Old Engines & Pig Fat in Restorations | F_cking Cars Podcast Ep 13
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61:29
Company
Rough Country
Rough Country is a brand that makes parts to lift trucks and SUVs higher off the ground. They offer products that help improve how these vehicles perform off-road.
Term
lift kits
Lift kits are parts you can add to a truck or SUV to make it sit higher off the ground. This helps with off-road driving and lets you put bigger tires on your vehicle.
Car
Ford Raptor
The Ford Raptor is a special version of the Ford F-150 truck that is built for off-road driving. It's known for being tough and powerful, making it a favorite among truck lovers.
Car
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV made for off-roading. People love it for adventures like driving on sand dunes or jumping over obstacles.
Term
suspension
Suspension is the part of a vehicle that helps absorb bumps in the road and keeps the car stable while driving. It includes things like springs and shock absorbers.
Term
Coyote engine
The Coyote engine is a powerful V8 engine made by Ford, commonly found in their Mustang sports cars. It's recognized for its strong performance and sound.
Term
Windsor
Windsor is a type of engine made by Ford. It's popular for its power and is often used in custom cars.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a famous sports car from the United States, known for its speed and style. The 1969 version is especially popular for its cool design and powerful engine.
Term
roll cage
A roll cage is a strong metal frame inside a car that helps keep people safe if the car rolls over. It's often used in race cars and custom builds for extra protection.
Concept
restoration
Restoration is when you fix up an old car to make it look and work like it did when it was new. This can include painting it, fixing the engine, and replacing old parts.
Term
VIN number
A VIN number is like a car's fingerprint. It's a special code that helps identify your car and includes details about where and when it was made.
Car
Bristol Bullet
The Bristol Bullet is a special sports car made by a small British company called Bristol. It looks stylish and is designed to be fast and fun to drive, making it a favorite among car lovers who like unique and rare vehicles.
Part
Edelbrock aluminum
Edelbrock makes parts that help cars perform better. Aluminum parts are lighter than other materials, which can make the car faster and more efficient.
Part
torque thrusts
Torque Thrusts are a type of wheel that many car enthusiasts like to use. They have a classic look and are often seen on older cars or muscle cars.
Car
Ford Escort
The Ford Escort is a small car that was made by Ford for many years. It's often seen as a simple and budget-friendly option for getting around.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The 1969 Camaro is a classic car made by Chevrolet that many people love for its powerful engine and cool design. It's a popular choice among car enthusiasts.
Term
unibody
A unibody is a way of building cars where the body and the frame are all one piece. This makes the car lighter and helps it handle better on the road.
Car
Plymouth Barracuda
The Plymouth Barracuda is an early American muscle car that came out in the 1960s. It was known for its sporty design and powerful engines, making it popular among car enthusiasts.
Car
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a type of car made by Chevrolet, known for being a luxury vehicle. The 1973 version is part of its second generation and has a unique look and feel.
Part
epoxy
Epoxy is a strong glue or coating used in cars to fix parts or protect surfaces. It's very durable and helps keep things together.
Part
pressure pot
A pressure pot is a tool used to spray paint on cars. It keeps the paint under pressure so it goes on smoothly and evenly, making the car look nice.
Part
coilovers
Coilovers are special parts of a car's suspension that help it handle better and can be adjusted to change how high the car sits. They combine a spring and a shock absorber into one piece.
Term
nitrogen charged
Nitrogen charging means filling the shocks with nitrogen gas, which helps them work better and last longer by keeping the oil from bubbling up inside.
Term
psi
PSI means pounds per square inch, which is a way to measure how much pressure is in things like tires or shocks. Higher numbers mean more pressure.
Term
nitrogen tank
A nitrogen tank holds nitrogen gas, which can be used to fill tires. Using nitrogen instead of regular air can help keep your tires inflated longer and prevent moisture buildup inside.
Term
shocks
Shocks are parts of a car's suspension that help control how the car moves over bumps. They make the ride smoother and help keep the tires in contact with the road.
Term
rust proofing
Rust proofing helps keep cars from getting rusty, especially in places where roads are salted in winter. It involves putting a special coating on the car's metal parts to protect them from moisture and damage.
LIVE
But the guy started it by mixing stuff in his bathtub.
There's like pig fat in the original mixture, I guess.
You'd like to be stimulated?
Stimulate me.
["Middle-Earth"]
Hey, f***ing cars!
So what's happening, dude?
The truck is on the ground.
I did a test drive yesterday and my son and I just went tearing through medians and doing burnouts around corners and stuff.
It feels like it's finally where it needs to be.
I could eventually get a stiffer tender spring, but it's totally functional right now.
It felt good and stable on-road, off-road, so that's a win.
I got to...
It felt nice and cushiony.
It was pretty soft.
I mean, there's always like...
It seems like with those, the faster you're going, the smoother they get.
Because the shots are kind of stiff.
And so you need like a lot of action for them to start making you float.
But it felt better than stock.
Stock was real like, lumber-y.
I don't know how to explain it, but just like a brick.
Especially when you jack the stock suspension up, it doesn't really work well.
Yeah, it was awful.
You never do.
It wasn't Rough Country's fault that the truck was as rough as it was, but it didn't help.
Because I think there needs to be inexpensive lift kits for entry-level people.
And that's exactly what was on my truck.
It was like $700-800.
It was going for it.
It's just not going to be like the best functioning shit.
It's just going to get you up in the air.
Yeah.
And not break.
I consider it like a gateway drug.
Well, I can see that.
It's just the...
Some of the gateway pickups around here kind of...
Well, it's up to you.
To me, the coolest pickups that are driving around are Raptors, because they're the only things that are kind of cool.
Yeah, we've got quite a few Raptors around here.
I like them.
I'm not a Ford guy, but I like them.
Have you seen people trying to jump them stock?
Like out in the desert?
Totally fucking wreck them.
That's really cool.
That's why I want to keep my Bronco on the ground, because I had an idea to jump at once.
