A Chevy pickup is a truck made by Chevrolet, a well-known American car brand. The 1976 model is part of a series that has been popular for many years, often used for work or everyday driving.
Electronic fuel injection is a modern way of delivering fuel to an engine using electronics. It helps the engine run better and cleaner than older systems that used carburetors.
Holley is a company that makes parts for cars, especially for improving how engines work. They are famous for their fuel systems and performance upgrades.
This type of engine uses a part called a throttle body to mix air and fuel before it enters the engine, helping it run better and use fuel more efficiently.
The 5L80E is an automatic transmission that has five gears instead of four. It's also made by General Motors and is used in trucks and performance cars because it's very strong.
The 6L80E is a type of automatic transmission that has six gears. It's made by General Motors and is used in many of their newer trucks and cars to help with fuel efficiency and performance.
Vintage Air is a company that makes air conditioning systems for older cars. They help keep classic cars cool, just like modern cars have air conditioning.
The LS engine is a type of V8 engine made by General Motors. It's often used in cars because it's powerful and can fit into many different types of vehicles easily.
An electronic throttle is a system that helps control how much air goes into the engine based on how hard you press the gas pedal. It uses sensors instead of cables, making it more efficient and responsive.
Barrett-Jackson is a company that holds auctions where people can buy and sell special cars, like classic or vintage ones. It's a popular place for car enthusiasts to find unique vehicles.
Converted trucks are older trucks that have been updated with new parts and technology. This makes them run better and be more comfortable to drive, which is why people often pay more for them.
The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a stylish car that used to be popular for its sporty look and good performance. Many people remember it fondly from the 80s, especially the special versions that were fast and fun to drive.
The Ford F-150 is a large truck that can be used for many purposes, like hauling things or off-roading. The 2020 version has a strong engine that helps it carry heavy loads.
An automatic transmission is a system in cars that changes gears by itself, so you don't have to do it manually. It makes driving easier, especially in traffic.
Sport mode is a setting in cars that makes them feel faster and more responsive. It changes how the engine and gears work to give you a sportier driving experience.
A torque converter helps the car's engine work with the transmission. It allows the car to stop without turning off the engine, making driving smoother.
Direct injection is a way of getting fuel into the engine. It sprays the fuel right into the part where it burns, making the engine work better and use less fuel.
Top-tier fuel is a special type of gasoline that is cleaner and better for your car's engine. It helps keep the engine running well and can prevent problems.
Octane is a number that tells you how much pressure fuel can handle before it ignites. Higher numbers mean the fuel is better for powerful engines that need to avoid knocking sounds.
This happens when the fuel in your engine starts burning too early, before the spark plug is supposed to ignite it. It can make a knocking sound and hurt your engine if it keeps happening.
The Ford 5.0 is a type of engine that has a capacity of 5.0 liters. It's used in some Ford cars and trucks and is popular for its power and efficiency.
Fuel grade is a way to describe different types of gasoline based on how well they work in engines. Regular is the lowest grade, and premium is the highest.
The BMW 3 Series is a small luxury car that many people love for its fun driving experience and comfortable interior. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a top choice for those who want a nice car that also feels sporty.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a big SUV that can handle tough roads and off-road adventures. It's known for being very reliable and is a great choice if you need a vehicle that can go anywhere and last a long time.
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a unique-looking SUV that's great for off-roading and adventures. It has a tough design and is built to handle rough paths, making it fun for outdoor activities.
The Pontiac Solstice is a small, two-seater sports car that is fun to drive and has a cool look. It's designed for people who enjoy a sporty driving experience and want something a bit different.
The Ford Edge is a medium-sized SUV that has plenty of room inside for families and their stuff. It's comfortable to drive and is a good option if you need a vehicle for everyday use.
The Ford Maverick is a small truck that is easy to drive and park, making it great for city use. It also offers good fuel efficiency, especially with its hybrid version, which means you can save money on gas.
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV that people love for going off-road and exploring nature. It has a classic look and is built to handle rough terrain, making it a favorite for outdoor activities.
The Chevrolet C10 is an old pickup truck that many people admire for its classic style and strong build. It's popular among collectors and those who enjoy restoring vintage vehicles.
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This is Under the Hood. Welcome to the Under the Hood Show. We are glad to have you with us.
Russ Evans is here to answer your automotive questions. Thanks for joining us under the hood.
Shannon Nordstrom is here to do the same. Welcome, Hoodies. Thanks for tuning in so we can help you
tune up. I'm Chris Carter here to answer your calls at 866-594-4150.
866-594-4150. Let's go to New Hampshire right out of the gate and talk to Bruce.
You're on the Under the Hood Show. Bruce, what can we do for you?
Hi, fellas. I wanted to say that your show is a perfect blend of automotive expertise and humor.
And I just love it. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Appreciate it. Thanks.
I've got a 76 Chevy pickup I've had since 1981, a two-wheel drive short bed.
Restored it from the frame up once. I'm in the process of doing it again.
