The Shed - Cars

A night at the speedway

9 December 2020

The allusion to knights and jousting is apt. Like knights in armour, the drivers especially of the sprint cars have very restricted vision. They can peer through the grille in front and can see a bit to the left but their right-hand vision is blocked by a wing and within the confines of the cockpit—with helmet and neck brace in place—they have very little opportunity to turn their heads. To make things worse, other cars are flinging up dust and mud that also helps to clog their vision.

Polish query ‘Autosolved’

4 November 2020

If you haven’t heard of Autosol, you can thank us later.
This revolutionary, ammonia-free product is the go-to cleaner and polish for uncoated aluminium surfaces. It leaves a clean sheen without scratching or hazing. The distributors say users describe it as “a product that does everything the advertising says it does”, “my go-to polish for aluminium”, and “perfect for alloy wheel rejuvenation”. It is available in a 75ml tube with screw caps from automotive, engineering, and hardware stores across New Zealand.

Spotless shine

14 September 2020

Polishing metal isn’t a task for which you want to be ill-equipped, especially when you’re chasing that perfect shiny finish! That is why Autosol has been the most trusted name since forever. The new Autosol 3in1 for Stainless Steel is specially developed to clean, protect, and leave a shiny streak-free finish on stainless steel surfaces — with anti-fingerprint effect.

Make a simple toy truck

28 July 2020

With toys, in particular, maintenance and reparability are important to ensure a long life. A broken plastic toy goes in the bin, whereas a well-designed wooden toy can make many trips to the repair shop over generations of play.

Make a camper trailer

9 July 2020

American teardrops first became common in the 1930s after DIY magazines such as Popular Mechanics published plans to build your own. The ultra-lightweight concept normally only sleeps a maximum of two adults in the cabin and has a small outside galley or kitchen at the back of the trailer. Often these campers weighed little more than 450kg and were very streamlined so were ideal for towing behind small cars or for long road trips.

The Shed July/August 2020 Issue 91, on sale now

15 June 2020

The July/August 2020 issue of The Shed, No. 91, has got something in it for every sheddie.
Even though there is something of a nautical theme to this issue, our cover story is on building a very powerful, vertical, hydraulic log splitter. Bill Stevenson from Christchurch walks us through the construction of his trailer-mounted log-splitting machine that was started prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, worked on during, and completed immediately after. A great effort.

Video of Cowper Trucks from The Shed Issue 90

26 May 2020

In this issue of the magazine we featured the trucks and workshop of Dan Cowper of Cowper Trucks in his shed just outside Whanganui.
Check out this video where Dan gives us the background to his business and how he builds his go anywhere, do anything, V8-powered, 4×4 vehicles.

The Shed May/June 2020, Issue 90, is on sale now

30 April 2020

Issue 90 of The Shed has a treat for lovers of fast off-road action. We visit the shed of Cowper Trucks who make world-beating 800hp 4×4 off-road race vehicles. Built strong, tough, and powerful from a shed outside Whanganui, this is automotive engineering at its best.

Video of vintage fire engines at the Westland Heritage Park, Hokitika

7 April 2020

In The Shed Issue #80 we visited this heritage park and met the great folks caring for and restoring industrial machines and vehicles.
Here is a short video of their collection of volunteer fire brigade engines from around the South Island. Our tour guide is Michael Rooney.

The Shed Issue 89 on sale in Australia from today

11 March 2020

The February/March Issue 89 of the shed is on sale nationwide from today.
Click on this link to get a fully illustrated run down on what’s in this issue.

Plug or cap it with Stockcap

2 March 2020

When you are pulling apart engines, machinery, and hydraulics, and you need protection to plug off or cap fluid lines, ports and threads, throw away the rags and the tape and contact Hi-Q components.

The Shed March/April 2020, Issue 89, in shops now

17 February 2020

Issue 89 of The Shed has a great mix of projects and sheddie talents to enjoy.
Nigel Young records the build of a mega-sized spit roast BBQ. Built by the team at the Halswell Menzshed as a fundraising project, this big trailer-mounted gas-burning beast of a cooker can take a full-sized pig for those big gatherings or fund-raising projects.

Shed Issue 88 now on sale Australia-wide

15 January 2020

Great news for all our Australian Shed readers, the Jan/Feb Issue 88 is now on sale nationwide.
Click on this link to see what’s in this issue https://the-shed.nz/home/2019/11/27/the-shed-januaryfebruary-2020-issue-88-in-shops-now

A sheddie poem at Christmas

23 December 2019

Down the garden and over the lawn
Pop wonders off each day
Unlocks his shed and opens the door…

The Shed January/February 2020, Issue 88, in shops now

2 December 2019

For many of us Kiwis, summertime can mean it’s time to dig out the family tractor. Because summer means beach-holiday time and using that good-old-boy tractor to get the fishing boat in the water as often as possible. To celebrate our love of old tractors, we head south to meet a tractor restorer from Oamaru, one Colin Harvey, who has shedfuls of tractors and spends all his time tinkering with and restoring some great classic farming workhorses.

Cars