2013 Z Car West Coast National Car Show - Motorsport Auto

Every year since 1996, Motorsport Auto holds a Datsun/Nissan car show in Orange, CA.  Z car owners of any generation Z are welcome to enter their vehicle in the show, and attendance is free to everyone.   This year, the show was held in front of Motorsport Auto's facility.  An entire block of West Collins Avenue was closed for the event. 

DIY Fix: How to Replace Your License Plate Bulb / Light (Car: Lexus GS 300)

Spring is in full effect, and since the days are getting longer little by little, some of us may not have to use our lights as often while driving.  One thing to check after a winter driving season are your vehicle's exterior lights.  Many times, this is a really quick inspection that people forget to do.  The ones that we do check often are the brake lights and headlights, but there are a pair of lights which do get ignored: the license plate lights.  These tiny bulbs can sometimes be the reason for being pulled over.  Follow along as we show you how a mini DIY tutorial on how to replace the license plate bulbs on a Lexus GS300, aka Toyota Aristo for those of our readers in Japan.  Remember, that this tutorial is just a reference and we are in no way responsible for any damage you do to your vehicle.  If in doubt, consult a professional for assistance.

DIY Fix: How to Remove and Replace Glass Headlight on Your Car

Did road debris or a rock damage your headlight?  We show you how to replace the glass lens!

While spring is on its way here, the hours of daylight are still less than the hours of darkness and many drivers spend part of their commute using their headlights.  Many new cars have headlight housings made of plastic, but a lot of older cars have headlight housings made of glass which are prone to cracking to if they are struck by debris.

A small chip can quickly spread into a large crack and make night time driving hazardous for both the driver and other commuters.  The crack affects the beam pattern, increasing glare for oncoming drivers.  For the driver, moisture can enter the housing and short out the headlight, or the glass housing can shatter.

Our daily driver vehicle is equipped with glass headlight housings, and we recently had an errant rock create a chip on our housing which had spread to a massive crack in a few miles.  By the time we got  home from our work commute, the housing was threatening to completely break.  Rather than pay a lot of money to have the dealership/mechanic's shop fix the headlight lens, we decided to save some money and do it ourselves. 

Follow along as we show you a step-by-step tutorial on how to replace the glass lens housing of the headlight. 

California Smog & Emissions Exemptions; a Brief Rundown

A question we receive on a regular basis is about California's regulations on emissions testing for road vehicles. It seems quite a few people are confused as to what the current law says about the emissions status of motor vehicles. 

Nissan DeltaWing Places 5th at Petit Le Mans Finale

Congratulations to the Nissan DeltaWing team as they finished 5th overall in last weekend's Petit Le Mans race held at Road Atlanta.  Powered by a 1.6 liter 4 cylinder turbo and with roughly half the fuel of the larger prototype cars, it was impressive to see the DeltaWing start from the back of the grid and finish in the top 5!

You can read about the team's success here:  Nissan DeltaWing Petit Le Mans

Coronado Speed Festival Part 3, Show and Shine

For our last installment of the Coronado Speed Fest of 2012, we will take a look at the vehicles which arrived for the second day of the car show.

Coronado Speed Festival Part 2: Race Cars in the Paddocks

The Camaro and Ford Fairlane are just a few of the cars which participated in the historic Trans-Am series race.

In part 1 of our coverage of the Coronado Speed Festival, we showed you some of the many different cars which showed up for the car show on Saturday. 

You can view part 1 here:  Coronado Speed Festival Part 1

For part 2 of our coverage, we will show you the various race cars we saw as we browsed the paddocks.