Car
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV made by Ford, popular for off-roading and outdoor adventures. It has been around for many years and has a loyal fan base.
Term
automatic transmission
An automatic transmission is a system in cars that changes gears for you, so you don't have to do it manually. It's common in most cars today, making driving easier.
Car
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry is a popular car that many people drive because it's comfortable and lasts a long time. It's known for being easy to maintain and good on gas, which makes it a favorite for families and commuters.
Car
G20
The G20 is a model of the BMW 3 Series, which is a line of compact executive cars. This generation is known for being fun to drive and has many modern features.
Car
Infiniti G20
The Infiniti G20 is a small luxury car that feels nice to drive and has a comfortable interior. It's a good option if you're looking for something fancy without spending too much money.
Term
track day
A track day is when you can take your car to a racetrack and drive it fast. It's a safe place to see how your car performs compared to driving on regular streets.
Term
bleeding the brakes
Bleeding the brakes means getting rid of air bubbles in the brake system. This is important because air can make your brakes feel weak or not work well.
Part
ball joint
A ball joint is a part that helps the wheels move up and down while keeping the car stable. If it wears out, it can cause noise and affect how the car drives.
Part
control arms
Control arms are parts that help connect the car's body to the wheels. They let the wheels move up and down while keeping everything stable.
Part
greaseable fitting
A greaseable fitting is a small part that lets you add grease to other parts of the car. This helps keep them working smoothly and can make them last longer.
Term
timing belt
The timing belt is a part of the engine that helps keep everything moving in sync. If it breaks, it can cause serious damage to the engine, so it's important to replace it on schedule.
Car
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people buy because it's dependable and gets good gas mileage. It's been around for a long time and is very popular.
Part
alternator
An alternator is a part of the car that makes electricity. It helps keep the battery charged and powers things like the lights and radio when the car is running.
Car
Volvo 240
The Volvo 240 is a car made by the Swedish company Volvo. It was made in the 1970s and is known for being safe and reliable, with a distinctive boxy shape.
Part
B20 engine
The B20 is a type of engine made by Volvo that is known for being strong and lasting a long time. It's often used in older Volvo cars like the 240.
Company
IPD
IPD is a company that sells parts and upgrades for Volvo cars, helping owners improve or fix their vehicles.
Part
adjustable voltage regulator
An adjustable voltage regulator helps control the amount of electricity going to your car's parts, making sure they get the right amount of power.
Term
circuit breaker
A circuit breaker is like a safety switch for electrical systems. If too much electricity flows through, it turns off to protect the wires and devices from getting damaged.
Part
O2 sensor
An O2 sensor helps your car's computer know how much oxygen is in the exhaust. This helps the engine run better and produce fewer harmful gases.
Part
radiator
The radiator helps cool down the engine by taking the heat away from the coolant. It's important for keeping the engine from overheating.
Company
JEGS
JEGS is a company that sells parts and accessories for cars. They focus on performance upgrades and have a variety of items for car enthusiasts.
Concept
project car
A project car is a car that someone buys to fix up or change. People enjoy working on them to make them better or to customize them.
Term
cylinder head
The cylinder head is the part of the engine that sits on top of the cylinders. It helps control the air and fuel mixture that goes into the engine and the exhaust that comes out.
Term
1.8 liter four cylinder
This is a type of engine that has four cylinders and can hold 1.8 liters of air and fuel. It's often found in smaller cars and is known for being economical.
Car
Infiniti Q45
The Infiniti Q45 is a big, fancy car that has a strong engine and lots of cool technology. It's known for being comfortable and is a good choice if you want a luxury car that stands out.
Car
Datsun 510S
The Datsun 510 is an older car that is loved by many for being fun to drive and easy to work on. It's a classic that people enjoy restoring and racing.
Car
Volkswagen Rabbits
The Volkswagen Rabbit is a small car that is easy to drive and great for everyday use. It's known for being reliable and has a lot of space for passengers and cargo.
Car
Dodge Challengers
The Dodge Challenger is a big, powerful car that looks like the classic muscle cars from the past. It's popular among people who love fast cars and enjoy the thrill of driving something that has a lot of horsepower.
Car
Dodge Power
The Dodge Power Ram 50 is a small truck made by Dodge. It's built to be tough and can be used for many different purposes, like hauling things or driving off-road.
Car
Dodge Ram
Car
Ford Maverick
The Ford Maverick is a small truck that is easy to drive and park, making it great for city living. It's also affordable and can save you money on gas, especially if you choose the hybrid version.
Car
Honda Accords
The Honda Accord is a roomy car that many people like because it's safe and lasts a long time. It's a good option for families since it has a lot of space and is known for being dependable.
Car
BMW New Bmw
The BMW New Class is a line of small cars that helped make BMW famous for making fun-to-drive vehicles. They are known for being well-built and sporty, which started the brand's reputation for quality.
Car
Eagle Talon
The Eagle Talon is a sporty car from the 1990s that is known for being fast and fun to drive. It has a turbo engine, which means it can go really quickly, and it's a favorite among car lovers.
Car
Mazda Rx7S
The Mazda RX-7 is a sporty car that is known for being fun to drive and having a special type of engine called a rotary engine. It's popular among car fans because it's lightweight and can be very fast.
Car
Suzuki Ignis
The Suzuki Ignis is a small car that is great for city driving because it's easy to park and maneuver. It has a fun design and is practical for everyday use.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a sporty car that many people love for its speed and design. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a symbol of American muscle cars.
LIVE
1,000 cars, sir, you have 1,000 cars.
I don't think I'd attempt to try this stunt.
Oh, we owe this horsepower to Uncle Sam's.
Too big a car.
Look, I put my beer belly on it.
Yeah.
You immediately tell somebody how many cars you have.
You'll really give those up at a yuppie, something to think about.
Stay on the bar.
Don't go off the bar with your Bronco.
1980 Volvo horns, what's right?
Meet me.
I'm a man's coolant.
And he's like, oh, I thought I'd be small.
It's for a small car.
And I'm like, yeah, but it's still an automatic transmission.
They're never going to be light.
It's definitely going to have to crash.
Starting off with Brad Beggin on the car.
That's the West.
Internet.
You know, is this a Nigerian oil print?
I also wish you drove a tan Camry.
Anyways, that's a very horrible podcast content.
A very inside joke.
They love to be driven hard.
