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For every kind of car enthusiast out there, it seems there used to be a magazine to suit them. But not any more. We've gone from having countless titles on the shelves to, for some car scenes, no print representation at all: so what happened?  Ultimately, society changed from when magazines first kicked off. Today, modified car magazines aren't dead, but they need to change to stay relevant.  Magazines about modified cars go all the way back 75 years to 1948. This was when Robert E Petersen founded Hot Rod Magazine, which still publishes monthly magazines today. Roadkill's David Freiburger...

We need it to make custom exhausts, intakes, intercoolers, engine mounts and more, but how many people actually know that welding (in one form or another) dates back 5000 years to the Bronze and Iron Ages? Welding differs from other forms of joining metal, like brazing and soldering, because welding melts the parent material as part of the joining process. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages (approximately 1500 years ago) that forge welding was invented.  This is where blacksmiths would hammer and pound heated metal until it formed a join, though it had to be low-carbon steel or wrought iron...

If you've seen the latest episode (CLICK HERE) you'll have seen Marty going lightweight with his Poo-goat, while MOOG chooses to add weight to his Swift with a professional roll cage. Roll cages are as ubiquitous with fast cars as helmets are to track days, but they have really only been used for the last 50 years.  The father of the modern "roll bar" is credited as John Aley, an Englishman who raced cars and witnessed a bunch of nasty accidents. In those days roofs were prone to collapsing in a roll-over as the pillar structures weren't as strong as they are today,...

If you've seen this week's episode of Cash vs Trash (CLICK HERE) you'll see we decked out MOOG in the latest, greatest race car safety gear we could find. Anyone who has even accidentally seen car racing will be familiar with all the kit MOOG was cloaked in, but you may not realise this gear hasn't been around the whole time people have been racing cars.  Before the 1950s most race drivers wore overalls or work clothes, as the dirt and grime would build up through a race. Even today fireproof suits resemble boiler suits worn back in the 1920s and...

If you're hunting cheap parts like Marty is with the CASH vs TRASH series, then you'll wind up buying second-hand bits. Side note, if you need to catch up check out the COILOVERS EPISODE (CLICK HERE), the POD FILTERS (CLICK HERE), and the latest, greatest episode on MAKING EXHAUSTS (CLICK HERE).  Sometimes it is actually preferable to buy used high-quality parts instead of simply picking up the cheapest brand new parts you can, as these can be nasty low-quality junk. There can be some pitfalls to buying used parts, so this week I'll give you tips on how to buy used car parts, as this...