Visit Car Craft

Visiting my brother in Thousand Oaks CA early in September.  I would LOVE to visit the Car Craft garage, see some of the projects, and met some of the staff.  I'm a long time subscriber & fan.  My brother is moving out of the state in about a year so this is the last time I see myself visiting Cali.  Does anybody know if Car Craft ever has tours of their garage or ever has visitors?  I'm guessing their located in the LA area but don't really know for sure.  Hoping a moderator or one of the guys that work for Car Craft sees this and can hook me up.  It would be super cool car-guy thing to do to visit Car Craft.

Personal favorites are the Junkyard Crawl, Rear View, Krass & Bernie, any Nova that's ever been in the mag, and of course On The Rack.

In a few years when I get my Nova screwed together I'm looking to join the Anti-tour, or at least part of it.  

I expect that when Source Interlink drains all the other revenue-generating gimmicks (e.g. unsolicited DVDs, photo-of-your-car-on-a-fake-magazine-cover, early subscription renewals, sales of archival photos, swag), some MBA-type at corporate will get the "brilliant" idea of a "studio tour."   Shelby Automobiles does it. So do all of the big NASCAR teams. Why not Car Craft?

On the other hand, touring the junk-packed SIM/CC garage/warehouse and then seeing a bunch of broken-down cubicles where the magazine is hatched (and the NON-CHEVY BIG-CUBE TURBO PROJECT IS NOT) might not really generate much excitement or cold, hard cash . . . .  

Besides, the Mopar Action guys would probably be snooping around for a "scoop."

And everybody would just want to mooch a free CC licence plate or complain about why their Camaro isn't a CC cover car . . . .

Good luck hearing from the "moderator" . . . .  
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460_BBF_Turbo-in-CC (formerly Dr511scj) "This guy has no life other than posting endlessly on carcraft.com." -- Car Craft, July 2005
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October 1, 2003: " I'm thinking a couple of...turbos, blowing through an old Powerstroke intercooler...on a Super Cobra Jet-head 460 would be mad cheap and make sick power."
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"I have no problem with your...talking to several versions of yourself...or pointing out our failure to do a turbo story ...." --Douglas "CC/Rambler" Glad

i'd rather tour the local 3-bay performance transmission shop
at least i know that most of their junk is being worked on or rehashed, not just sitting idle...if i wanted to see a garage full of stuff that is waiting to be used, i'd spend more time in my own (garage), for free  
-
the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule

Hmm, I've used this forum darn near zero (this is my third post) but I get the feeling the locals aren't much friendly.  Suppose I should apologize for being a Nova fan, or liking Car Craft...but I won't.  Instead, I'll take the high road:  thanks for the input, I really appreciate it.  Hope nobody minds me getting back on target by presenting my question again.  Can a Car Craft fan that doesn't live in the local area, and therefore can't attend the local cruises and spend time hanging out, get a chance to meet the crew, visit the garage, etc...  BTW, not even in it for a license plate.

Thanks all.  

when going to visit different areas of the country... i would pick up a copy of drive magazine.. examine the events posted in the various areas...

car shows.. swap meets...  cruises... rod runs.. burger stands...    you have to be a hard core mechanic to want to see projects before they are finished...    the finished project is always better...    watching the buildups..  is fun also..   just touring someones garage...  try the peterson on wilshire and fairfax...     there is also a huge car collection in sylmar on the north end of the valley...   nethercutt collection. there is also universal studios... if you want to have lunch or a snack in a 50's car... hidden in the back corner of frys electronics just across from the burbank airport on hollywood way.. inside the store is their drive in... playing a loop of Plan 9 from outer space...  the cars have tables in them...     paw in northridge used to have a great collection of parts and drag cars on display in their show room.. they moved .. they said they still have some of them.. but not as many top fuel dragsters on display...

i would also like to visit the various magazine shops.. but i would bring my own full set of tools and finish the projects... i don't even live very far .. they don't invite me...  i can see from where i am sitting the original magazine location on hollywood blvd..  

feltennova:
Hmm, I've used this forum darn near zero (this is my third post) but I get the feeling the locals aren't much friendly.  Suppose I should apologize for being a Nova fan, or liking Car Craft...but I won't.  Instead, I'll take the high road:  thanks for the input, I really appreciate it.  Hope nobody minds me getting back on target by presenting my question again.  Can a Car Craft fan that doesn't live in the local area, and therefore can't attend the local cruises and spend time hanging out, get a chance to meet the crew, visit the garage, etc...  BTW, not even in it for a license plate.