And I'm like, yeah, that's probably not a good idea if I wreck that shit.
I saw one video of the guy like send off a dune.
I think they call it like a witch's eye or something.
They're like ones that send you off on a really bad lunch and ended up going nose over and like onto the roof and like somersaulting.
It was very bad.
Was it like his buddy watching and he fucking starts running after him?
Yeah, the camera drops right after they crash and then full sun.
Yeah, I remember.
Yeah, I definitely saw that video.
That's crazy.
I've seen them doing smaller jumps and having a hard time too.
But I think there's a lot of variables and jumping a truck that maybe you should take into account before you start jumping your $100,000 truck.
Yeah, yeah, probably not a genuinely good idea.
I got like 10,000 live stream views yesterday while I was putting the suspension back together.
And my favorite part of the whole thing was somebody said they were like, oh, rich boy problems as I was putting it together.
Rich boy problems.
And then they were like, that's at least $150,000 truck and somebody's like 100 and then somebody, you know, then they're like maybe 75 and then somebody's like for sure 40 grand in that truck.
And I'm like, I'll sell it to you for 100 no problem.
I'm like, you guys, you're trying to be insulting, but I'm taking it as a compliment.
I was like rich boy problems.
I had one guy comment on one of my videos and it was like, all those cars and no technicians, something about get something about getting to work or something.
What the fuck is this guy even talking to some of these people, you know, everybody's an expert.
Oh yeah, and somebody didn't like that.
There's a coyote in this Mustang.
You should have put a Windsor in it because it looks better.
Yeah.
What a Windsor.
Yeah, pretty rad.
I was just looking at ring brothers.
What is that kingpin?
That's a coyote, isn't it?
Yeah, almost.
There's a lot almost.
That was a coyote.
What's that?
That's the Martin or whatever that they just did.
That's a coyote in that.
There's a lot of them that they previously done that just had coyotes.
I don't think the black car is at the black Mustang.
Yeah, black 69 I think.
Yeah, that thing's pretty red.
The scoops in it are fucking cool.
The tail panel on it had me.
Yeah, because the scoops go through and then empty behind the,
but behind the tail lights and then the, yeah,
the tail pan kind of is the exit.
That's really, really cool.
Yeah.
And the tail lights look like a, like a stock three tail light,
but there actually is space between all of them.
Super cool.
Yeah.
That's so cool.
That's like the coolest part about that car that,
or about that, that build is that feature to me.
It's like everything else is like definitely really,
really cool ring brother stuff.
But that, that's the Martin they did. It was really cool.
That thing was way, way, way more in depth though.
You know, it's way more custom of a car.
Yeah.
I mean, even on what's saying, it's pretty nuts too.
I thought it was pretty cool that the whole car had a roll cage,
but you couldn't really see it.
But my buddy Trent from Midwest,
he's got a Mustang that he's doing this gen,
the first gen fastback that he's got a similar idea.
He's going to try and sync the roll cage into the car.
It's not stripped. I think it's not undoable.
When he's starting with, I mean, he's got all brand new parts.
You know, he's not starting with a rusty car or anything like that.
So it's a lot easier to adapt things and make it,
just put it where you want it to go, you know,
how are the prices on those new bodies?
Are they like reflective of the price of manufacturing?
Are they reflective of the value of, you know, like a certain car?
I mean, like, like this 69, you can get a 69 body for like 18 grand,
which I don't think is bad.
Now granted, you're still going to have,
you're going to have to fit pretty much everything because it's after market.
But you're still, I'm still,
we changed almost everything in this car and we still have some factory stuff.
As far as firewall for locations and stuff,
but we're still going to have to fit everything.
So if you're changing it, you're changing, it doesn't really matter.
If you're changing it, you're going to have to do everything.
So, I mean, it's either you do it on a panel,
you replace or you do it on a whole body, you replace, you know,
it's just another body part to me.
Yeah, 18 grand seems like a lot of money though for some sheet metal.
Yeah, but what if your car, let's say your car is worth 140 when it's done
and the body, like the value, the VIN number value,
you know, that car done is worth 140.
What do you do when the, when the car is almost junk?
Yeah, I get that. I get as far as replacement parts,
but I'm saying if you're going to start a build just using a new body panels,
it feels like, it feels like you're paying more for 69 Mustang hype
than you are for parts manufacturing.
You understand?
But that's, that's 18 grand if you want stock suspension and stuff,
you know, suspension.
No, no, no, no, no, no, that's if you want stocks,
you can see utilizing the stock suspension locations and things like that.
If like what Trent's doing, he's, he's making a chassis, making floors, you know,
so he's just buying like unicides and the top parts,
which you're definitely not going to have 18 grand in, you know, I think you probably
with just outside sheet metal and then some of the unicide stuff,
you probably have like 10 grand probably, which doesn't, it's, you know,
that's all brand new outside sheet metal.
I have a personal vendetta with 67 fastbacks that I'm going to need to deal with at some point.
No, I just feel like, no, I need one.
Why?
I think it'd be cool to do, I think it'd be cool to get a coupe car because I like the way the windows,
the quarter, the quarter windows go into the quarter and then make it that a fastback
instead of having, because I don't know to the, to the fast, the 67 fastbacks have that,
that scoop window in the back or is it just straight down?
I can't remember.
Straight down.
I think it'd be cool to have a fastback with that scoop window because 69 side of that scoop window.
Let me check my, my bullet hot wheel here. Yeah, no, no scoop window.
That's, so that's kind of the blend between, yeah.
That'd be cool because the 67 coupes have that, that scoop window.
And then if you utilize that scoop window and then put, cut the roof off and put a fastback roof on that,
be a little different.
I'm just staring at that 67 coupe too long, I think.
I just want to build my dad's car because that's the whole thing that infected me.
And it was just like a, you know, 67 fastback, four screen, like bullet car,
suffered 67 out of 68, but, uh, and then he had a cobra jet shaker on it,
which was kind of oddball, but he like fit it like a factory one built to 89,
all Edelbrock aluminum. He had, he had stock hubcap steelies in the front
and then torque thrusts in the back, wide torque thrusts in the back.