And I want to know if you have any first-hand experience with updating that motor to electronic
fuel injection like the Sniper 2 by Holley or the 510. Oh, we lost. Did we lose him?
Are you still there, Bruce? No. Are you? Okay. I'm here. Yep.
No, we got you. We're just cutting off at the end there. So you've got the factory engine and
you're wondering about the updated fuel injection systems that are available for putting on those
vehicles. Exactly right. Yeah, I've heard mixed things. I've got a friend who's a performance
engine builder and he kind of is leering away from it. But I know he's sort of an old school guy.
So I don't know if he just doesn't like the technology or if those things are no good,
because I'm going to put a 4L80E in it. I need a controller for that as well. And it looks like
both systems will control that transmission too. So you've got a 400 engine in it?
350. 350. Then I had one of these trucks and then I had an 81. I had all sorts of different
things, but I did all sorts of stuff to that. I started out with a, I had a 400 in it with a
Holley projection. And then I took that thing off because it was just broken. It worked great when
it worked, but it was just broken in the end. So I threw it away and put a 4 barrel on it.
And that worked pretty good until I decided to come out to Shannon's and I bought a whole throttle
body injected engine and put that in the truck. And then, boy, times have changed. Do you remember
how I got that? At night? No, I don't. It was at night. I don't remember. I don't remember.
You're like, just take it out. And I'm like, we wouldn't do that again. No. But we,
yeah. So I put that in there and then I took it all out and updated it, put a
an LS motor in the whole frame, got the frame ready to go, got all the body parts to do it,
then I didn't fix the truck. So different things can be done. I would suggest if you're putting
a 4L80E in here and you're looking for a controller as cheap as it is with what you've gone through
already to get to that, don't even waste your time on it with putting fuel injection on that 350.
Put an LS engine in there. You could put a 4L80E LS engine in there and get more horsepower
and torque than you can out of a 350. You could put a 4L80E, you could put a 5L80E,
you could put a 6L80E. I say 4L80E because they're so cheap and 5L80E's are so cheap. You can
find a, depending on New Hampshire yet, you can find a rusted out LS powered Chevy truck like a
1999 to a 2005 or six fuel injected engine where you'll have everything you'd need and then just
pull it out, find something that's running decent, pull it out, clean it up,
paint it, check the bearings, make sure they look good and then you've got, I would say probably
2,000 bucks, wouldn't you think, Shannon for an old rusty truck that's on its last leg that still
runs? You find something around that. Maybe the trans is out. You know, hey, it runs great,
but the trans is out just so you can see it physically run. But you get that whole thing,
you drop it in there, your biggest hurdle, you buy a harness for it that'll power the trans,
power the engine, that you can get them anywhere from 200 bucks to 1,000 depending on what you
want to spend for one, but they'll all work. And then your air conditioning, if it's, is it air
conditioned? It's going to be, it isn't now. Okay. If it's not air conditioned, then that's even
better because you'll need to, when you get like a vintage air for it, it's going to come with a
small sand and compressor, which they make a kit to bolt that to the front of an LS engine and put
it up higher. When you put an LS in the compressors on the passenger side lower frame and you got to
notch the frame out or move the compressor in order for it to fit. Well, you don't have to do
that with that vintage air compressor because you can mount it up high on the engine and not worry
about that. They make adapter mounts that get on YouTube and look at these things. You'll be
shocked at how easy they are to drop in. And then that thing is going to get way better fuel economy.
It's going to start and run in any weather. It's going to be smooth with a 4L80 in the overdrive.
You'll be able to get it out on the highway and drive it 80 miles an hour, set the cruise,
if you get one of the electronic throttle, then you can hook cruise right to it without
putting any cables or anything on. And you'll be amazed at how well it runs. And those are the
trucks that when you look at Barrett Jackson and auctions and people selling them, the converted
ones typically are bringing a lot more money than the non-converted ones because people
our age want to drive them. They want to say, hey, I want my old truck, but I want to be able to get
out on the highway and drive it and set the cruise and take it across country if I need to.
Not too bad. Bruce, Russ just gave a heck of an explanation why you should do an LS. But I did
want to ask that. The question to you, did you have a reason why you wanted to keep that original
block in there or the original motor or is there some passion you're like anti-LS or just give us
a little bit of that? Because you've already got a different trend. And you've put a lot of work
into the truck. And I mean, I like the LS and I would do that in other trucks, but this particular
truck has had this engine right along and I put a mild cam in it and it'll brought performer
cars. So it's already rebuilt. Well, I would tell you that I had a long time ago, like Russ,
I had personal experience with putting fuel injection on a Ford engine. And once we got
it dialed in, it ran great. And these newer systems, they have sold so many of them.
