Hey all. Every once in a while, we will get a thread that just praises the Tibby because we are all fanatics. It is easy for people like us to talk about how great the car is and share our experiences about owning a Tib. However, for me, its a little bit different.
I bought the car in September of 2011. My first car that I had to pay for, and the first car I had any say in choosing, so it was a really cool moment (besides realizing I had to write a FAT check! lol. I was completely smitten by owning my new little Tiburon. Man, did I think I was really cool for owning a slow car made in Korea, but I loved it, and still do! It has been awesome so far: I have added my own personal touches and I really feel I have a valued and respected treasure in my life. The time came for me to start wrenching on it, only months after I had purchased it. This is where the fun began. Not only did I have ZERO automotive experience, but I had no tools and no resources (other then this GREAT site).
After looking at a bunch of exhausts, I decided to roll the dice on an SSA catback/header combo package. Not the best parts, but I thought they were a great deal for the money (and I STILL think they are a good value, but have since added an ARK exhaust). Being eager and impatient, I rushed home to install the new exhaust so I could hear my tibby growl a bit more! My room mate and I began ripped open the boxes, but we came to a huge problem....
We ain't got no tools!!!!!!!!!!
Damn, okay, well lets hit up friend and use his. My buddy rolls over and brings his jack and jack stands with him as well as the basics. So we jack up the car and get to work. Sorta. We realize that we can't see anything (because by the time we got home and started, it was getting dark). So we work by flashlight, not safe or efficient, but as stated I'm super impatient when it comes to goodies for my Tib. So we continue working by flashlight until we realize we don't have the proper socket to undo the exhaust bolts.
Dammmmmmmnnnn!!!!!!!!!
Off to the store this time to pick up a ratchet that we need. We finally get back to the house and FOUR HOURS LATER we are putting the new exhaust on. Finally around 5 hours after we began the project, we were sitting back and enjoying a nice cold beer and admiring my new 'ballsy' sounding Tiburon! Awesome.
So now you are thinking, why oh why did 6spd bore us with a cat back install gone horribly wrong? Well, this is where my life changes...
As my room mate and I enjoy our ice cold beverages, we start talking. We talk about how it would be wicked sick to be able to get into a shop to work on our car. It would make everything so much easier if we could get the car up on a lift and was able to have access to an impact gun and what not. Better yet, since I'm a total noob, what if you could ask a REAL mechanic what to do, just in case you get stumped? Man, that would be cool we both thought. Surely, we would have heard of a place like this, if it existed. So, why haven't we heard about it? Must not exist we though.
Then, like a metric ton of bricks, it hit us....
We could do that. We could open up a shop for others to use. Sure, we would need to have killer insurance and some major cash, but with no risk comes no reward (unless you are that lucky ass that wins the powerball). We quickly researched the idea and there simply weren't any places like that. We had found a few old forums that talked about small places like this in their town, but nothing big or established. So, we got to work.
And worked...and worked...and worked.
After 8 months of brainstorming, sleepless nights, good ideas, bad ideas, stupid ideas and a stupid amount of research we fond the opportunity. We found an insurance company willing to cover our venture and NOT charge us an arm and a leg. We kept moving forward and locked down an investor who was willing to gives us whatever we needed as long as we could rationalize the cost. WHOOOOPPPEEEE right?!?!! Wrong. Turns out our investor wanted some serious proof that we could pull this off (and who wouldn't? Why give 2 dudes in college enough money to put you into serious debt?). So we ran the numbers, got some opinions and was able to convince the financier.
So here we are, 2 guys that didn't know crap about cars before the Tiburon now opening a DIY auto center. The Tiburon, my Tiburon, is THE ONLY reason we went through with this. That faitful night of trial and tribulation was not in vein. We didn't know it then, but that install gone array was the biggest blessing of all. Before this, I was just a college kid looking for a passion that I could turn into a career. But that night, I became an entrepreneur. That night, my Tiburon showed me my career. Since then, we have been working on opening Auto Hobby Inc for over a year now. We have a shop in Montclair CA and we have over $20,000 in tools and equipment for YOU to use, for YOU to learn, for YOU to get excited about! We will have 2 brand new BendPak lifts that can take a 10,000lb car 168" off the ground. We have impact guns, air ratchets, full sets (a set per stall) of brand new Craftsman hand tools, a smoke tester (this is so cool, checks for boost leaks, vac leaks, fuel leaks, interior cabin leaks, ANY LEAK!), OBDII scanner, strut compressor, and more!
I am not a sponsor yet or a VIP. Once I pay to be either a VIP or Sponser (which, actually I need to figure out how to do!) I will post a dedicated Auto Hobby thread. If you have questions about the shop feel free to call or PM me. You can post questions in hear and I will answer them, but I am going to wait on an official thread. We are already trying to nail down a date for a Tiburon meet at the shop, so stay tuned
In conclusion, I have to thank my Tiburon AND ALL OF YOU! Without this wealth of information, I wouldn't have been down to mod my tibby. Sincerely, thank you and if ANY of you can make it to So Cal to check out my shop I would love to meet you all personally!
