142. The Pile Up EP26: Happy New Year!!!
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
65:58
Term
front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive means that the front wheels of the car are the ones that get the power from the engine, which helps with control, especially in the rain.
Term
engine
The engine is what makes the car go. It's like the heart of the car, and sometimes it needs to be taken out for repairs or to put in a new one.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette is a famous sports car made by Chevrolet. It's known for being fast and stylish, and many people love to drive it for fun.
Car
Ford Model T
The Model T is a historic car made by Ford that was very popular in the early 1900s. It was one of the first cars that many people could afford to buy.
Term
C4 rear end
The C4 rear end is part of the suspension system in a specific model of Corvette. It helps the car handle better and ride smoothly over bumps.
Car
Renault Wind
The Renault Wind is a small car that can turn into a convertible, meaning you can take the roof off and enjoy driving outside. It's designed to be fun and sporty, perfect for people who like to feel the wind while driving.
Part
master cylinder
The master cylinder is part of the brakes in a car. When you press the brake pedal, it helps push fluid to make the brakes work, stopping the car.
Car
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a famous sports car from the 1980s that was one of the first to use all-wheel drive, helping it perform well in various driving conditions. It's known for its unique style and racing success.
Term
four-speed
A four-speed means the car has four different gears to choose from, which helps it drive better in different situations.
Term
five-speed
A five-speed means the car has five different gears to choose from, which helps it go faster or save fuel depending on the situation.
Car
Volkswagen Bus
The Volkswagen Bus is a famous van that many people recognize. It was used by families and travelers because it had a lot of space and a fun design. It's especially popular among people who love vintage cars.
Car
Lincoln LTD
The Lincoln LTD is a large, comfortable car made by Lincoln, which is part of Ford. It was popular for being luxurious and roomy.
Term
hood ornament
A hood ornament is a decoration on the front of a car, usually showing the car's brand or logo. It's like a little statue that makes the car look nicer.
Term
overheated
When a car overheats, it means the engine gets too hot, which can cause problems. It usually happens if there's not enough coolant or if something is broken.
Term
towing
Towing is when one vehicle pulls another vehicle that can't drive on its own. This is often done with a rope or a special bar.
Car
Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger is a small truck that is good for carrying things and driving in different conditions. It's known for being tough and reliable.
Car
Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero is a sporty car made by Pontiac in the 1980s. It has the engine in the middle, which gives it a different driving feel compared to most cars.
Term
firewall
The firewall is a wall in a car that separates the engine from the inside where people sit. It helps keep the heat and any fires from the engine away from passengers.
Term
shorting out
Shorting out happens when electricity goes where it shouldn't, which can break things or cause fires. It's like a shortcut for electricity that can be dangerous.
Car
Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is a popular car model that has been around for many years. The 1979 version was one of the first and is known for being reliable and good on gas.
Term
302
The 302 is a type of engine made by Ford that is 302 cubic inches in size. It's known for being powerful and is often found in sports cars and muscle cars.
Term
fuel line
The fuel line is a pipe that carries gasoline or diesel from the tank to the engine. If it gets damaged, it can cause problems with the car's ability to run.
Term
fuel pump
The fuel pump is what sends gasoline from the tank to the engine. If it fails, the car won't start or run properly.
Part
spindle
A spindle is a part that helps hold the wheels on a vehicle and allows them to turn. It's important for the car's suspension and handling.
Part
control arms
Control arms are parts that help connect the car's body to the wheels. They allow the wheels to move up and down while keeping everything aligned.
Concept
Cash for Clunkers
Cash for Clunkers was a program that gave people money to trade in their old cars for new ones. It helped people buy more fuel-efficient cars and aimed to help the economy during tough times.
Car
Plymouth Prowler
The Plymouth Prowler is a cool-looking car that was made to look like old-fashioned hot rods. It has a sporty design and is fun to drive, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Car
Dodge Magnum
The Dodge Magnum is a big car that looks like a sporty wagon and can carry a lot of stuff. It’s known for being powerful and fun to drive, which makes it different from regular family cars.
Car
Pontiac Firebird
The Pontiac Firebird is a sporty car that was made in the U.S. from the late 1960s until the early 2000s. It's famous for being fast and stylish, and some special versions, like the 20th anniversary model, are really sought after by car fans.
Car
GMC Typhoon
The GMC Typhoon is a fast SUV made in the early 1990s that has a turbo engine and can drive all four wheels. It was famous for being one of the quickest SUVs back then.
Car
Buick T-Type
The Buick T-Type is a sportier version of a Buick car that has a turbo engine. It was made in the 1980s and is known for being fast and stylish.
Car
Pontiac Transam
The Pontiac Trans Am is a special version of the Firebird that is known for being fast and powerful. It's a classic American car that many people love, especially because it has appeared in movies and TV shows.
Car
GMC Cyclone
The GMC Cyclone is a fast pickup truck made in the 1990s, similar to the Typhoon, and it also had a powerful turbo engine.
Car
AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle is a car that was made by AMC, known for being one of the first cars that could handle both city driving and off-road conditions. It was produced in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Car
Ford Escape
The Ford Escape is a small SUV that people use for everyday driving and family trips. It has a lot of space inside for passengers and luggage, and it's designed to be easy to drive and comfortable.
Car
Mazda Tribute
The Mazda Tribute is a small SUV that was made to be practical and reliable. It’s good for families and has enough space for people and their things, making it a popular choice for everyday use.
