The power steering pump helps you turn the wheel without a lot of effort. If it goes bad, steering can feel extremely hard, so the car may be hard to drive safely.
With project cars, “done” usually doesn’t mean finished forever. You might be happy for a while, but then you drive it, notice things, and want to improve or change something.
A carburetor is a part that helps an older engine get the right mix of fuel and air. “Rebuilt” usually means taking it apart, cleaning it, and replacing worn small pieces so it runs correctly.
“Drivable” means the car can be driven around under its own power. It might not be perfect yet, but it’s at least usable.
Topic
TV car-build timelines vs real-world projects
They’re talking about how TV makes car projects look faster than they really are. In real life, paint and finishing steps take longer, and you often have to go back and fix details.
Car paint doesn’t just need to look dry—it has to cure so it hardens correctly. If you rush it, the finish can get messed up and you may have to redo work.
Engine ground is the main electrical “return path” that lets the car’s electronics work correctly. If that connection is loose, the car can run poorly or shut off even if the parts you installed are fine.
The Dodge Power Wagon is a tough old Dodge truck. Here, the big update is that it’s been switched to fuel injection, which helps it start and run better than the older carburetor setup.
Fuel injection is how a car feeds gas to the engine using electronically controlled nozzles. Compared to a carburetor, it usually helps the engine start easier and run more smoothly.
Self-learning is when the car’s computer adjusts itself after a change so it can run better. With fuel injection, it may take some driving for the computer to figure out the right settings.
The oxygen sensor checks the exhaust to see how much oxygen is left over after the engine burns fuel. The car uses that info to help it run with the right fuel/air mix.
A bung is basically a mounting point you add to the exhaust so you can screw in a sensor. It helps the sensor sit correctly and prevents exhaust leaks around it.
ACES is a company that makes aftermarket parts for vehicle projects. In this segment, the hosts highlight that their support and help when you call them is a big selling point.
This is an ignition system part that helps control when the spark happens in the engine. The idea is to get better running and efficiency compared with older, less-controlled setups.
A four-barrel carburetor has four openings that feed the engine. More openings can mean more fuel/air when you need it, but it has to be tuned so it doesn’t waste fuel.
The Seat Cordoba is a small car made by Seat. The mention of a “two-barrel carb” refers to an older type of fuel system that mixes fuel and air mechanically. If someone changes that setup, it can change how the engine runs and how easy it is to tune.
Concept
power to get you some distance
They’re basically saying that having enough power helps you move and accelerate effectively. When the engine setup is right, the truck can get going better.
The Lucid Air is an electric car (it runs on electricity instead of gas). It’s built to go a long distance and still feel quick when you accelerate. People might talk about it when they’re describing how it drives in everyday traffic.
Concept
jumping across lanes
They’re describing a wild driving moment where the truck gets airborne over uneven ground. The point is that power and control affect how well you can get through it.
Car
Toyota pickup
The Toyota pickup is a common truck people modify. In this discussion, they’re talking about different carburetor setups and why one costs more than the other.
Horsepower is a number that tells you how strong the engine is. Higher horsepower usually means the engine can push the vehicle harder.
Term
NU
“NU” sounds like a shorthand for the engine’s power rating. The speaker mentions it alongside horsepower, but they don’t explain what NU stands for.
Concept
mental build
A “mental build” is when you picture your car project in your head before you start. It’s like planning the steps and parts so you feel calmer and more prepared.
Powder coating is a way to coat metal parts with a special paint-like powder that gets baked on. It helps protect the metal and gives a clean, long-lasting finish.
A carburetor is how older engines mix fuel and air. Tuning it means adjusting it so the engine starts easily, idles right, and doesn’t run too rich or too lean.
Weather stripping is the rubber or seal around doors that helps keep wind and water out. The host fixed it because air was leaking in and bothering them.
“C10” usually means a Chevrolet C10 pickup truck. The host is saying they planned to work on that truck, but weather and timing kept pushing the project back.
They’re saying the truck doesn’t handle well in snow and ice. The reasons they give are that it has too much power for the traction, the tires are too wide, and the back of the truck doesn’t have enough weight to keep the tires gripping.
“New body parts” means replacing outside panels or parts of the truck’s body. They’re planning to do that work when the weather forces the truck into the shop.
A ratcheting tool is designed to turn a bolt without you having to move the tool around as often. In this story, the ratcheting stopped working, so the job got harder.
Power steering uses parts that help the steering feel lighter. A power steering bolt is just a bolt that holds one of those parts in place, and the host struggled to remove it because the tool wouldn’t ratchet.
The BYD Seal is an electric car. The podcast mention about a rubber seal is about replacing a worn seal so something stays protected from weather or water. It’s a normal kind of upkeep that can help prevent leaks or drafts.
A box-end wrench grips the nut or bolt on more sides, which helps keep it from getting chewed up. It’s a common hand tool for working on car fasteners.
Sparkproof tools are designed to be less likely to create sparks. That’s useful where sparks could be dangerous, like around certain fuels or chemicals.
Cars use different bolt sizes depending on the system—some are inch-based and some are metric. If you only have one type of wrench, you can’t fit the other bolts.
Bodywork is the process of fixing and shaping the car’s outer panels. It’s the kind of work you do before painting so the final paint job looks smooth and straight.
Harbor Freight is a store that sells budget tools and parts. Here, they’re mentioning Harbor Freight’s small “212” engines as what people use to power these mini race carts.
They’re saying that with a project car, you usually don’t reach a final “it’s done” moment. There are always little things you want to improve, so the work keeps going.
“Rhino lining” refers to applying a spray-on protective bed-liner coating (commonly branded Rhino Linings) to shield surfaces from dents, abrasion, and corrosion. It can also reduce or eliminate the need for sanding and can be easier than traditional paint for a “good enough” finish.
Scope creep is when a project keeps growing and getting more complicated than you planned. With car work, it can turn a quick fix into a much bigger job.
A turbocharger is a device that helps the engine make more power by pushing extra air in. Here, it also affects how hard it is to reach other parts like glow plugs.
On a manual car, the clutch is what you press to shift gears. If the shop is already taking the engine and transmission apart, it’s a good time to replace the clutch since it’s right there.
A manual is a car where you shift gears yourself using a clutch pedal. The discussion here is basically about how clutch work is easier to do when the drivetrain is already being separated.
A rubberized coating is a spray-on layer that makes the surface feel more rubbery and can change the car’s look. They’re saying it can be removed, but if the original paint is old and rough, the coating won’t look perfect.
Oxidized paint is old paint that has worn down from weather and sun. If it’s really old and rough, a coating won’t lay down smoothly and may not peel off cleanly.