So it's the MSD Atom. We both about said it. We gave one away on the show. That one has the
option of transmission control or not. So if you want to keep the 350, you get the MSD fuel
injection that'll bolt on like a carburetor with the trans controller. You tell them which trans
you have and say I got a 4L80 and you put it in. What is it Chris? The Atomic EFI? Yeah, there you
go. Look up that one on the MSD website, Holley's website, I think it is. And yeah, get that with
the trans controller and then you can keep your 350. You're pulling the intake, you're dropping
that on there and then you can control the 4L80 with it. And Holley has been buying
some of these other aftermarket companies that are in the space of like these newer LT conversions
because we sold a bunch. Well, we've got another one coming in here, but a bunch of these L8Ts,
6.6 gas, and they were good in those pickups. They made their own, but then they bought another
company that had a better system and they sell that now. And so Holley's deep into that game.
They've got a lot of options for people. That's for sure. Okay. All right, before you go anywhere,
Bruce, this is definitely a Berkeley class. Berkeley one classics for sure. Yeah. Can we ask
out of the gate if it's two toned or is that not our business yet? I think we should ask that,
is it two toned? It is not two toned. Okay. All right. Now you're okay. So we're going to guess
the color of it. It's got to look like my 76. Black. Of course, mine was more brown from the
rust than the black, but black. Okay. All black. I think it's orange. I think it's green. I think
it's a lime green, a light colored green. What color is it, Bruce? Well, you're going to love this.
It was born red. It was painted chocolate brown when I bought it. I painted it white,
and I'm going to paint it Mercedes Benz black cherry. Gosh, I don't know. We can't get a
winner out of that. I don't think the process is closer. Maybe no, that black cherry is not
black. I mean, that was it. I mean, I would take it if I had said black, I would say it's the same
word. It's a great color. I remember that though in the 80s, there were black cars and then there
were the ones that were painted the black cherry color, like the Monte Carlo's. You get the SS in
black cherry, get it in black and that was something distinctly people wanted one or the other. Does
that help you out there on the right path there, Bruce? Let's get him a hoodie, producer Doug.
All right. I'm going to put you on hold for a second there, Bruce. Courtesy of Berkeley won
classics. Absolutely. Black, brown. It was painted too brown. I suppose that was in the 70s.
Have you seen the black paint? There's a number to it, like a 00. I can't remember what they call it,
but it's black. I mean, it's the darkest black they've ever made. Have you seen that on YouTube
and stuff? No. The next one? Most black paint has some reds and things in it, so it reflects. It's
shiny. This is- Vanda was the one that was around for a while and now there's like even a newer one.
It's darker than that. It's so dark that cars will get hit in certain conditions because people
can't see it. It doesn't reflect anything. It absorbs all light. It looks like a whole in the
world. What do they call it? Vanta. Vanta black. They have a darker one than that now. It's just
insane. 866-594-4150. That's the number to reach us here at the end of the hood show. Let's go to
Virginia and talk to John. You're on the end of the hood show. John, what can we do for you?
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I love the show. Thanks. I have two questions if you have time.
First one, most important. I own a 2020 F-150. It's got the 5-liter, only about 30,000 miles,
4x4. I noticed when I drive it, the automatic transmission set on the normal mode,
at low RPMs under load, for example, going up a hill, I seem to be getting a pinging or knock
sound. I was wondering, is that normal on that engine? I thought the knock sensor would adjust
the timing so it wouldn't do that. I drive pretty gently. When I notice what I put it,
for example, in the sport mode, I don't hear that. I was just wondering if that's
something common on that engine and transmission configuration. It could be just
the issue with the octane of the fuel that's in the vehicle. When you're putting it in sport mode,
it's not in the higher gear and locked up on the torque converter. It doesn't have as much load on
it, so it's not going to ping. It could also be from dirty fuel injection. With engines like that,
with direct injection, they build up carbon and stuff on the back of the valves. It's not
good for it. You have that with all direct injected engines. CRC makes fuel injection cleaner
that is made. Their fuel injection kits are made to help dissolve the carbon that you get on the
back of the valves and in the intake runners. With any fuel injected engine, it's very important to
use top-tier fuel in the gas pump. That is typically the same price as any other fuel,
but you'll see a top-tier logo on the bottom of the pump. Use that fuel and use a higher octane
fuel in it. Of course, use the emission system cleaner kit and try to clean that out and see
if that'll make a difference. That usually makes a difference. We have customers that run a fuel
system cleaner through the vehicle like that. A whole emission system cleaning kit, the whole
process, it usually makes a difference with carbon ping that's caused by a carbon buildup.
You don't want to leave it if you're hearing that pinging because that's
pre-ignition if that's what you're hearing, then that can cause damage eventually if it keeps doing
that. We're going to make an assumption here, so I'm going to ask directly just so I know.
No check engine lights coming on. You're not having any other performance issues. Is that true?
Yeah, correct. It seems to be running fine and gets good gas mileage. I get almost 22 on the
highway with it, so everything's running fine. It's just like I said, that occasional.
What do you use for fuel today? What do you put in there?
Well, there I'm guilty. I've been going to the cheapest gas station I could find and run. Here
we have, I think it's E10, like 87 octane. Not on the turbo. No, this is a coyote. I think he said
it was a 5.0. Oh, it was a 5.0. Yeah, it's a 5.0. But I would recommend you bump up to at least the
88 or the 89 ethanol, if that's what you're using or if it's available. Does that fuel cap on that
truck say 91 recommended or your orders manual? I don't think so. I don't think so.
