Popular Mechanics

Front Cover
Popular Mechanics inspires, instructs and influences readers to help them master the modern world. Whether it’s practical DIY home-improvement tips, gadgets and digital technology, information on the newest cars or the latest breakthroughs in science -- PM is the ultimate guide to our high-tech lifestyle.
 

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Contents

Porta-amp gives portable sound
29
Amplifiers
PM looks at a super heat gun
36
Heat guns
PM looks at: a great toolbox
65
Tool boxes, racks, etc
How we'll run killer trucks off the roads
77
Traffic accidents, Trucks (Safety measures)
One that didn't get away
78
Tank trucks (Accidents)
How to test appliances for electrical continuity
114
Electric circuits (Testing), Household appliances (Maintenance and repair)
Have fun keeping fit on this homemade import
116
Exercise equipment
PM's complete guide to the new videodiscs and cassettes
118
Videotape recorders and recording, Videodiscs
New deck adjusts to all tapes
122
Tape recorders and recording
Home energy guide '80
123
Houses (Maintenance and repair), Energy conservation

Search for cosmic ripples
84
Gravity and gravitation
Small boats for largemouth bass
88
Fishing boats
Power to the pedals! Human Powered Speed Championships
90
Bicycle racing
Driving American Motors' four-wheel-drive Eagle
92
Automobiles (Four wheel drive, Testing)
Servicing the four-wheel-drive Eagle
94
Automobiles (Four wheel drive, Maintenance and repair)
PM owners report
96
Subaru 4WD Station Wagon
How to choose--and use--a programmable calculator
98
Calculators
Down to the sea in chips
100
Whalers
PM owners report
102
Pontiac Sunbird
Build this easy-to-use spinning wheel
104
Spinning wheels
4 smart fixes for bath problems
106
Bathrooms
4 smashing ideas for bedrooms
108
Bedrooms
How to create our great bedroom ideas
110
Beds
Belt sander basics
113
Sanding and sanding equipment
Firewood
125
Wood cutting equipment
7 newfangled muscle-powered wood splitters
130
Wood cutting equipment
PM installs a solar domestic hot-water system
132
Solar water heaters
How energy-saving home improvements can save tax money
136
Tax credits
Build a live-in solar collector
138
Greenhouses, Solar collectors
New fireplace test lab lets you compare before you buy
140
Auburn University, Fireplaces
Money-saving furnace replacement
143
Furnaces
Car battery powers this house
147
Electricity in the home, Heating, Storage batteries
Add-on blower moves air to the farthest rooms
148
Blowers (Machinery)
Burning the barrel at both ends
156
Power resources (Humor, satire, etc)
Famous stars and their famous cars: can you name them?
180
Automobiles (History), Motion picture actors and actresses
PM looks at: Homelite string trimmer
220
Lawn equipment
PM looks at: minisander for hobbyists
224
Sanding and sanding equipment

Common terms and phrases