Roll As You Are Inc and Top Wrench Competition

Top Wrench of Knoxville will be holding it's annual Top Wrench Competition at Crown College on Thursday October 25th. Location is 2307 W Beaver Creek Dr, Powell TN 37849. Top Wrench was formed in 1991 by an Air Force Veteran, who saw the need for high school students to take part in auto vocational skills in a drug free environment. In October 2017, over 600 students from 17 schools participated! You can learn more here:

https://topwrenchcompetition.com/

https://www.facebook.com/topwrenchtn/

Roll As You Are Inc, will be setting up a booth at this years event. Roll As You Are Inc, accepts donated vehicles from individuals or companies - and refurbishes those vehicles to in turn donate to needy individuals and families that can propel themselves through a transportation need. The desire of this program is to include students into the process, to learn various skills including non profit outreach and auto related activities. Students who in particular may not have access elsewhere to these exposures.

https://www.facebook.com/rollasyouareinc/

My wife and I formed Roll As You Inc, and are excited about being invited to set up this event under Top Wrench's invitation. Our goal has multiple layers - 1) Take vehicles no longer desired or needed 2) Refurbish and repair by volunteers, including most importantly students 3) Donate those vehicles to people and families in need.

We'd like to invite anyone in attending. Passing the word along is extremely helpful! Jegs, Lokar, and Crossville Dragway have recently shared our Facebook posts. Any social media and/or print is helpful.

We've recently completed our first car to giveaway, a 2001 Buick Regal LS. I went through most of this one myself, along with the help of JT at Freedom Motorworx and Fabrication https://www.facebook.com/freedommotorworx . I will share before and after pictures shortly here in this thread.

Our future cars will be partnered with youth in the process. Our difficulty at this point is getting donated vehicles in. If you know of anyone in the East TN area, please send them our way. We'll pick up. We've made a run since Spring on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, but with little feedback unfortunately, We are IRS approved 501c non profit, so all vehicle donations are tax deductible. Any partners that can be recommended, are also welcome.

The Buick Regal belong to a friend whose mother owned the car, and passed away about 8 years ago. The car had sat in the backyard. Here are some before and after pictures:

Cars get angry when the sit for a long time. This one was not any different. Here is the grocery list of repairs:

Hand pumped out a half tank of the worst smelling gas in history (varnished), fuel pump, fuel line, fuel filter, air filter, coolant flush and fill, coolant temp sensor, evap sensor, gas cap, spark plugs and wires, wiper blades, brake pads and rotors, brake fluid flush and fill, tires, belt, a few bulbs, oil and filter, battery. Seafoam counts, too.

Freedom Motorworx diagnosed a bad fuel injector, skeptical fuel line, and cranky caliper - along with setting our computer and making the 3800 V6 run like it should.

The greatest point is, a car can be recycled.

The wash and detail.

1st time wash with light degreaser. 2nd time wash with dishsoap. 3rd time wash with Meguiar's Car Wash. I've been using Meguiar's products for 30 years now, and they are my favorite. Cleaner Wax on the entire car, hood roof and trunk with Ultimate Compound first. Wheels hand scrubbed multiple times and hand polished.

The interior looked like the outside. 4 gallons of vinegar (thanks Drag Racing Vega neighbor Jacob for donating) and lot's of scrubbing and vacuum. The seats Meguiar's leather cleaner and conditioner. The seats were taken out in the process and reinstalled.

Trunk, engine compartment, and undercarriage were mostly leaves, spiders, and bees which were all evicted.

Sounds like a good program. Keep up the good work!

The event for Top Wrench was a great success, with 21 High Schools and over 600 students attending. Displaying the strong desire for youth of today to still be interested in cars and trucks.

Contests included:  Stock Car Tire Changing, Static Engine,  Custom Mailbox Painting, Welding, and Valve Cover Racing

And the following week, Roll As You Are Inc donated its first vehicle - the 2001 Buick Regal which we pictured and outlined above. The recipient is able to now work full time vs. limited part time (driving vs. walking).

We have students willing to work on donated vehicles. Our biggest need right now, is getting donated vehicles, which requires "getting the word out". We are a 501c IRS approved non profit, meaning all vehicle donations are tax deductible. 

Our steps with the vehicle are:

-Receive unwanted cars, trucks, and SUVS to "recycle" to others. (Hot Rodders are America's first recyclers)

-Plug in students that have an interest in automotive related activities, especially those that may not currently have the person and/or resource to do so. The student also will learn social services and giving in the process.

-Donate the refurbished vehicle to someone in need, that can improve their financial well being through transportation

Hey man I'm in Knox and this is awesome.  I'm gonna shoot you a message on FB with my contact info.  I may know of some folks with old cars to donate.  

TIGMOTORSPORTS said:

Top Wrench was formed in 1991 by an Air Force Veteran, who saw the need for high school students to take part in auto vocational skills in a drug free environment.

In my experience, at least half of wrenching on cars is done in a drug-free environment

In reply to octavious :

Great news!