Okay. My truck, I got a 6.2 and a Chevy and it says 91 recommended. You get some vehicles that
says required, some says it recommended. I know that if I run that with 87 in it,
that's what was available where I ended up at. If I drive a little more aggressive,
that'd be an understatement probably, but I will hear some pain. But once I change back to the
fuel that I normally run, it's gone. Before John gets to a second question, I've asked this question
before. I go to a gas station. I always put 89 in, pretend. Let's pretend I do. I'm on a road
trip and the only thing I can get is 87 and it's an hour back to town. Do I want to start with the
88? Do I want to fill it up at three quarters and then a half or do I want to run it out?
If I ever realized I was so low on fuel, I need fuel to make it somewhere and all I see is 87,
I'm going to put enough in to get me where I'm going. A little extra to make sure in case there's
a detour like, whoa, why is traffic stopped? I gotta sit here for two hours. You're driving to
Texas and you need gas. You stop and you can only get 87. You're concerned enough that you're only
going to put a little bit in. In fact, I did that two years ago because remember she was complaining
because she said he almost runs out of gas in the middle of that great wine at that store. Well,
I got off the road about 15 miles up in the Los Hills in Iowa and I was like,
87 and I was like, okay, and I don't think it was ethanol, but I put in, I think I put in
five or six dollars worth. It wasn't much at all. It was like, how far is the interstate? Oh, it's
five minutes. You're going to drive out. You're going to drive the tank out. So in my scenario,
still you're going to only go. Well, I didn't put that much in. So I just went to the nice
convenience store in town. Do you want to hear my story? I'm talking about on this road trip on
my head though. I've had it happen and I'm not as concerned, but I will back off a little bit,
so I'm not pushing so hard. If I know I've got the 87 in instead of the 89 or 91,
91 is what I like to get. Actually, I run E30 all the time. I just run E30. The truck's not
flexible, but I run E30 all the time. Got a high octane. Then running that since I had the truck
new and it's got 50,000 miles on it now. Okay. And I get the octane I need. It's clean. So you do,
if you were putting in 87 and it's all you had, you would drive it, would you fill it or
and then drive it a little? I probably don't fill it all the way, but I just,
but I just consciously make sure I drive that tank a little bit easier. Okay. And then fill it back
up as soon as you can. Get my octane in there when I can. Okay. John, did you have a second question?
I do if you have just a minute. Yeah. Or does that, let me make sure that, does that answer your
question for the truck? It does. I will upgrade my fuel octane and check on. Well, fuel prices,
thank goodness, are very, very good right now. I don't know what we're supposed to call it good,
but it's way better than it consistently has been. Yeah. And so the differences in the prices of the
fuels is not as much as it used to be. So invest in the top tier fuel with some octane in it.
Got it. We'll do. All right. Yeah. Second question going from one extreme to the other. My sort of
run around car is a 2008 smart car and have had the TPMS light has come on. And unfortunately,
with that car around where I live, the only repair shop that has the equipment, I guess, to
fix that, you have to take it to a Mercedes dealer, which is, you know, ridiculously expensive. So
bottom line is it probably costs more to fix it than it would, uh, to the cars worth. My question
is, do you know, is there a way to bypass or turn off the TPMS system itself within the computer?
Bandaid over the dash. And no, there's, there's no way to turn it off because you're, you're
defeating a federally mandated safety device. That would be like saying, is there a way I can just
turn my airbags off and take them out of the car? Or can I, can I remove my backup camera that
came with the car, even though it's all still attached, you know, taking the catalytic converter
off there? They're, they're pretty picky about that. So it's like, it's been broke for 10 years.
It's like, I can't remove it. It's broke. It's just, it's subconsciously telling you,
check the air pressure. I would bet though, in that car, it's probably just a bad tire sensor,
which any tire store can do. You drive it in, they scan it, say, oh, the left rear's got a bad
sensor. I just put one in Doug's yesterday. He had a tire sensor was out and swap the tire sensor
and the light went off, Doug. Well, how about that? See, it's just a sensor. It had nothing to do
with the car. You don't have to go to Mercedes. A tire store should be able to do it off the,
on the other end of the tire store scans it and they say all four of your sensors are in perfect
shape. Yeah, then you're in trouble because then it's got to go to the dealer for, find out why
it's not communicating through the wireless bus. But more than likely, it's just a bad sensor in
one of the wheels. So they should be able to replace it and just same cost as replacing any
other tire sensor on a GM car or Ford, Chrysler, whatever, and it should work.
Well, yeah, I did have it in my shop at one point and they had bad problems connecting it
because I guess the Mercedes software was proprietary or something.
Trying to get to their magic one that most of the stores have nowadays at a tire store.