LIVE
Happy Wednesday it's New Year's Eve it's New Year's Eve and you're here
you're here with us it's the last day of 2025 oh thank God wow it's over finally
good Lord couldn't wait and you know what I say every year like an idiot what
this is gonna be the best year this is the year this is what's happening and
here we are let me just you know we've slow walk 2020 2020 like oh my god year
after year just garbage just keeps going oh my god it never ends I don't
think 2026 could get worse oh don't dare it at this point well let's just say it's
gonna be the best year ever let's gonna be the gonna be the best let's be
positive for the audience I want to continue to be a naive idiot yeah say
that you know you video next year is gonna be great it's gonna be awesome so
excited I want to hear from the listeners what projects they have going
for 2026 why yeah right is why would you want to find that out why not oh you're
right that's what this is about this is what we had in our notes to talk about
might I remind you no actually that's great cuz what's better than a
resolution is a project but maybe you need a resolution to get working on your
project again yeah if that's the case we want to hear about that too you know
what stop buying car parts oh no you got to make your own you know you need to go
out and put some of them on before you buy more oh that's a good point we're
all guilty of this I just know this cuts to the bone for every listener unless
there's somebody that just walks and just likes to listen to the show but
otherwise you've probably got car parts for me it's my radio uh-huh and I guess
welding my quarter panel on I was really tempted to come down here on Saturday
and just go after it what happened I should get a can of weld through primer
mmm and you're busy with your phone it's just so wet I can't like summertime I
would just be like yeah I'll get some spray paint tomorrow or something but
like it's so wet right now yeah I need to get I need to go which is a good
reminder we're in a deluge yeah we got two inches of rain the other day it's
pretty wet and I drive in that so two inches is a lot right yeah it is it's
quite a bit I would say yeah if you were getting an inch in a day it's pretty
wet too is uncomfortable yeah it was I mean I also drove in that weather and
I'm usually pretty comfortable driving in the rain yeah and of course I also
drive a modern car it's a front-wheel drive it's a Honda it handles really well
and I was kind of scared I thought that there was gonna be landslide on five
like I was going south on five the day before that and he was like because they
had construction and it was just pouring down off the hill it was pretty
muddy yeah it was cool everything's fine as far as I know but it was it was very
wet a lot of water just so much water anyway so much that's been holding up
the other part that I should put in my car the engine oh yeah the Astro the
engine's been taken out which we've been bragging about now what's happening I
know no moves towards putting it back in a vaping yet I know it's pathetic is
there an excuse that it's raining um well a little bit in the sense that I need
to I need to shuffle the two apart and mainly I needed you to come help me with
that but I was like just sort of didn't want to monopolize your time because we
just done something else oh so I need to like rearrange and get that one in
there hmm oh you know I guess I was gonna build the stand for it oh yeah you
need to just stand yeah yeah I'll help you out and hang now I gotta go to the
metal supply see this is risky business you got a lot of stuff to do business
this is what I mean because then you're like well if I just go buy a little more
angle iron and then like then what then you buy the angle iron this has to
happen so yeah anyway New Year's resolution who mine
they'll her let's see you know it really thought about it well don't rush into it
I think it's more this might be cheesy but I'm looking for a job that challenges
me that I love and that I get paid well which I know is probably everybody's
dream but I'm just kind of putting that out there into the world that is my main
it's not necessarily a resolution it's just sort of an energy it's an energy
and then obviously we're gonna get the Corvette brakes now done in 2025 I have
wanted I have wanted to check in and be like okay what day we're gonna put these
calipers on oh yeah I've been thinking about that too it's skin that's the
holidays things are busy I know I know we will start that in 2026 so and then
sounds good you know I would like to then be on to like enjoy driving the
Corvette and then kind of beyond you've been threatening to work and then
putting huge trans am flares on it you will you've been threatening to work on
the trans am I am interested in going after that cuz yeah it's just sitting
and if I could drive the trans am that would be so incorrect I love that car so
much yeah I think once we get the engine back in the Astro yeah I'm still a
little fuzzy on what the Astro details are because I'm like well need to stand
first of all I'm still think yeah I know I need to go to the metal place I
told you about the one that closed right like I called so yeah I've been wanting
to get okay this brings up another topic by the way and okay it's here here it
out I'm sorry it's the same topic it's about buying car parts and we've come
full circle yeah we were trying so hard to get a Corvette C4 rear end for the
hot rod oh yeah and every time that we were finally like okay let's go for that
one we'll write and then they just it we got ghosted we got one which was a
really good deal we did not see here's the the lesson of this one is to you see
a part and it looks like it's missing something really get into that photograph
and dig around make it as big as you can and look in the grass and really look
for clues because this part and what we needed it couldn't see it because it was
hidden it was so much cheaper than all the other one so many was like half 250
dollars for a C4 rear end and I thought it was missing the batwing mount that
goes on the diff cover yeah it was flipped over yeah yeah oh my god yeah but so
when they when we finally wrote the guy it was like he's like I saw we I wrote
him and then it took him a while to get back to me but I had written him
previously and he got back to me pretty quickly and then the second time I wrote
him to be like when can we come look at it yeah he he waited for hours to get
back to me and then he just marked it as sold and then he said hey it's been sold
that was nice of him to tell me yeah no it still hurts though cuz like we talked
about that one the day before yeah and I was I just felt like it was too good to
be true I know well we just really we've learned a valuable lesson and that is
really look at the then then we saw the one the night here at the shop and that
was late and I was like call him in the morning and then the morning the ad was
gone this one was really bad I didn't think to screenshot here's another
lesson always screenshot and add with the person's contact info if you're not
gonna contact him right away because the next day yeah it was gone it the
posting it expired and so the whole impetus for this is to get this rear in
for the the Model T show rod that we're building with Rizzo and we it would have
been fine to get it especially if we could have got it for 250 oh my god oh
boy that would have really done as a favor it really would have it would have
helped the budget so much just I mean you know you want to buy as thrifty as you
can no matter what right it's just good you know especially we're up there all