It was just super like period correct 70s.
It's like that though.
I would. I don't, I don't know that I would do the corporate jet, but I don't know.
I think I would do pretty much exactly dad's car just, just to have it sitting in the corner and look at it.
We give them suspension wise and all that stuff.
I think so. I think sometimes you want to drive something that reminds you how nice cars are now.
If you don't have to drive it all the time.
I don't think I would ever stop.
I'm not going to lie. I think there are rattle boxes.
Oh yeah. It's a Ford escort basically.
Yeah. Remember the first time I drove the, when I worked at that, the shop that we worked at,
I would just drive in Mustangs in and out.
And then the first time I drove a 69 Camaro in comparison was like, man,
this thing feels like a Cadillac drive in it compared to Mustang,
just in like how it felt pulling in and out the power steering,
the way that there was less vibration and all that stuff.
But also I'd rather work on Mustang or just easier to work on.
I think we talked about that.
I had no idea how cheap the Mustangs were made.
And I don't know if the word is simple or whatever until I worked there
because I had only worked on Camaros where you have like a pretty heavy duty double A arm suspension.
Whereas you go to the front end of a Mustang and it's like tiny, tiny little arms and I don't know.
It's just very, very cheesy.
But it's like the Datsun suspension. There's like nothing to it.
It's just a minimal, lightweight, cheap.
I do think that there will be a comparison to that.
You know, it was the unibody, the first unibody.
I mean, it's one of the only unibody, the first unibody muscle car really, isn't it?
I would think, right?
Yeah. I mean, really, isn't it the first muscle car?
I guess more parts of, you know, like a barracuda is pretty early too, though, so you can make an argument.
Yeah.
The early barracudas were unibody cars, I can't remember.
I know the later ones were unfortunate.
I think they were.
I don't think they were making waves like the Mustang did.
No, those, those, those weird back windowed, those earlier ones with the weird back windows.
Those are kind of neat looking.
Yeah, I like them.
Talking with one of them, you know, cutting one off to be cool.
Didn't.
I know Radrides did one because it's on my toolbox, but I don't know.
I thought Ring Brothers did one.
I have no idea.
Radrides did one, Blowfish, and then they made it a land speed car.
I think it's sweet.
It's sweet.
That's true.
They're rad.
The rides.
What are you going to do?
Yeah, yeah.
So what have you been working on this week?
Oh, yeah, I got the scoops welded in both sides of the car.
Which is awesome.
It's kind of a big deal because it was outside welds.
Anyways, I got both sides done.
The other side I have the drop off done.
Behind the rear wheel.
So we had to extend that down to make everything flow with the car.
And then I ran into a problem with the balance.
It's getting the flow to go through the balance.
So I added some on the balance and I have all that welded in now.
The drop off on the inside of that.
I said to redo it because if you drop the quarter panel down there,
you got to read, you know, have to seal it off from the inside.
So I had to redo drop off.
It was just easier to make a new one like a ton faster.
And then we did because the rockers and the quarter panels come down a little
farther.
The wheel openings extended down a little farther to meet that.
So there's not a gap in the way for the breathing.
So now I'm just kind of doing that.
And I started getting the scoop welded in on this side.
Now I have to do the back of the scoop to the wheel opening.
Get the wheel openings done or bottom of the real openings done.
And then get this outside quarter panel piece in the back.
And then the majority of the fabricated is all welded in them.
Just a lot.
A lot.
Yeah. I mean,
getting stuff made and like clean code into place and making it look like,
oh, this is what it's going to look like. There's one thing,
but then getting it in and finished is.
I mean, I can say that sentence every time we have a podcast.
Boy is it hard.
And it seems like most people like to get things to the,
you know, shaped roughly and clean code in because it looks good on the
Graham and then, and then it's like that forever for some,
but they have somebody else take care of it.
Yeah.
There's a lot of non glorious welds to be done and shaping.
Oh, it's so like, yeah, some of it is just like,
none of it is glamorous at all.
I mean, some of it might be to somebody, but.
I don't know.
You know,
it's one of those things I don't love, but I accept.
Yeah. Let me go.
That's, um, Tammy got the 73 Monte Carlo,
the front stuff underside prepped and then all messed up.
So I got the epoxy black epoxy, the front sub and the bottom side of that car.
So it's pretty nice.
It's a pressure pot.
Yeah.
Pressure pot love.
Tammy's like trying to learn how to like the ins and outs of the pressure
pot and, you know, the ball valve in the bottom, like making sure that that
stays clean. Otherwise you pretty much want to throw it against the wall.
Yeah.
So yeah, it was pretty interesting.
She's always wanting to learn more things about, you know,
she's picking up sometimes she tries to learn a little bit too much.
And then, you know, you lose, you lose a little bit when you're trying to
take in all that stuff, you know, too much.
Yeah. She's hopefully as soon as the gun will be in her hands and she'll be
spraying the stuff, but sometimes you need to see it before you attempt it,
you know, so she, you know, she'll get everything prepped and then taped up
and get it ready and then we'll communicate back and forth as far as what
we're looking for. One can start spraying and then she'll usually just punch out,
suit up and then watch me to, you know, apply stuff and why did you do this
and sometimes there's like, we're yelling at each other in the booths to hear each
other. Why'd you do that? What, you know, what'd you do here and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, it's not every day's new adventure.
Yeah. It's nice when you have somebody you can watch do it, especially, you know,
like in person, we don't all get the luxury.
I remember first time somebody gave me a primer gun and was like, prime that.
It's like, fucking show me first.
I don't know what I'm doing.
And then first time block sanding or like, he's just like, take this block and sand it
in all directions. What the fuck does that mean?
It's like, this is what he told me to do, man.
That's every direction.
Yeah. Thanks for the guidance.
Yeah. There's definitely a lot of people who want you to suffer because they suffered.
Yeah.
I try every time I had.
