How To Drive An 18-Speed Semi Truck

Every wondered what that manliest of man, the trucker, is doing high atop traffic in his chrome cabin? Grab some horse tranquilizers, pull that imaginary horn with your right arm and head over to Car and Driver.

How Well Organized Is Your Junkyard Fastener Collection?

You're at the junkyard pulling some parts, and you toss all the fasteners into your toolbox. Next time you clean out the ol' junkyard toolbox, you'll move all those nuts and bolts and washers to… where? More »

How To Change Your Oil (the French Maid TV Way)

What better way to reintroduce the modern motorist to the joys of vehicular self-maintenance than with well-endowed women with fake French accents showing how to change the oil on a Citroën SM? NSFW More »

How To Build A Woodill Wildfire In Under Four Hours

Keeping with the "speedy how-to" vein we've fallen into, here's a clip from 1955 wherein a team of men transform an old-and-busted ‘47 Ford into a fiberglass-bodied Woodill Wildfire kit car in only three hours and fifty minutes. [JalopyJournal]

How To Swap A Ford Escort Engine In 32 Seconds

Changing a VW Bug's generator belt in five seconds was darn impressive, but this team of British Royal Marines swapped an Escort's four-cylinder in an impossible 32 seconds. Amusingly, it took ten seconds to drive 33ft and finish the challenge. More »

How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds

Say you've got an air-cooled VW Beetle and all of five seconds to change the old belt on the thing. Here's a helpful how-to on this speedy one-tool procedure. (Thanks for the tip Jon)

Build Your Own Google Street View Camera For $300

West Point grad Roy Ragsdale used eight cheap web-cams, a cheap GPS unit and his taxpayer-funded education to whip up the PhotoTrail, a home-brew camera that takes panoramas of his surroundings. Better yet, he tells how we can too. More »

$20 Bumper-Mounted Still Camera Works Great On The Race Track... Until It Gets Smashed

You like to shoot race photos, but those uptight track officials won't let you get out on the track in your '89 Olds and get some up-close shots of the action? No problem! More »

Racer Boy Rob Krider Teaches Autocrossing 101 and Rallycrossing 101

NASA scribe Rob Krider, fresh from his coverage of the LeMons Reno race, has now been recruited by Judge Zerin to write a regular Racin' 101 series for Speed:Sport:Life. More »

The Making Of The Power-Bulging Cadillac CTS-V Hood

Here's how the hood of the new Cadillac CTS-V gets its famous power bulge. You know, in case you ever wanted to know.

How To Fix Squeaky Brakes

There's not much you can do about passengers making noise short of a gag, but there are some cheap, do-it-yourself ways to stop your brakes from squeaking. PopMech shows us how, on the cheap. [PopMech]

Use Twitter To Get A Taxi Fast At Las Vegas McCarran Airport

Don't want the debauchery trade conference to wait while you sit around for 30 minutes in the notorious taxi line at Las Vegas's McCarran Airport? Twitter to the rescue. More »

How To Build A 4WD Vehicle

Hankering for some cheap off-road fun? Popular Mechanics has put together a rough guide for mud-plugging on any budget. Pictured is PopMech autos editor Ben Stewart demonstrating how not to go off-road. [Popular Mechanics]

Make Your Own Mad Max Interceptor From a "Ferrari"

A toy Ferrari hacked together with kitchen and office equipment makes for one wicked balcony toy. More »

Step 10: Fill Your Cave With A Grown Man's Hot Wheels Collection

No man cave is complete without some great toys and isn't this what it's all about anyhow? Whatever your budget and whatever your taste, fill your newly created man cave lair with your favorite two-wheeled, four-wheeled and winged toys. No longer are you restricted to your basement or the spare room your wife decorated with pink floral wallpaper — you've now achieved the, previously thought, impossible feat of creating your very own personal space. Use it hard. Use it often. And make sure you show it off every now and again. More »

Step 8: Watch Live Races, Connect To Jalopnik And Listen To Bay Area Punk Rock

A man cave is more than just a garage, it's a place where you can get away either by yourself or with friends and enjoy the hobby that our busy lives sometimes don't permit. Instead of heading to the nearest sports bar that plays live F1 races in the middle of the night, get yourself a nice big plasma/LCD TV or a nice 1080p HD projector and mate it to a DirectTV service plan of your choosing. We all know that pumping sound out of a TV's stock speaker system is the most miserable thing ever, so make sure to grab a nice 7.1 surround setup to get the most out of your new visual masterpiece. More »