GM rear ends yeah you know one was the 250 one I think was pretty rusty like the
links and yeah the links were horrible so it was like some were cleaner than
others yeah anyway we're just there we're enjoying the thrill of the chase
but I would like to if we if we got the rear end I was gonna go ahead and get
the frame rail tubing and yeah the rear ends kind of a missing piece right now
we yeah and we started working on the grill and so we it would be nice to have
a front section of rail to set the grill on and start sorting out like motor
mounts and yeah the way we have the body sitting it's almost almost ride height
it's a touch under I think but yeah so that's our sad sad tail anyway yeah so
if anybody knows a C4 rear end just hanging out that needs to is that your
resolution what was your resolution well I had the car things and I had the job
things oh okay yeah my resolution is just to live to the full just try to live to
the fullest and try to remember that you could die at any moment I dare you
that's sometimes sometimes sometimes I forget I take life for granted yeah well
you know if you had a Corvette you could go for late night drives and have the
wind in your hair I do like to do that so I do yeah you know we can put that
together those teetops really do a number on your hair if you're rolling
without a protection my mom had a seabream convertible and she would
always drive with the windows up for so long I didn't understand it now I
totally understand but so funny that car burned to the ground oh my gosh how
what happened tell me the story I wish it would have been like the tape deck like
Bam Margeras car or whatever but it was it was funny because I think mom was
taking me home from summer school and I was like do you smell something burning
and she was like no and I was like I think you should pull over and she's
like I'd rather get home and then we like switch yeah we switched roles and
then she was like I do smell something burning and I was like let's just get
home and she pulled over at a storage lot and then we just got out and we called
I think we had a cell phone and we called and how modern I know cell phone I think
but maybe not like let me think about that you had to go to a pay phone real
quick no somebody might have seen it and called for us okay but we might have had
a phone was it you stopped and it was you could tell was on fire we stopped and
it was on fire where was it on fire from in the engine bay but I don't know you
know I used to think it was impressive because like the the firefighters told
my mom that was like the master cylinder melted and like one the reservoir is
plastic so to it's probably an aluminum master cylinder so it's like you know
1100 degrees it didn't melt the real master cylinder no it did it did I just
thought that was super impressive when I was a kid but like now I'm like well
of course it did like oh is that how hot of fire burns is 1100 degrees no it's
quite a bit hotter than that oh okay I don't know that much about fire I mean
I think your temperature degree to 5000 degrees oh that's what you're talking
about well that makes welding well things like around 3500 you know iron I
think melts at 2300 like aluminum is like 1100 mm okay and then steel is like
2300 I think it was hot 232500 it is it's hard to you would have to hold it
basically there if you wanted to anneal it but like with aluminum you can anneal
it with a torch did they figure out why it started on fire no we didn't but so I
had a friend as a firefighter and an EMS and he said that what they do is that
they will if nobody's hurt or at risk they'll pull over and wait oh pull over
and wait for the fire to go out no they'll just wait because they want your
car to be destroyed so that you can get a total insurance on it rather than a
slightly fire damaged car that costs a lot to repair oh they'll pull over and
wait for it to burn yeah okay is that what happened the firemen showed up and
they're like hey how's it going we're gonna hang out and make sure that you
guys get your insurance payout they gave it some time and then they show up and
they scope it out and then they just sort of you know it's no big deal
they let me do this every day how bad was it burnt what happened oh it like
yeah the entire engine bay was engulfed oh my god didn't okay and they never
found out what happened no no do you have any speculations I didn't know
anything about a car then so I like I mean I could check the oil and change the
oil I think but no I don't know I have no idea yeah mystery international
mystery international car of mystery I just think of Michael Scott because he's
cute it's you know I get pumped when I see one I'm not mad at mom for having
one I mean she had a sob also also convertible but it was she crying was
she really upset yeah I think so that's pretty scary yeah like be in the car with
your child and then to have it catch on fire yeah did how'd you get home I don't
we were fairly close to home but not like we were down the street from our
reason we walked to a lot as kids but it's a little bit further down a four
lane road like you're in the ditch so like it's a part of you really can't
walk so we did not so maybe maybe my brother picked us up or something I have
no idea okay well fires and cars I have a fire car burned it burning car fire
a car fire story yeah yeah you know go yeah all right you want to hear you're
gonna is are you telling me that you want to hear it tell me that I should
tell the listeners about it you know what hang on that speaking of fires let
me put a log on yeah put a log on my burning car story
encourage burn down it's just the one no what kind oh what kind okay yeah so it
was my first car and it was an Audi Quattro sedan oh my god like 82 or 84 it
was so cool I was gonna lower it I was gonna put 12s in the back and I was
gonna be cars that go boom just hot cute very cool oh it's hot in the parking
lot yeah it got really hot so when I bought it it had all this work done to
the fuel system this is a good start a little foreshadowing there and it was
the day let's see how does work done to the fuel system and then as I was
driving it learning how to drive as an in air quotes it started having some
issues they took it to a mechanic and they listed all of the things that had
just gone done same problem hose barb here hose barb here yeah
here's the problem fuel filter vice grip still on hose here yeah exactly same
exact same thing so okay and it's not the car is still drivable it just kind of
like fucks up a little bit so it's your regular high-school whoop-dee okay you
know little personality it totally has a key okay yeah yeah I mean it's an Audi
windows work oh yeah okay yeah yeah power I'm pretty sure they were power I
mean it's an Audi yeah I'm sure tape-deck AM FM radio probably oh it
wasn't howdy oh and it was a five-speed or it was a four-speed I can't remember I
think it was a five four speed and I think it was a five-speed yeah yeah of
course it was a five-speed what am I talking about so what are you talking
about it's the day before my life my test it's the day before my license test
and I wasn't super strong really building up to a disaster wasn't super
strong behind the wheel yet so I borrow super matter this is your car I borrow
slash steal my car and they go out driving by myself because I need to
figure out no license everything no I have a learner's permit okay I'm like
16 I got a learner's permit but you have to have somebody with you well you
know there was nobody to be had so okay whatever I did it myself and didn't