I try not to perpetuate that, but I've definitely been at the around that a lot.
Yeah.
Yeah, I kind of sympathize with the youth in the shops because they don't they.
I was I was that kid and never shop, you know, just fucking do this with the floor, shut the fuck up and you don't like it.
Fuck out, you know, now the status quo has changed and now you got to make sure the youth are feeling good about themselves.
Well, I think a lot of that I mean, it needs to be a status quo change in in.
They need to be the culture needs to glamorize employees a little more somehow.
And how do you do that?
I think that culture shift on that is because you can't just get another guy next week like they used to.
Right, right, right.
Everybody's looking for somebody. So how do you retain?
I mean, how do you retain the people? And that's somehow making the employee feel, I don't know, more, not more than what they are, but making sure they're valued, I guess.
But how do you do that? Everybody's got that a different version of that too.
Right.
I always tell my guys in the shop that I want them to be I want to have to pay them more money.
Like I want you to be so valuable, I have to pay you more money because that only helps everybody.
Like, I will show you anything that you can retain.
I want to make it so you are worth more money.
Most of the time.
I tell them that in the interview.
Like, most of the time, you know, they don't think I have good guys now, but it's hard to find people to keep up there into the bargain.
And the tough love has to happen still.
Yeah.
Around here, I've heard that it's more like, it's hard to get people in the door, they want a big dollar an hour to get in the door.
And then, which is almost more than what anybody else is getting paid almost all the whole time, you know.
And then once they're there for, you know, three, four weeks or whatever their intermediate period is, whatever, they want more money after that because they're, you know, they've been there.
So it's like, I get it, everybody needs to get paid, but also like this area is just doesn't have.
I don't know, to me, if you're an ATEC, you're going to run out of you, it better be the sweet spot. Otherwise, you're going to be moving to try and find a better place to work.
Yeah, there's good places here to work. It's just, you got to vibe with everybody and everything's pretty small town here, you know.
Yeah, we, I don't think it's just small town stuff though, because like I said, my friend was hiring for his body shopping on the coast and he's hiring people for two and a half times what I thought anybody would make doing body work ever.
And he can't even get applicants.
Yeah, I know. I mean, I don't know what to me, it happened.
The just the disappearance of technicians has happened so fast.
Like, it's so fast, like to where the industry is like what the fuck is happening.
Yeah, but the rate can't adjust to match it.
Yeah, you're dealing and you're dealing with a bunch of business owners that it's just it's 180 degree turn you're used to having a flood. Now you don't have anybody. It's like, what the fuck.
I don't understand how to get like some people I have customers say you need employees, get some employees and even some other shop owners say, well, you need employees and I don't have like Ethan you want to move up here.
There's not many people that could fit the bill, you know, right.
Yeah, it's I tell.
So sometimes I'll have somebody come in that like, oh, well, your guys need to do this or why aren't you telling your guys to do this and I go well, you have to understand that you don't hire guys to do the job anymore.
I'm basically parenting my employees like I have to you have to deal with personalities you got to make them feel good you almost have to make people feel like the changes they're making or their choice.
You know, because you have to build them into the good employee, like, because there's even coming out of college you don't have enough experience to just show up and start, you know, doing full start to finish body with body work.
Yeah, anywhere.
It's almost like college is the new high school. You got to have it but nobody I mean, yeah, you did it.
I don't, I don't think you need to have it and it's probably wrong of me but I have mixed feelings on whether my son should go.
I mean, it's all, it all depends on the path he wants to go if you want to be a lawyer it seems like probably a necessity.
But if you want to be in any sort of hands on field for your colleges or something.
Pretty much for years of experience will get you a lot farther.
Unless it's a college for I mean there was one I can't I don't know where I saw I didn't know if I talked to you about it all. There was a college for like concourse restoration or some shit like that.
Hmm, that I just saw pop up somewhere say Ohio or something.
Some, it was, yeah, it wasn't it wasn't on the coast or anything like that I can't remember where it was but it sounded interesting, but they sounded like they're talking about history and stuff like that too so like, they're actually talking about history
preservation stuff like that.
Probably ways to preserve factory parts I would suspect stuff like that. I mean,
you're getting up really crazy about industry that you're not making a ton of money and it's to me.
I'm in the trying to look farther down the road with this car stuff and it's, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what 20 years down the road looks like when restoration and stuff you know, it's pretty crazy.
How far it's changed, you know, from when me and you got into it, what it looks like from what it looks like then what it looks like now it's pretty crazy different, you know.
When I hit the workforce, I thought if I can make $20 an hour at some point, that's like top tier.
You'll be able to afford a house.
Now, yeah, you got kids walking in with almost no experience wanting that much just to start and you can't blame them, but I mean, yeah, what are you going to do?
Things are taking a turn.
Yes, yes.
Yeah, I'd like to find a way to
so you almost got to go back to the times where you're doing the apprenticeships with kids just getting out of high school and training them just good habits and giving them experience because I feel like a kid two years out of high school with two years of experience even from nothing
has better chance.
I can see where there is going to be a switch to that.
I mean, right now I think that that's kind of slow but I know there are some programs where you can have
I think I don't know if it's like a government kind of gives you a minimal hourly wage for
for high school or something to come but I know there was some sort of grant programs like that that you could bring somebody in but my thing is like, even if that kid is sweeping and he's a little bit like he swings us the broom a little too far like
that could be thousands of dollars in damage that a kid could and then he's he's gone and we don't even know it until somebody comes and picks it up or you know it's just like
liability I've seen way too many horse glories. Yeah, I've seen way too many I've physically seen it and heard it from other shops that things like that happening and no fucking way man.
Yeah, pretty scary.
I'd love to bring somebody in and like apprentice I think they'd be rad but
like you said liability it's fucking nuts I don't know if I would be able to do it.
I think if a guy wants to get to get rich off of it you almost have to have employees but
Spends what you want. Oh for sure.
I totally agree. I totally agree the scaling. If you want to do this and push cars out and actually go to shows regularly especially with new cars and man you want to be like a guy you have to have employees to get.
