Create, Customize, and Design Your Own Stuffs

Tag: car

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How to Build a Mousetrap Car
The process of building a mousetrap car could bring you unlimited fun especially when a father and his son spend their time together. The fun is unimaginable and the steps are relatively simple. You may download some basic mousetrap car designs if this is your first time building a mousetrap car. Otherwise, if you are looking to build a fast cool mousetrap car, you will need a better designed car plans. A well-designed mousetrap car plans allows your car to go faster and further. If you are heading to any mousetrap car competitions in your schools or class, perhaps these few simple tips and steps to build a fast mousetrap car could help you out.

Material Needed
- Wheels. Prepare a piece of cardboard or foam core and elastic rubber bands.
- Axle. Here we will use two dowel rods as the axle for the car.
- Car Body. Of course it is a mousetrap. A better quality mousetrap will give you faster pickup. Look carefully the spring condition when buying one.
- Tools: A pair of pliers, a pair of scissors, a pair of compass, epoxy glue, duct tape, 4 eye hooks, ruler, utility knife, and a flexible string.
Step 1: Create a set of four cool wheels using heavy cardboard. Use a pair of compass to measure the wheel size properly. Prepare four wheels where two wheels for the front are slightly smaller than another two. Use the elastic bands and attach it around the perimeter of the wheels you have just created. These bands work like car tires for the car. Make a small hole in the center of every wheel for the dowel rod.

Step 2: Use a utility knife to cut a piece of cardboard as the chassis. It must be slightly bigger (10-12cm) than the mousetrap on each side. Remove the rod on your mousetrap using a pair of pliers carefully. Place the mousetrap on the cardboard you just prepare and lock it with duct tape on each side.

Step 3: The third step is to build the axle of the car. Prepare 2 dowel rods which are slightly thinner than the eye hooks. Measure the size and make them 1-2 inches longer than the width of your chassis. Twist the four eye hooks into each corner of the chassis. This is to hold the axle.

Step 4: Slide both dowel rods through the eye hooks. Make sure it is able to spin nicely. Fix each wheel to the dowel rod through the hole you made in step 1. Secure the wheel with rubber band and apply some epoxy glue.

Step 5: Tie one end of a string to the snapper arm of the mousetrap. Make a tight knot so that it won’t lose when the car runs. In order to make the car run, you will need to pull back the snapper arm and hold it tightly. Now wind the other end of the string around the rear axle (rear dowel rod) while you are holding back the snapper arm. Make sure you wind it with the right direction in order to make the car go forward. How to make it run then? Simply put the car on the ground and release your hand. You will notice the snapper arm jumps instantly and the power will be delivered to the rear wheel and make the car runs. Prepare a longer string if you want the car to travel further.

Don’t worry if you feel your head is dizzy after reading the above instructions. You can always head to any online stores and get a set of ready-made mousetrap car kits. They are easier to build.
January 24, 2013
How to Make a Rubber Band Car Uniquely
Thousands of rubber band cars were created each year just for the rubber band car competition. Some are really well designed while some are just a simple one. Here you can find a few easy steps on how to make a rubber band car uniquely by using a clothespin, a few toy car wheels, iron wire, some recycle stuffs, and a power rubber band. We guarantee you never seen this kind of rubber band car before because they are created uniquely. So, what are the things you need in order to create a fast rubber band car?

Material and Tools Needed
- Prepare a good quality yet light-weight clothespin. The lighter the better because the car needs to go as fast as it can. Choose a cool looking clothespin as it will be the body of your rubber band car. Alternatively, you can use plastic botols, polyethylene foam, pinewood, cardboard, or other material. Creativity is what you need.
- As for the wheels and axle, the fastest and easiest way is to get a set of cool wheels from any unwanted used toy cars. The idea we are sharing here needs only three wheels, kind of special right? We have seen other people use CD, wood, plastic, plastic + rubber, cardboard as wheels. Do you have a better idea?
- Last but not least, prepare a piece of high quality rubber band. This is the most important because better quality rubber band allows better pickup as well as higher top speed.
- Get ready a pair of scissors, a small knife, ruler, pencil, needle nose pliers, cutter, masking tape as well as glove and eyeglasses (for protection).
Step 1: Nothing can be easier than using a clothespin as rubber band car body. This helps to save up a lot of your time. Now attach the axle and wheels you prepare to the clothespin through the hole. It should look like the alphabet “A”.