resort to kidnapping that's a that's a gold star right here I remember I got to
a four-way stop sign and I didn't know what to do
tomorrow yeah and you don't know what to do with the four-way this is why I'm
out driving who has been your teacher up to this point well we don't need to
throw anybody into the bus here but you had one not really okay yeah okay well
then that's not a fair assessment how did you get the car my grandpa bought it
okay yeah but he didn't he wasn't willing to teach you no he lived in
California and I lived in Oregon he wasn't able to but he did one summer he
used to pick me up from Utah and drive me back to California every year and like
back and forth and he did one year let me drive I think it was 14 or no I was
younger I know whatever I was young and he let me drive his VW bus on one of
those really long stretches of highway and that was pretty cool yeah yeah and
he used to like when I was really young when I was like five and six he's put
me on his lap and he had like an LTD I think some Bill Lincoln or something and
I would steer the car and he showed me how to like put the you know the the
hell is that on the hood the hood ornament
in this you know in the on the dotted lines and like showed me how to do that so my grandpa probably
taught me how to drive more than anybody so anyway I'm driving the car can't do
you didn't have anybody to help you I did have a I had a little bit of help here
there but fair games driving is a scary proposition he has a lot of overcome the
fear and continue to drive poorly so the car I feel like it was overheating like
something was going wrong with it wow and I decided to pull over and to stop
driving it and then I walked back to my house as I was in a small town I'm back
to my house and I called a couple of my high school dude friends and I said hey
the car overheated because they would tow with a rope it's like hey the car
overheated and it's parked on the side of the road like blah blah blah blah blah
so they went with the rope in his truck is Brian and Jason thanks Brian and
Jason Brian's truck I think it was a Ford Ranger yeah it's got a big heart
little truck big heart yeah that's what they say so they pulled it back and they
were like wow you must have really overheated it because the interior was
filled with smoke and right when they said that so they were I had a loft
bedroom and there was windows across like in front of the on the above the
doorway and they were upstairs telling me about oh you must have really overheated
it because there was smoke inside of it and as soon as I said that there was
these loud explosions like boom boom boom and I looked out that window and
there's this flames jumping up in the sky and so I run downstairs I'm like oh
my god my car my car it's sad but it's also hilarious okay did it so did it
make sense to you as it happened that they were like it was so full of smoke
and then like did you know no not until everything happened in hindsight and
like especially as I've gotten older and learn more about cars I sort of see more
of sort of where things went wrong so horribly wrong I went running down the
stairs and at that point the car is engulfed and then Jason this really
sucks he had a Fiero really cool car and it was parked next to it and his Fiero
was getting getting blistered out and the tires were getting melted and the
explosions were the tires exploding yeah and then there was another car there was
a neighbor's car next to it like a Twitter truck or something and that also
got burned pretty bad and the fire department came put it out they put it
out right away because it was totaled of course by the time they got there yeah
they're pretty good on it yeah they were they just put it right out and then and
it was burned down to the like the body and like it was burned just the body
shell and then it was like do this on the side of the road but the springs the
springs in the seats those were so there anything that was metal inside the car
was still there yeah and firewall back engine bay everything was totally fine
and the fire marshal was like yeah this is a really common problem with these
cars he's like there's electrical lines underneath those rear seats and he was
like the rear seats aren't really made to come out they're sort of like molded
onto that onto the back he was I think he explained that they were poor like it
was a poor mold or I don't you know what I've actually never looked this up and I
should have before I told the story if anybody knows just tell me basically he
see was like it was it's not really a serviceable area and the wires are like
the foam from the seat is right on top of the wires and the wires started
shorting out and he was like it could have been smoldering for months he's
like you're lucky you weren't on the freeway when it caught fire because he's
like you would have been throwing flames onto your gas tank I really appreciated
you taking it home he said it wasn't really he said why didn't tell him that
we told him so in the next day I had to call the DMV and I had to cancel my
appointment that's so sad well so it was kind of sad but it's also how much
longer did it take for you to get another car and then go get your license
again my grandpa came to the rescue I think it might have been six months to
a year wow he bought me a 1979 Honda Accord that went 110 miles an hour
downhill cool I'm not sure why I was going that fast at 16 in a car that was
probably a little bit sketchy yeah yeah I wouldn't do that today if I didn't
know the car I've made it up to 92 or no I think I did a 99 maybe in one of the
earlys with a 302 oh my gosh with the axle straight and stuff yeah that's see
that's stuntman shit like that's scary out in the desert it was like you had
stretches of the road you could do that yeah but that's scary and that's
something with that straight it is scary which I've never driven one but I
heard they're scary we got yeah we got 92 excuse me we got 92 on the regular like
Hortz and mine would top out the six cylinders would just wind and just be
done like you'd be you'd be at 92 and there's there's nothing left it's just
like making a singular sound you know one and then you're like all right we
should get off of this you know and then and then the 302 and the mustard van
it was good for a hundred so yeah wow I think it had more but it was scary did it
a run that we did with Andy that he was like you gotta stop okay yeah that scares
me thinking about that it is I mean you're right terrifying yeah I mean there
was nobody I mean it's just like flat open just a daredevil over here well Rose
daredevil Brooks I mean you know Jean was in a car club and you had to have a car
that went a hundred miles an hour and so you ask him if his win a hundred and he
says mine went a hundred and one ooh well century person did what the century
toppers oh yeah yeah but Jean wanted to live to a hundred too he was close I
know he almost almost topped the century how old was he when he passed 96 97 wow
I think I was so close he was almost there yeah no he was I mean I'm willing
to round up for him other people maybe not but I'll do it I mean you know
whatever what can you say well done yeah so that's my fire story yeah okay so
that burned down yeah that's pretty terrible so what happened fuel line on
the man oh well it was yeah it was basically these wires underneath the
seat and it was he was like because I told him like really only attributed to
the wiring harness and not the the he said the wires so you set me up with fake
fuel information in the beginning of this because it was wires to the fuel
pump oh yeah sorry I should have mentioned that okay let me back up so