Thanks from me and the Auto Hobby team
Joey
I bought the car in September of 2011. My first car that I had to pay for, and the first car I had any say in choosing, so it was a really cool moment (besides realizing I had to write a FAT check! lol. I was completely smitten by owning my new little Tiburon. Man, did I think I was really cool for owning a slow car made in Korea, but I loved it, and still do! It has been awesome so far: I have added my own personal touches and I really feel I have a valued and respected treasure in my life. The time came for me to start wrenching on it, only months after I had purchased it. This is where the fun began. Not only did I have ZERO automotive experience, but I had no tools and no resources (other then this GREAT site).
After looking at a bunch of exhausts, I decided to roll the dice on an SSA catback/header combo package. Not the best parts, but I thought they were a great deal for the money (and I STILL think they are a good value, but have since added an ARK exhaust). Being eager and impatient, I rushed home to install the new exhaust so I could hear my tibby growl a bit more! My room mate and I began ripped open the boxes, but we came to a huge problem....
We ain't got no tools!!!!!!!!!!
Damn, okay, well lets hit up friend and use his. My buddy rolls over and brings his jack and jack stands with him as well as the basics. So we jack up the car and get to work. Sorta. We realize that we can't see anything (because by the time we got home and started, it was getting dark). So we work by flashlight, not safe or efficient, but as stated I'm super impatient when it comes to goodies for my Tib. So we continue working by flashlight until we realize we don't have the proper socket to undo the exhaust bolts.
Dammmmmmmnnnn!!!!!!!!!
Off to the store this time to pick up a ratchet that we need. We finally get back to the house and FOUR HOURS LATER we are putting the new exhaust on. Finally around 5 hours after we began the project, we were sitting back and enjoying a nice cold beer and admiring my new 'ballsy' sounding Tiburon! Awesome.
So now you are thinking, why oh why did 6spd bore us with a cat back install gone horribly wrong? Well, this is where my life changes...
As my room mate and I enjoy our ice cold beverages, we start talking. We talk about how it would be wicked sick to be able to get into a shop to work on our car. It would make everything so much easier if we could get the car up on a lift and was able to have access to an impact gun and what not. Better yet, since I'm a total noob, what if you could ask a REAL mechanic what to do, just in case you get stumped? Man, that would be cool we both thought. Surely, we would have heard of a place like this, if it existed. So, why haven't we heard about it? Must not exist we though.
Then, like a metric ton of bricks, it hit us....
We could do that. We could open up a shop for others to use. Sure, we would need to have killer insurance and some major cash, but with no risk comes no reward (unless you are that lucky ass that wins the powerball). We quickly researched the idea and there simply weren't any places like that. We had found a few old forums that talked about small places like this in their town, but nothing big or established. So, we got to work.
And worked...and worked...and worked.
After 8 months of brainstorming, sleepless nights, good ideas, bad ideas, stupid ideas and a stupid amount of research we fond the opportunity. We found an insurance company willing to cover our venture and NOT charge us an arm and a leg. We kept moving forward and locked down an investor who was willing to gives us whatever we needed as long as we could rationalize the cost. WHOOOOPPPEEEE right?!?!! Wrong. Turns out our investor wanted some serious proof that we could pull this off (and who wouldn't? Why give 2 dudes in college enough money to put you into serious debt?). So we ran the numbers, got some opinions and was able to convince the financier.
So here we are, 2 guys that didn't know crap about cars before the Tiburon now opening a DIY auto center. The Tiburon, my Tiburon, is THE ONLY reason we went through with this. That faitful night of trial and tribulation was not in vein. We didn't know it then, but that install gone array was the biggest blessing of all. Before this, I was just a college kid looking for a passion that I could turn into a career. But that night, I became an entrepreneur. That night, my Tiburon showed me my career. Since then, we have been working on opening Auto Hobby Inc for over a year now. We have a shop in Montclair CA and we have over $20,000 in tools and equipment for YOU to use, for YOU to learn, for YOU to get excited about! We will have 2 brand new BendPak lifts that can take a 10,000lb car 168" off the ground. We have impact guns, air ratchets, full sets (a set per stall) of brand new Craftsman hand tools, a smoke tester (this is so cool, checks for boost leaks, vac leaks, fuel leaks, interior cabin leaks, ANY LEAK!), OBDII scanner, strut compressor, and more!
I am not a sponsor yet or a VIP. Once I pay to be either a VIP or Sponser (which, actually I need to figure out how to do!) I will post a dedicated Auto Hobby thread. If you have questions about the shop feel free to call or PM me. You can post questions in hear and I will answer them, but I am going to wait on an official thread. We are already trying to nail down a date for a Tiburon meet at the shop, so stay tuned
In conclusion, I have to thank my Tiburon AND ALL OF YOU! Without this wealth of information, I wouldn't have been down to mod my tibby. Sincerely, thank you and if ANY of you can make it to So Cal to check out my shop I would love to meet you all personally!
Thanks from me and the Auto Hobby team
Joey