“Mods” is short for modifications—changes made to a car’s stock configuration. In project-car buying, mods can be good upgrades, but they can also hide poor workmanship, incompatible parts, or wiring/fitment issues that show up later.
“Common rail” is a type of diesel fuel system. Instead of feeding fuel in a simple way, it uses a high-pressure fuel line (“rail”) and precise electronic control to inject fuel into the engine.
The head gasket is a seal between the engine block and the cylinder head. If it fails, coolant and other fluids can leak or mix where they shouldn’t, and that can lead to serious engine damage.
Pistons are the parts that move up and down inside the engine cylinders. Here, the hosts are saying the pistons/cylinder surfaces were messed up, which suggests the rebuild wasn’t done correctly.
“Rust pitted” means the metal got corroded in small spots. Inside an engine, that kind of corrosion can prevent parts from sealing and working properly.
A “hone” is a tool used to roughen/finish the inside of an engine cylinder. A “three stone” hone uses multiple abrasive pads, and the goal is to make the cylinder surface ready for the piston rings to seal.
An “in-frame rebuild” means doing a major repair without fully taking everything out. The host’s point is that this one sounds like it was done in a rushed or improvised way, which can lead to the engine failing again.
Machine shop bills are the costs for specialized machining work. If the engine needs that kind of work, the repair cost can jump fast and make the project less of a bargain.
A cylinder is the engine’s chamber where the piston goes up and down and where the fuel burns. If the cylinder gets damaged, the engine may need to be machined and fitted with bigger parts.
Term
custom janky crap
That phrase means someone did custom fixes or upgrades in a sloppy way. When you try to finish the project later, you may have to redo or remove that bad work, which gets expensive fast.
“Sight unseen” means you buy the vehicle without checking it yourself. With projects or modified trucks, you can miss problems that only show up after you own it.
A leveling kit is a suspension upgrade that raises the front of a truck to make it sit more level. It can affect how the truck drives and wears tires, especially if it wasn’t installed correctly.
Swapping doors and body panels is a body-repair approach used when parts are damaged, rusted, or mismatched. It’s labor-intensive and can also complicate alignment and fitment, which matters for both appearance and water sealing.
Term
out of Texas
People mention where a car came from because weather and road salt can affect rust. A truck from a drier area may have less rust, but you still need to check it.
“Side unseen” means buying without checking the truck in person. With a project vehicle, that can be risky because you might not notice what’s really wrong.
A misfire means the engine isn’t burning the fuel in one or more cylinders the way it should. It can make the truck run rough and usually shows up as an error code.
Injectors are the parts that spray fuel into the engine. If they’re not working right, the engine can misfire or run poorly.
Term
VP death codes
“Death codes” is slang for error codes that show a serious problem. The idea here is that the truck may need more than a quick part swap because the underlying system is failing.
“VP44” refers to a particular diesel fuel injection pump. If someone says it needed a VP44, they’re saying the pump was the real problem, not just a cheaper fix.
A differential is what lets the wheels turn at different speeds, especially when you’re cornering. If it isn’t serviced, the gears and bearings can wear out faster.
The transfer case is the part that sends power to the front and rear wheels on 4WD trucks. If it’s not maintained, it can start making noise or cause problems engaging 4WD.
Compound turbos mean the engine uses two turbo setups working together. They can make more power, but they’re more complicated and can be harder to keep reliable.
Term
dual cp3s
CP3s are diesel fuel pumps. “Dual CP3s” means there are two fuel pumps, usually to support more power—more hardware to maintain.
The Lancia Delta is a small hatchback car. Some versions can be made faster and more performance-oriented with added parts, which is why someone might start with one and then build it into a “hot rod.”
Ball joints are small parts in the suspension that help the wheels move and steer smoothly. If they wear out, the ride can feel loose and tires may wear unevenly.
A “diff” is the part that helps the wheels turn at different speeds when you’re cornering. If it has problems, you might hear noise or feel vibration while driving.
The secondary market is where used cars are sold by people who aren’t the first owner. When you’re buying a project, it can be harder to know the car’s true history.
Vehicle history is basically what’s happened to the car before you. If you don’t know it, you might miss clues about accidents or repairs that weren’t done right.
An engine swap means putting a different engine into a car or truck. It’s more than just dropping in a new motor—you usually have to make a bunch of other parts work with it too.
Term
built transit
A “built” transmission means the gearbox internals have been upgraded to survive harder driving or more engine power. It’s not the factory setup.
Carbon fiber doors are lighter doors made from a strong composite material. They can be part of a performance build, but they’re usually more costly than regular doors.
A “street truck” is a truck meant for normal driving on public roads. If you’re building one for the street, you usually care more about how it looks and how clean it is.
Ball joints are parts in the suspension that help the wheels move and steer properly. If they’re worn out, the ride can feel loose and tires can wear unevenly.
The firewall is the wall between the engine area and the inside of the car. If it’s been repaired badly, it can be a warning sign about the project’s history.
The headliner is the interior fabric/trim on the roof. Water intrusion from leaks can stain or sag it, so checking it helps you spot hidden leak problems early.
It means taking the transmission out of the way to reach the leaking part. Even if a leak seems small, the repair can be a big job.
Term
pull the pump off
It means removing a pump to get to the part that’s leaking. That usually takes more work than people expect.
Term
pull the front apart
It means you have to take apart the front of the vehicle to reach the problem. That’s usually a sign the repair will be more time-consuming and costly.