Yeah, they just scan the tires with this thing and it does, it does cars I've never even heard of
in there. I'm like, what is that? I'm quite confident it scans BMW type products. And there
are any of them. I was looking through his yesterday, BMW, Mercedes, Ford, Ferrari was in
there, Lamborghini was, I mean, all these things that are like, this is weird. And just, and all
these Asian cars that Chinese built things I've never heard of. At the end of the day, it's a
antenna at a frequency. Right. That's what it's doing. It's, it's, it's just reading what's being
put out by the tire. That's why that one can communicate with that. But when you get into
the data bus in the car, that's where you get a little more proprietary and you need the special
tools. But start with, do I have signal at the four tires? From a, from a tire, I mean,
tire store, the shop might not have that, might not be able to read that with their stuff. I mean,
if they're not a tire shop, if you went to a brand name tire store, they're going to have that tool
or else they're probably not able to exist very well nowadays. Right. John, thanks very much for
the call. Good luck. And we didn't even make any, we just put it in the F 150 and drive it to the
store. We didn't make any of those jokes. Right. I'm just kind of surprised that that was the
contrast of vehicles. Big V eight truck and smart car. I've known two people that have owned smart
cars. Get off such a fuel and they love them. They loved them and wished that that's the way cars
went. Like it was gonna, they really did love both people. I know that drove loved them. The
end of the hood show podcast is brought to you by exclusive sponsors like Berkeley one classics
celebrating 50 years. Your key to collector car insurance and by car dash part.com with over 200
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When I got my first specialty car, I called up my agent and had him put it under my regular
auto policy and had very minimal coverage, even dropping coverage in the storage months
to keep the cost down. That was before I met the professionals at Berkeley one classics.
I'm Shannon Nordstrom host of the under the hood show with Russ Evans and Chris Carter.
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It's time to get back under the hood with our motor medics. 866-594-4150. That's the number to
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One Classics and Universal Technical Institute, UTI.edu. Let's go to Florida and talk to Rosa.
Rosa, you're on the under the hood show. What can we do for you?
Yes, I was coming in because I have a Toyota Lan Cruiser 1984 and I drove for about an hour flat
terrain and after that I had the idea I was fired by the sea so I decided to go hold it down if I
went to automatic car wash, soft car wash and got that hose and the whole car happened down
underneath you know and then I was done with that and I was leaving and I go out the road,
first light is red, I stop and the moment I'm going to go start and I mean I put my first
it's a manual car and boom I have this big explosion in the car I have no idea where it came
from, I thought maybe it got hit but nothing was moving and but look behind the car, the guy on the
car on the car behind was just mellow and I'm like okay what was that about and so I kept driving,
the car drove perfectly, I got home, I parked and I was you know taking it out the next day so it
was nice if there was any oil on the bottom on the cement you know I opened it up I got underneath
looking then the transmission looking under the motor if there was any hose that had popped out
if there was oil all over the place if I had gas you know if I had a big mission there was
nothing to be seen and the car was driving perfectly but I'm just curious what could that be
that it was a bee I mean I was with my head hurt in the next day it was a big explosion.
Exploding tree and in Florida that would be bad. Did you feel it as well as hear it?
I'm in Hawaii, I'm not in Florida, the number is from Florida but I'm not there.
You're in Hawaii? Oh cool. So driving to the sea is all around you.
Oh yeah there's no skates so things rust away here. Which island are you on?
Maui. Okay awesome I don't know we don't we don't get a lot of calls from Hawaii.
No but we've had the ones we've had have been all from Maui, the girl with the Toyota truck
with the brakes she's from Maui. This one from Maui we had one other from there.
Have you been able to hold the rust back on yours with your vigilant cleaning?
Well it's a new creature here on the island this one didn't come so long ago so we're trying and
for that you know we're hosting and doing that but I think next time I'm not gonna do it after
I drove for an hour and the motor is super hot you know and then I'm throwing cold water at it
I don't think it liked it but so when it yeah it hasn't been here long enough to
suffer the Maui rust. Yeah and that's crazy you don't think with us we think about rust with
where we're at it's because of the salt on the road it has nothing to do with the temperature
it's the salt. Oh because of the snow. Right and down there and people on the coast yeah you can
get cars that rust out really bad Florida California. Never could be. Well Florida mainly not California
but yeah you get that rust and we have seen cars with very rusty in from Hawaii pictures of them
that's it's crazy. The rough skins roughed rust out. Yeah the outsides. People put them by the side
of the road and then you have the whole jungle growing up though. The Maui wrap. Yeah so when
this vehicle when it did this did it did it shake did it when it made that bang did it feel like
somebody hit the car. It didn't go forward didn't go backward nothing was just a field explosion.