I mean, I don't think you have to have employees to be to do high end work obviously but if you want to be a shop be successful and make good decent money at this.
I think you got to have employees. It's just a scaling thing. Yeah, you can't scale 40 hours or 50 hours more than what it is. You know what I mean.
Yeah, that's talking about that cobra body guy that I mean I don't want to say too much about it by guy that makes cold bodies or whatever wants to potentially sell his business that's really no, no, no secret at all.
But you know if you're selling a part man I think that would be the sweet spot you just got to make sure you have the right markup on the part and I think that'd be pretty awesome.
Yeah, I think about that a lot I haven't found my one thing I actually did think of a product off to tell you that I've been thinking about possibly I could actually manufacture.
Let's call it passively.
I have something that could be making it for me with minimal of my time, especially repeatedly.
And it's the first time I've found a product that would be inexpensive to make wouldn't take up a ton of space, high return, you know what I mean it's hard to find that sweet spot where you can do something that's going to make money make a part that's going to make money but it doesn't take up all your time.
It's repeatable. It's in need. I mean, because I mean, let's get right almost anything you can think about you want you can go on Amazon and get or find somebody that's making it.
So it's hard to find something.
But I found a product that I was looking at that I'd want but it's, I feel like every guy that does things like I do, where you're making, you know, kind of home built or in a shop or you're doing kind of custom wild stuff, and you don't want to just buy parts off the shelf.
I feel like it would be something every guy would want to have. If you're fabricated like I am, but, you know, for the few times a year you use it you don't want to spend a bunch of money and I see the prices they're charging for these things versus what I can make it for.
And I think that it may be a good avenue. And I could even if I wanted to completely sell out or I could have it made by somebody locally, and then just sell a product.
So, I don't know.
Business is money.
Yeah, it would be, it would be all right. I'm thinking about it. I kind of feel like I should wait till I should make one, use it, prove it, you know, in a video or on the truck and then
You could still do it. You can make one, test it and do a small run of like 10, test the waters. If there's anybody else that wants to test it with you and, you know, just give them out and see if people want to help you wreck them right away.
Right.
Yeah, I think it might be something I do because I don't have enough irons on the fire already it seems.
I think we need something else, man.
You need another kid or something.
No, thank you.
One is the right number for me.
Sure, right on.
They're like cars. You know what I mean? You got 10 project cars in the yard. It's sure hard to give them all attention, you know.
Yeah, that's true. That's very true.
I am. So the coil overs for my truck, I put in and like, man, these something seems off on them. So I started doing some research.
And apparently the coil overs I bought did not come nitrogen charged.
They didn't come with a note.
They can have oil in them, but they didn't have any nitrogen in them. They don't come with a note for it. You know, it may have been like in the fine prints of the description or something. So I got them and I didn't even know.
But I was like, these just don't act correctly because the nitrogen almost gives it some spring to the shock. You know what I mean? It tries to keep the oil on one side.
And then of course, living in the middle of nowhere, I'm calling places trying to get nitrogen charged on my shocks and I can't just go to a tire shop because I don't need 40 pounds. I need 180 psi.
Oh, geez.
Yeah, so a tire shop.
So most people just end up having to buy a nitrogen tank and a regulator set up, but obviously I don't want to do that for one truck.
But I found a, I don't want that. I'm not saying this is a derogatory term, but I found kind of a backwards fab shop.
Like in the middle of nowhere, they've got crap everywhere, but they fab up like drag cars and monster trucks and swamp buggies, like mega trucks for mudding and stuff like that.
They do all sorts of wild stuff. The yard is just full of, you know, 47 half done things, which I mean, what would you say if the point is to eat, you can't complain about a full plate?
Yeah, for sure.
But I liked it. You're like walking, you're like stepping over stuff, you know what I mean? But they charge my shocks up for free.
I don't, yeah, I think it's one of those.
When you're in a county like mine, word of mouth is worth more than anything. And so, and he was like, he charged them on the bench and then he goes, put him in the truck, bring the truck down here.
We'll check the pressure, add more if we have to. And then if I have to charge you, I'll charge it. But he's like, it was barely any nitrogen.
He just, to him, it was more like, I found a guy that's doing off-road stuff and he fabricates and all this. Maybe it's better to just say instead of charging me 30, 60 bucks, just have one more person.
Not to utilize me for work, but just, you know, in case I needed to pitch somebody to him for a real job.
No, I mean, sometimes somebody's in a pinch and they need something done that they have, even anybody, it's having somebody to call, even if it's somebody you don't know, and it's in your area.
Somebody, a body's a body that's able to, let's say the guy gets hurt and he needs somebody to help. Like, yeah, I could see them.
Or if he's hiring later or whatever, you know. But even if I just referred somebody to him and said, hey, they took care of me, you know what I mean?
That's worth a lot more than, you know, some squirts of nitrogen. So it was cool.
We were talking about, you know, small towns, how you can't make any money in how, but it's cheaper than living on the coast.
And I was like, well, thankfully there isn't a lot of people competing with, you know, fabricators anymore.
And then he was like, well, I'm welding zoomies up right now on a Keith Black Hemi drag car.
So I think it was exciting to have people to talk to, you know what I mean?
Yeah, I can see that, especially in the middle of nowhere.
And he was trying to get me to bring the truck back in. He's like, just bring the truck back in.
So I think he wants to see what I did and all that, but.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, just more welding this next week.
Welding, welding, welding.
Why don't you say percentage wise you are on welding for that car?
Like, almost like being done wise.
Yeah.
I mean, I should, these last few pieces should be the last of the TIG welding.
The rest of it would be just plug wells with a mid welder more than likely for the floors.
Everything else should be, I mean,
aside from putting brackets in making brackets and all that stuff.
I probably ended up getting fabric brackets made and spot welded in.
So, I mean, last of the TIG welding this next week should be, I would think I still have to weld together the
events that go through the hood. I have all that the sheet metal fabricated. I just have to start welding that together.