Car paint costs more than paint for walls because it has to last outdoors and resist damage from sun, rain, and road grime. It usually involves multiple layers, not just one coat.
Copyright infringement means using someone else’s protected artwork or branding without permission. On cars, it can happen if you put official-looking character stickers or designs on the body.
Wrapping means covering the car with a vinyl film to change its look. It can be easier to change later than paint, but it still takes good installation to look right.
A Cordoba is a car model people talk about for its look and how it drives. The “front suspension” is the part that controls how the wheels move over bumps and how stable the car feels. If someone says it has a “funky” front suspension, they likely mean it can handle or ride a bit differently than expected.
LIVE
Welcome back. It's been a minute or at least it's been a minute from us recording. Hopefully we've
got episodes coming out a little bit more on the regular now but we had a minute. Today we've got
Muddy with us and we've got Jim and Gail and we're gonna have some fun. I think we're gonna
talk a little bit about what we've been up to and we're gonna talk about why we do this because
I had a question rolling around my brain about if we're not finishing cars,
why are we doing this? Let's get started.
This is number 335. If you would like stickers for your toolbox, your car, or any other place
send us your mailing address and we will send you some stickers for free because everybody loves free
stuff. B Squad is at its core a roundtable discussion of the four of us who are admittedly
rank amateurs in the car world trying to figure our way into hot rodding.
Four states, three time zones, two sets of brothers, once a week of a meet and bolt of hot rods.
For B Squad Hot Rod, this is Lefty, this is Train, this is Hollywood, and this is Woodchuck
because A Squad has a TV show. Legal disclaimer, if you try anything we talk about, that's your fault,
not ours. So Steve, you posed the question for the sake of the show, why don't you
repose the question, and that way there it doesn't confuse our audience.
I have made things muddy. Okay, so the question is a large percentage of us on B Squad don't get cars
done on a regular basis. The two on B Squad that do are actually with us tonight, Jim and Gail.
They're really good about getting projects done. Muddy and I, not so much. I've been put forth as
the subject matter expert on not getting cars done, and I'd love to dispute that, but that's
nothing. So if we're not getting cars done, why are we doing this? Okay, I think we need to define
done. Yes, because I don't think there's a done car in Jim and Gail's place either, it's just
done enough. Yes, exactly, that's where I was headed. We have a lot of them that are 90% done,
and maybe one that's 100%.
That's fair. I know I'm in the camp of, I guess technically the Humvee went from
not running to running. Well, I don't know, but I'll give you that one.
Yeah, technically it ran, it just didn't have brakes or steering, or
and I had to fix it, and that was like a layup, and I was standing above the basket.
That's how easy that one was. I had to change the power steering pump.
And brakes are optional, so it's not a problem. Yeah, and none of us have ever used them anyway.
So to give an ish answer done would kind of be, A, you're driving it around, it's road legal,
and you're relatively happy with where it's at. There may still be more minor things to do, but
it's functional, and it's not missing any major pieces.
Okay, because I would have defined it as running, driving, and done to what I want to do,
because there's things that definitely should get painted, and I'm not going to,
and I don't intend to. So to me, they're done, not everyone would agree.
Back in high school, my best friend and I had this discussion for the 90s.
He stated, and I believe him, that a car is never done, because as soon as you
are happy with it, new technology comes along, and then you're changing something.
At that point, we were swapping tape decks for CD players, in-CD players,
because new technology was coming out. It's little stuff, but it's never completely done,
because there's always something you want to change. Like, even if you get a car where you are
perfectly satisfied with it, something is going, you know, you're going to drive it,
and something about it's going to drive you crazy, and then you're going to change that.
So in his theory, and like I said, I agree with it, it's never really done.
It's just done enough to be happy with it for a while.
I agree kind of with that, but I'm going to address Steve's question as he posed it,
and that is, why do we do this if we're not finishing cars? And the answer is, there's several.
One is, we enjoy it. We enjoy seeing each other, we enjoy talking to each other,
we enjoy having the friendship we have, and we're in a lot of different places,
so it's a good way to get together. Absolutely, because there's, what,
a thousand miles from my house to your house, so yeah, this is the only way we get together.
The second reason is because it is an encouragement. The goals we set at Christmas,
kind of left-handed harassment we give each other here, are a way to encourage us to actually
keep going on the cars, to keep moving forward on them. And the third reason is, we all have the same
interest, and so getting together and talking about it, and sharing it with other people who are,
we've had a lot of people on the show, well, Steve's had a lot of people on the show,
we're, you know, we're guests at best too, but we've had people join us to
SEMA, we've had people on the Bonsai Run, so why do we do this? Social.
Jim, I think, I understood the question different than you did. I think you took it as,
why do we do the podcast? And I took it as, why do we work on cars if we don't finish them?
And for me, there's a big sense of peace that I get, knowing that I'm, you know,
I'm tinkering with something that didn't work 10 minutes ago and now works. And, you know,
it could be something as simple as the carburetor needs rebuilt. And I really don't know how to
do that, so I teach myself how to do it. So it's a learning experience that, and I'm by myself,
either in the driveway or now in the shop, and I get a lot of peace just doing that,
learning something and just tinkering. So again, I think we took the question differently from
each other, but that's why I work on the cars. Why I do the podcast with you guys is, I agree with
you 100%. I absolutely enjoy the time we get together. I mean, when we were together in person,
it was fun, you know, watching Gail get teased mercilessly by Daniel just makes me laugh. And
knowing that it's just, this is the only time of the year that we're all going to get together
in person is the steamer run. I love that. I look forward to it constantly.
And I love just chatting with you guys. So to answer the question the way you took it,
that's it. And to answer the question the way I took it is the first. So Steve needs to better
define his question is what we're saying. What I'm thinking is one moment, you and I are a couple
of the only people in this group who actually work on cars with somebody else. So for us, it's a
more people oriented thing than it might be for a lot of these guys who are only, when they're
working on their cars, it's only them. There isn't anybody else there unless like coach and
Steve are working on something together. So for us, it is more there is more of it that is spending
time with, you know, people than there is for the people who are working on them solely alone.
So sorry, Steve, what were you going to say? I was going to say that originally I had meant,
why do we work on cars if we're not getting cars done? But I think both of these questions are
probably worth addressing. And since we've done a good job of addressing them both, we'll just
continue down that road. I have no idea why I do the podcast. I've been thinking about it since
Mav kind of went down that road. And it's enjoyable. I love spending time with you guys.
But I think about why this started. And it's kind of morphed into something
different. And I think that's a good thing. Nothing can stay the same forever.