But you felt that you felt that bang though. I mean it was a big explosion. Yeah I bet if you
washed it like that being an 84 it probably got water in up under the engine and while it was running
it probably shut the ignition off just for a second if it caused it to not spark for a couple
seconds then on an 84 the engine's going to keep turning building up gas in the muffler and then
when the spark comes back on it's going to explode. You know we used to do that with with cars you'd
get an old car with a carburetor you'd you'd rev it up really good turn the key off and right before
it would die you'd turn it back on again and it would go bang and really loud and you could blow
the muffler right off a car if you weren't careful or even when cranking one over in the winter if
it wouldn't start you crank and crank and crank and then it would fire once and blow the muffler
off the car and then it would start up. So I think that's what happened is you probably got water in
under there and it caused it to to misfire. I would check really carefully that distributor cap
and and all that stuff for a tune-up if it's an 84 and hadn't been looked at in a long time it's
probably due for a tune-up make sure none of that is is bare and and wearing out because that could
cause a problem later of it not running at all. So I would definitely go through look for tune-up
things. Tune-up things a distributor distributor cap rotor plug wires spark plugs just the basic
Is there anything is that nor is that something that what she experienced is it something that
could happen and not be something to worry about oh yeah I don't I think it's just a probably a
tune-up thing you're getting moisture in somewhere you in stuff under the hood because of age you'll
see some some wires that are bare or something in there but I'm really thinking that yeah that
that tune-up stuff check and make sure you know that the coil is is intact there's no cracks
that around in the wires and things where where water could get you know and the other thing
you do too is if you go through that same car wash and immediately pull off to the side as soon
as you get out open up the hood see what's wet just look and see what you can see that has gotten
wet right and say oh look that's wet and it looks like water could get into it now you run the risk
of it it's not starting again once you shut it are you ready for the note yeah ready okay well
if if it hasn't been done the things that are common in a tune-up and that's still a pretty
traditional motor in that I believe so you'd have a distributor cap rotor the the spark plug
wires and just make sure everything is is sealed and tight and you know you should start there I
something got it sure sounds like that's what happened yeah for sure right moisture got into
something it shouldn't have and especially since nothing has happened since you said you did a
good you the inspection you described was perfect you were you looked at everything look
underneath at the muffler if you haven't looked at that yet make sure that didn't break open come off
yeah or yeah pop oh you would have heard it now it would sound different it doesn't sound different
so probably not rosa thanks very much for the call good luck and that is uh that's
the the vehicle you should drive in hawai right an 84 land cruiser is pretty I mean maybe
that we just got in we just got in an 85 land cruiser that has already seen the rust here yeah
it's a it's it's a lower end one that's going to probably find its way eventually into the
self-service but they definitely have some spots that get some rust and this particular one was
right from around our area here in South Dakota and but like I mean if you're going to go to
Hawaii and get it you should have a land cruiser rack maybe on the top and a snorkel just so it looks
seems like a fj would be yeah that jeep would be pretty good something or yeah a toyota fj yeah
all of it all of it and then if you and then what do you do you get the cockroaches out of it right
isn't that what you do when you go down when I go to Hawaii I make sure I rent something that's full
of cockroaches that just go back everywhere go back on our channel and just look up cockroach
under the hood show youtube channel you hear that it's on the homepage yeah there you go
it's our trailer rosa thanks very much for the call 866-594-4150 that's the number to reach us here
at the under the hood show let's go now to the opposite of Hawaii north dakota and talk to brad
you're on the under the hood show brad what can we do for you yeah I was wondering on mid 80s
whether it's early to mid 80s the Mazda B 2000 B 2200 pickups they've got two that are two
wheel drive in the bodies they're in excellent shape no rust no frame rust and then they've got a 87
that's a full wheel drive and all three have the manual five speeds just wondering if there's
something better than that four-cylinder engine that they had in there to swap out and since their
manuals maybe might be as simple as you know a different bell housing or adapter bell housing for
a different engine and if it's simpler to keep them carb rated I keep them carb rated I guess
there's there's not a lot of real there's not a lot of real simple stuff for those
but they there are some kits out there to put in four-cylinder ecotec
GM engines turbo or non-turbo you can put in there like the solstice engine with the turbo
you can get that kind of engine put that in there and get the adapter and then you could use your
manual transmission or automatic whatever you wanted but that's that that is going to be the way
probably the easiest way you know because you're still going to have to have the room of the four
cylinder then there's some conversions with hoses and stuff but if you if you look those up
some of the forums might have it on the internet but youtube's got some pictures of vehicles like
that that have been done where they've converted them over a lot of people are converting them over
v8s and which is just I mean it's crazy it's a lot of work for what you're doing and a lot of weight
to put on that chassis yeah you just wanted to to run real nice so you know I would think if I wanted
a lot of power I'd be going with a turbo four cylinder if I wanted just good fuel economy and
decent power I'd go with a standard eco-tech four cylinder that's probably going to double your
horsepower almost just with that compared to the factory one I think that factory one's probably
what 120 horse can't be much yeah and the eco check probably you'd better gas while it's too
