We had lots of cars and trucks to ogle while at SEMA. Here is a link to our eBay Motors blog on this exceptional 66 Chevy Stepside. 
The owner was the second owner of this truck and took his time finding a local shop in Henderson, NV to do the restoration. Hard to believe in stock shape it came from GM like this.
How can you NOT love the stance on this beast?
Here are some additional shots of the truck. Enjoy and let us know your favorite view.
Toyota’s Scion brand is prepping for the upcoming SEMA Show in a big way by teasing out two sketches of some customized, tricked out Scion’s. Scion will showcase in Las Vegas at least two models; a Slayer Mobile Amp tC themed after trash metal band Slayer and a Riley Hawk Skate Tour xB named for the pro skateboarder.
Scion’s have always branded and positioned themselves as an entry market for coming of age drivers and buyers and offer many ways to customize the cars right off the dealer’s lot.
Last year Toyota had some neat racer inspired cars plus a “Tanked” Highlander which we showcased here. Now we’ll have to be sure and check out the Scion cars this year!
SlayerYou’d expect a Slayer dedicated show car to focus on the music and you wouldn’t be wrong.
The music is going to be pumping out of this tC for sure. Slayer is a California formed heavy metal band and has won two Grammy awards. It will be interesting to see if any of the four band members make it out for the debut of this Scion.
Riley Hawk’s ride, an xB, will present a flashback to the 70’s van craze. His ride will have shag carpet, bubble windows and wood paneling on the interior. Can’t wait to see it in person at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. There is bound to be enough room for his skateboard in this tricked out Scion!
Riley Hawk is the son of Tony Hawk, who revolutionized skateboarding on the West Coast. Riley is only 21 years of age and is already an award winning skater, but suspect Dad had to explain what shag carpeting was about!
The sketches are a bit limited in presenting what the final version will look like, but can’t wait to see the outcomes in a month at the SEMA Show. We’ll keep our eye peeled for more progress updates.
Artwork courtesy of Toyota ©
GearWrench makes some great tools. It is known for their time-saving closed end box wrenches and we previously posted about there two Gimbal Ratchets. Now we show you how effective and helpful they can actually be.
These ratchets debuted at last year’s SEMA Show and we were mesmerized by the engineering and thinking behind these ratchets. Unlike a typical thumb drive ratchet, the GearWrench Gimbal Ratchet floats inside two rings, so that like a gyroscope, you can tweak and twist what plane these ratchets match up to.
The beauty of these two ratchets, in both 1/4″ and 3/8″ drive, is they can always easily line up with the fastener you are working on, regardless of where they are in a car or other application.
Now I love my tools but before adding to my inventory, the tool has to prove its worth. Here is a real world application. On the firewall of a 2012 Camry is a bolt, arranged around a variety of metal tubing and some slightly flexible rubber tubing.
Clearly a box or open wrench will not fit. A typical socket wrench will need a few extensions and flexible joints to make it work and even then you’re going to have to be a contortionist to get decent use and leverage on that fastener.
Now the GearWrench Gimbal Ratchet can easily reach the fastener without any more extensions or flexible joints. The two gimbals allow the ratchet to clear the metal tubing without any worries and your hand can control the exterior drive mechanism easily with your hand (and body) in a convenient place.
You can order these ratchets directly from GearWrench or find them at your favorite tool dealer.
Do you have another favorite tool from GearWrench? Let us know.
SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) is the car show of all car shows, held in Las Vegas each year. But because SEMA Show is a trade show, only qualified attendees may go past the security guards.
But one of the secrets of SEMA is the cruise out on Friday night. For years the Las Vegas locals would hang out at the driveways of the Las Vegas Convention Center to see the cars and trucks roll out from the convention floors.
A few years back, SEMA latched on to this phenomenon and made an official event for the cruise starting at 4 PM on Friday, the last day of the SEMA Show. Last year was a hoot as we mentioned in this article.
SEMA does it right with bleachers brought in specifically for the cruise. Mix in a DJ, an emcee and some personalities like Chip Foose and you have all the makings for a fun event. 
And nowadays every event needs at least pone drone sighting!