We've lost one of the hosts. He's not appearing regularly, right? Yes, Hollywood. I'm calling
you out. He is alive and well. Don't take that incorrectly. That being said,
everybody on the podcast is not still alive. I'm specifically thinking of my uncle. We were
really happy to have him on for an episode and record him about six months before he unexpectedly
died. And now we've got that forever, which is really nice for us, for his family.
Right. See, I'm really jealous of that because I don't remember my father's voice at all. I wish I
did. And if I had something like that, I would cherish it forever. What I do have is my dad appeared
as an extra in the movie Frank and Jesse at the end of the movie as one of the cops who arrested
Frank James. So I get to watch that Western whenever I really miss my dad and I get to see him in the
end of it. I completely understand where you're coming from on that. Yeah. And it's just one of
those side benefits. And hopefully very soon, the SEMA interview will come out because it was
fantastic. We sat down with Big Jim from Optima. And he specifically said that's why he loves doing
those interviews is because he wants to leave that legacy for his family. It's no secret we're
all going to die sometime. And to have him recorded in video and audio for his family,
he specifically likes to do that in addition to talking about car stuff and just being a car guy.
And just one of the nicest guys around, he really is. Oh, yeah. That's the second time we've
interviewed him. The first interview didn't go nearly as well. But that second
interview we did this year, it was awesome. Thank you again, Big Jim. We appreciate you
sitting down with us and hopefully we'll have you on for a little bit longer format here soon.
Hopefully away from SEMA to get that in also. Getting off that orange cone.
I know for at least for me, one of the reasons we build cars is some of the
the cars that I visualize, the cars that I want, I'm not willing to pay for.
I can see that yourself is a way to do it cheaper. And if you have a specific vision,
make sure that what you end up with is exactly what you want.
See, I agree with that because there was, you know, I watch a lot of car shows over the years.
And one of the things I absolutely hate is when the customer brings a car in and
this is what I want and the builders like I'm not doing it that way. I'm doing it my way and
you're going to accept it and you're spending $50,000. And it's not what you wanted in the first
place. The way you're doing it is so much better because A, it's not $50,000 and B,
it's exactly what you want. And I was thinking that's part of the genesis of Eleanor.
Yes, sort of. The original idea would, it would be fun for me and my wife to have that project
together. She's not a car person. I was trying to visualize her working on cars and I was having
a problem there. There's a difference between plans and then when quite literally the rubber
hits the road or fails to. And I don't know that it was, well, it was definitely a money thing
because I cannot lay down the money for a well put together Eleanor. They're going for, I think
to make it a rest-o-mod, make something that I couldn't just lay down some money for
without going to one of those custom builders and laying down a lot of money. At this point,
it's $300,000 or $400,000. Well, and one of the things I've noticed that has changed a little
on the show since we started listening and then started hanging out with y'all and once
while showing up, is the expectation level has changed. Instead of expecting something to be
done in a year, do you now look at Eleanor and know that's a seven-year project if you really
are working on it for whatever you want to do when he's working on it? Yeah, and Muddy,
I wish I could tell you it's true. My phone just told me it's been longer than seven years.
Yeah, it has been. But you've done other projects in between and had a bunch of life stuff in between
with you. But the fact is the expectation, our expectation for Gail and I when we start on a
project is not that it will be done in six months. We'd like it to be our drivable in that time,
but is it going to be done to the level we want it to be? No, it's not. So the expectation changes
when you're talking to other car people that unless you're doing it as a business,
it's going to take longer. And that's something that I'm glad that we've been able to
help communicate. Yeah, the TV shows you see where they build a car in an hour and they
mentioned that it takes longer than that. You don't know that it's 18 months.
Even the shows like Overhaul, and we interviewed Chris from that years ago,
where they took a week to build the car, when you look at those cars, the paint was never dry
when the person got it. And they had to go back and tinker with most of the stuff to get it right.
And they were working 24-7 with huge crews. Yeah. So yeah, even the fast ones like that,
they're not really done. So yeah, but those shows would give you a bad
problem because I would go in and think, well, I've got 12 friends. I can be done in a week.
Wrong. I got 12 idiot friends that don't know one side of the ranch from the other.
Yeah. And those huge crews, they were people who were very close to the top of their game,
not us. Yeah, they called them the A-team for a reason. Yeah, Jim and Gale may be much closer
than that than we are, but certainly not me. The paint guy had been painting cars for a decade,
or I'm making stuff up at this point, but they were experienced not... I'm going to learn how
to paint a car and then try to paint this. Exactly. And so why do we do this? For the same reason
car clubs have been around for as long as... Oh, earlier than that even. But the same reason
car clubs existed was to encourage each other and be hands-on with each other. And granted,
we're doing it virtually, but I think everybody has called me at some point or another and said,
hey, what do you think of this? And we bounced ideas off each other.
Yep. Yep. And I'm cool with that. And I call people, I call my friends and say,
what do you think of this? And there's nothing wrong with that. And car clubs have been around
as long as there have been cars. Essentially, we're a car club.
I like it. Yeah. Now we just need the leather jackets with the B Squad logo on the back.
Well, we'll talk to Daniel.
Oil back our hair and comb it. I'll break out in song. It's grease lighting.
And not wearing a zip on. I'm telling you now.
Breaking Gail a poodle skirt.
I did not say that. A and B, I'm glad I'm in a different zip code.
Mav, you're in the same house. Can I have some of your tools?
Can you pass away here very shortly?
Think about who would be making me pass away.
That's Gail. Gail, may I have some of some of Mav's better tools when you get them for me?
What makes you people think I'm not keeping them?
Yeah, no, that's prison for killings. So they kind of go somewhere.
So so on that subject, just to let you guys know, you know, doing little projects one at a time,
Gail actually came really close to finishing a project today.
At this point, it needs just a little bit of tuning, but I'll let her tell you what she finished.
So we were talking about, you know, TV shows and how fast it is.
How many times have you seen them put on fuel injection kits and it takes them like an hour?
Or, you know, that seems to be how it works on the TV show, right?
And half the time it's an advertisement. Just plug in these four wires and it's easy.
Just like this. Just press this button. Yeah.
Well, just bang on. Yeah, it's usually, what is it, the Aces that's supposed to be the easiest one?
Well, I put on an Aces and it starts and runs now.
It's moved under its own power. It is running on the Aces, but, and admittedly, I didn't work on it every day.
But it took me, what, two weeks or two, not two weeks, I wish, two months to get it fully installed
and running. And from it started, it doesn't run right. It was another week until it was actually
running right because, well, it's a 72 and the original wiring was part of the problem.
So no fault of the Aces kit that might, you know, engine ground is crap.
Is this a 318?
316.
Okay. Yeah, it's the 72 Dodge.
Yeah. Yeah. The power wagon now has fuel injection.