what he said was these wires blah blah blah yes they caused the problem and what
the wires were were the wires to the fuel pump and I told him about how I'd
gotten all this stuff done and it was like yeah those are the symptoms of those
wires like that the wires were shorting out and so yeah but he did I mean he
said it was really common with that car oh there was no internet for me to
double-check that but I believed him you know I think you should fact check him
on the spot I googled that shit listen listen yeah so all of this stuff that
had been done to it and then the stuff that again when I took it to the
mechanic again and they were like oh this list of stuff which is the stuff that
had just gotten done and I've had my friend Eileen who used to be on hot
boxing we did two dipsticks in this park plug Eileen kind of was like that was
right around the time that OBD I think one came out and she was like it was just
really hard to diagnose stuff because there was all this new technology and
all this new information and like do you wish that you'd got a little fire
proofing done no I mean I'm gonna get I'm gonna get I'm imagining this in like
video game terms you know you like buy some fuel work by some fire proofing
work it definitely sort of highlights how electrical problems a are dangerous
but also be are hard to diagnose yeah electricity may kill you yeah and you
know the clue should have been I didn't have money to take to this mechanic I
just one got it checked out but the clue should have been like okay all this
stuff got done to it you go to another mechanic and they're like do all the
stuff that just got done hmm so that right there is maybe a clue that something
beyond all of the parts being replaced like maybe that's a clue that that's
something electrical but again the fire marshal said it wasn't really a
serviceable area that like it wasn't easy to get to or something or just wasn't
a spot that people went to or the seats were like molded in place or something
weird that I have again didn't Google that find out I'll buy it yeah I'll buy
it I'm sorry you lost your car well thank you for your sympathy I appreciate
yeah it you know I'm pretty sure I was pretty sad I was really excited to get
my driver's license because it meant freedom you know as you know when
you're a teenager like driver's license is this ultimate freedom yeah and I was
very lucky to have my grandpa there to like sort of catch me and buy me another
car and yeah yeah I mean that's pretty terrible luck but it's also a really
funny story that's pretty terrible the hillbilly towing I know shout out to
Brian and Jason again yeah I mean I just I know what I'd like to be poor at
sex rose what are your New Year's resolutions for 2026 wow you know I
haven't even thought about the kind of year I want to have I think I think I
have some some goals plainly in sight first is to make my roof orange oh yeah
uh-huh it's we cut in the orange when we did the windshield earlier in the year
it looks so cool it looks nice and I use challenge clear and it looks quality
yeah like you know that's a cool thing with like a new modern paint job as you
go out and you look at it just looks good it looks high-tech like it's got good
nice clear and it's got good color it's a Volvo color but super bright yeah and
a really nice orange yeah and I'd like to get it across the whole roof probably
beige primer under I talked to Joe about spraying it over his place and so I
think oh sweet I think I'm gonna do that there and then right here in the first
week so I'm gonna do my rocker on the van and then fix that nose that I made the
shell for seven years ago eight years ago now it's embarrassing the rockers are
gonna be sweet yeah I you know I had made that sample a while back and although
I'd hammered it a lot I thought mmm I was just sample just chuck it or whatever
and we cut pieces out of it and like now I'm like I'm just gonna make it out of
two pieces so that's manageable yeah it's pretty long and so like I think I'm
just gonna split it into well or you know make it in two parts weld it
together and then put it on the van yeah sweet they look those samples look good
or what will now be the parts yeah and I might fake myself out and muscle through
it but I don't know we'll see like make a long piece mm-hmm I haven't bought
sheet metal in such a long time but getting the engine in the astro is like
same thing it's like right there still in the first weeks of the year yeah yeah
I feel like we're really close to you know kind of bouncing back on that it's
been so wet but it's real wet basically paint the 67 and I get the hot rod to
a point that it exists yes but we were trying so fucking hard to get a C4 we
are in we need one we're gonna find one we'll so close the front end is like we
basically have to fab the front clip so that's like that's a different matter
that's like buying steel and tube and you know turning stuff and threading stuff
and that's all you know we'll build it but the rear end is a big chunk of the
thing because there's a little bit of like a flare that should come out around
the suspension yeah yeah there's like a fender opening but it's like square so
we like need to know where it goes in the body so it would be great because then
we could get on with the body get further on with the body and we can get on
with the body you know with the body go bye get on with the body home hotty body
yeah it's gonna be a hotty-rotty with a body
that's a goal I just like I would like to see that on four wheels I think that
the way it's going right now so far I don't know hopefully we could have it
painted later when it's warm because it's not huge no but we'll see it just
depends on what what it turns into yeah don't know don't know but I hope so I'd
like to get it in pain it's not super big but maybe I'll make a total liar out
of myself a total what liar oh you're gonna be a total liar maybe I don't
I don't yeah I don't I want to I don't want to be like oh yeah we're gonna work
like lightning on this yeah I know it's going pretty good I know I came in and
made that cowl panel and I was like you know I should just start working on the
rest of it and yeah the cowl panel looks great thank you it's exciting to see you
it's exciting to see it yeah it was I'm stoked I mean it got me pumped but I I
don't know I need to go shear out some metal I think do you want to talk about
how you're waffling between what to make the body out of well I started the
project because I wanted to build a steel body and then we got going with the
wood and I was like we could just glass over it make it pretty and take molds off
of it but I like kind of don't want to keep molds around they're so big that's
a big mold yeah so I came up with a different idea to kind of break the
panels up because that'll help with shaping them out of metal if I do it in
metal making that cowl piece I was like why am I why am I not doing this out of
metal that yeah yeah so I think that's what's gonna happen I have some sheet
metal but I haven't bought it in so long so I gotta find a supplier and get some
sheet too it's a little bit of an investment but yeah I mean it's gonna be
sick like I said I'd like to New Year's resolution for that really I think an
attainable goal is like have a tangible object yeah because we want to do
motorcycle wheels up front yeah so we've got to find a spindle and do some work
on that and then build we've got to build the spindle and build control arms for
it mm-hmm yeah there's a lot of stuff that needs to be done still but it's all
