Episode 11 - Final 66 Corvette Video

Pre-winter Car Care Tips

by Jeff Stone 

When I was a child, I used to give my mom a hard time. Oh, I wasn’t the rebellious type, but I loved to throw a good-spirited verbal jab now and again. “If they stop teasin’ ya, they stop lovin’ ya”, I used to say. My mom always took it pretty well, but the best was when we’d get her to laugh at herself. My siblings and I knew we’d struck a cord when she’d have to reach for a kleenex to wipe the tears of joy from under her readers.

One “mom-ism” we couldn’t get enough of was what we referred to as “fear of lack”. We defined fear of lack as the fear of ever being anywhere and not having something you might need with you. Needless to say, it was always a joy getting in my mom’s car. I remember shifting winter boots, a sleeping bag, a road flare, some tampons and a blanket out of the way before being able to load my bag into the trunk one fall afternoon, while smiling, shaking my head and grumbling “fear of lack” under my breath.

Kidding aside, I’ve actually grown fond of how my mom was always prepared. She always cared enough to make sure we had what we needed, and who can fault her for that? Now that I’ve grown older and have children of my own, I can appreciate what she went through! I can appreciate having an extra set of undies along in case my 5-year-old can’t hold it for another mile, or a blanket to cover my 8-year-olds legs before the car warms up. As leaves fall and the temperature turns colder, keeping a pair of boots, a winter blanket, some jumper cables and a few “necessities” along doesn’t seem so silly anymore.

Fall is a great time to test your own “fear of lack” and make sure you AND your car are ready for the winter months ahead. Here are some pre-winter car care tips courtesy of Youngstedts Wayzata Goodyear.

1. Have your battery tested! - Getting caught out in the cold with a dead battery is no fun, and dangerous too! Colder temps wreak havoc on batteries and it’s a good idea to make sure it’s taking a good charge BEFORE it lets you down.
   
2. Check your tire tread depths and air pressure (including spare tire). Improperly inflated tires can cause premature wear, and low tread depths will make for poor traction in winter driving.
   
3. Check the level and strength of your engine coolant. Proper coolant level and protection is key for maintaining a well-running heating and cooling system. Also, old coolant can damage other parts of your engine if left unchecked for long periods of time.
   
4. Check your wiper blades and replace if necessary. Who wants to look out a wet and snowy windshield?
   
5. Have a winter survival kit along! Blankets, candy bars, winter clothing and some flares would all be great items to have along in case of emergency.

If you have any questions about any of these tips, or if you’d like to have a professional check anything on your vehicle before the snow flies, call or stop into a Youngstedts location near you and they can help. Youngstedts is locally family owned and operated and has been in business since 1971. Visit youngstedts.com for a list of store locations.

Video Blog Episode 9 - 1966 Corvette - It's Red Again!

Video Blog Episode 8 - 1966 Corvette Final Primer.

Video Blog - Episode 7 - Final Glaze and Gel Coat

Video Blog - Episode 6 - Fiberglass and Body work

Video Blog - Episode 5 - Fiberglass progress and bumper update



Video Blog - Episode 4 - 1966 Corvette Stingray - Media Blasting

Video Blog - Episode 3 - 1966 Corvette Stingray - Delivery to Media Blasting

Video Blog - Episode 2 - 1966 Corvette Stingray - Tear Down

Video Blog - Episode 1 - 1966 Corvette Stingray - Steve Youngstedt

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We have a new phone number

Hello! Some of you may have seen our post card that went out last week. Please note our new phone number: 952.934.6383

Here's the post card:

 Stop in and say Hi! 7-6 M-F and 8-5 on Saturdays

Estimates are always free!

Car Restoration Brings Together Father and Son

In any business, success goes beyond simply providing a product or service.  Obviously, we provide collision damage repair and vehicle painting service at Youngstedt's Collision Centers, but there's more to it than that.  It's this "extra" element, the feeling that you're a part of something bigger, that helps all of us out of bed in the morning and head into work for another day.  

We recently painted this Firebird for John (16) and his father Rob.  All we did was provide a simple paint job on a car that was prepped very well, but it felt like we were a part of something more.  Here's a little background (from Rob)

"John is 16 and has been "saving his pennies and dimes" for years to buy his own car.  He settled on the third-generation Firebird as a cool but relatively inexpensive model and started researching them online, looking at ads and websites.  He wanted to find a car that had a V8 and manual transmission, and cost under $2000.  We went to look at several Firebirds and found that they varied widely in condition, but that in his price range they tended to be pretty rusty or abused.  However, he found a blue one in June with a 5-liter and 5-speed that looked straight and complete, and he negotiated with the seller to get it for $1,300. 

 

The car had some surface rust on the body, a couple of holes in the rear quarter panels and a lot of small dents and chips all over.  John spent some time cleaning the car, fixing the brakes and generally getting familiar with it before launching into a restoration project.  He deciding it was going to be orange from the very beginning, even though changing the color involved more work.

