribly greasy part or I need to get horrible road grime off of the underside of a car, I give it a nice thick coating of Easy-Off Oven Cleaner and wrap the area in plastic. Give it a few hours and it will dissolve even the nastiest caked-on tar from any metal surface. It works great on ceramic cooktops too, as I've also found. The downside is that it's extremely caustic and will also dissolve many things that aren't metal or ceramic. The fumes are also noxious and are probably as harmful to your respiratory system as any of the shop chemicals on this list. Unless you're trying to get the rubberized undercoating off of the bottom of your race car, don't use this oven cleaner on anything that isn't cold and non-porous. The Good By far the best solvent available for non-porous surfaces Foamy spray makes it easy to get good coverage Makes short work of rubberized undercoating The Bad Noxious fumes that are so bad I won't use it inside the house Reacts with almost everything; Melts plastics, rubber, and most adhesives Don't let it dry. Leaves white crust that's harder to get off than the grease it dissolves. Goes through nitrile gloves and is terrible for your skin Best Brake Parts Cleaner: Any Chlorinated Brake Cleaner Made by: Many reputable chemicals companies Cost: $3 - $5 per 20oz. can Yes, this one's a cop-out. It's hard to go wrong with almost any chlorinated Brake Cleaner. While known for being super toxic, emitting horrible fumes and eating plastics, the Chlorinated kind works wonders on crusty brake dust as well as black road tar. Don't mix chlorinated solvents with any other chemicals or use it in any environment in the presence of heat or pressurized gasses. Chlorinated brake cleaner combines with seemingly inert substances when heated and emits extremely toxic gasses. I'm sure you've all heard of this famous story of a welder inadvertently turning chlorinated brake cleaner into Phosgene gas. Use with care. The Good Removes nasty black tar without scrubbing or even wiping Self-drying. Just spray until you see metal and walk away The Bad Terrible for the environment. Put a catch pan under whatever you're spraying so it doesn't get into the ground Reacts with common shop gasses and chemicals. Wait until it dries before you apply any other chemicals or weld in the area Turns plastic brittle, degrades rubber Clouds polycarbonate lenses Noxious fumes. Use outside Best Non-Chlorinated Brake Parts Cleaner: 3M High Power Brake Cleaner Made by: 3M Corporation Costs: $10 per 14oz. can (significantly cheaper in bulk packs) Although there's little to compare between any decent Chlorinated Brake cleaner, there are huge differences between brands of the non-chlorinated variety. Many of them simply don't do a good job of cleaning anything. 3M High Power Brake Cleaner is on the short list of non-chlorinated brake parts cleaners that work almost as well as its chlorinated cousin. The "High Power" on the label refers to the force with which the solvent comes out of the can. This stuff sprays like it's been pressurized by a power washer. This means you can be further away from your target and still get the crud out of those tight cracks and crevices. I use this stuff to clean oil and road tar off of the Prelude's engine and transmission before each race weekend. Keeping the engine bay sparking clean helps find those odd oil leaks that inevitably spring when racing a production car. I buy it in boxes of 24 because I use so much of it. The Good Powerful spray helps clean spots that you can't reach Works just as well as chlorinated brake parts cleaner Dries reasonably quickly for a non-chlorinated solvent Better for the environment than the chlorinated kind The Bad Still not good for plastics or rubber Fumes are still pretty bad. Ventilate well or use outside. Expensive. Buy in bulk where possible Words of Advice So there's my short list of essential shop chemicals. Hopefully this will save you a bit of time and money when you're working on your 10 year old car for the first time or when you can't get your well-worn lawnmower apart for service. One last piece of advice before we wrap up. While you're waiting to check out at your local auto parts store or on your favorite internet shopping site, throw one of these into your shopping cart: Every one of the shop chemicals listed above is bad for your skin, nose, eyes, lungs, and pretty much every other part of you. Work in a well ventilated area, stay away from the fumes that this stuff emits, and always wear gloves when using shop chemicals. You'll live a lot longer when you do.