completely reasonable there yeah that c4 rear-end is really there were four the
other day and now we can't get now there's zero well other than the people
that have front and rear won't split it I know I did text somebody that and then
we had a guy who had a parts car that was down to like $250 and it was he said
it needs to be gone by Saturday like he was real desperate sounding and so I
got a hold of him and was like can we get that rear-end for $400 and will you
take it out off for us and then he just he flaked out and said I mean of course
I knew that if he got somebody to buy that car from him that they were gonna
want the rear-end yeah I had a feeling that somebody wouldn't take it without
the rear-end yeah I mean I don't blame them I've bought something without a
rear-end it was kind of tough yeah so I did write somebody that had a pretty
cheap one on Craigslist for like 2750 that was like the dash was gutted and
they're like I've been driving this car like this whatever and I said I'm not
trying to be rude I said but if you decide to park this car out I'd give you
400 bucks for the rear-end what do you say I don't think I got a reply oh yeah
but I just if it goes that way then maybe he'll say oh if I could get that for
the rear then maybe I could get this for the engine and get what I want yeah but
maybe he doesn't who knows I just wanted to throw it out there I wasn't trying to
be rude no I'm gonna start asking people that have parts cars and stuff to
that they're trying to sell the whole thing and just like hey if it doesn't
work out I'll buy this for this much yeah I mean I would like to land it for
under 500 but yeah we'll see I think another resolution for me I want to be
playing in a band and I was playing music with some people and I would just
want to play heavy music again and I like but time's limited so yeah it's hard
so I like wanted to write somebody the other day and see if they want to play
music and then I was like I don't want a time's limited it's hard but I really
want to I really want to play music yeah you've been talking about that for a
while yeah I know and it was you were when you were playing yeah you were
having a good time yeah I feel like it was good for you yeah I do like it so
I'm trying to get back like I said I want to play heavy music so I'm trying to
figure that out it's fun to make heavy loud sounds yeah so I know you love that
that one's that one sounds yeah that one's in there what about your kind of
electronic project I don't know I mean that's part of the problem is like I'll
play and then I'm like okay I should record some parts and then it's like it
becomes laborious mm-hmm okay and I don't have the attention span that I used
to have imagine that weird do you think it's because of like shit like Instagram
and having a phone in your hand that now you don't have that much of an attention
span 100% yeah it used to be you had to sit around and just record stuff and
somehow find people and show it to them yeah I love that maybe that's one of my
thanks for 2026 is to not be so glued to my phone all the time wow well good
luck yeah thanks if we weren't doing this and I think I would just be off
social media but I you know I want to promote the show I just don't it's bad
just the rampant advertising everywhere you go yeah all the fucking time for
everything yeah just people constantly trying to get your phone number to
advertise to you and like yeah oh my god it's and just like the way that people
don't have money and then businesses are like keep buying keep buying please
please keep buying it's so desperate oh my god I hate it it drives me nuts so I
think my yeah that's maybe my other resolution is in capitalism
all right you got this thanks yeah totally think that's attainable yeah
you're gonna be the change that you want to see so I did it I decided I'm gonna
start shooting crowd-pleasing big-budget movies hmm yeah can you hire me is it
our department yeah sure no problem okay great thanks should I text you like a
week from now or yeah okay super well anyway that's it that's it for my new
year's resolution we have some spotify spot if I wrapped yeah spot if I wrapped
and jeans episode what number was that 15 I think I don't know 13 actually I
think it was number three this is our spot if I wrap we're on I heart radio and
iTunes and some other Amazon music and Odyssey or something yeah and so it was
like the total new audience is up 999% mm-hmm so thank you all of our listeners
thank you it does it did it did lead into this and say like all the hard work
is paid off which is okay cool yeah like we're just we're just we're just button
mashing we're just trying increase and followers from last year 7% that's good
at least an uptick at least it's not a down to thanks yeah this year one episode
rose above the rest yeah and that is 115 the pile up episode 3 long-lived
Jean Wimfield yep so that's cool that was a really special episode if you I'll
put a link to that in the show notes if you're interested in listening to it
rose we had a really good conversation about her mentor and prolific car builder
Jean Wimfield yeah I was thinking about Jean the other day mm-hmm I've been
going through my phone deleting photos so I had to look at a bunch of gene stuff
and yeah it's just cool Jean was awesome yeah is it nice to go through those
yeah it is I mean I miss him you know I miss hanging out with him I think about
him just I don't know it's hard to describe being just regular days it
feels like yesterday yeah you just go in the shop and he's there cleaning the
spray gun or whatever yeah it was just it was just so normal you know just gonna
go up there if I you know when I wasn't working at the shop go up there drop off
shirts or just see what's going on yeah you see that all time yeah anyway thanks
for everybody for listening yeah thank you a bunch of new listeners and people
listen to our podcast longer than 75% of others and 81% of others yeah I didn't
really understand those stats let me let me open my back up and take a look at
because that was cool it was just sort of like meant of all the other podcasts on
Spotify yeah let's see what that says well those are crazy metrics okay our
top countries thanks everybody here number one United States USA USA yeah
not really any particular surprise there Canada's number two thank you mm-hmm
yay thanks Haley yeah take off you know number three Australia that makes
sense yeah fuel magazine many many years ago yeah some Australian followers
from that yep same for me was in it for the van magazine and know some people
there and have some customers there and stuff there's some lightning bolt windows
down there with whoa Mick gosh I'm I'm blanking on his name right now I see his
name I want to say Mick Harvey but that's from bad seeds anyway Sweden is
number four and number five is Finland yeah yep we if you're from one of these
countries that is not the US DMS I think some of these people are perhaps people
that we follow each other mm-hmm I can't think of their names right off the top I
mean I know I know of a few friends around in those areas okay I was just
surprised to hear so many we're a top five show for 23 fans so that's cool
thank you thanks to you 23 out there number one show for eight people there's
eight people this is their number one podcast thank you guys you get the prize
for the biggest fans that's so cool thank you yeah thank you so much and your
top fans streamed 1.9 times more than everyone else so that's cool thanks
mm-hmm that's that's quite a bit and we really appreciate it it says fans
listen to you for longer than 81 percent of other shows so that's like all the