So I guess between that in the quarter panel, yeah, I think it should be 90,
I'm 95% done TIG welding, I guess I still have some big welding to do the spot welds are the floors and yeah, but I'm not doing the floors until I'm leaving the floors,
removable the center floors until we have the plumbing, like in all the wiring and everything figured out, either figured out or gone.
Because that's if we can take those floors in and out while we're doing plumbing, it's going to make things a lot easier.
So the floors and the firewall, the firewall and the tail or the toe panels are already welded in the rear floor, I'm going to get welded in after I get this the quarter panel is done here.
But yeah, I mean, it's getting very close to where I'm lining up some help on getting it plumbed and wired and hopefully all that all that junk.
You're going to have to take the body off the frame still for painting all that.
What am I going to use, I don't fucking know.
I don't really love to post voice and not a huge fan of voice in general. And so I'll probably, I mean, it's not impossible to do. It's just going to be, you know, I have a rotisserie so probably end up putting on a history somehow.
It's just a matter of how because the car isn't a unit body anymore. It's just kind of a shell. So yeah, I'm not really, I'm probably going to end up making some kind of a car or honestly, like a bullet.
Remember, look, those jigs that we use on Mustangs back in the day, trying to making getting some valleys and
Yeah, just making making a little framework for the front and back. So I do have a
A little like the galley thing that we can set it on, but I don't think it's heavy duty enough.
You need that.
Right. Just to have to post hoist for just for that. It's like, a lot of space.
Yeah, you know, I don't know. I definitely there's a hoist in my future is just, I just hate working around them. I've had to work like the one job I had for a couple years.
My, my spot in the shop in the body shop was the hoist to post twice so I did body. Yeah, the collision work in the hoist spot.
Fucking lame.
So stupid.
Anyway, that's why that made my hate of hoists like girl. So I don't know. Yeah, we're definitely just going to make some kind of a cart for it because we're just going to have to like saw horses to hold the body up, drop the chassis.
That's all that's
Gotcha.
You can get it done if you don't have to do it all that all that often. Sometimes it's not worth having a space taker.
That's kind of where yeah we're going to it's going to be a very strategic.
It's going to come apart get everything coated and painted sandwich back together and ready for body work that we can tape up and retain all the, you know, everything that we just did, but you know, we want all the welding to be done so all the fittings.
Everything's going to be ran plum wired.
Before we even attempt that so.
Yeah, I imagine you almost would paint the bottom of the car and then would you jam it to before putting it back on the frame.
No probably not do that normal.
I don't think I haven't done it like, I don't know about the last time I actually jammed the car and then painted the outside like all in one shot.
It's been a long time.
Just because the colors that we've been that I've done usually aren't almost usually you can pull it off taken you know leaving it apart.
Very, very, I mean, oh yeah.
I mean, there's colors that you probably should be spraying a car together but sometimes it's just not feasible to do so at the same time, you know, body's too big that kind of shit.
Yeah, I had a friend doing a, I don't think it was a try coat but it was a heavy pearl color blue on a car and they painted the doors separate and then found out the hard way that it's got to be together.
Well, I mean, sometimes it's just if you have that door laying flat instead of up. It's some and it's going to dry different you have it in a different spot in the booth.
Yeah, or if you don't have a booth or your spraying conditions, spraying conditions can change things so fast. And then if you're applying something heavy because it's laying down flat, that's going to look different.
So, there are so many different variables that discourage people from even getting into this industry, because it's glorified science experiment every single time.
Every single time.
And if you don't have resources or, or the experience, you can fuck up a paint job real quick, like, especially if you're doing high end shit and you're putting six coats of clear on it, what you're going to do when, when the fourth one starts falling off.
You know, chase that run down the panel.
Have you ever done the, the, the trick where you have a run and you put glaze like body filler on it and sand it out. You ever see that.
Wow, that makes sense.
Because it holds your paper away from the rest of the panel as you're hogging down the run. I've done it on black. It's interesting.
It seems so goofy, but it makes sense.
But that's the hardest part. But that's like pretty minimal. I mean, like, that's like a 10 to 25% of the people are going to see that, you know, the run's gone, you know, yeah, I've done it. It works.
It's very scary at first.
I've always just been a surgeon with a razor blade just saving enough.
With some luck, but yeah, you're definitely right. You need to let that cure out extra long.
Were you like fucking blown away the first time you saw somebody put a razor blade to fresh paint?
No, because I was the first person I saw do it. I had heard about it.
And I needed to do it.
I was like, what the fuck are you doing to my paint job?
I had a couple of runs on a job. I did a side job. I did for a guy. Okay, I'm just going to as a disclaimer, never do this. The guys like I'll trade some tattoo work for some body and paint.
It was it only went bad.
There's no win.
Yeah.
It's good stuff.
But there was a couple of runs, right? Like it was on a bedside and they were like, it was a Chevy bedside with some lips and I was painting in a garage or whatever.
So there was a couple of runs and I was like, I'm going to let him, we need to let him dry.
Bring it back. I'll take care of it.
But if you need the truck, just drive it, bring it to me in two weeks. And then the guy watched me take a razor blade to his truck and boy, you could tell that that was stressful.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, doing it too fresh. You can fuck some shit up with a razor blade.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. A lot of times I just, I like to just cut it open with some, you know, 1000 or something.
Let it let it just sit put in the sun.
But also I try not to get them.
Oh, yeah. That's a good, good thing.
PPG likes to see them though. Remember back in the day that was a flow indicator that makes sure they know they have enough material on there.
For indicators. I remember that.
You know which way it flew down generally.
Gravity helps.
Yeah. One time I was, I don't remember what I was painting. I was using like spray paint on something like it was like a piece of industrial equipment and we were just cleaning it up.
And one of the guys I know that has been working on race cars forever, he saw that it ran.
I mean, you're you're rattle canning, whatever.
Yeah, I got a little drip and he watched me chase it all the way down to the edge of the piece and then just like wipe it off the edge and then touch it up.