SEMA just announced that for this year, the vehicles will cruise over to a lot at the “Linq Promenade“, where the public is invited for one last change to check out the cars. SEMA is calling this event the SEMA Ignited and promises to be a nice event with manufacturers getting one more chance to promote their products, cars and gear.
While not all the thousands of vehicles inside the SEMA Show go out in the cruise, those that do make for an awesome display of lights and sounds.
Here’s just some of our favorite car shots from last year’s Cruise
Which is your favorite?
Hot Rod magazine’s August 2014 highlighted two cars that we first saw at the SEMA Show. Funny how some cars just stand out and end up being touted by all? Out of the thousands of cars at SEMA, some just naturally are just dang drop dead perfect and deserve detailed views and attention.
Our friends at Hot Rod Magazine For August, 2014 devoted three pages (page 108-110) on Mr. Gasket’s Lime Crush – a 66 Suburban. We gave you our view of this awesome build here. Great attention to detail and just about every body panel was massaged to some degree.
In the same issue, they take a look at a 51 Studebaker owned by Dennis Varni. It too was at the SEMA show and drew plenty of admiring glances in its prime aisle spot. Eight pages don’t do it justice, so we had to add our pictures too.
The Studebaker actually passed through three sets of hands before completion. It sits on an Art Morrison frame. A Ford 427 engine has fuel injection and uses a GM 700R4 transmission. The wood work is spot on beautiful. Lots of onlookers took double takes trying to figure out if Studebaker ever made a woodie!
Would you be interested in buying a 1932 Ford Deuce for only 49¢? Even more incredible, you can buy two different 1932 Ford Deuce’s for under a buck! No, you don’t have to send the money by Western Union; and no the buyer isn’t moving to Nigeria next week. In fact this sale is supported and approved by the United States government.
Unfortunately these hot rods are only on paper and sold by the US Postal Service. Bummer.
The Postal Service is offering two different hot rod Ford deuces for sale for the “forever” price of 49¢ each. The two choices are a black ’32 Ford roadster with flames on the sides or a red ’32 Ford roadster. The black deuce is a view from the right rear, while the red 32 Ford is coming dead on at yet. Both feature a stylistic black on yellow license plate featuring “USA”.
Both illustrations were created digitally. These rods were originally designed by Derry Noyes and then illustrated digitally by John Mattos. Mattos is an acclaimed illustrator based out of San Francisco, California. You may recall that the USPS has released two previous sets of classic muscle car stamps in their collectible series.
The 32 Ford “deuce” is an iconic vehicle and is a popular vehicle to wrench on both “back in the day” and now. The distinctive grill is an iconic look for the deuce hot rods, and is gracefully highlighted on the red 32 Ford stamp.
The hot rod stamps will be released on June 6, 2014 in conjunction with the 41st “East Plus” National Street Rod Association meet in at York, Pennsylvania
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Illustrations courtesy USPS
We decided to try the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit on a 2007 Camry. The Arizona sun has been hard on the headlights and the owner had tried once before to restore the headlights.
Now was the chance to again test the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit.
At last year’s SEMA and APEX shows, it seems that everybody had a headlight restoration kit. And if they didn’t have a kit, their older product could be used for that purpose too!!
Sylvania’s kit comes with a liquid UV Block Clear Coat intended to keep the restoration from fading quickly. This sets them off from some of their competitors. The kit came with enough ample supplies to do the two headlights, sans towels and water. They give you a roll of rubber electrical tape to mask off nearby painted surfaces. We supplemented it with some blue “Painter’s Tape” as an extra caution.
We have been really impressed with this headlight restoration kit, which we used before. We used it on a Toyota Sequoia always parked outside facing south into the harsh Arizona sun. It worked out perfectly and was still in factory fresh condition when we sold it two years ago.
The first step is to spray their Surface Applicator over the headlight surface. This helps remove discoloration and soften the UV coating.
The kit comes with three grades of sandpaper, 400-1000-2000 grit. Wet sand each headlight, starting with 400 and working up to the 2000 grit paper. They recommend sanding 2-5 minutes per headlight with each grit, using plenty of water and a circular motion. With water, the lens looked better, but as it dried the lens became opaque again.