What do?
Another episode of Auto Off Topic.
How goes it, Brad?
It goes very well.
How goes it with you?
Goes pretty well.
I think we mostly just have events to talk about going to.
I've not worked on any project cars.
Oh, I did a little.
Pretty much.
I tried to work on the G20 because I was going to do a track day finally.
I haven't done one in like a year.
And I was like, that car is not that far off.
It's been driving around.
It doesn't need a sticker.
I'll go take it.
Get a sticker.
I'll flush the brakes.
Pads look good.
I'll take it to track day.
I've got tires for it that have been sitting in my basement and been outside.
And while I'm bleeding the brakes, you know, you get it jacked up.
I'm like, well, I better check the front end and I grab the wheel on the driver's
side and I heard a little faint click, click, click, click.
I'm like, it's moving in and out at the bottom.
So I look under and sure enough, the ball joint, the boot is like completely
deteriorated from these control arms I put in 2021, looked up on rock auto when I
got them.
So it must have just been from the heat of like the brakes.
They just roasted the boot and probably all the grease came out.
I don't know.
Maybe there wasn't much in there to begin with and they're making noise.
So I was like, well, I guess I'm not doing that track day because I don't
have time this week to change them.
So, but I did look them up, I don't know.
They're like, rock auto has like Mevo tech, I don't know.
They seem all right, but I've used those before on other things.
Yeah.
Well, they have, I double checked that they are, you can press ball joints into these
control arms and the Mevo tech makes a press and ball joint form that has like the upgraded
blue rubber, whatever they use instead with a greaseable fitting that goes in the bottom.
So I was like, well, I guess I'll try those and hopefully with a better material for the
boot and then being able to pump them full of grease the last lot longer.
So we'll see.
I got to wait for those to come in and at some point I'll put them in because I still need
to get a sticker for the thing, but I was like, annoying because I'm trying to spend all the
time training.
Yeah.
I try to spend all the time working on cars on the Volvo trying to finish it.
So unfortunately, when you have more than one car that maintenance stuff creeps up pretty
quick and sometimes unscheduled maintenance is the biggest pain in the butt of it all.
That's why I haven't driven the Porsche in like a year because I need to do the timing
belt and I just haven't gotten around to it.
I had the parts, just got to put them in so it's that stuff you just got to get done.
And I guess timing belt is normally scheduled maintenance, but it was started making noise
on this car and it's not due, but I also am not 100% positive on the mileage of when
it was done last or the time when it was done last.
So I guess by my guessing of when it was going to be due, it might actually be due.
Is it making the same slapping noise it was making?
It's making the same slapping noise as it was making before.
That we adjusted.
If we tightened it before, but I don't want to tighten it again without actually getting
in there and inspecting everything and changing it because that was maybe 3200 miles
ago that we did that and it shouldn't need adjustment every 3,000 miles.
It was definitely like 2023 or 22.
Yeah, but I hadn't driven it that far in the last year I haven't driven it.
So when you put it into that fact, it's only only had it maybe a year from adjusting it
till, I don't know, it shouldn't be something that needs to be done quite that often.
I know it's a little more than, you know, a standard Mitsubishi belt, but at the
same time I feel like 3,000 miles in a year is not an interval.
So yeah, I bought a lot of parts to change it.
I just got to get in there and change it.
I just have been so busy with my other big project, the Corolla engine that I haven't
gotten to it yet, but it's next.
Yeah, I think I talked about putting the alternator in the Volvo trying to figure that out.
So I ended up getting my custom bracket.
Well, not really custom.
I mean, it's from the Volvo parts suppliers.
They say universal.
They offer either straight or curved one.
I bought the curved one and I decided to like in looking at this alternator and then my
dad and I were looking at the wiring.
We took some of the wiring and found another connector that was not connected to anything.
So we realized that someone had adapted another type of European alternator to this thing that
had had like a dual pulley on it.
It had like all the right sort of bolt on connections for it, but it didn't have a regulator or
the regulator was internal and the original was probably external.
And it's like, I was like, that's kind of weird.
So I was trying to figure out.
It's also a little bit bigger than I think it needs to be like physically bigger and kind
of tricky to get into the space.
So I found, I went on to rock auto again and looked up didn't have any alternators available
for the one for two.
Can you hear that crunching?
Can you hear a little bit of something, but it's something to worry about going through
the cat.
That is scratching some paper I left on the floor for her.
She loves to come down when I'm doing the podcast and just stare at me or run around and do crazy
cat things down here because it's nighttime.
But anyway, yeah, they didn't have any alternators for one for two like available.
If they showed them, they're just none in stock.
I was like, well, you know what, early 240s also use a B20.
So looked up for like a 1975, like first year 240.
Sure enough, they had the alternator for it.
Four cylinder two liter, that's a B20.
What did that one instead?
It should fit because other people have used them.
And then I found an adjustable voltage regulator that IPD was selling.
So I grabbed one of those and actually we'll plug into this connector that's already on
the harness because when you lay out the harness that was there and you can kind of see the
length of the wires, you're like, oh, okay, so there was a voltage regulator up here
on the fender well because there's two bolt holes for it.
And then the wires will go back to the alternator.
So yeah, hopefully that fits better.
And then I'm going to add like it's interesting the charge wire goes over to the starter and
junctions there and goes over to the battery to charge the battery like it uses the starter
as a junction.
So this car is not original or stock anyways.
So my dad and I are just going to wire it in a way that makes more sense for modern
use.
So I'm just going to throw a circuit breaker in there, basically use that as a junction
that way if the alternator overcharges or the wire gets freight or something, it'll trip
that circuit breaker and not overcharge the battery or fry it.
And then I got a second one to power the extra fuse block I'm going to put in so I can
power the O2 sensor and we're going to run the ignition through a relay and the starter
through a relay.
And then I got to power the electric fan.
So yeah, it's just going to be a little bit of a custom wire job, but it's kind of waiting
for the alternator to get here to start that work.
And just going to be like mounting some stuff with rib nuts and doing some wiring.
But it's really it's kind of like once that wiring is all set up.
I get the alternator in there.
I'm going to put the radiator in too to make sure that fits right.
There's not much else after that to actually turn the engine over and get it running.
So you did get your new made in USA junction block.
So I did the circuit breaker.
I don't know.