Nice.
And it runs as well as it ran on the carburetor. Maybe it definitely starts better.
And right at this point, it really needs to be running and let it do some self-learning.
It is catching the self-learning. It is running and it's drivable. A week ago, it ran and drove.
If you didn't mind that it cut out and would die about once every three minutes if you were
sitting still or if you let the RPMs get too low or if you had a bump hard,
not quite ready for primetime a week ago because it turned out my ground was loose,
not on anything that I had touched, but the original ground to the motor.
So, you know, but how, so it took me in admittedly, may have helped part of the time too,
but it took us two months to put in a fuel injection set because, well, we have, you know,
other things that we do in our life and it's not as easy as, and the second one would probably
take less time because now we know a lot more of what we were doing and some of the things that
sound like they make sense in the instructions until you try to follow them.
But they make it look super easy on TV and it's not hard, but it's a lot of little pieces.
So, did you, did you use the well-done bung for the oxygen sensor or did you use the bolt-on one?
Bolt-on. Okay. Which sounds way better than what I was going to say, which was strap-on.
I don't even know what you guys do in your private time.
So, on that end, one of the things we did interview at SEMA was the guys at ACES
and I had the chances to down talk with them there and came up with a good basic plan there,
but even then when we got back, I did end up calling with some questions because, as Gail said,
some of the instructions are inconsistent because they come up with one product and come up with
another and didn't necessarily have somebody proof it. Their tech support when I called them
was phenomenal. That's what I heard and I heard that from another podcast, The Binder Boneyard.
Dan over there, he puts them in all the time on old international trucks, which of course is,
you know, basically the only thing I think about most days. So, when I was listening to him talk
about it, he was comparing it to the other major ones, the Holley and I forget the other one.
Yeah, but he was, yeah, high-tech. That's it, high-tech.
He was saying that the main reason that he went with the ACES over the other two was the customer
support. I just wanted to give him a shout out because we interviewed him at SEMA. They were
great there and they've been great to talk with since then. Once you get them on the phone,
there was a 30-minute hold. Just to clarify, this is not sponsored. They did not give Gail the
free ACES. Oh no, I paid for it. Yeah, I got it. Don't get me wrong, because they were running a
heck of a sale. In one of the goals, goals was to get this truck getting better than
10 miles per gallon and it was getting eight and a half with the carburetor. So, with that in mind
because they were running a heck of a sale, I also went with their coil, their
controllable distributor. I was going to say it's a modern engine. The controls
for it now are a modern engine. It's running. Did you get the two-barrel or the four-barrel?
Four-barrel. It had a four-barrel on it to start with. Well, it didn't have a four-barrel on it to
start with. Early on in the building of this truck, I put a four-barrel on the truck. So,
it had a four-barrel when I went to go to fuel injection. I understand that because I had to
get rid of the two-barrel carb on the Cordoba when I got it on that 318 because I don't know. I just
liked the looks and the sounds of a four-barrel and I wanted a little more power. So, I completely
understand swapping from two to four. Hey, if you're going to hit those, what's the right term for it?
Concrete inconsistencies in jumping. You've got to have power to get you some distance.
Oh, yeah. I definitely got some air on that when I made it across three lanes before I landed.
Yeah, one question we did not ask Aces that I wish we did now was, I was looking at
their two-barrel systems for my Toyota pickup and they were more expensive than the four-barrel systems.
It's a newer setup and they just don't have the demand for it, so they have to charge more.
Yeah, I would assume that was the case. And that little pickup, the engine's got like 98
horsepower or 95 NU and it's a long way from NU. So, at this point, I'm going to stay with you.
I don't know. Was that what it has on it? Was it a two-barrel? Yeah, it's a two-barrel.
I think it was a two-barrel. Yeah. Anyway, I was just surprised to see that the two-barrel
was more expensive than the four-barrel, but I think you're exactly right, buddy. If I were to
guess, it's just that there is such low demand for it that they don't have the
quantity to make it cheaper. But going back for a minute at least to why do you work on cars
if you don't get them done? Okay, so it's mostly done. The truck is going to be, I don't know,
how long I'll keep puttin' with it and what I want to do to it yet. But there is a sense of
satisfaction in having completed that portion of the project. Not the whole car is done,
but that part of the project is done and it'll run better because of it and be more reliable
and be more fun to drive because it runs better. And that makes a lot of sense. When I get something
figured out, Muddy said he got a sense of peace. I get almost like an adrenaline rush. It's like,
I got this. It's working. I don't have to mess with it anymore. Yeah, I got to put all these
pieces I just took off to make this happen back on. But I solved the problem. I'm excited at
that point. It's not so much a sense of peace as a sense of excitement. Accomplishment? Simultaneously,
Jim. And at the same time, too. I was kind of curious, Muddy, can you go into a little bit more
the sense of peace and maybe where that comes from? Because I think we're having different
experiences. And I guess I'm just kind of curious on what makes Car Guys tick, right?
We are an autism household. There are meltdowns from children constantly in the house. So if I'm
in the shop, I'm not in the house. So I have that quick escapism. Plus, like I said earlier,
I really miss my dad. The whole reason I started my podcast originally was because I couldn't hear
my dad's voice anymore. And I wanted my sons to be able to remember mine. So when I go out in the
garage, I'm either teaching one of the boys something, like the younger twin painted the
Cordoba. He painted the Cordoba. It was only flat black, but I taught him to mask everything off.
And it was a nice sense of connection there, which to me is connecting with my children is
peaceful. And there's a lot of memory involved of me doing it with my dad, doing the same things.
Like, I remember some of my earliest memories are crawling around a salvage yard, Russell
Richie's salvage yard in Chicago, Oklahoma, digging for parts for a rambler. And, you know,
that sense of being with my dad, because he would take me with him to get me away from
my mom and sister who were driving us crazy. So it was peaceful to be with him out there
in the salvage yard crawling around. And it's kind of a connection. I have a connection with my
kids. I have a connection with my dad doing this. And that brings me peace.
Bear? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. You know, as far as why I work on cars is
it's just what I've always done, you know, I've always enjoyed it. So now it's almost like,
you know, people say, why do you do that? And I'm like, I don't know how I wouldn't.
Why don't you? I mean, I really don't know how I wouldn't work on them.
And that's kind of where I wanted to go next from the from the two people who get stuff done.
Obviously, you have enough cars to satisfy all your transportation needs,
no matter what they are. You know, why, why do you continue to do it? I mean, kind of being
car guys, you can kind of feel why you do it. We kind of connect and we're like,
yeah, you were out in the garage, that makes sense to us. But I've never really sat down and
thought about why do we do this instead of X, Y or Z, right? We've all got other hobbies. We've
got work. Why do we spend our time in the garage? And I'm kind of curious from you two, Jim and Gail,
why do you continue to do it on all these different cars?