We took that car all apart (moldings, lights, window felts) and cleaned, fixed or replaced all of the pieces as we went.  We put in (5) metal patches to fix the holes, filled in and sanded all of the dents and then primed the car for paint.  Primer is pretty forgiving so we did that on the driveway with good results.  Thinking we would paint the car right there as well, he picked out the color (a 2011 Audi orange) and we attempted to paint a few pieces of the car, starting with the underside of the hood.  We soon found out that every fly and gnat in the neighborhood was attracted to the wet orange paint and they all decided to land in it and die there (but not without walking around for a while first).  We were pretty disappointed with the attempt and ended up with an orange driveway and a call in to Youngstedt's.

 

At that point we got serious about sanding and went over the car again, wet sanding everything down to 500 grit. We washed the whole thing with soap and water, let it dry overnight and taped off as much as we could before bring it in to Youngstedt's on a Thursday.  The Chanhassen store had it prepped and painted by the next day, which gave us the Labor Day weekend to put the whole thing back together, which was a challenge in itself.  However, it came out great and John was able to drive it to the first day of school the following week. This project was a great opportunity for John to realize his vision on a small budget, and going through this process from beginning to end was a great "Father and Son" learning experience.  I expect that he will be learning a lot about maintaining a vehicle from this point forward, since he has all of his money and about 3 weeks of sweat equity in the car."

Well... Thanks Rob and John for sharing your story with us, and for allowing us the joy of being a part of your project!  We're quite certain John will have a car at school like NO other!

If you are working on a project, and can use our help along the way, please feel free to include us!  We only played a small part in this project, as a majority of a great paint job is in great prep work.  If you need help with paint on your project, or if you need help getting the project ready for paint, our trained technicians and painter are ready for you.  We'll put together a package that fits your budget while meeting your expectations.  Stop by anytime for a free estimate!

Youngstedt's Collision Center - 40 Lake Drive East - Chanhassen, MN 55318

952.934.6068

Check out our Carver Fair Video - Demo Derby at the Carver Fair

Nik Schuler of Youngstedt's Waconia Goodyear did a great job in his first Demolition Derby.  We had some electrical issues, but after the 2 heats we still drove the car on the trailer.  Thanks for watching our video!

Youngstedt's Collision Center is your Fleet Collision Repair Headquarters!

We've been doing more and more fleet repair at Youngstedt's Collision Center.  This shot was taken last week.  From a major front end collision repair, to a tail-gate replacement, to a simple color-change on a box-side, we do it all.  Thanks to Centerpoint Energy, MMC, Safelite Autoglass, Home Depot, and Rainbow Treecare for the business!



Custom Paint Graphics and Rebrand for Boogie Wonderland!

Check out www.boogiewonderland.com!  We just "pimped their ride"!  We started with a white Chevy Express Cargo van like this:

 

 Then we fixed some dents, cleaned up and refinished the front bumper, sanded and blacked out the wheels, and painted the van with an orange metallic pearl paint.

We worked with JWDA in Eden Prairie who put our brand idea into a functional design.  Check out www.jwda.com if you need marketing and branding advise.

Speedpro Imaging in Plymouth helped print and apply the graphics.  The band is in love and ready to BOOGIE!

Complete Rebrand for Daniel's Fire Roast.

Thanks to Speedpro Imaging in Plymoth who we partnered with on this rebrand!    When we got this truck it was pretty rough.  It had aluminum oxidation and peeling paint.  We spent days sanding and prepping it and shot it with an industrial paint in "fire engine red".  For more information about Daniel's Fire Roast, check out www.fireroast.com

More Feedback

Jeff, Mike,

Just wanted to thank you for the great job on the Highlander.  Bumper looks great and the touch up you did on the rear door and bumper also was above and beyond.

Will certainly spread the word…

Regards,

Joey

-Thanks Joey!  Thanks for the business.  Have a great summer!

Wild Prairie Harley Davidson - F350 - All fixed up

Thanks to Wild Prairie Harley Davidson for allowing us the opportunity to fix up their F350.  They had a little "incident" on the front right corner.  We fixed it up in a few days and it turned out great! 

If you haven't checked out Wild Prairie HD yet, get over there!  Their new store and bike service area is amazing!  For more information or directions about their store check them out here:

http://www.wildprairiehd.com/

12480 Plaza Drive

Eden Prairie, MN 55344

952.698.5000

More Recent Feedback

On Tuesday, January 11, 2011 I was on my way to Bloomington to attend a conference. Somewhere on 494 my drivers side window blew up. Not being very familar with the cities, I was directed to an exit that took me to the Youngstedts Goodyear shop in Minnetonka, on Hwy. 7. Once there I asked if they had any knowledge of glass replacement and they directed me to the MAACO store located in Chanhassen. After a couple of phone calls with Jeff Stone and Mike (never heard Mike's last name) and a conference call between Mike J and my insurance company, the gentlemen involved took very good care of me. Jeremy Anderson at the Goodyear shop allowed me to leave my vehicle there over night, then MAACO picked it up on Wed., replaced the window and delivered my vehicle to the Sheraton in Bloomington by late morning on Wed. I received terrific service by very professional gentlemen. They treated me very well and with respect. I couldn't have asked for more.


When service of this level is performed someone needs to know so please thank all the gentlemen involved for me.

Pam
Sauk Rapids, MN

Thanks Pam, we appreciate your business!  Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your experience.  We're glad we were able to help you out of a jam!