There's like you look up a 60 amp 12 volt circuit breaker, you know, they're used
a lot apparently on like trolling motors.
I've used them in other projects, but you go on Amazon, there's a million of them.
They all look the same are varying prices from like $8 to like 30 bucks.
And that's the problem with Amazon.
It'll have that you can look up the same item, but it'll be posted, posted, whatever
you want to call it, like 20 different times by 20 different sellers that are either selling
it through Amazon or it's like sold through the seller, but like fulfilled by Amazon.
So you're like trying to read these reviews, you're like, is this actually a good part?
Is it not a good part?
What is this part?
You're trying to look at the pictures that look kind of cheap.
So I was like, oh, I'm just kind of looking around.
And then I found what I was looking for in JEGS is like a JEGS brand of circuit breaker,
like JEGS wiring.
And it looked a little bit nicer in the pictures.
Like I don't know how to explain it, right?
You can kind of look at like some parts, sometimes pictures.
When I looked at it, the big difference to me was all the Amazon ones you shared had shiny
plastic.
Yes.
And this one has like a matte finish plastic that just looks more, I don't know, less toy.
Like it looks like a toy.
It looks like an automotive part.
And it has like embossed writing on the front, which made it seem more official.
Yeah.
So I don't know.
Maybe the other ones remain in China, but turns out this one on the JEGS website
said Made in the USA.
And I was like, I don't know about that.
But all right, if it's made in the USA, sure.
Also, I feel like it's easier if I'm buying a part like that and it's crappy, maybe I can
get a hold of someone at JEGS and get a new one.
Or instead of like just ordering another one, Amazon, I don't know.
Sure enough to spend money with Amazon.
It's annoying to spend money through Amazon all the time.
Not that I don't know who owns JEGS or, you know, I don't know.
There's no.
Probably some venture capitalist.
Who knows?
There's no good way to do this.
Just trying to exist here.
So yeah, I get the part and on the bag says Made in the USA, it's like a JEGS bag.
But it's like that newer style, like, I don't know, it's like that newer product,
like Ziploc type bag that things come in now.
Have you gotten like RC stuff in these type of bags?
Yeah.
Yeah, they have like a, literally a Ziploc bag, like a smaller than snack bag Ziploc
bag.
Yeah.
But they're like fancy and like smooth plastic and like screen printed, you know what I'm
talking about.
Sure.
Yep.
So I'm like, all right, cool.
Open it up.
Look at the back of it.
Made in Taiwan.
Like, okay.
Which is fine.
I mean, I think if you pick up a Tamaya kit that made in Taiwan, I'd have to look
at one.
The issue isn't the fact that the part is made in Taiwan.
The issue is the fact that it says made in USA in bold letters in the listing and
pictures in the listing and everything on JEGS website says it.
So and you paid a little bit more for it, thinking it was a USA made part and it
was not.
Yeah.
That's where the frustration goes.
And it's not even like, you're, again, you're not anti a Taiwan built part.
You're just like, Oh, this is an American built part.
I'll buy that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know what the scam is.
JEGS was privately owned until 2022 when it was bought by a Greenbrier equity group.
So yes, it is owned by a venture capitalist group.
So there you go.
See, mine's back from Amazon summit.
I usually buy from summit and they didn't have what I want, but they didn't have a
60 amp 12 volt.
They had like 40, 50, I'm like, I want 60 because that's a 55 amp alternator.
So you got a 60 amp circuit breaker.
Yeah.
You need something higher than that number for sure.
But anyway, just be tripping all the time.
Yeah.
So luckily on the Volvo here of this vintage, all the wiring is basically from the firewall
forward under the dash forward.
There's like three wires going to the back of the car, basically the brake lights,
reverse lights, turn signals, pretty standard, pretty standard of any pre nineteen
eighties car.
It's going to be a pretty simple wiring exercise.
So even if you had to redo all the wiring, it's, you know, a couple hours versus something
like we did the VR four where it was huge harnesses all over the entire car.
Yeah.
I just want to get it.
We'll fix it up.
I want to get enough that we can get it running and then I'll go back and fix
all the wire nuts and vampire clips that are all hidden by corrugated conduit
and all the nightmare rat's nest that's under the dash.
My guess is that most of that nightmare under the dash is going to be able to just be thrown
in the trash because it's going to be for accessories that you're no longer running.
It looks like it.
Like a garage of horns or the block heater or the auxiliary heater or anything else
that was in the car.
So chances are pretty good.
It's all going to be in the trash.
Yeah.
But again, I'm just kind of embracing the riding is a little bit of the car.
It'll look kind of rough, but all the mechanicals should be a lot nicer
than the outside of the car appears.
I mean, that's kind of the auto-optopic way, isn't it?
We just have a mechanically good car and we enjoy it and not worry
too much about the pristineness.
The the aesthetics are important, but part of the aesthetic is a usable vehicle.
Yeah, without the I don't want like I'm not going to take a grinder
to the door just to make patina on it, though.
Well, that's that goes that goes beyond our aesthetic.
You want to make it so it looks like a a well cared for, well loved,
but still used car like a used and enjoyed car versus
sealed showpiece car.
That's the that's the difference.
That's kind of our aesthetic.
We like to use things.
So we like to have them a little bit, a little bit under perfect
while still being nice.
And honestly, it still winds up being nicer than most
five year old cars in public.
So it's fine.
Usually look here even less than us.
So, yeah, those are my project car updates, downdates existing.
So I don't have many project car updates.
When we last spoke, I had already had the end in a part in the Corolla
that was leading up to this past weekend.
I have made a couple of phone calls to machine shops
and frustratingly have struck out so far on that.
I'm waiting for a callback from the shop that did the cylinder head on my clips.
Hopefully they'll be able to handle the block on this car.
So fingers crossed, haven't heard back from them yet.
But the ones that I thought or the or one shop said that they don't
have tools that are small enough to work on a 1.8 liter four cylinder.
They only work on larger V8s.
I was like, OK, but I know you guys do two liter four cylinders.
Because I know somebody had worked on here before.
And he's just like, no, we don't have the parts for that.
The bore was too small.
I was like, OK, well, I'm not going to go measure it.
But I'm pretty sure it's pretty close to the two liter in the Mitsubishi,
which I know they do two liter Mitsubishi engines because
the person who recommended me to use them has had two liter
Mitsubishi engines built there.
So a little frustrated with that.