Because unlike Muddy, who gets 90% of the way through and somebody offers him a whole bunch
of money and he then sells it and buys another one, I get 90% of the way through it, get distracted
by something else that in my mind is shiny and really cool and buy the next project car.
Yeah, and don't get me wrong. I'm not saying, hey, explain yourselves. I'm in the same group.
I love doing it. I'm just curious on kind of what your thought process is.
From a from a work standpoint, I have a very non physical job. I sit at a computer. And so
doing something that is working with your hands and fixing something, making something work that
didn't work before, I get some of that at work, but not a lot. And I like making things work.
There was another thought in there that I lost somewhere along the way. So there is a very
real physical aspect to it where it's just different from the other things that you can
accomplish. Why? Why do I keep getting more? Because it really is the end game. I can see
what it could look like, what it will look like. And if I could paint and make that happen,
I would finish them. The vision and the tolerance for spending money on getting
it to the vision aren't always the same thing. That's definitely fair. And the other one I'll
throw out is for me, it's also about the history. One of my best friends growing up,
we did a lot of stuff on cars together. We used to quiz each other on car history.
It was just a game for us. Who could come up with the most obscure piece of trivia on a car?
And it sent us down, this is pre-internet, of course, sent us down rabbit holes of trying to
find that question out, find that answer out. And so it's not just physically doing it,
it's also mentally doing it. I personally have no desire to have random
knowledge of cars. It's the one place I'm absolutely not a car guy. I don't know what year
318 started and when they stopped production. I don't care. I only know as far as I need to know
to get parts. I agree with the mentally though, because a lot of times when I'm at work and I'm
stressed beyond belief, one of the things I do is in my mind, I start building whatever the car
that I want to work on next is. And I start picturing in detail, this is the motor I want,
this is how I would mount it in this particular frame. If I powder coated the frame, it would
be this color, whatever. And that just releases so much of my work stress, because I work all alone,
when I can do that. And it allows me to just calm down and stop stressing over whatever the
job is that I'm on. I love just losing myself in a mental build as much as I love actually doing
the physical build. What about you, Steve? As our subject matter expert here, why do you do it?
I think I do it because I don't know how to do it. Thinking back to Eleanor or the car that
shouldn't be referred to as Eleanor, I don't know what the deal is. What is she calling it,
the crazy lady's name? Denise, that's what that specific car is called because back when
she technically could come repossess cars, apparently, because they were called Eleanor.
Yeah, that's what we were doing. That legal issue is still mind-boggling. But back to that
project, I sat down and went, I have no idea how to do this, but there's no reason why I can't
try. And when I started, it was like, I'll invest a couple of hundred bucks at a time and we'll get
there. That's not that case with that specific car. And there are several cars in that realm,
but turns out 67, 68 fastbacks, it's not a couple of hundred bucks to get into a project.
They are stupid expensive because they became super popular through a couple of different movies.
But that was it. It was like, I have no idea how to do this. Why don't I just do the whole thing?
And I'm the kind of guy that starts that. Usually those big projects go a little ways and then
don't go much further with me. But I guess I've had enough payoff along the way to where, A,
I am learning how to do this sometimes the hard way. Sometimes I call up Jim and Gail and go,
hey, how do I do this so I don't blow it up again? And I found that I'm also enjoying the piece of
working with my hands. Up until very recently, I very much flew a desk for a living much like
Gail. So there was rewarding in doing something physical. I could see the progress or lack thereof
in a very physical way rather than this report was submitted or I got the screen to say what I
wanted it to say or there certainly can be accomplishment, but there's something there
to have a physical thing. If you bring a dead hunk of metal to life to where it's breathing air and
burning fuel and you've made the physical change or you've painted a body panel or you can see it,
you can touch it. There's some reward there. And then there's also some piece that's gained
from actually doing the work whether or not the end goal gets accomplished. And it's hard to quantify.
A lot of times it's very frustrating not getting the project done whether it's tuning the carburetor
or doing the body worker or what have you. But I've noticed that when I don't have that, life is
a little bit more difficult. It's almost a form of therapy. Not like life is unmanageable, but
you can tell that doing that activity helps. So that's kind of why. I didn't know how to do it.
I wanted to find out how and I found other benefits and that eventually led to the podcast.
And now there are even more benefits. I've met Muddy through this, had lots of fun with Jim and
Gail who I already knew, but got to do even more stuff with them as well as everybody else on
B Squad. So that's kind of what's been about. I was just going to say that's kind of what
I figured out over these past 45 minutes or however long we've been recording. I was just
apologizing for you having to meet me. Oh, well, that's understandable. No, I'm kidding.
I like the wins too. I absolutely like the wins. And you can tell the project that you have multiple
wins throughout. It doesn't have to be the project is done. It can be getting the fuel injection on
is a big win. Getting the brakes done is a win. Getting it running again is a win.
It has lots of stages within the entire project where there are wins along the way too in addition
to learning new things. I think you're right. You get that little dopamine hit. I got those bolts
out. I had no idea how I was going to do that, but I got it done. And you get that dopamine
hit and you're like, all right, let's tackle the next thing. I'm on a roll. Let's do it.
Yeah, it's running and driving and not going. What's the hood on?
So I can drive it. I mean, she was doing that today and I put in weather stripping on a door
that was driving me crazy with the wind going through. Did I feel good? Did I finish that?
Yeah, I did. I felt good that it got done, you know. Wasn't weather stripping gales
bold this year? Yes, and it might be important to note that neither of us have begun our actual
goals for the year. We'll get there. That makes me feel not nearly so bad.
So I'm going to give you the most lame excuse ever for not starting mine yet.
Okay. You're going to laugh hysterically. The plan for me was I was going to start on the C10.
When the snow hit and I put it in the shop, we are in Wyoming and we haven't had any snow.
Yeah. Usually I am hip deep in snow right now where I live. There's none on the ground.
It was a t-shirt weather today. Yeah. Two days ago, it snowed all day. There's still no snow on
the ground. It's been so warm that the snow has already disappeared. It's been a crazy year here.
Now, I know most of the country is getting more than usual snowfall, but yeah, just some craziness
here locally in the Wyoming area. Yeah, we actually had snow this year. That never happens.
But my plan was when it snowed, I was going to pull the truck in because that truck is worthless
on ice and snow. A little too much power, a little too wide of wheels, and no weight in the back.