shows on Spotify I guess I don't know and then and then the next one thank you
everyone the next one says your average rating was higher than 75 percent of
other shows I think it's just a way to say like you're sort of in the top 25
percent or something in some fragmented way it's nice appreciate it yeah it's
cool it's cool to see because it it frames what we've felt lately that it the
show is growing in a positive way mm-hmm yep we love that we've gone up about 10
listens in the first you know seven days on what we're doing these are small
changes like we're not talking about big numbers but that we love to see small
changes well that's the thing that makes every every sort of new listen it's like
okay we got somebody that's cool so and you know what and they write in and we
have some of that to share today mm-hmm because you do write in and say what you
think about the topics and reply to the topics and there's a couple there's like
one that I missed where I asked people about does vanning by yourself count as
oh yeah I kind of lost the messages now they're so far back oh no but a lot of
people felt like it does vanning alone is legit about four or five people wrote
me to tell me that okay so we haven't heard from the masses it goes back to a
thing I wrote on van and calm about like vanning and being clubs and I was like
you know if you're just out there vanning by yourself is that vanning and he
Raul is this older banner that came along and was like I was vanning by
myself in the 70s how is that any different than when I met everybody and
we did the same thing together he's like of course vanning alone is
vanning yeah and so I later met Raul and he was like anytime you stick your
neck out there I'll be glad to cut it off it was a it was a really contentious
post and it was it was my perspective was poor it wasn't good and I think that
my perspective was trying to delineate something between banner and van owner
and I don't it's not a sound argument he's just like just let everybody in
what was your it sounds like you were just curious of what no I wasn't I think
I was I personally think I was just being not it's the opposite of how I'd
rather be which is like just everybody come on and hang out it doesn't matter
so vanners get into this like banner van owner thing and you know need to do all
that oh there's a difference between owning a van and being a banner yeah you
don't think it doesn't matter have your van super cool are you still just a van
owner at some point why even go there okay I'm gonna start fight somewhere no
I don't think so I just like I said I think just like you know we used to
laugh we had this patch that somebody I think in like Norway made and it said
respect all who vanning just do that that's awesome yeah yeah that's true yeah
that's true do we have stuff to read yeah so we had some write-ins actually
about cash for clunkers oh yeah I really enjoyed that episode on me too you
know I hate that part of life yeah but it was fun to talk about it because I
sort of underestimated it when it was taking place that I was a little more
optimistic that like oh there's so many you know v8s out there and stuff and it's
not yeah there's sort of not so Alex a lot of v8s got put silicate sodium
silicate yeah and water and ran until they seized up with glass yeah so we had
somebody write in about that and he worked a dealership from the changes name
for his own for his own protection for his own privacy yeah yeah Justin wrote in
and said I worked at a dealership during the cars program and have horror
stories of the time and what we had to destroy I'm haunted to this day when
looking for parts and use cars oh wow I know yeah see somebody that was on the
front lines there I know any I said do you remember any cars in particular that
really you know made your eyeballs sweat and he said yeah the record holder for
lasting the longest was a ram van eight and a half minutes at wide open throttle
wow oh my god it's like torturing I know it's like torturing me yeah these poor
engines it's needless violence yeah oh my god it's really unnecessary wow that's
a strong engine yeah damn I know eight and a half minutes holy shit with an
abrasive in it yeah wow what do you think makes an engine be able to do that
true grit oh yeah okay Detroit know how is that a movie American elbow grease you
know determination okay yeah ram white and blue pulling yourself up by the boot
straps oh yeah hell yeah I just known for it bootstrap just bootstrap right
actually they kind of are they are bootstrapers when they couldn't pay
people and they pay them stocks instead and then their cars took off they were
like more millionaires walking around Chrysler than any other Detroit company
that's why they made fun cars like the prowler they were in good shape yeah and
the Magnum came out because of that so he said aluminum oil pan 4.3 GM engines
would explode and make a huge mess and a Mazda MPV made it five feet then locked
up whoa and a cj7 that we couldn't even start so we said we killed it and just
put the stickers on it but we would play bumper cars in the lower lot rob parts
off the car dumb stuff a person their early 20s would do good yeah oh it's so
cool to hear something from the first hand so thank you Justin for writing in
that yeah thank you so much that's such a cool story but it sucks because yeah sorry
that you had to do that yeah that's like a 360 or something the RAM van right
Magnum gone destroyed I once bought with someone doing a project five Magnum heads
and they were all cracked whoa so it's like yeah are they were they able to I
didn't get this part in my research but were they able to recycle the engines as
far as like melt down the metal I would assume so okay yeah they could just
separate it from the sodium silicate maybe like maybe that was a part of it but
maybe not I would imagine if since it was all about the environment well part of
it yeah I don't know yeah anyway somebody else wrote in relative to that
classic long roof said in California they shamed people into doing it
challenging people in parking lots and gas stations about how we were destroying
the environment in the earth wow is so many resources go into building a new car
yeah I mean nobody is a saint here we're all fucking everything up don't act
just because you drive an old car that it's all your fault I mean it's it it
sounds like a funny movie scrap your car for the greater good it's kind of sounds
like that but but it's real and it happened in California yeah yep that's
pretty I guess on point I have one from the car crash page and it was a real
that I posted a day or two ago I don't know I can't know I don't know what day
it is and it was about the car that they only made 1500 of and it was a Buick oh
yeah Buick engine and the answer is not a brain buster questions get enough the
answer to that question was it was a question to the internet and get an
answer it was an 89 limited edition 20th anniversary firebird transam and 70
street machines got that but we did have a Jared F wrote in and said was it a
Buick T type or a GMC Typhoon and I said oh that's close oh with a bunch of
H's of course close guess this particular car that like oh that's close
oh wow you hit a little Minnesota oh close guess Mrs. Foreman this particular
car is the 89 Pontiac Transam anniversary edition I already told that to
everybody I can't remember did the Typhoon have that engine the Typhoon
does make an appearance in this episode as one was scrapped in the cash for
clunkers program and he said this is really cool it's really cool speaking to
my dad dot dot dot it turns out the Cyclone and the Typhoon use a 4.8 GMC