Then use a tan Clarifying Compound to polish the lens.
This left the lens clean but with a slight haze after drying. Re-apply their surface activator to clean the lens one last time. Make sure the both lenses are dry before the last step.
At this point you might be wondering, what did you do to the headlights? as they may not look crystal clear. But fear not!
Use the UV Block Clear Coat to soak an edge of a folded paper towel and in one stroke wipe the top edge of the headlight. Continue to keep the edge moist and with a slight overlap, swipe the next portion of the headlight and repeat until all the lens is coated. Let dry for 4-6 hours to fully cure.
In talking with the Sylvania pros, they proudly note that this final clear coat is what sets them off from the competition. The coating helps to keep the headlight pristine and prevents aging again. They are so confident in their kit they offer a lifetime warranty, which probably isn’t too risky for them. Not only do they offer a great product, but how many people will keep their cars another 4-5 years after doing the headlights the first time?
It took about 45 minutes for both lenses and being careful to cover all the surface area of the headlights with the wet sandpaper. A close examination can show some scratches that didn’t come out, but from even a few feet they look like new. There was enough liquid to do both headlights and some surplus remained – which I used on a 2010 Camry that was showing signs of haze already. Guess the Arizona sun does a number on these headlights.
See Sylvania’s website for more info
Have you tried this kit from Sylvania or a competitor’s? What was your experience and outcome?
The i3 is BMW’s answer to the hybrid world. It is the all electric answer from Germany for sustainable cars. But seeing these cars in person, might be harder than finding a public accessible plug in spot!
The i3 uses carbon fiber strengthened plastic in the body panels and the use of electricity and their lithium ion battery should lower the carbon footprint of the car that goes 0-60 in seven seconds. Electric cars are known for their instant on thrust/torque.
Recently while on assignment in San Diego, we spotted TWO i3’s – also on assignment. They were running around the harbor of San Diego Bay, presumably involved in a commercial spot. These cars are still pretty rare and mainly hitting the car shows try to prime the pump. My guess is the video may even end up on the cutting room floor, if that is where they discard digital footage these days.
While you are looking at these shots, take a look at the tricked out photo car – Porsche. the flat black paint helps to reduce reflections in the car model and the long extended boom allows for a variety of action shots.
Count’s Kustoms painted a Laveycraft speedboat to match a customer’s 35 Chevy Master coupe in season one of History Channel’s Counting Cars. It isn’t often you see a boat, trailer and classic all painted with the same paint scheme but it was sold at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale in January, 2014.
The trailer, boat and Chevy sold in a package deal. One bid won all three items. After all what would a seller do with a boat trailer after he sells the boat?
Count’s Kustoms is a hot rod shop based in Las Vegas and featured in a reality series on the History Channel. The show focuses more on the people and their stories than the actual builds. We had the chance to meet the Count and his shop’s manager Kevin at SEMA and they were genuinely nice, friendly folks.
Guess the customer was tired of the trio and opted to sell the set at Barrett-Jackson and play up the association with the Count and Counting Cars.
The Chevy coupe had the matching paint scheme of white flames on a baby blue sheet metal. It had a tube frame and is powered by a Chevy 502 with a Mustang front end and a four link rear suspension.
The boat had been out of the water for a while and was a display model. Overall all three pieces sold for $45,100 (with commission). To my eyes the seller got a nice ride with a boat and trailer to boot. As long as you liked the paint scheme it was nicely bought for and a bargain, especially given its connection to the Count !
We had the opportunity to submit a guest blog to eBay Motors blog in the TRUCK section. We focused on a sweet roadster Ford truck done by the students from WyoTech and debuted at SEMA last year.
Here’s the link
Here’s three reasons we selected this truck to highlight-
It’s nice to see the young adults learning the skills and applying them to keep this incredible hobby we call “hot rodding” alive and kicking.
The truck is incredibly well done. This is more surprising when you learn lots of students had a hand in the project. Typically the more hands in the mix, the messier it can get.
The treatment, style and paint looks authentic and a nice custom look
Take a look and comment on the eBay blog here