It sounds like he doesn't want to deal with it.
But that's fine, whatever, just say no.
But so I'm not going to be using him, unfortunately.
And I guess I said I haven't heard back yet from the shop
that did the cylinder head on the eclipse and the shop
that did the cylinder head on the Corolla does not do blocks.
They only do cylinder heads, which is also strange to me.
Well, it's like I did it so fast.
He just cranks out cylinder heads.
Yeah, I guess it's just one of those things
that I didn't know was a thing, a shop that just does cylinder heads.
But unless hopefully I could find somebody to do this block
in a short period of time, because I'd like to get it back together.
I was hoping to have the car back together
by the time of the rally for the Arizona Rising Sun Rally.
But that's rapidly approaching and it's in two weekends.
So probably not going to happen now.
So even if I did get it back together,
I wouldn't have enough time to shake it down
and kind of break it in and all that stuff.
So I think that's that's a pipe dream at this point.
So that car will be sitting out that event,
which means I need to get off my butt and get some other cars put back together
to because you have vehicles for that event.
I have a friend driving one of my other cars
and I had to put air conditioning in that car again,
because I haven't done that yet either.
So that's also next.
But anyway, I did not do too many projects since we last spoke
than trying to get somebody to do this head.
So the block work on the Corolla.
But I did use the Ram 50 Mighty Max truck.
This past weekend was the.
Sixty six JDM classic,
which is the vintage Japanese car show in Williams, Arizona,
which is a long historic Route 66.
It was actually the last town to be bypassed by the 40.
So it has a pretty big history with Route 66.
And it's very it's very kitschy with all like the 50s cars
parked around town some places and all the little curiosity shops.
And it's a pretty pretty busy little tourist town.
So it's really neat.
And I've talked about the show before they take over the downtown area,
which is Route 66 for a couple of blocks.
And we park on the side of the road and just have a show for the day.
So it's a it's a really good time.
But Williams is, you know, not super close.
It's probably a two and a half hours or so in a normal car.
It's also 6,000 feet of elevation gain from Phoenix.
I think the you cross like 6,600 and some odd feet at some point
on one of the passes, which is quite high.
I mean, that's more than a mile up there.
And when you're driving a 2.6 liter Mitsubishi four cylinder
with a Weber carburetor loaded up with a bed full of camping gear
and coolers and two people, it's it's a bit of a challenge
because the carburetor obviously is not like modern fuel injection
where it adjusts for elevation change.
So the truck runs really good down here in the valley.
It ran really good up there.
It just ran really slow.
It was it was a struggle to get that thing up to speed
in any kind of situation where you're starting from zero.
Maintaining speed wasn't usually too big of a deal
unless you had like a really significant hill.
And then obviously when you're running up the 17 to go up north,
you have to go through a bunch of mountain passes that are two lanes.
And you deal with a lot of 18 wheelers.
And, you know, everybody who's ever taken a road trip anywhere
knows what happens on a mountain pass with 18 wheelers, right?
One of them is going 55 and one of them is going 55.2.
So the one going 55.2 has to pass on a hill every time.
And by the time they get to the top of the hill, they're both doing 38
and you can't get past either one of them.
And I'm there in my little truck, you know, rapidly climbing,
which I could maintain 55, 60 miles an hour uphill.
And less, of course, I get stuck behind these 18 wheelers
and then trying to accelerate to pass them is impossible.
If I have to slow down to 38 miles an hour or trying to do anything
once you're stuck behind them is an exercise in futility
and you should probably just wait for the downhill.
So that's a bit of an issue that someday I'll be able to change.
But it won't be too often that I'll be trying to climb over 6,000 feet
with a car loaded up with stuff and gear and people, right?
So hopefully it doesn't happen too often.
But truck made it a little bit slower than it would have been
in any other vehicle. But we got there. Everything was good.
We camped out the night before
went to the show. Show is excellent as always.
We had a special section where they parked all the trucks
this year for the first time. So that was kind of cool.
I wasn't the only Ram 50 there. We'll get to that part in a minute.
Finished the evening, got dinner with some friends that live up there
in the Williams area and camped one more night and came home on Sunday
and pretty much trouble free.
So I I'm still patting myself in the back a little bit
because it was a year ago next weekend
that we rescued the truck out of the desert
where it had been sitting for 25 years and for it to now be able
to complete, you know, a round trip
with elevation and camping for the weekend and all the other things
that's done over the past year that I've been driving it.
Or I guess I got on the road in probably December.
So the last eight or nine months, 10 months that I've been driving it.
It's a pretty cool little pretty cool little deal that it.
It even exists anymore.
So that truck could easily have been scrapped many times in its 25
years of dormancy. So I'm glad it wasn't because I absolutely
adore that little truck.
So a couple more things to take care of.
But it's a overall usable vehicle and quite happy.
So cool things that happened at the show.
Friend of the show and fellow Montero Mitsubishi guy
also owns a Q45. His name is Ryan Yanser.
He had his car painted entirely by the guy who painted the passenger
side of my blue Cressida.
And the car looks spectacular.
He's like a Q45 aficionado owner.
Well, never sell the car.
Loves it. So he spent the money to have it painted.
One best Nissan Infiniti non 240 or 510.
So that was super cool.
The C is Q45 gets in recognition from people.
The judging at the show is like a popular choice kind of thing.
Every entrance gets a, you know, a slip to check off car
numbers for categories.
So congrats to him for winning.
That was super cool.
What else was up there?
I go through a quick thing.
My my favorite car of the day was a 1983 Nissan Centra.
Which you wouldn't think would ever be my favorite car of the day,
but it is a SCCA showroom stock car from new.
And the guy just bought it from a collection somewhere up in Oregon.
And as going through it to do track days and stuff down here in the valley with it.
But it's all the original 1983 showroom stock livery and
just kind of a super cool like timepiece of.
The early 80s showroom stock race cars.
So it would have been like right after, you know, the years of like the 510s
and all the rear wheel drive stuff would have been one of the first of the
the front wheel drive cars, probably competed with rabbits
and probably some Dodge Daytona front wheel drives
and those kinds of things that would have been in its sub two liter class.
Super cool car, super cool to see it in its original livery.
It's never been wrecked or painted.
So it's all, you know, it's got some patina, but it's
it's a cool little race car.
So it would be cool to see that thing out on track and looking forward to that for sure.