Step 3: Lighting

We're building a man cave here, but that doesn't mean that we want to pretend like we're spelunking every day. This is a place where you'll be working on your cars, motorcycles, boat, World War II vintage aircraft, so we're gonna need to light this bitch up. By no means do we need stadium-style retina-straining über-lighting, but a nice set of hanging fluorescent bulbs would do nicely. Pair them up with some recessed canister lights for the outer edges and dimmer switches and you've got yourself a nice variably lit man cave. More »

Step 7: Men Play Games Too

Growing up, boys like to play games and those boys eventually turn into men, but that burning desire to sit, relax and play a game has yet to leave the building. No longer are we playing with jacks and marbles or Connect Four, instead we like to sit our asses down and play a game of Madden or a run a couple of races in Forza Motorsport 2. Depending on the size of the garage you've chosen, we're going to suggest that you either pick yourself up a nice dual machine version of Cruisin' USA or even an F355 Challenge machine. You can pick up Midway's finest for around $6000 or 355 Challenge for around $6500 from Primetime Amusements. More »

Step 1: Find Yourself A Nice, Cozy Garage

The most obvious first step in creating a proper man cave is finding yourself a nice space to work with. We'd prefer a six car detached garage, but to stick on the realistic side of things, a nice one or two car garage will work just fine. Things to consider are the amount of vehicles that you need to park, how much storage space you'll need and where you're going to put your non-vehicular toys. (Image Via Flickr) More »

Step 4: Secure Your Man Cave With An Impenetrable Garage Door

A man cave, quite like the Bat Cave, needs to be secure. You certainly don't need nosy neighbors peeking around, spying on your s#!t and beating you by finishing their project first. You need to be number one and without going to the extremes of 'Basement Lamborghini Guy,' you can find yourself some pretty secure, hefty garage doors that will immediately allow you to forget those crappy roll up aluminum doors from Sears. More »

Step 5: You're Gonna Need A Lift And Some Tools

So you've gotten yourself a nice garage so far by finding the right flooring, insulation, lighting and a secure door, but to truly call this a man cave you're gonna need a lift and some tools. The easiest and probably cheapest route for quality tools is to head down to your local Sears and pickup a nice, large set of automotive Craftsman tools in both standard and metric. There are tons of different sets available, ranging from the 1340 piece professional tools set ($6579) to a decent 300 piece professional tools set ($550). You're also going to need some air tools which can also be found at Sears. You'll likely want a 1/2-inch drive impact wrench with a nice torque load for maximum effectiveness. This Craftsman Reversible 1/2 in. drive impact wrench pumps out 500 lb-ft of torque at with a 5.0 SCFM at 90 psi. It should be enough to tackle most automotive projects and if not, you're nuts. More »

Step 6: Keep Your Tools Nice And Organzied

We all know boys are messy, but real men keep their stuff nice and organized. You don't want to be waist deep in an LS1 Miata engine swap and realize you can't find the 14mm 1/2-inch socket to remove the stock engine mounts. For your hand tools a Craftsman 40 in. 12-Drawer Ball-Bearing Mobile Tool Cart ($612) should suffice and will allow for additional space should your tool collection grow over the years. More »

Step 2: Installing Easy Clean Flooring, Insulation And Drywall

The next and possibly most important step is making sure you can eat off of your man cave floor and that you'll be warm enough in the winter and cool enough in the summer to want to. More »

Step 9: You're Going To Need Somewhere To Lounge

We've now set you up with all the greatest tools, video games and entertainment; now you need somewhere to sit your lazy hard working butt down. Get yourself a nice comfy couch, a couple of recliner chairs and some tables so you can enjoy a nice cold beer (or six!) with your closest friends. You can find a nice assortment of furniture options at Design Within Reach or at Bright Ideas. Both outlets feature modern contemporary furniture and, at times, can be a little pricey, but they're well worth the extra money spent. Where else can you guarantee that you're getting a genuine Chocolate leather and Palisander wood frame Eames Chair and ottoman? More »