And he's like, Ethan, if I ever doubted you were a painter, no, I don't doubt it anymore.
He goes, the second I saw you chasing that run off the panel, he's like, I knew.
I don't think I've ever successfully done that.
It's, it's not something you should really do unless it's right at the bottom already.
Like if I'm on a fender, you know where it's like in the dog leg of it.
So it's super narrow.
You just chase it down, but you always get a saying also.
Yeah, yep, yep.
Yeah, it's that one.
Yeah, I never, I've never pulled that one off ever.
The first time I heard it, I was like, hey, fucking what now you're going to do what?
I'm not saying it's a recommended technique by any means.
I had one, one shop in Eau Claire I worked at and they were trying to figure out where some fish eyes in the shop were coming from.
So I was in the, they had two downdraft preps with like curtains that go across that cover is really nice shop.
But so they're trying to figure out what some of these fish eyes are coming from and they got some detailed products that are, I thought they were wizards or something like it's supposed to be body shop safe or whatever the body shop safe ones were.
Yeah, it's wizards or something like that.
So this fucking guy takes some of this mist and shine or some of this. I don't even know what it was.
And fucking just blows up the bottom of the hood.
I've never seen fish eyes like that in my life.
It's like, well, this is where it's coming from.
Like, well, you're not supposed to spray it in the fucking downdraft booth, you dumbass.
So yeah, now that's me prepping and respraying the whole bottom side of the car because it's just peppered with fish eyes, like, no shit.
Like this far apart.
Like, it's like.
That's all.
Yeah, really cool.
So it is not the only thing that can cause a fish eye.
Yeah, that was that guy was such a fucking meathead.
Anyway, he ended up owning the place.
I don't know if he still owns the place, but there was there was a shop I worked in and they used fish eye.
Eliminator all the time.
Right.
Which introduces something to the clear coat that if it's silicone in the clear coat, it's fucking.
It's literally.
Yeah, it's so stupid.
And so then I was talking to it was not a PPG shop.
And then I was talking to my PPG guy and he's like, oh no, if somebody used that in the booth, you have to use it every single time after that.
Yeah, you're done.
Yeah.
And of course, when I started there, nobody told me that that they're one of their painters used it every time.
So I'm getting fish eyes.
I'm like, what the hell is going on?
And then, yeah, they start trying to diagnose what the fish eyes are coming from.
And they're like, wait a minute, are you using fish eye?
Eliminator.
No.
Like, oh, let's just introduce another product.
I guess it's great for the paint sales place.
One more product.
There's a guy that still works in a town nearby that I.
He has a he like what stands as primer, right? So that's before paint.
And he uses an old armor all bottle for the water.
So shit, you can't make up.
You just can't.
I don't even like any, I don't even paint in my garage and I don't like any silicone products.
Yeah, some of the, it was a learning curve for my wife.
Like, you can't wear this to the shop now.
Now you can't wear it.
You're like, can't be lubing up with lotion and going touching the car.
No, there's no more tire shine ever.
No tire shine.
The things shiny ever again.
Yeah.
I don't even use seal out in here anymore.
I had a, I used it once and I was like, yeah, fuck it.
Fuck that.
What is the seal out?
Um, so like a rust proofing yellow.
So if the brand seal out actually started in Wisconsin using the guy started it by mixing stuff in his bathtub.
There's like pig fat in the original mixture, I guess.
I don't know if there still is any sort of buy it like pig fat or some sort of fat in it.
But it's, it's some weird stuff, but it works really, really well.
The brand seal out is really, really good stuff.
I thought they had a, I talked to him.
This is probably like three or four years ago when I actually talked to somebody at the company.
It's the place we worked out.
We're trying to buy a smaller containers of it.
Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, there's, I think there's still Wisconsin coming.
Pretty awesome stuff.
I don't know about in the garage, but as a rule of thumb, I love everything that has pig fat in it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I've heard of businesses starting with people mixing things in bathtubs, but generally that's not where I would go in my head is to undercoat legal.
Yeah, usually doesn't end up in a legal, legal realm.
Yeah.
So just, just welding this week.
Yeah, I'm just, you know, drowning in my sorrows of still having to pay for this fucking air compressor.
Yeah.
I try to find things that I just try to avoid buying things that aren't fun.
I was really hoping that this year I could potentially buy some kind of a sports car and feel better about myself driving around.
Just general, but just sold the square body thinking we can do that. And the only thing I got this year is a Viper chair, which it's worth it.
But doesn't have a motor, you know, it's hard to take to a car show.
It is. You can probably get some attention at a car show with it though. Some of you will be like, Oh, that's worth it.
Yeah.
I think you could do something that I think I think you just work on your, your Chevy. That's what you need to do.
Yeah, I know.
It's not a performance car, but it'll garner the right kind of attention.
For me, I just need to get through some of it is like, there's so much welding that needs to finish, I would need to finish on this.
And to get like, I don't, I physically can't take more mask time as far as like welding.
Some of it's, I can't do it all day and then come back and do it like another four hours in the evening or three hours in the evening.
It's kind of just can't do it.
So a lot of it is just trying to get through some of the stuff here. I feel like by the time at end of December, I want to put hopefully maybe between Christmas and New Year or something like that.
Put some time in on my car.
I can feel it. It's close. It's going to happen. It's got to happen.
I wish I was motivated enough to go to Wisconsin. And then, and then I would do spend a day on it for you.
Right now that's a lot of motivation because it's cold and shitty out. It's not really snowy anymore, but it's pretty shitty out.
Every time I think about going up there, I'm like, but why?
That's what I'm saying.
I just try to get people to come here. I'm like, why don't you take a vacation?
You're like, yeah, it's nice in the summertime for like four fucking days.
Yep.
I can't even have the door open. I bet I only have the door open.
No shit. Less than 30 days the whole summer because it's too humid. You know, it gets nice and then a week later, it's too humid for a month.
I tell everybody that Wisconsin is beautiful for two months of the year.
Yeah, I agree.