It is worthless on ice and snow. And I was going to pull it in and put the new body parts on during
that time. And yeah, it's a lame excuse, but it's the truth. I've been working on other things
because it's been so nice. Well, since you brought it up and since this is the third month, which
puts us beginning at the end of a quarter of the way through the year, how are you doing on yours,
Steve? I have done exactly nothing. I've cleared a big space in my shop to move all the stuff from
my house into. So once everything gets moved out of this house, I need to line up construction on
the new house and then maybe get something done this year. So my goals are not looking good this year.
Which would be different than any other year. How?
Usually, I'm still optimistic most years. Now, yeah, now I'm just realizing it early.
That's a much better reason this year. Yeah, you have a really good reason.
So I have the studio set up for both of my YouTube channels. They're on different parts of my shop.
And I've got most of the tools to do the one show that I wanted to do. And I got half of
my tool bag swapped out with used snap on stuff. But as I told you guys, my wife
saw how much money I spent on tools last year and I'm on a tool diet. So I have come to a
screeching halt on two of the three. So the refurbishing my grandpa's tools because I need
more tools to be able to do it correctly. I'm at a standstill there and finishing my tool bag out.
I'm at a standstill there. So I have to kiss a lot of butt and do a lot of honeydoos in order to
get back on track. One other tip from the, as Daniel proclaims me, CFO whisperer,
tell her that you're trying to rehab tools so you don't have to buy more. But I need just a little
bit to make it happen. Well, today I spent a lot of time using the tools I bought around the
house showing her exactly how useful they are just so that I can get back in the good graces.
There you go. Yep, that helps too. Absolutely. I have such a different perspective on it.
Yes, but that's because you have your own tools and you use them regularly.
Yeah, well, we share tools too sometimes. Although I admit I didn't know we had a 916
ratcheting box and it doesn't ratchet anymore. I was standing on the front bumper trying to take
out a power steering bolt when I discovered that it doesn't ratchet and I was more than a little
annoyed. That one needs to go back to snap on and get fixed. See, that saves the whole argument of,
no, I know I have a 916 wrench. I really need a ratcheting one and here's why.
My CFO usually rolls her eyes and I'm like, it's kind of important.
The rest of the story, I knew it broke two weeks ago. I walked over, got a different ratcheting
box into 916s, gave it to her. We had another one. That is true. The rest of the story was,
it's a recent breakage and I just haven't had time to get it replaced yet.
That's another fantastic tip is that if you're going to spend money on tools,
anytime you can say, oh, boy, that looks like a big problem, but I can solve it right here right
now because I was ready for it. That definitely helps. You always need that tool and a spare of
that tool. That's where you show the CFO the importance of having spare tools.
I'm not buying tools just to have them. It's important to have more than
what I use right now, right here. It's not just a matter of selling,
and it's actually a matter of the ones you use.
Yes, or solving problems that may have otherwise gone unsolved for a while.
Oh, I could have climbed down off the truck and gotten a non-ratcheting one. I was already using
the non-ratcheting end, but annoyed me because I knew I could do better. I do think ratcheting
box ends are about the coolest tool ever. Oh, I agree.
Yeah, and I'm not saying Gail needs to be convinced of this. It's convincing the
non-car people that, yes, this is a really weird tool and I'm going to use it maybe once a year,
but it needs to be here. Yeah, how much money do you really need to spend on a,
oh, I don't know, a fork wrench? Well, when you need it, you need it.
So, yeah, yes. Yeah. Every once in a while, Gail will be working on something around the
shop and she'll go, oh, we got this weird thing and go over to the toolbox. She's like,
I didn't even know we had that. It's important to note that we, at one point, purchased a
professional mechanics tools and tool chests, like six foot wide. No, it's more than that probably.
Six foot tall, ten foot wide. So, there is very much some things that I don't know we own because
I've never had a need for them and I never looked. So, yeah, it's not that he bought them and hit
them. For me, it's that he bought them and it was so many tools I didn't notice. Well, I think
that's another aspect of having somebody who constantly works in your garage with you is
that when they acquire things, you may not be aware of it. Like, the tools that I work on my
cars with, I have bought them all, right? Because, again, my wife is not a car person.
So, I know, oh, yeah, I bought one of those a couple of years ago when it was on sale,
where I could see you guys, oh, yeah, I picked that up last Thursday and that just,
it didn't cross my mind. That may not allegedly happen. It took me many years to convince my
mother-in-law that when I asked for tools for Christmas, it's because I wanted the tools.
It wasn't that I was like a secretly padding Mab's Christmas haul by asking for tools if you want it.
I'm like, I don't share that nicely. No, these are things I want.
So, the problem I have with what Steve was just saying about how he purchased all of them,
he knows these are there or he knows what he has. I, you know, I live on Marketplace and I see buckets
of tools or entire toolboxes for like 20 bucks and I will see like a Snap-on wrench or a Mac
wrench in there and I'll just go buy the whole thing because if there's one, there's going to be more
than one. So, I've got three or four buckets of stuff I haven't even gone through yet out there
and I have no idea what's in it. So, that's the, that's my counter argument to Steve saying,
he knows what he has because he bought it. I bought all this stuff. I don't have a clue.
I could definitely see that. Yeah. That might not be a selling point to your wife.
That's why she doesn't listen. There's also the option of on your goal for the year
that you could take some of those tools that you have multiples of and sell some of them.
I talked to this guy about doing that. All of, you know, the multiples that I have
talked to him about trading them in on some of his repossessed tools and he is looking at
what he thinks he can get out of my extras for, you know, so we can do that. I did trade some
labor for the hammer, the claw hammer, because that's the hardest one to find of all the tools I
need. So, he had to use the claw hammer repossessed and I traded putting a new rubber seal on the
bottom of his garage for that because I'm not going to find the claw hammer used cheaper than
a new one. They're $10 more on eBay than they are from the Snap-on truck. I don't know why.
That's weird. But I was even talking about the ones you have that that you end up with that aren't
Snap-on or whatever brand you want to keep. And once you have a full tool set in each of the cars,
take the rest of them and sell them off. It's on my to-do list. I've actually sold a bunch recently
just because I don't need $37,916. Somehow I have them, but I don't need that.
No, we have had this discussion of how many of any one tool do you need. I still believe it's the
number of people you have plus one, not including the ones that permanently reside in vehicles,
because they might break down and you need it. That doesn't work out.
Yeah, I think it's how many can you justify?
Well, and there is a variable in there on how much did it cost. You know, we had a set of box-end
wrenches. We probably had two sets of box-end wrenches. And then we bought, like I said,
this professional mechanics tool stuff and ended up with two additional full sets of ratcheting
box-ends. That wasn't intentional. It was a side effect, but I don't mind at all.
So sometimes there is, you know, cost to value, you know, yeah.