yeah yeah when you get a little more horsepower and torque and efficiency you're you're going to gain
I need to quiz you a little bit about these trucks because when you said when you said 87
Mazda b2600 4x4 I perked up a little bit I I don't know the last time that I saw a four-wheel drive
Mazda b2600 we had a number of those we sold as repairables and part of that back when I was
you know well when they were in their prime and I haven't I have not thought about a 2600
Mazda four-wheel drive until you just said that right now in probably 15 years yeah we had one
in our shop about five years ago and it didn't stay long I was like no it needs too much you know
okay I don't want to fix it so how long have you had this truck you said it's been with you for a
while are you are you acquiring them or what's the scoop well I've got I've got a couple of them
there just in storage right now till I the one needs an engine overhaul the one two-wheel drive
that the 87 four-wheel drive also needs an overhaul engine but that one the previous owner had a
carburetor off of the forklift it was propane and he had a propane tank in the back and that's
how he drove it around on that 87 Mazda four-wheel drive is this a a desire a quest or just your
board what's going on here I gotta know why you have Mazda trucks kind of kind of a little both
and I thought you know easy to easy to park easy to get around and they were inexpensive to purchase
and I just thought if a person can resurrect them and not break the bank you know it'd be kind of a
neat little like you said you don't see a lot of them roaming around I would venture to bet if
that 87 b2600 is not rusty and is in good condition that you could put that in the right place and
you could get some pretty good money out of it I think oh yeah yeah I guess a lot of those
those 80s and early 90s models Nissan's you know they're all a lot of frame rust and a lot of
problems with rust on those but these three that I've got no problems with rust at all
that's pretty neat and the 87 I'm gonna talk about that one again is cool but ironically on the break
I had read a text from my first cousin and he's looking for a valve cover for a Mazda B2000
what because and from the 80s because it's the engine in their forklift that they use at their
shop and they're looking for a valve cover oh yeah so I'm serious as a heart attack today I will show
you a text from 15 minutes ago that is that's weird so now once again we just talked about syndrome
we just talked about this that's what the B stands for bottom minehawk in the b2000 we had bottom
minehawk syndrome being talked about at the break and then this happens what is going on that's
weird right uh we gotta go we the colors on I mean do we just go with one color and all three
trucks like qualify sure a Berkeley one classic if you if you restore or made these
car show cars or just occasional drivers I sure think they'd qualify of course the professionals
at Berkeley one would decide that right with their people but I definitely think it qualifies I
believe who goes first go ahead three I have a strong feeling I'm let's do the four-wheel drive
okay I have a strong feeling that it's four colors silver silver on the four okay four
wheel drive let's just go four wheel drive then we'll find out the rest this is I'm going brown
copper brown on the four by four it's maroon maroon all right what color is the four by four
the 87 four wheel drive is black and it's got the um the gray uh striping on it that
Mazda and four by four I'm even more intrigued by this truck now I'm more intrigued by this truck
than I was when you said the name I assume one of the other ones is white because that was like the
just yeah you know when I get when I'm traveling today and if I go look at my phone when I'm
sitting at the airport I'm going to be starting to be fed Mazda B2600s on my feet I guarantee
they're going to be on there I have not talked I have not talked about one of them trucks
for the well 15 minutes ago texting my cousin about a mouth crevver uh-huh Brad thanks very
much for the call good luck all right hey thanks so much that makes me want that makes me want to
get a little old pickup that well we would drive those trucks and Russ you had them too but I just
I could the feeling of driving on me and the tinny doors when you close them and uh the the smell
I mean all of it it was a cult following in the 80s I mean we had so in the 80s came about this
thing let's do the California customs and they sold convertible kits you could hack the top off
with a chop saw and and then you bolt on covers they made basically that went over where you made
the jagged edge on the back where you cut it and then on the bottom of the top and you could remove
the top it was had latches and then they made soft tops and all sorts of stuff and
it was crazy because you could afford those trucks they were they were very affordable
whether they were brand new or just a few years old you get a good running truck but it was it
was cheap and then the late 70s the couriers and the you know my buddy had that um so govia had that
because brother Alex had that courier and I was like tell him for say it's like there's no such
thing as I was like Dave tell me because yeah it's pretty nice well we just had a courier get
completely destroyed by a monster truck with the uh oh yeah ktwb crow so I hope it was drunk I have a
picture of it in the back when we after the crushing I do have a picture do we didn't do a lot of
convertible tops on pickup spec that the b-2000s did we up here up here you didn't have you guys had
Shannon probably doesn't remember it but right after I moved here my neighbor had a sundowner
a Toyota oh did they make a Mazda sundowner with the factory removal no I'm talking about the Toyota
it was a like a Datsun and it had a a big conversion kit on it lots of fiberglass flares on the fender
in the front and like a little wing on the camper top in the back and it sat across the road over
there when you first did the across the road thing and I was like that looks like Datos truck
but they must have been a kit that they sold a lot of places but they had a lot of those too with
all the things then yeah they had the sundowner that had the top that came off and I think most of
those fell to the rust Dodge Dakota did that later they did the Dakota with the v8 and the top
those are probably still sought after I haven't seen one of those in a year but
uh those trucks they were mainly southern warmer climates I don't think you had
one I when I came up here I didn't hear of anybody that they're like a convertible truck