But the coolest thing is not because of the vehicle.
It was another Ram 50.
But I started talking to the owner and we were just chatting back and forth.
And partway to the competition, he goes.
Auto up topic.
And I went, yeah.
And he goes, cool, I listened to you guys.
I was like, all right, rad, that's cool.
Um, turns out he lives in Nebraska, which is the middle of, you know,
middle of the country.
Yeah, sometimes as a coastal person or a Phoenix person in the big city,
don't think about having too many people listening in the middle of the
country, but, uh, just shows that, uh, they're all out there.
Um, his name is Eric and him and his wife, uh, Marley came down
from Nebraska in a Dodge Ram 50 with a 2.6 and a Weber car, just like my truck.
Uh, second gen two wheel drive, red, five speed, regular cab, uh, super clean
little truck and they drove all the way down from Nebraska and, uh, came
to hang out at the show there and, uh, super, super cool people.
Um, I did tell him I would send him a box full of stuff.
So I'm going to say that publicly here because Santiago is still waiting
for his box of stuff.
Why don't you send him the same time forever?
Yes, I 100% will.
And Naomi knows about both things now and she'll keep me honest.
So she'll remind me because she's got way better memory than I do.
Well, so Eric and Marley, nice to have you listening.
Absolutely.
And Marley was actually wearing a revival motoring shirt as well.
So they also listened to revival, um, which they heard about through us
and, uh, support them with buying swag.
So, and asked where our swag was.
And I said, well, we don't have any swag.
I said, but I'll send you, I'll send you a hat.
It's been a while for the past, uh, I don't know, eight, nine years.
How long am I doing this thing of war?
So, uh, we do have some stickers and some hats and, uh, I will be putting
a box together to get some stickers and some hats for sure.
But that's not even the coolest part of the story.
The coolest part of the story is we were talking about parts and the
trucks and like what we need and this, that, and the other thing.
And he's a Dodge guy in general.
Um, he loves his Mopars, but not his standard Mopars.
He has a collection of fifties Mopars, uh, which is very cool and not a standard,
you know, it's not a bunch of Dodge challengers.
It's like, um, you know, fifties Plymouth coops and stands and some fifties
Plymouth and Dodge pickup trucks, which I think is super rad, you know,
early Hemi stuff and early, like 293, I'm getting the numbers wrong.
Um, so I'm going to stop right there, but the early Hemi stuff, uh, really,
really rad stuff.
Think like, uh, Christine, that kind of era of Plymouth and Dodge products
and even some earlier stuff.
So super cool, but the coolest things we're talking about parts and he's
like, well, what are you looking for for that truck?
He's like, I know where there's quite a few of them, you know, dotted
around the Nebraska landscape.
And I was like, well, for actual, like hard to find trim stuff, I need
a driver's side fender and a front bumper, because every truck I find
in a junkyard has a twisted front bumper and a smashed fender.
I have not found one yet.
He goes, all right, cool.
He goes, I think I know it as a first gen just sitting.
I'll take a look at it and see what we can make happen.
And I was like, all right, that'd be cool.
I mean, it's not super convenient because Nebraska, but I'm
sure I can figure out shipping, right?
He and his wife, so Eric and Marley left on Sunday and instead
of going straight home, they made a, you know, vacation road
trip out of it.
And before they even left the area, they stopped at a pick and
pull on Flagstaff.
So Flagstaff is a couple of towns over from Williams, not too
far at all.
He sent me a picture, which unfortunately I got when I was
about 20 minutes from home.
I wasn't, I was not up there anymore.
I'd already come all the way back down the hill and it is sitting
in a junkyard in Flagstaff at a pick and pull, a 1986 spring
special, which is what my truck is, Dodge Ram, Dodge Power Ram
50 in white with a tan interior and a tan stripes.
So it's literally my exact truck with a perfectly straight
left front fender and front bumper on the truck.
So I'm going to get driving there right now.
Super, super excited that this happened.
We figured it out by looking on their website.
It's been in the yard since July.
So it probably doesn't have much time left.
Naomi and I already made a plan.
We're leaving here tomorrow night, go to drive to Flagstaff
and grab dinner in a hotel and wake up early Saturday
morning when the yard opens, go to the yard and grab those parts
immediately and then come back down here for midday on Saturday.
So we can't, I definitely can't leave those parts there.
Nope.
So theoretically, as long as whoever applied the stripes
applied them in the correct orientation, it should bolt
on my car and line up exactly with what's there.
And it even looks like the patina on the fender will
match pretty closely to my truck.
So I'm pretty excited about that.
I don't know what else I might have to seal off the truck while I'm up there.
I don't necessarily need anything, but anything that seems
nicer than what's on mine, I'll grab, you know, look at tail
light lenses, tailgate hood, all that kind of stuff.
But at the very least, I'll have a fender and a front bumper on the truck
by the time the next recording, fingers crossed, hopefully,
because for all I know, they crushed the truck Friday morning.
So yeah, that'll be my luck.
But I'm super excited about that.
I can't thank Eric and Marley enough for sending me that information
because I never would have known it was there.
Obviously, it's been there for half the time I've owned the truck
and didn't ever and never even went and looked at it.
So it's just even wilder.
That's not only a power ram 50 with a straight fender and bumper,
but it's literally the exact same year and trim package.
So I will take it.
But super excited about that.
So stay tuned to the next weekend to see what happens there.
But yeah, we're going to leave right after work tomorrow
and head back up the hill, not in my truck in her maverick
for a couple of reasons.
One, it's easier because it's modern and two,
because it's pouring rain this weekend here.
So I really do not add to the difficulty
of driving my truck up the hill.
So we'll just take our truck.
I also have not fixed to the wipers on my truck,
which actually, now that I say that out loud,
I should also grab the wiper arms off that truck.
So another edition.
But yeah, no, I'm excited about that.
And it was a great show last weekend.
It's one of my favorite weekends every year.
We usually go up and make a weekend out of it.
And this is the first year we did it with camping involved.
I figure we had the truck.
We might as well use it at the truck, right?
I'm super cool now.
I mean, cook breakfast on the tailgate at the car show,
cook lunch on the tailgate at the car show.
Super like super cool addition to the weekend.
It was a great time.
And now I'm looking forward to next year.
So that's what's happening this weekend.
That's what happened last weekend
and a big shout out again to Eric and Marley.