block not the Buick 3.8 motor but both obviously turbo engines 4.8 yeah and then
I said oh right turbo that's what made them fast and then hell yeah dad so shout
out to your dad Jared huh for schoolness on that yeah I think the Typhoon as I
remember for my research I feel like it went toe-to-toe with the Ferrari going
going well sure or was that the transam maybe for publicity I feel like it was
the Typhoon anyway sure anything can happen if you want to fact check that if
you want to fact check that Typhoon versus Ferrari it's happened go back and
listen to the episode hey go asking your dad is totally fair game oh yeah I love
that that's like you know number one and then I think the guy in hardware store
I've been quizzed in the line at the grocery store before like I joined a
friend in line and was like hey this guy's asking me trivia questions guy
thought he was gonna stump me and he was like car where the headlight follows
the wheels and I was like look took her shut up wow that was the guy that had
the only card named after a president question oh yeah just random guy in line
at the store just hit us with these didn't also what is that company the
French company with the crazy suspension Citroen yes didn't they also have
headlights that moved with the steering wheel possibly on Citroen Tucker did it
in 48 oh yeah he did it he did it first way first yeah yeah yeah yeah that's
right yeah I'm straight excuse me excuse us no no I don't think so so Mateo
wrote in and said I'm loving you ladies podcast it's bringing up great old
memories for me like how pretty much my whole childhood was in the back of an
AMC Eagle and I mean the most hideous color scheme they had for it at the time
oh my gosh I was embarrassed of what my family had yep however I wish I had that
car it was so awesome I don't remember exactly but I do know it had the off-road
off-roading kit sorry I thought it said off-road King kid I was like yeah
bring it on it said I know it had the off-roading kit that came factory that
my dad bought wow so sick yeah that is sick and then there's some pictures of a
Falcon but I don't know anything about the Falcon but hey awesome if you had a
Falcon near childhood too hell yeah an Eagle this family is all about you know
birds of prey yep I love it my family had station wagons but the eagle you
also embarrassed no not really they rode nice long wheelbase yeah no they were
cool the Oldsmobile custom cruiser what we had had wood grain down the sides of
it and ooh now that's what I was brought home from the hospital in mm-hmm as a
baby but yeah oh that's so sweet eventually it looked like an old
battleship in the yard like it looked like it was gonna break in half and sink
into the yard and so dad got another one that was a blue just no wood grain no
wood grain oh he shocked that he went and bought the same good car we must have
loved it was it the same year I love station wagons yeah I was like within
two years was it a new new slightly slightly newer but same as a Buick
three fit or a sorry old's 350 yeah sometimes you get what you like and you
just get you just keep it the Astro van has the same front clip which we've
talked about that before but that's what's in my 67 so it's an old custom
cruiser clip can't escape it yep it's funny it does it does drive nice I mean
in my van I can like oh yeah in the lane it drives great yeah nice so anyway
that was cool Michael Gillette art wrote in relative to the the hot rod and he
asked you know what what if we had renderings of what it'll look like when
it's done and I said you thanks it's we're like doing like a tribute to Dan
Woods ice truck and he said I thought that might be something that's like he
said one of my favorite illustrations of all time is a drawing of the ice truck
on the front cover of the August 1970 rod and custom magazine it's green in the
illustration but it's such a clean piece of automotive work and I I mean I yeah I
totally agree I said that the cover is insane newt really has the eye you know
there's something I read that Dan Woods said like I would cut and grind and newt
would you know say move this or move that or whatever which sounds pretty
amazing yeah that would be a dream team yeah like what a fly on the wall moment
to be in yeah so I told him I told him that our idea is sort of like when you
play an early racing video game and all the cars are kind of the same and just
with minor tweaks I said we're we're building the yellow car it's similar but
not not exactly it's not it it's not a what is that called when they do like a
carbon copy of something a carbon copy how do you say carbon copy that's it a
clone it's not a clone yeah see there was another one no it's not it's not a
clone because the thing is out there and it's real it's just inspired by and
it's we're just having fun yeah blast I think it's I've seen it before it's just
been such a long time I saw it when we went to Galpin for Jean accepting a
lifetime achievement award from Galpin which is super nice them and they've got
the pizza the pizza wagon a milk truck and the ice truck all there I will say
that I'd find pizza wagon quite striking do you I'm not the let me I'd have to
see it again I don't think I'm the biggest John linen glasses are weird but I
think ice trucks perfect like with the full basically like full Model T windshield
Model T cowl and then Rizzo explained to me that the Buick 215 is small I didn't
know that and he was like he's like once I read that and realized that's kind of
why the scale looks the way it looks on the car that everything's small oh the
engine that's in the yeah you said they're really small V8 like Land Rover bought
the rights to it from GM and they still produce it I think they still produce
they use it for a long time GM tried to buy the rights back to it and Rover was
like no but we'll sell you engines if you want and GM was like now we'll pass the
rear wheels on the ice truck are 18 inches wide that's big and the fronts are
12 wow that's huge quite yeah it's it's pretty wow
well look everybody thanks so much for writing in yeah we appreciate it really
for listening always good to hear from listeners oh we love hearing from
listeners yeah yeah we go we go crazy for listeners trying to encourage that
here in this moment but we you know you can't make people do what they don't
want to you know but maybe we can do it you know there's a few people that said
hey I need to catch up I hope you do thank you I think you've done been piled
up you've done been piled up happy new year happy new year
you
you
you
you
About this episode
As 2025 comes to a close, the hosts reflect on the past year and share their hopes for 2026. They discuss personal projects, New Year's resolutions, and the challenges of working on cars during rainy weather. The conversation shifts to car parts hunting, including a frustrating search for a Corvette C4 rear end. Listeners are encouraged to share their own projects and resolutions, while the hosts reminisce about past car experiences, including a hilarious yet tragic story of a car fire. The episode wraps up with listener feedback and stats on the podcast's growth.
Original notes
In the last episode of 2025 Emily and Rose talk cars burning down and new years project resolutions.
Long Live Gene Winfield episode
Recorded @iapdx
Recorded & mixed by Emdognightmare & Queen of the Vans
Editor: Emdognightmare
Production & research Queen of the Vans & Emdognightmare
Find us: Car Krush
Stay updated w/ our newsletter
Hugs, thank you & high fives to Greg Meleney for the killer tunez!
Car Krush
Car Krush
0:00
65:58