Oh, yeah, I'm bad about that because I like to hit pawn shops a lot. And sometimes these wrenches
just speak to me and say, take me home. If it's a brand I've never heard of, or if it's a good
quality brand that's in the 50 cent bin for some reason, it's coming home with me. I found one the
other day that's a brass wrench because it's sparkproof. A brass half-inch. I'd never seen it,
so it came home with me. Well, so that's it. I'm pulling this back to the whole, why do we do this
thing? How much of what you get out of working on cars is side pieces of that. Finding the right
tools, finding tools that you like, better tools, stuff that you've never had before didn't know
existed because sometimes it's fun finding out that there's tools that do that thing.
Right. Or brands you've never heard of, like that one I sent to the group chat the other day
at English Ranch called a King Dick. I just had to buy that one.
Yeah, for a long time I saw the wrenches that were in the shape of a U or an S and I'm going,
okay, I understand somebody somewhere needed that and then heated up a wrench and bent it across
an anvil and made that. Do people really need that? I bought one of each of those sets in
standard and metric because I needed them. I found the reason. Yeah, some of those spaces
and this, as these cars get newer, they get less space in the engine compartment and those weird
shape tools that I thought are just like, yeah, I guess if you have the money just to get one of
everything you can have. No, those are actually super important if you're not trying to spend a
whole day getting a bolt out. And then there's that we all have a little bit of OCD in us where
I want that and now I want that one because it matches this one and I've got to have it.
I do not have OCD. It's CDO because that's the order it needs to go in.
So that is one of the potential plans for this year. It's not set in stone yet,
it's one of the reasons it's not a goal. One of the potential plans for this year is I was going
to say to learn to do bodywork. I can do so-so bodywork now. I would like to learn to paint
and I think that comes down to being OCD to do it well. Yeah, I have one of those where it's
a plan but it's not a goal. And again, the OCD kicked in. I saw one video of it on YouTube and
the next thing I know I'd grab it hold and I've watched 37 videos in a row of how to do it is
a thing called a cycle cart. And if you haven't seen them, they're basically one-third size
replicas of 1920s race cars, 1930s. And they use motorcycle wheels and they use the Harbor Freight
212 engines and you go race them but you have to build it to look like it's a 1930s car.
And I've been building a frame for it out in my shop because I have the parts and
again OCD kicked in and I can't not do it. That'll be really cool when you get it done.
See if I ever get it done. I mean this is us, you know. It's being optimistic for you.
Yeah, we're definitely going to need some video. I've personally, I found with artistic stuff,
I have to find an end point, a good enough point because my OCD will kick in and go,
okay, it's way better now but I can make it better. And then that's on a constant loop.
And it does get better but I start spending tens or even hundreds of hours making very,
very small changes or starting completely over. Which brings us back to what I said earlier
about how a project car is never done because there's always little things that you want to
change and exactly what you're talking about. Yeah, you can always make it better and that's
what I personally struggle with. Yeah, that's going to be an issue. I'll agree there.
One thing I did find out, I think it was the 350. I finally stood back and said,
oh no, it was the Jeep. It's like, here is the goal. You need to do the minimum
to meet this goal. Not the maximum, the minimum. Like once you can check that box, you are done
step away. But can you do that? Well, that's setting up those rules beforehand. It makes
it way easier. You're going, okay, I remember this is what I'm supposed to do. Do I want to do
this? Of course I do. Am I going to? No, this isn't the minimum. We don't need to sand the body
panel is perfect. We need to have it painted pink. And actually the color is changing but
it's neither here nor there. So my goal is get a decent paint job on it. Knock the rust off,
get a decent paint job on it to where it looks like. You took it to Mako or somewhere that
does a decent paint job and call it good. Maybe not even all the dents have to come out.
I still say rhino line it. That way you don't even have to sand it.
That's up to my daughter. You can get rhino lining it for me. Yes. Well, and the color's
changing. So it's going to be whatever she wants when the trigger is pulled because she's one of
those people that they change their mind up until it's time to do the thing. So check out
dipmyride.com where you can actually paint it with this rubberized stuff. And when she wants
the color changed, you peel it off and put on a new one. Oh yeah. Yeah. And that's significantly
cheaper than a paint job, isn't it? If you're doing a hand paint job, then you know, if you're
doing it yourself. But the other thing behind your other comment there of not letting the
scope creep get away, not figuring out you need that next thing. It's not that it doesn't need
that next thing. That's just the next project. There's nothing wrong with breaking it down
into multiple smaller projects. And I get sucked into, I'm in this far. I might as well just do
this thing because it'll save me the half an hour of taking this off again later. And I'm starting
to learn that unless it's a major disassembly, it's probably not worth it. On that 350, to change
all of the glow plugs, you have to take the turbo off. Yeah. I'm going, huh, I had no intention
of changing the glow plugs. They were working. It started. It would probably benefit from new
glow plugs. But now that the turbo's off, I'm definitely changing glow plugs. Yeah. Whether
they were put in last week or not, because I don't want to take the turbo off again.
Well, it's over all, if you're pulling an engine away from a transmission and it's a manual,
you change the clutch. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Put in new clutch. Unless you know it's only
been there a thousand miles, you know, if it's been there a while, you just change it. Yep.
And I see the other side of that where it's like, if I have to take off a body panel that takes
15 or 20 minutes, yeah, it's kind of a pain in the butt. But this can be done, right? It's not a
huge deal. And it's probably best to, if you weren't planning on doing all of that, do it later
when it needs it. You can take the body panel off again, or whatever small amount of work
might be in the way. Well, and at least for me, from a psychological standpoint, that way I
complete things. I get the project, you know, that sub-project, the current project done.
And that keeps me more interested in it, because then I can accomplish something.
I 100% agree, because I get halfway into seven projects, because it's easier to do them all
at the same time, and nothing gets completed. So yeah, I 100% agree. If you complete that,
that psychological effect is huge. Sorry, I'm going down the rabbit hole to dip my car.
With that, it sounds like we may have completed this episode.
Let's have to just send Nutty down another rabbit hole.
$376, that's not bad. Yeah, the dip my ride was a popular thing for a while,
doing a rubberized coating on your car. It still works. We have a set of
rims done that way. The gale actually bought it, snow tire rims, and it holds up okay.
I do think it's important to note that, yes, you can peel it off of a nice, waxed, shiny paint.
If it is, you know, 50-year-old oxidized paint, it's not going to be smooth.
It's going to stick to angry eyebrows like glue.
No, it would shoot right through angry eyebrows.
But when you have a daughter that may want to change colors on the Jeep eight times.
Again, the red that I was looking at for the Cordoba was $376.
You can't buy paint for that.
Car paint is ungodly expensive compared to wall paint.