As far as I know, they just made it home.
They had a couple of hiccups on the way home
where they actually blew a freeze plug
somewhere in between here in Nebraska,
but we're able to pick that up at a parts store
and get it changed on the side of the road.
So road trip heroes, for sure.
Nice. Yeah.
And make sure to give him a follow.
He's not big on the internet
and Instagram and social media,
but he did create a Instagram page
that he just started posting on during the trip
down here from Nebraska.
And it's Bear Schmitty.
So it's B E A R S C H M I T T Y.
So he'll be posting hopefully some more from there
with his collection of 50s mo bars.
So show him some love.
Very, very cool.
Yeah. So that was your show.
And that was that was the show, not my show.
It was a show, the show for you, for you to go to.
So we had here to we had here in the East Coast.
We had Lars Anderson, Japanese Cardi,
and we had a bunch of friends and listeners,
their friend listeners, I guess.
We all met up at the show, brought our Japanese cars.
So that was a super good time.
It was definitely it was a packed show
that they announced it as a sell out.
It's kind of yeah, they did.
I mean, from 20 years ago when we there'd be like 10 cars there, right?
You know, they had the whole upper and lower lawn field.
So it was just funny.
They did like staggered parking
and just the way it turned out
like I was literally right in front.
Like the glant was like front row right in front of where like
they're like a little check in booth is usually sometimes where the DJ is.
Yeah. So that was kind of cool.
But the glant that show has grown so much
because it started as the drone.
Club, which is the Datsun rotors of New England,
and it was their Datsun Roadster show.
And then they opened it up to more Datsuns
and it was just a Datsun show.
And then in like 2003, maybe
they opened maybe 2004, they opened it up to all Japanese cars,
but it didn't really take off right away.
And the first few years of all Japanese cars,
I remember it was like it was odd
because people didn't really understand what it was
and people would show up in like a brand new accord.
And that happened a few times.
It was a very strange mix of heels.
Yeah, there was a person who had a brand new Toyota Sienna.
Isn't it was a special edition Sienna, Andrew?
I don't want to hear about it, all right?
Well, it is a special.
I mean, I guess it's a special edition
if you make your own edition.
And I really can't.
I'm not, I can't really crap on somebody's thing
because it's like we customize cars to our tastes.
Anyways, so it's pretty hip to make fun of it.
It wasn't it wasn't tasteless.
It wasn't like it was a 2024 Corolla
covered in Marvel characters.
No, I had a strong theme that kind of,
I mean, at least it was a Japanese car
that kind of looks like a Shinkansen
and they put a Shinkansen stripe on it.
I mean, I'd never seen this done to a vehicle before.
So the Shinkansen is a Japanese bullet train.
So white, the blue stripe, maybe blue stripe.
And that was it.
And then like painted blue Calvars and...
You missed the most important part.
Oh, the license plate frames.
The license plate frame is the most important part.
Yeah, I don't know, man.
Chaser Bliss, it's, I mean, it was clean and whatever.
It makes me happy.
That's not what I am talking about with the Honda Accords
because I'm thinking of a specific year
when a guy showed up in a brand new Honda Accord
and just sat in his car all day.
And we were just like, what is this guy doing?
At least in this particular case,
that person obviously is an enthusiast
of that particular model and an enthusiast of trains.
So, I mean, that's probably 50% of the AOD audience
is a fan of trains just because of life.
But my guess is that that's no different.
Or my thought process is that's no different
than a guy with a brand new BMW
that has a wrap and some wheels.
Like it's the same kind of enthusiast.
It's not our kind of enthusiast,
but it is an enthusiast of sorts.
And you can't really knock the choice
of a new Sienna minivan.
They are very good vehicles.
So they're not something that you standard
call an enthusiast vehicle, but.
I mean, it's probably got three and a horsepower
to smoke half of my vehicles.
So it's probably faster than all of your cars
except maybe the Talon.
But anyway, there's a lot of cool stuff here.
Yeah, a lot of Rotaries this year actually.
A lot more than I think I've seen before.
So yeah, I think a bunch of Rotary guys,
word got out to them and they all showed up.
So that was cool.
A lot of like actually come to think of it,
that's probably the most Thurgen RX-7s
I've ever seen in one place.
I wondered what the turnout was going to be
because there was also a conflict the same day
with one of the shows either in Worcester or in Rhode Island
that all the Toyota guys go to.
You know, come to think of it, wasn't a lot of Toyotas.
So maybe, yeah.
There was a big Toyota show that was that same day.
I know all the local Corolla guys all went to that.
So that probably took a little bit away.
But if it was sold out anyway,
I guess they didn't affect it that much.
Yeah, a lot of Nissan's Toyota, some Toyotas,
some Hondas, good amount of Mitsubishi's.
Yeah, I-
That's the rarest thing of all.
Multiple Mitsubishi's is crazy.
Well, all the Azuzus and then the Suzuki wizard,
a wizard boy, what was it called?
Wizard.
Wizard.
Yeah.
It was kid.
It was kid GX.
That's what it is.
I've never seen one of those before.
Which is apparently a European version of,
I can't remember that.
I can't think of the name of it right now.
Based on the design.
El Camino version,
the El Camino version is the mighty boy.
And then there's another version of that vehicle
that's a Japanese version of that
Servo, I think, C-E-R-V-O.
I think is the Japanese version.
And then WizKid is the European version.
Yeah.
The coolest thing about those cars
is that one of the new Suzuki's is still on the market.
If you look at it behind the rear glass
on the quarter windows, on the quarter panels,
are three little slats, like three little vents
that that WizKid or Servo also has.
And the new Suzuki is a callback to that.
Oh.
I don't remember what the new Suzuki is.
It might be an Alto or something along those lines.
One of their small cars that I occasionally see
because they come over from, they sell in Mexico.
So I'll occasionally see them here in town.
But they have that a callback to that,
that design over the,
behind the rear, the quarter glass
of the little slats.
Super cool.
So he had a little boomerboard.
I actually took a picture of it,
because so the SC100 GX in quotations, WizKid.
Yeah, from Japan, 78 to 82.
This was an 81.
So they were out here based on a design by Zhejaro.
Does that mean it wasn't designed?
It was, that's a weird way to write it.
It's a very, very great way to write it.
Maybe it was like an evolution of an originally designed
by Zhejaro car.
Yeah.