Thanks all.

The "locals" are plenty friendly here.

It's just that CC's eds don't really show up on here very much.  So I think everybody's trying to say, don't get your hopes up.

From my vantage point, the Anti-Tourers and the folks that meet up with CC staffers at the strip seem to have the most access.

And taking shots at CC's sterling project car track record is humor that dates back to the inception of this board.  (and no, I'm not trying to rekindle another  discussion about (a) that paint-peeling Firebird; (b) Project Conehead; (c) the Disco Nova; (d) Jeff's primered Oldsmobile; (e) Project Mustang . . . .)

Stick with it, Brother.  It's all fun here!

And hey, hey, hey . . . don't EVER apologize for the sort of tin you're into.  While Yugos are the "rulingest" whips ever, I fully understand why not everyone shares that opinion.  

And Novas make excellent slalom "cones" in freeway traffic . . . and GM would have lost millions of senior citzen customers without them  (Just kidding! It's a joke for pete's sake!)  
*****
TURBO TED --Internationally known as the "John Force of the Yugo Racing Association."

Sergeant-at-Arms and immediate Past President of the SoAL Yugo Owners Group.

Sure, come on by. Tommorow work?
douglas  

LOOK LOOK he is reading

LMFAO ted!!
how many zillion novas where painted beer-piss-yellow between 1970 & 1974 knowing that every octogenerian alive wanted one  
-
the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule

it's a 45 hour drive from here, so how about friday  
-
the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule

GLAD:
Sure, come on by. Tommorow work?
douglas

They actually read this stuff?  And let folks into the top-secret shop (where undoubtedly they're hacking away on Doc's mega-turbo V8 project)

I'm shocked!  

I have to lie down now . . .  

Actually, I need to figure out how to swap that miraculous $100 eBay LS V8 into the ol' school bus camper and haul a couple dozen of my Car Crafter buds across the Heart-o'-America over to the CC shop to check it out!

Now where did I leave my gas axe?  
*****
TURBO TED --Internationally known as the "John Force of the Yugo Racing Association."

Sergeant-at-Arms and immediate Past President of the SoAL Yugo Owners Group.

UPDATE on the LS-into-School Bus Camper swap (in anticipation of visiting the Car Craft inner sanctum):

Trouble!

The 1-psi electric supercharger (MamaTurbo got a screamin' Fathers Day deal on eBay) caused too much electrical interference with the homemade wiring harness . . .

Before we could figure out how to fix that, the Mighty Putty we used to hold the motor mounts together (ran out of acetylene during "Pinks: All Out") broke loose and the 'plant torqued-over, ripping a tiny hole we didn't see in one of the rubber fuel hoses . . . .

Then the Shamwow we were using for an air filter got sucked into the whole mess . . . which then made the mill wheeze like one of those "Cash for Clunkers" engines dying on sodium silicate. . . . right before the gasoline fire broke out. . . .

It probably would have been alright, but the kids decided to hit the fire with a blast from the garden hose . . . .  and in the confusion we couldn't get the Walbro electric fuel pump shut off . . . .  

Even then, it was all under control until the line to the nitrous solenoid (doesn't your school bus camper have spray?) burned through, which seemed to stoke up the fire well enough for it to spread to the oxygen bottle on the gas axe (I guess somebody left the bottle valve open) . . . .

Then somebody thought we needed to smother the fire and grabbed an old vinyl-covered seat cushion out of an Impala . . . .

(SAFETY NOTE: 1970s car upholstry is not very fire retardant)

Now we've got to dig into the lump to collect all the various bits of Shamwow and electric supercharger out of the inside, scrape off all the melted stuff, convert the thing over to a carburetor (no more "fuelie fires") and put a new interior in the camper.  Which we'll probably get to right after the bandages come off.

On the bright side, most of that chalky yellow paint charred up really nice, for sort of a crispy "rat bus" look.