I got initial questions from my wife going,
are we going to be able to sell that again when it's pink?
And I said, hey, if we can paint it pink, we can paint it whatever color we want. It'll be okay.
But just call it a Barbie Jeep and sell it off.
Yeah, well, that's what she wanted. I want my car to look like a Barbie Jeep,
just not have Barbie on Barbie stickers on the side of it.
That's half the fun.
I'm going, that's even better. Those stickers probably cost as much as the paint.
And you have an in with a sticker guy.
I do. I know somewhere that I might be able to make that happen.
But I would not because that might infringe on Mattel's copyright, allegedly.
He just felt Barbie different and it's all good.
Barbie with two Rs.
Barbie with a Y. Or just say Barbara.
Just ideas to throw out there. Like I say, I'm not sure I do a whole car with the stuff,
but people have done it.
Yeah, it makes sense. And like you said, the inferior ability to change that color
on the fly, not all unlike wrapping it. And if I'm correct, it's probably even a little bit
cheaper than wrapping. It's definitely easier.
Yeah, wrapping an entire car is in the thousands and apparently painting this would be
less than a thousand and given our one foray into doing stickers,
I think we're better off not wrapping anything.
That is definitely a skill.
Large stickers are wrapping going to Seaman watching the guys do it right on the floor.
It's like, oh, that's awesome.
But I know how much you've had to study to actually make that happen.
Because I've tried that and it don't work like that straight out of the box.
It's like watching a painter on one of those TV shows, painting a car going,
oh, yeah, that looks really easy. We could totally do that.
And then trying it and going, oh, now I understand.
There's a reason you get paid that much. Yeah, okay, I get it now.
And I'll be happy to pay you that much.
Yeah, just unlike Gail, I don't want to do body work.
I don't want, okay, I don't know that I want to do body work.
I don't want to pay somebody else what they want to do body work.
Very fair.
So we were doing a little bit on the truck, just sealing it up for now.
And it bothered her that we were stopping at the point of it just being sealed
because we still have other parts to put on and then we'll do the rest of it.
She wanted to see it to completion.
And that is the sign of somebody who really would do well with it.
Oh, I tell you what, Steve, doing body work plays to OCD so well.
It's just, yeah, yeah.
It needs to be perfect because if it's perfect, it looks good.
If it's not perfect, it doesn't.
Yeah, and you can tell really quickly, especially if the paint is shiny at all.
Yeah, that's definitely true.
It's behind the cab.
It'll never, it's behind the cab.
It's going to be covered by the actual bed.
No one will ever see it.
Yeah, but it's not okay.
Somebody might take this truck apart again in 30 or 40 years and they'll know.
He actually got me to leave it alone by saying we were going to pull the bed back off to do.
I don't remember what.
Maybe paint it.
I don't think he actually needs it.
We're going to pull the bed back off.
But we also have, I also have some rocker panels to weld in and stuff.
So why make it perfect when we're still going to do welding in that before we even get that far?
We'll make it all perfect when we have all the parts on.
And I think there's another piece of wisdom in the, let me try it and see if I can do it myself.
I've got a big example of that with the garage doors on my shop.
They're, they're stupid big garage doors, especially.
Do not try this at home.
Do not try this at home.
This is the professional speaking on this.
Don't try this at home.
You will kill yourself.
He was an idiot.
Move from there.
Muddy is actually a professional.
So for a single car garage, they are 12 by 12 doors because I did not want to get anywhere near
taking a mirror off and I might have to park tall things in there at one point.
So obviously the doors have to be huge.
I, I understand.
I'm an idiot.
Point being is they wanted a thousand dollars each to install the garage doors that did not
include the door just, just to put them in.
I'm like, I've heard this is simple.
Let me try it.
And if it doesn't work, I'm not out of anything.
I'll pay them a thousand bucks.
They'll come out and do it.
But Steve isn't telling you there is half of that thousand dollars was
transport to his place in the middle of no place.
Yeah.
Because I've never met anybody that made a thousand dollars on a door.
I made a thousand dollars on a door.
I would hang a whole bunch more than I do.
Yeah.
And I called several places and it was the same story.
Here's the price of the door and install is about a thousand dollars.
I'm like, even though you're doing seven of them right here, yes, they're each a thousand dollars.
And what you're saying is I need to move up there.
Yes, you do.
Come on up.
You can't stay in our guest room, though.
We covered that earlier.
I'll stay in Jim and Gail's shop.
Yep.
Previous to the show.
Maybe in the same state, but we're several hours apart.
Yeah.
Just to give you an idea of what happened before we started recording,
we were talking, I'm currently moving housing locations.
So yeah, we don't have the guest room available.
Guest room is currently in your shop.
You could stay in the shop.
That would be all right.
Bring your own heater.
So all right, I think we've got this one wrapped up.
I think so.
I agree.
All right.
We actually wrapped it up several conversations ago and wandered off into the woods.
So not on this podcast.
No, never happens.
And if you want one of those orange cones, we still have them.
Send us your pictures of your projects, your barn finds, your racer queens, all the other stuff.
Even if the projects aren't complete.
Yep.
Your trucks that don't look like they're worth stealing, but might now be.
Yeah, yeah.
Or even your flat black Cordovas, right, Muddy?
With the funky front suspensions now.
That's a custom modified suspension due to gravity.
Send us those pictures for B Squad Hot Rod.
This is Woodchuck.
This is Jim.
And Gail.
And this is Muddy because A Squad knows why they would work on cars.
For money.
We've been doing it wrong.
Thank you for listening to B Squad.
See all you Hot Rod heroes next week.
If you want to help us out, subscribe and review us on your podcast app of choice.
Don't find us on social media.
We're on Facebook and Twitter at B Squad Hot Rod.
Also, emails go to hosts at bsquadhotrod.com.
Before we do that, how about a mic check for me and my bedroom?
No.
Look up right at the end of that.
Okay.
Yeah, it almost seems like a bandwidth issue, but it comes and goes and
math doesn't have the same thing.
It's it's very weird.
And I certainly don't know enough either about bandwidth or audio too.
I'm betting it's a Bluetooth issue.
It sounds very much like a garbled transmission from a bad sci-fi show where the hero is about
to die in space.
That's what it sounds like to me.
Don't die in space.
About this episode
Projects rarely end the way TV promises, and the B Squad hosts own that reality: “done enough” is often the goal. They talk about why they keep wrenching on unfinished cars—fuel injection milestones, carb tuning, and even small wins like getting brakes done—plus how new tech and personal preferences keep changing the build. Along the way, they compare real timelines to “Eleanor,” swap stories about wiring/grounds, tools, and garage life, and invite listeners to share photos of their own projects.