But yeah, right here, Great Britain received 5,500.
The Netherlands got about 3,900.
So this was a left-hand drive car.
So, one of three known in North America.
So it must be, so yeah, it's European.
And this must be from the Netherlands.
Interesting car.
It was very, very nice, like mint, mint, mint.
Yeah, it was a neat color combo too.
It was super cool.
Never seen one.
I'm trying to do a quick Google on what modern Suzuki
has those same quarter panel lines,
but it's not super easy to figure out
something that only I care about,
because I can't Google it in any other way.
But yeah, it's a really good show.
It's fun to hang out with everyone.
But yeah, it's just good.
Yeah, if you're in the East Coast
and you want to be aware of these things,
join up on the Discord.
Actually, just anywhere in the country,
join up on Discord.
But that's how they kind of put this together
on the East Coast.
Suzuki Ignis IGNIS, that's the current Suzuki
that has the three little slots on the quarter panel
that call back to that CX-1000 Whiskey servo vehicle.
So Suzuki Ignis, I see those probably,
I don't know, once every couple of months
here in town with Mexican tags on them.
Because they keep all the cool,
tiny stuff away from us here for some reason.
Anyway, cool.
I was a little, even though I had my show here on Saturday,
I will be completely honest and say
I definitely had some FOMO looking at everybody's photos
on Sunday of the show out there,
mostly because that was my favorite show of the year
every year out there.
So it was kind of a bummer to see that,
but I guess I get notably by myself moving out here.
It's a good show, it's a nice spot.
Again, it's actually getting,
now I've met more people out here,
it's more fun to just hang out with people.
It's fun to bring the cars,
but it was nice to walk around with everyone
and look at cars together.
And everybody's got like, yeah, that's what's all about.
Everybody brought their cool little unique cars
that they have.
So yeah, I brought some donuts.
If you come hang out at the show here,
I'll bring you donuts.
I mean, it depends on what kind of donuts you brought
with the Keynes donuts.
Yeah, they were Keynes donuts.
I can't eat them.
Actually, no, they have a gluten-free donut there now.
Yeah, so I should be good.
Yeah, it's not the same weekend as the Route 66 show.
Maybe next year I'll try to come out
and go to that again.
Well, I was definitely bummed because my dad
had organized a tech meet versus car club
with the Salem High School Automotive Program,
but then they also turned it into a car show
that was Halloween themed in Salem
and it happened to be on Sunday as well.
I was like, ah, because it's literally,
that's like five minutes in the house.
Like I would have gone there.
Sure.
Absolutely, but oh well.
Other than parents though,
so it's like 20 minutes from yours.
Yeah, on a Saturday, well,
yeah, on a Saturday, going to Salem from my house.
On a Saturday, in October?
Yeah.
There was an hour and a half, yeah.
Yeah.
Hopefully they don't conflict next year
if they do it again, but.
They didn't last year because I went to the car show
at Salem High School with you last year
because I was in town.
That was in May.
It was different then in the spring.
So there was also a show at Cast in the Clouds
on the Saturday of the same weekend,
but I was like, it's like too much
to go all the way up there
and then back down to Brooklyn.
And looking at pictures of that event,
that event would have been a little bit less fun.
Yeah.
What would have been less fun though?
I was like, A, because the people
wouldn't have been there that you knew
and B, I think it was just more of a standard,
traditional, you know, classic 50s car show,
which is, it's totally cool.
What's got its place is just a little different
than I think what we're into.
So, but it is what it is.
Maybe get the Kroll running good
and I can do a cross-country trip
and time it with Japanese car day.
That would be the whole story.
Yeah.
We shall see.
I took one of my neoclassic stickers
that I got from Moon Edge Japan
and stuck it on the back of the galant
because it said Japan on it and neoclassic JP.
I was like, oh, I got all this Japanese stuff
that I can put on here.
I'm gonna figure out a way to get those magazines here
at a reasonable cost because they're super cool.
I think they're on Amazon.
It's a magazine.
I said reasonably priced though.
That's the issue.
They're like 50 or 60 bucks an issue.
Are they?
I haven't looked.
Yeah, this is a good magazine, but it's British.
It's like classic retro modern,
but again, super expensive to get over here.
So.
Yeah, ones have been like $25 an issue.
They do offer a subscription that they'll ship worldwide.
I don't know if that's changed
due to current tariff situations,
but I have looked at the past and I've almost got it
because it reminds me a little bit
of the old retro cars magazines.
It does.
You know, and I don't know
if we're just becoming the old men in the automotive space,
but I do miss having a good monthly car magazine
that I enjoy reading.
I do get the Hagerty Collector's Club
or ever had Driver's Club magazine,
but it's not really geared towards my taste in things.
I mean, usually there's a couple of articles in it
that are worthwhile,
but there's so much like speculation and value talk
that I'd rather just not read.
I just want to read cool car stories, you know?
I don't care about how much is worth everything.
How much everything is worth.
I want to hear car stories.
Yeah, it's just a constant thing.
Like I feel like people are always like,
what's it worth?
What's it worth?
What do you drive it?
It's not worth it.
It's like, okay, how about let's not care about that.
Right.
The same thing that's ruined every hobby right now
is the resale market.
And one can argue that it's been around in the car world forever
because car auctions have always been a thing
and speculation has always been a thing
and people always bought cars for the value,
but with the proliferation of the internet
and information age, it just seems to be,
that's everybody's first comment with a car.
Oh, what's it worth?
Doesn't matter what's worth.
You know, I have my Camaro out here now
and anybody who sees the car,
oh, what's this thing worth?
Does it matter?
Are you going to buy it from me?
Am I going to sell it to you?
Is it going to be,
are we going to turn it into cash?
Like, what's the point of the conversation here?
Like no, or like my neighbor who said
when we brought the Camaro home,
like, oh, that's the kind of car
you should hold on to.
You don't have those other ones.
Like, oh, okay.
Okay.
Because why?
You're like, he said so?
Like, sure.
I get that one.
I don't get the other ones.
Fine, whatever.
I'm not doing it for you.
So I don't care.
But anyway, I miss retro cars.
I miss sport compact car.
I miss the magazines and, you know,
even our friends over at Revival
did a magazine for a few years.
That was really good.
It was pretty Volkswagen heavy
because that's who they are,
but it was still, it was a high quality
retro car style of magazine.