And to top that off, the pimply-faced kid at auto parts store insists that the engine is an old Cadillac 4100 instead of an LS.  But the eBay seller guaranteed us it was one of the "early-production LS motors" with a distributor . . . .

Long story short, our pilgrimage to the CC shop is in more trouble than Britney Spears at a Mensa Convention.

If we end up having to hitchhike out to the CC shop, do you think they'll let a dozen or so of us throw our sleeping bags on shop floor and crash there?  
*****
TURBO TED --Internationally known as the "John Force of the Yugo Racing Association."

Sergeant-at-Arms and immediate Past President of the SoAL Yugo Owners Group.

does this stuff come naturally?
or do you stay awake at night thinking it up
maybe i just don't have an imagination

you've been reading freiberger too long  
-
the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule

". . . do you stay awake at night thinking it up?"

As a matter of fact, I can't get Dr. Conrad Murray to hook me up with some propofol . . .

Actually, when you're running a Yugo, you've got plenty of time to think (while you're pushing it)  
*****
TURBO TED --Internationally known as the "John Force of the Yugo Racing Association."

Sergeant-at-Arms and immediate Past President of the SoAL Yugo Owners Group.

LOL

you mean to tell me that you haven't installed a sbc in the yugo yet

blown bbc would be much better power/weight ratio

i'm sorry, i forgot you're a turbo guy (DUH, TurboTed, i didn't get much sleep last night) ...then a twin-turbo bbc...that way you could actually get moving before the boost kicks in

might help to make you president again...unless y'all are purists

i've been thru SoAl a couple of times to/from Fl
do  you know just how hard it is to find an alternative/heavy metal radio station there at 5AM on a sunday morning...scary thing man...i'll stay up here in bootleggin' country  
-
the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule

"i've been thru SoAl a couple of times to/from Fl"

For some reason, that comment flashed me back to this mullet-era Southern Rock nugget:

"I've been to Alabama, people ain't a whole lot to see;
Skynyrd says it's a real sweet home but it ain't nothing to me.
Charlie Daniels will tell you the good Lord lives in Tenessee, ha!
But I'm going back to gator country where the wine and the women are free.

There's a gator in the bushes, he's calling my name,
And a saying come on boy, you better make it back home again.
There's many roads I've travelled but they all kind of look the same.
There's a gator in the bushes, Lord, he calling my name."


http://www.songlyrics.com/molly-hatchet/gator-country-lyrics/

"Chomp Chomp"

('Corse them "Gator Boys" hadn't enjoyed the thrill of 100,000+ Junior fans rootin' at Talladega . . . or Auburn versus Alabama!  (And them so-called "free" Florida chicks would scare all the bed bugs out into the parking lot . . . .))

"might help to make you president again"

I don't think anything will make up for that incident at the Christmas banquet . . . or investing the entire club treasury with that Nigerian money finder . . . .

"you mean to tell me that you haven't installed a sbc in the yugo yet"

Actually, that twin-engine buggy in last-month's Hot Rod has got me hallucinating in a different direction for the ol' "General Tito" Yugo:

Because welding up a web of tubing is expensive and too time-consuming, I'm thinking that scoring a frame off of one of these dirt-cheap "Cash for Clunkers" pickup trucks, channeling what's left of the Yugo shell over the rear axle (centering the wheels in the middle of the door opening (Altered-style)), and positioning the driver/lanyard-puller  in the "slingshot" position aft of the jumpin' pumpkin would suffice.

Then, slapping in a couple of wicked turbocharged, intercooled, injected Hudson Hornet flatheads up front might be the ticket to take the Riddler, the Shine Trophy, and a coveted HRM cover shot all in the same year . . . .  

The only problems are that I might have to pair up a Pinto 2.3 and a Rambler 195 initially (dang economy!) and I've got serious doubts about the duct-tape & J.B. Weld coupler I've just designed . . . .  

"do  you know just how hard it is to find an alternative/heavy metal radio station there"

Try XM Channel 841.  
*****
TURBO TED --Internationally known as the "John Force of the Yugo Racing Association."

Sergeant-at-Arms and immediate Past President of the SoAL Yugo Owners Group.