Independent Automotive Professionals Association

IAPA Santa Barbara Area

All IAPA Santa Barbara General Meeting’s are on the third Wednesday of each month at Mulligan’s Cafe in Santa Barbara at 6:30 pm, unless otherwise stated.

IAPA Central Coast Area

All IAPA Central Coast General Meeting’s
are on the second Wednesday of each month
at A.J. Spurs in Arroyo Grande at 6:30 pm,
unless otherwise stated.



Subject: Airbag in a 55 gal barrel of water (see video)

This was recorded on a cell phone, it's a bit dark, but you can see what we did on Shop Night.

IAPA, the independent garage owners, had a BBQ and party. We blew up 3 engines while betting on the time they would blow, blew 9 airbags and had a large and diverse bunch of door prizes. We also had an 8 horse Briggs and Stratton engine rigged to run on 90% Nitro, but we couldn't get it to blow. (However it would mow your lawn in record time.)

Can you believe the power of the driver's side airbag we put in this 55 gal barrel of water. The barrel weighed about 400 lbs and it launched a couple of feet into the air. The bottom of the drum became convex and did not sit on the rim any longer, but a little massaging and it should be fine.

We are saving the barrel for next years party when we have even better ideas of things to do with airbags and engines. We had 75 women, children, garage owners and many of their techs for a great evening of fun.

Please Become A Member Of IAPA

Do not miss out on being a part of a trade association comprised of highly professional automotive repair specialists. Our Dinner Meetings and Shop Nights provide a wonderful opportunity to network with other professionals to discuss and find possible solutions to technical problems / fixes, management situations, etc. We provide business resources for our members and promote professionalism in the automotive service industry.

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Who can be a member of IAPA?

We accept those automotive repair shops and associated automotive aftermarket businesses who pledge to conduct themselves professionally and adhere to our organizational guidelines.

IAPA Publishes A Monthly Newsletter

We are a trade association comprised of highly professional automotive repair specialists providing business resources and promoting professionalism.

are comprised of individually owned automotive repair shops and related companies.