Interclub D.I.Y. Gathering for car enthusiasts
21st August 2005 – WAC organized its third official D.I.Y session and the first ever Interclub D.I.Y. session since its inception. Satria Performance Owner’s Club (S.P.O.C) had the most members that participated in the event together with a couple of members from other national car clubs, and individual forummers from other automotive forums.
Event was sponsored by Autochild Sdn. Bhd. Autochild was recently opened and specializes in automotive maintenance plus service centre dedicated to excellence. Situated in the Hicom Glenmarie Industrial Park, Shah Alam, it provides excellent service to those who are keen on improving the performance of their rides and to also learn as much as they can about cars that are worth spending money on.
At the event, we had the opportunity to have 3 participating merchants with us. They were Votech Enterprise, RS GAB Motorsport Sdn. Bhd. and S.C. Johnson & Son (M) Sdn. Bhd.
The cloudy weather with a small downpour did not dampen the members’ spirit. They start to arrive as early as 8.00am. The event started at 9.00am as we welcomed new members joining us for the first time and also members from the other clubs. It started with a welcome briefing on the day’s agenda and rules and regulations by the project head, Drex Chan, followed by a welcome speech by WAC president Sean Lee.
Next on the agenda was a product demonstration by one of our participating merchant, Votech Enterprise. Votech mainly specializes in a device designed to reduce or stabilize the voltage fluctuation in a car’s electrical and electronic system. They also have grounding kits, soundproofing materials to keep irritating sounds out so that we get a pleasant drive and also in car entertainment accessories. Votech had live demonstrations on the installation of the soundproofing materials and also it’s in car entertainment accessories. Results on the effect of its voltage stabilizer were also shown to all.
A representative from RS GAB Motorsport then had a Wira 1.6 XLi demo car fitted with its road-use HILO adjustable suspension for all to have a feel. We were even allowed to take the demo car for a test drive to have an actual feel of the product. RS GAB Motorsport specializes in HILO adjustable absorbers, OEM replacement absorbers (Super Sport), sport springs, camshaft pulley, spark plugs, and fuel pressure regulator.
Next was the moment we were all waiting for, a demonstration of Autochild’s machinery and services available to all car enthusiasts by Brendan and Anand, partners of Autochild Sdn Bhd. We all had the opportunity to learn how a car should be well maintained and looked after. We were also shown their line of security systems, performance products and lubricants as well.
Upon completion of all demonstrations, the D.I.Y session started to take place for all those keen on learning about how grounding, soundproofing, cold air intake, oil-catch tank, engine breather, spark plug side-gapping and other exciting things were done.
The seasoned members leave their car hood popped-up so that the enthusiastic participants get a chance to gather around the cars to checkout the completed DIY projects. Knowledge sharing has been extended from posting in the forum, to hands on experience and face-to-face discussions.
Audiophiles however prefer to sit in the car, play their favorite tracks and relax! While some admiring their dream gears, experienced owners helped other to tune and refine their setup.
A few free-lance sellers participated in the car boot sales, offering various products such as gauges, soft toys, accessories, homemade products, etc.
We had a total of 50 cars of various makes and models that participated in the event that ended at 2.00pm. And as we were about to finish, S.C. Johnson and Son (M) Sdn. Bhd. had a surprise for all that participated in the event. Its representative was giving out free air freshener and windscreen cleaners for cars.
WAC would like to thank the main sponsor – Autochild Sdn. Bhd. and all the participating merchants – Votech, GAB and S.C. Johnson & Son. Last but not least, a special thanks to everyone that has made this event a success.
About Wise Auto Club (WAC)
Early last year, a group of people of common interests gathers in “Autoworld.com.my” forum to discuss car problems, modifications and ways to DIY things. Eventually, this group of people meets up to extend the sharing of knowledge to hands-on and real-life discussions and comes up with a vision to form a solid community,
First gathering that attracted the participation of the seasoned and new forummers from the Central Region, was quite successful. Experience gathered from first gathering, was applied for the second gathering and hence, more publicity was made in the forum through opening of specific threads to discuss preparations and also to invite new participants.
Knowledge shared in the forum added with photos of the last gathering, encouraged a handful more to join and since then, they have not looked back as the core of the committee members now seldom missed any gatherings from then on.
During the first few “Teh Tarik” (TT) sessions, the members mooted for the idea of doing a DIY gathering to feed the needs for soundproofing and ICE tuning. A gathering was done for the first DIY session, where many members gathered and materials were ordered. Response was encouraging as many came and helped out; hence it became DIT (Do It Together).
The close knit community soon formed a strong bond during every DIY TTs and their positive qualities eventually spread through the word of mouth hence more owners of other car makes starts to join in.
Not moving away from the main objective of the club that is to find ways to DIY anything and everything possible, soon the DIY activities extended not just within the boundaries of ICE and soundproofing. It also covered cleaning the throttle body, changing brake pads, cold air intake (CAI), grounding, group purchases for accessories and spare parts, air swirlers, smoked headlights to name a few.
Many activities was organized from simple TTs and DIY sessions to recreation trips which included the Ulu Yam waterfalls, Putrajaya, Port Dickson and Melaka amongst others.
Some entrepreneurs started to form their own companies to handle some DIY devices like the voltage stabilizer and grounding kits.
Realizing that the club needs a proper direction and to lay down some proper solid foundation, a committee was elected and formed during the club’s first general meeting with experts from various fields (IT, engineers, financial, human relations, graphics, event organizers, post-graduates, etc) offering professional help.
The club then held several competitions and brainstorming of ideas for the official club T-shirts, logo and even to rename the club. Then, was named WAC (Wise Auto Club) to signal the dawn of a new era.
Wise Auto Club – simply means a family of all makes that encourages wise motoring.
The club now boasts a registered list of 400 forummers and growing each day. Despite the pace of the club growth over the past one-year, it has never deviated from their motto.
WAC is and will always be a club for beginners, learners and newbies to the automotive world because we believe as a club and individuals we can never stop learning.