Step 2: Create a cool front steering and attach one wheel to the steering. Use the needle nose pliers to form the shape you want and cutter to cut the ion wire. You can also use some black mask tape to build the handle.

Step 3: Attach the front wheel and handle to the front of the clothespin (your rubber band car body). Now attach the rubber band you prepared to the real axle as shown in the instructions below. The left hand image is the correct way to do it while the right hand image is the wrong way to do it. Attach another end of the rubber band to the front handle you build in step 2.

Generally, most of the rubber band cars are attach to the front axle. However in our easiest way to build a fast rubber band car, you will only need to attach it to the front handle. What else now? Bring the car out and calculate the top speed!

Idea and images to make this rubber band car is taken from: Build a rubber band powered car.
January 24, 2013
Customize Your Own Car

It is time to customize your own car and put some of your own design on to it. You don’t want to walk to the car park and attempt to open a car door which the car does not belong to you. Don’t laugh. This has always happened among my friends especially who use a popular car such as the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Toyota Prius, and any other cars you can see it on the street everyday. Now try to imagine you have just finished a movie with your girlfriend and you walk to the wrong car after come out from the cinema. Isn’t it shy? With all these reasons, I always encourage people to customize or design their own car so that they look unique a little bit.

Many people will first ask “Can I customize my own car online?” Of course you can. There are many websites out there where you can customize your own car online. Ford official website allows online users to customize a Mustang. You can start to design your dream Mustang by selecting a Mustang model among Mustang V6, Mustang GT, Mustang BOSS 302, or the Shelby GT500. So far, more than a million customized Ford Mustangs have been created virtually. Other than Ford Mustang, another famous place where you can customize a car virtually is MINI.com. The website offers a very high-tech flash portal for MINI lovers to choose a model they want and the put their own design on it. If their customers satisfied with what they draw, they can actually place an order with MINI. MINI will then build the car for their customers and deliver the car to them. You may visit MINI websites to play around with the program although you don’t plan to buy one. The online system allows you to use more than 10 million possible combinations to design your dream MINI.

A customized Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Virtual is virtual; reality is still reality. You can customize many cars virtually but there are a few things you must know before putting the design on your actual car. As for me, there are three major things to consider when you want to make your car special.

1. Decals and Stickers

Decals and stickers are something cheap but they can make a car look unique. You can make your own decals and put them nicely on your window. It can be a quote you like or any image you prefer. Besides, you can also make your own stickers. Some sticker shops are able to create waterproof sticker where you can put them on the car door or any exterior part to make it look cool. Decals and stickers are something cheap but they can make your car look different.

2. A set of cool wheels

Any online car customization website is considered fail if they do not have a section for you to put a set of hot cool wheels on the car. A set of cool wheels is often one of the top three important things to make a car look outstanding. If you would like to modify your car seriously and want to make it look dazzling like superstars, it is a must to put on a set of cool wheels. Some recommended car wheel brands include Advanti Racing, American Racing, ANDROS, ASA, BBS, Enkei, and Focal. Besides those ready-made sports rims, you can design your own car rims and bring it to any custom rims shop to build one if your budget is allowed.

3. Air brush and tint

Except show cars, we don’t often see cars with air brush on the street. However, if you do watch Fast and the Furious, you will realize how cool it is to have an adequate amount of air brush on your car. Last but not least, a great tint with suitable colors on your car windscreen will make the car look outstanding for sure.

January 24, 2013