why would you have that I mean they had they had teatops we had you could buy the teatops for the
the old old body Chevy trucks like the 73 through 87 you could get the teatop roof you know like the
the NASCAR picture you have over there they sold those and I haven't seen one or you know like
somebody's like hey look I have parts for when he's nothing in probably 30 years but they were
around and they were those cool stuff I have a theory question talking about collectible cars
and stuff with like these trucks specifically 80s b2600 with now small trucks coming back
and even more coming like Toyota is going to bring back a smaller truck smaller than the
uh yeah yeah and I think the Dakota has been talked about coming back and they're
they're making the the maverick and those does that make does that have any effect on smaller
older trucks because right now if you see a smaller older truck it is remarkable how little it
looks it looks like it's from a different it's like a smart car yeah completely does that change
any of that value or any of that sought after ability if it if those small trucks come back
yeah because people start thinking trucks then they get a little well but it really doesn't
look weird it really become back of Mazda made a b2000 or b2600 look what happened when Ford said
hey we're going to make a new body Bronco it's a it's a new retro Bronco within a month of them
announcing that also an old Bronco started disappearing the prices started going up and
then we saw him the first year at SEMA and Barrett Jackson and we're like to $90,000 for a 66 Bronco
what are they thinking and it's pretty stock and then they had the brand new Bronco for sale to look
it's one of the first ones made and let's sell this for 150 grand and then now any Bronco is
brings a lot of money if you look in the you know the realistic market like here if you were to go
down and your front your neighbors got one for sale it's still going to probably be 60 grand
for a decent one you know and then on the auction they're bringing 80 to 100 or maybe a little more
and some of the old C10 trucks so the 60s and 70s are big big box like why well because we have
new stuff that's retro you know yeah I changed the subject I was when we had calls earlier on
TPMS sensors yeah and I have had a bag of trailer TPMS sensors in my truck since I bought it and I
do pull snowbill trailer every once in a while and I've always been going to put them in there
and I finally got it done and last night I was manually programming them it was extremely easy
but the hardest part of course is you got to break down your wheels and put the TPMS sensors in there
but now on my truck it's a 22 GM or Chevy truck in the hauling mode I'm able to see actively
the pressures of the tires on my four trailer four snowbill trailer tires okay and it communicates
with the factory system you you initialize it just if you do the manual mode it's just simply
lowering the air in the tire a little bit until the horn honks once you go into programming mode
and you you sequence it one two down the driver's side from front to back go around the back of the
trailer three four so that you know what they're numbered at and what a slick system and now on the
one I didn't do it right right away but I lowered more air out of it than I needed to
and so now I'm getting the same low tire light on my dash that you would have been and it says
trailer okay and so I think for trailering that is a really cool feature it is it is cool I got
that on mine but I don't have didn't put them in anything yeah huge safety advantage yes yeah
because if I yeah if I'm going down the road trailers they all you see them with flats all
the time on the side I'd like to catch that and know that that tire is going down before it's
shredded and laying on the side of the road and tearing my fender up and everything else
because that's what'll happen that's the next step that aluminum fender gets tore off but
I was just gonna say if anybody's got that system and you pull a trailer and you haven't done that yet
it's worth the time I've just I've had it for four years now and I just finally did it but
it's really really well you did go a year of snowmobile with just yeah it's true one trip I've
always been gonna do it and then this was the time to do it and very impressed how simple it was
and and how good it works have you ridden your snowmobile this winter at all yet 60 miles when
our early snow came I wanted to be able to make the one that's right was able to make the miracle
run to jasper minnesota on the on the snow trackers trail they got a great trail and it was fun for
a week all right no aftershow today we've all got uh things we have to do so uh if you're
on one of our channels right now watching on youtube and you posted questions you
you'll get to those later right yep there we go thanks everybody for subscribing we went from
just hit 9 000 last week to what 9 500 almost there so keep helping us push past 10 000
that's a magic number for now so and I got one of my lift my friends in the industry that's a
listener mike swift just sent me a picture of a a coffee brown mazda b2604 by four that's for sale
oh oh looks pretty nice thanks everybody with russ evans this is shannon orts from thanking you
for tuning into the norters under the hood show have a great day and remember ptla the opinions
heard on this program based on the many years of experience of russ and shannon are offered for
entertainment value only and as a guide to your repair needs no claim to repair or cause is given
or implied always consult with your own certified technician and follow all safety procedures before
attempting any repair to be a part of the show call 866 594 4150 find out more by visiting under
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About this episode
Listeners are treated to a lively discussion filled with automotive expertise and humor as the hosts tackle listener questions about classic car upgrades and modern engine swaps. A standout moment involves a caller seeking advice on converting a 1976 Chevy pickup to electronic fuel injection. The hosts share personal experiences, weigh the pros and cons of sticking with the original engine versus swapping in a modern LS engine, and provide practical tips on parts and installation. The episode blends technical insights with entertaining banter, making it a rich resource for DIY enthusiasts.
How to add fuel injection to a 76 Chevy C10? Why does my 2020 F150 ping uphill? How to fix a Smart Car TPMS My 84 Landcruiser made a loud bang after a Hawaii car wash Mid 80s Mazda Trucks. California Convertible trucks