Unfortunately, it got too expensive
and they stopped.
Same thing with Ben over at
Japanese Nizalget Gar.
They had a magazine for about a year and a half.
I think they had five or six issues
and it was great.
And then unfortunately, it was just too much work
and not enough money.
So we got to find a way to...
Somebody's got to find a way
to make magazines work again
because I miss it.
Oh, you know what else happened with the show?
I had a guy come up to me.
I asked him about the Galant.
And he was really interested in it
and I showed it to him.
It's a truth.
No, he was like,
hey, I've actually got...
He looked inside
and the passenger seat bottom has split again.
It was split when I bought the car
and the owner gave me a second one.
That wasn't split and I had swapped it
and the seam split again.
And he's like,
hey, I've got a passenger seat for this car.
He's like, I used to have one.
Do you want the seat?
And I was like, yeah.
And he's like local-ish to me.
Probably like an hour and a half away.
So I got his digits.
These cars are always good at picking up dudes.
Absolutely.
So I got to plan a weekend trip
when I'm around to go down and grab it from him.
At least your car met you, a local dude.
My dude, I met as a Nebraska.
Yeah, so that was cool.
Yeah, whole seat, entire seat.
He's like, I keep looking at the garage
and we're in the basement wherever he's got it.
He's like, I don't want to get rid of it.
And he's like, I just haven't had the time
to put it online to see if anybody wants it.
He wants to get rid of it, but not throw it away, basically.
Yep.
I was like, yeah, I'll definitely use it.
I'll switch it out.
So, cool.
But yeah, that's the value of going to local shows.
Yeah, well, I have not posted any pictures yet
from this weekend, but I did take some
and I have a couple that are edited
and a couple of the truck on its road trip.
Up there and down.
I did forget one part of the story.
When we were driving there, we were still down here
in the valley just outside of the city.
And I saw off in the distance a small red car
pulled off on the side of the road.
And I was like, that looks like a small 70s car.
And as we got closer, I said, that looks like a skyline.
So that's going to be Jamal.
That's not good.
So we made a sketchy move and darted
across four lanes of traffic
and got over to the side and pulled off
right in front of him to see what's going on.
Jamal has a, I'm not going to guess the year
because I don't know the exact year.
It's an early 70s Ken Mary skyline,
which is super rare in general,
but then it's even more rare
because the left-hand drive Ken Mary
that was sold new in Iran.
Wow.
Yeah, super rad.
And Jamal is from Tehran.
So that's where he got the car from
and he shipped it over here a few years ago.
He's a big Nissan guy
and I guess 70s Nissans are huge in Iran.
It's a very big collecting market there
for 70s Nissans and Toyotas and Chevy's randomly.
But anyway, so he shipped the car over from Iran
quite a few years ago
and he was pulled over on the side of the road
and he was trying to figure out what was wrong with the car
because it had started spraying water on the hood
as he was driving on the hood in the windshield.
So it wasn't overheating according to his gauge
but it was spraying water out.
He had topped it off before he left the house
and I think what happened was he just put too much in there
and as the system pressurized,
it just blew out the top of the overflow
because it wasn't overheating.
We couldn't figure out why it would have been overheating
once it cooled off, everything seemed fine.
But unfortunately, he also had a very low right front tire,
had about 19 pounds of air in it.
So I blew that out and he's like, oh man, I missed that.
That's stupid, let's get some air in it.
So I had brought a pump, so I had an air pump at least.
So he pumped it up on the side of the road
and he's like, well, do I continue to go all the way up
elevation up to the show
or do I turn around and go home
and come back out of modern car tomorrow?
And I was like, man, that's entirely up to you.
I said, but we still have like five or six more exits
until we get completely out of civilization here.
So why don't we drive until we get to like sunset point
and if your tire still has the correct amount of air in it
and it's not overheating, keep on going.
And if we get there and your tire is low
or the car is spraying water again, maybe go home.
Kind of make that like a little bit of a litmus test
for the vehicle's capability of making it the rest of the way.
Now, this is a very nice car.
It's not a janky car in any way, shape, or form.
I think it was having a bad day, basically.
It has Watanabe RS-8s, which are the multi-piece 8 spokes.
So we made it to Rock Springs.
If you've ever been to Arizona on the 17,
the Rock Springs exit is all the pie signs
and they have the big famous like pie stand
on the side of the road there.
We made it there.
He pulled over again.
His tire that we filled to 32 pounds was back down to 20
and he decided at that point,
probably best just to refill it again and head back home
rather than try to make it all the way up and back.
So he was gonna try to get to a tire shop
and see if they could find a leak in the tire
or just go home and come up
from the modern car the next day.
So unfortunately, he did not make it to the show this year,
but fortunately we discovered all the problems
when we were still down here in the valley
and not somewhere in between here in Flagstaff
with no phone signal and no tow truck capability
and no gas stations.
Sad for him, but he probably made the right choice.
Go home, fix the tire
and make sure the cooling system is up to snuff
and the car will live on to go back next year.
So big shout out to Jamal though, he's a good guy.
So definitely good to help him out.
Yeah, that's the weekend in a nutshell.
Cool.
All right, I'm calling it a podcast.
So.
Works for me.
Yeah, follow out off topic podcast on Instagram.
Follow me, race tanger on Instagram.
We've got scale out of cast.
What else do we have?
That's pretty much it.
Pretty much it.
Yeah, and they can find you where?
TSI SS 350 on Instagram.
All right, cool.
Also, if you wanna join the discord, just message us
and we'll send you an invite link.
It's a pretty fun place to hang out, but yeah.
All right, as always,
keep cars analog and name of the roses.
About this episode
Car Shows with Friends dives into the experiences of attending car shows, sharing stories about project cars, and the challenges of maintenance. The hosts discuss their recent adventures, including a vintage Japanese car show in Williams, Arizona, where they encountered fellow enthusiasts and unique vehicles. They also touch on the struggles of sourcing parts for their cars and the joys of connecting with other car lovers. With plenty of humor and camaraderie, this episode captures the essence of automotive passion and community.
Original notes
Brad and Andrew spend the past weekend enjoying Japanese themed car shows on opposite sides of the country but the common them was that we enjoyed them with some great friends and their cool little cars. We also get into some project car updates/downdates and we ramble on a bit about lost car magazines.
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Keep your cars analog and Aim for the Roses!
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