My landlord keeps telling me, oh, this is the best place you don't want to move anywhere else.
I think he just wants to keep me here.
Have you ever been anywhere else?
I love it, but it's not on my list of where I'd go next.
You're right.
For intro Wisconsin, it's not where I would be like, hey, we got to spend some, let's stimulate that economy.
Fuck that.
Yeah.
I mean, people should because that's where I am.
But I get what you're saying.
You'd like to be stimulated.
Stimulate me.
Yeah.
So when we get off of this, I'm going to go, I was going to do it before we got on, but I didn't want to push the timeline too much.
But I'm going to go take some, some videos and some glamour shots of the truck, eating some sand, hopefully.
Because I think, you know, I got a wheel sponsorship and I haven't sent them any like high quality pictures of the truck.
Not that they, it wasn't a requirement, but it's got exposure for me to help them to help you.
I get it.
Yeah.
So I'd like to go get some good glamour shots of the whole truck with the wheels on it.
And then I want to get, I got a GoPro sticky mount ready.
I'm an amount.
So hopefully I can get some suspension video and then of it just cycling a little bit.
There's a good chance.
Maybe I need to double up with some zip ties on top of the sticky mount.
You see the zip ties that came out that hold like, I don't know, like 4,000 pounds or something like that.
It looks like a belt, like physical belt.
No, I have not seen that.
Oh man.
I don't know where you'd need that.
Me neither.
Yeah.
So I want to do that, get some rolling shots of it.
I'm going to set the tripod up in the sand and do some flybys.
And then I got to put together a long travel video for my channel because I have not done any long form videos other than live streams on the long travel build.
And that's long overdue.
So I'm going to try to get a whole day in front of your computer slash phone.
I'm going to go take some shots and I probably would not realistically get the video where I want it to post unless I'm really in a mood until next weekend.
Right.
Because I want it to hit good.
Yeah.
I got to spend like two hours on a thumbnail just to stress quitting out.
And then.
It's so great.
My last video I made.
Did you see the V12 history video I did?
Probably not.
I didn't get to the whole thing because I can't remember what came up.
But I try and watch as much as I can do.
But you got a life or something.
But I don't know.
I don't know people with lies do it.
Yeah.
I did three thumbnails for that video.
Each taking like hours.
Just trying to figure it out.
You know.
That's just something I say when I don't understand.
I'm sorry.
I apologize.
I'm so offended.
Yeah.
But I'm just glad to have argon back in the building.
I believe that can actually wealth stuff together.
It helps a lot.
That's okay.
Squirrel woman.
Yeah.
So everybody where to find you online.
On the Instagram.
I'm the Instagram.
Hungry.
Customs on YouTube.
Hungry.
Customs.
I have a Facebook.
Hungry.
Customs.
I don't really post too much on.
First.
Well.
On this page.
Just my personal page.
But it's track.
So we're going to find you.
You can find me everywhere.
Tick tock Instagram Facebook.
But.
If you really want to watch some stuff.
Go over on YouTube.
Tereshark TV.
And.
Help support the channel.
Make sure to subscribe.
And hit that notification.
So you get notified every week when we post a new episode.
And.
You can watch me paint my fingers there.
Because apparently that's what people want to see.
I'm telling you.
You got to like.
You got to like grab the rattle can and just like grabs.
Like something else in the background.
Just fucking grab it and start spraying it.
If you have an extra Roku remote or some shit.
Fucking start spraying that.
You know what I'm saying.
Just go nuts.
I want to do one where I like grab something with a wet paint.
And then I want to clean my hand off and go get finger paints out of the house.
Or something like see if I got some watercolor.
And I get it all over my thumb and then just like.
You know, fall and like run my hand down the truck and just like red paint down the black truck or something.
You know.
But I haven't been that committed to.
The funerary.
If that's a word.
I think you do the have a beer.
I have a beer there.
Hold the beer bottle up.
Spray the beer bottle and then take a drink of it and then like put lipstick on or some shit.
I haven't put lipstick on in years.
That's what I'm saying.
I think you know what he ever see the videos where the guys are holding the cigarette and their point net stuff.
Like all you see is their hand.
It's like a point of view one.
But it's like their hand with a cigarette and their point net stuff with the cigarette in the hand.
Oh yeah.
Like yeah right here this radiator.
Oh that's a problem.
I think I need to hold a beer and like be painting and like pick stuff up and moving it with the beer in my hand like getting paint on my hand and the beer and then like getting beer in the hand.
Yeah.
And then like getting beer all over.
Oh yeah.
Like fucking trailer park boys and Julian holding the cocktail and shit.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
The last one I did get paint on the beer bottle purposely.
I was like two springs.
I was spray painting and the beer was next to it.
And I like paint my hand and the beer bottle gets paint on it and I'll spray in like.
You know that's good.
And then I put how to be a master painter you know on it just to upset people.
Rage rage bait.
It's not really my thing but it would work if I wanted it to be.
But until next time.
Keep fucking with cars.
Fuck with cars.
About this episode
Mixing pig fat and automotive restoration might sound odd, but it sets the stage for a lively discussion about truck modifications, suspension setups, and the challenges of welding. The hosts share their experiences with various vehicles, including a Bronco and Mustangs, while debating the merits of different lift kits and suspension systems. They also dive into the realities of working in the automotive industry, discussing the challenges of hiring skilled technicians and the changing landscape of car restoration. Expect plenty of laughs and relatable stories from the world of car enthusiasts.
Original notes
Welcome back to the F_cking Cars Podcast, where Ethan and Quintin dive deep into the builds, breakdowns, and bullshit that shape real shop life. Every week we tackle the projects on our lifts, the chaos happening in the automotive world, and the stories that only come from long nights in the garage. From custom fabrication to wild engine swaps, questionable Craigslist finds, and the philosophy behind why we keep doing this to ourselves—nothing is off-limits.
If you love cars, craftsmanship, and unfiltered shop talk, you’re in the right place. Grab a drink, settle in, and let’s get into it.
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