An oil leak means oil is escaping from the engine or related parts. It’s important because small leaks can turn into bigger problems, and they can also be messy and expensive to track down.
The Toyota 4Runner is a rugged SUV that many people keep for a long time. Here it’s used as an example of how to inspect a car—especially by popping the hood and checking what’s been worked on.
An OEM radiator is a replacement radiator made to match the original one. It’s often chosen because it fits correctly and is designed for the car’s cooling system.
An electric fan is a fan that runs on electricity to help cool the car. Builders sometimes add one temporarily when they don’t have the right wiring or parts yet.
A transmission cooler is like a radiator for the transmission. It helps keep the transmission from getting too hot, especially when you’re driving hard.
An unfinished project means someone started fixing or building the car, but didn’t finish. You’re basically buying a “work in progress,” so there can be surprises you can’t see right away.
A junker title usually means the car has a serious history—often it was totaled or heavily damaged. That can make it harder to insure or resell, and it may hide repair problems.
They’re talking about sketchy, temporary-looking wiring—like using something that isn’t meant to be in a car. That can cause problems later, especially with heat, vibration, and movement.
Electrical arcing is when electricity “jumps” where it shouldn’t, usually because of a bad connection or damaged insulation. In a car, that’s a serious problem because it can lead to failures and safety hazards.
Butt splice connectors are the common “wire joiners” used to connect two wire ends. If they’re done poorly, they can come loose and cause electrical problems.
Crimp connected means the wire is joined with a metal connector that’s squeezed on. It works best when it’s done with the right parts and tools; otherwise it can fail later.
Zip ties are plastic fasteners used to hold things in place. If someone only uses zip ties to route car wires, the wires can still rub and wear out.
Concept
back half
“Back half” means the rear part of the car has been cut out and replaced or rebuilt. The quality of that work matters because it affects how solid and safe the car is.
Term
scabby welder
“Scabby welder” is a slang way of saying the welding looks rough or poorly executed. In a project car, rough welding can indicate weak structural repairs, poor penetration, or inconsistent metalwork that may fail later.
Fabrication work is custom building or repairing metal parts. If the welding/metalwork looks rough, it often suggests the rest of the project may have similar quality issues.
Concept
walk away
It means you decide not to buy the project at all. If the work already done looks sketchy, it can turn into a huge money-and-time pit.
“Electrical gremlins” are weird electrical problems that come and go. They can be hard to find, so they often cost more time and money to fix than you expect.
The engine harness is the big bundle of wires that runs to the engine sensors and components. If it’s been messed with, electrical problems can be very hard to track down.
Scotch locks are quick wire connectors people use to tap into existing wiring. They can work short-term, but they often become unreliable and cause electrical issues later.
“Grounds” are the electrical connection paths that let electricity flow correctly back to the battery. If they’re loose or corroded, the car can act weird and throw electrical problems.
The “transfer” is the part that sends power to all four wheels on a 4x4 truck. Checking its fluid helps you spot if it’s been neglected or is running hot.
The transmission dipstick lets you check the fluid in the automatic transmission. If the fluid smells burnt or looks bad, it can mean the transmission has been abused or is failing.
Mechanical linkage is the “moving parts” system that transfers motion—like rods or levers that make something move when you move a control. If it’s loose or damaged, the car can behave strangely.
A hot rod is a car that’s been modified for fun—often with upgrades to make it more exciting to drive. Here it’s describing the kind of project people want to build.
A “roller” is basically a chassis/vehicle without the engine (and sometimes other big parts). Builders like it because they can choose what engine and parts to install instead of inheriting someone else’s unknown setup.
Term
burnout truck
A burnout truck is meant for doing burnouts, where the tires spin and smoke. Building for that kind of use can change what parts you need and how hard you’ll stress the drivetrain.
A front main seal is a gasket/seal that keeps engine oil from leaking near the front of the engine. If the job is more than just that seal, it usually means you have to open up more of the engine than expected.
A dowel pin is a small alignment pin that helps keep engine parts in the right spot. If it comes loose, it can cause major damage because the parts may no longer line up correctly.
“12 valve” refers to an engine head design where there are 12 valves total (commonly 3 per cylinder on a 4-cylinder or 2 per cylinder on a 6-cylinder, depending on the engine). It’s a specific engine configuration that enthusiasts use to identify the exact motor generation and design.
Pulling the front cover means taking off the front housing of the engine so you can reach parts inside. It’s usually not a quick job because it opens up access to the timing/front internals.
The camshaft is the part that controls when the engine’s valves open and close. Taking it out usually means a bigger repair job and careful reassembly.
Lifters are parts that help move the valves when the camshaft turns. If the camshaft comes out, lifters can shift, so the mechanic may need to keep them in place while working.
A “bag of bolts” refers to loose fasteners that were removed during disassembly and stored without clear labeling. For a buyer, unlabeled hardware increases the risk of using the wrong bolts in the wrong locations, which can cause fitment issues or even damage to threaded parts.
A 10mm socket is a tool size that fits a lot of common bolts on many cars. The idea here is that 10mm tools are so common that they’re often still around even in messy project-car tool piles.
Snap-on is a well-known brand of mechanic tools. The point is that if the previous owner had different tool brands, your tools might not fit together as neatly, and you may have to buy missing pieces.
Harbor Freight is a store/brand that sells cheaper tools. If your project car came with Harbor Freight tools mixed with other brands, you might find gaps or mismatches that slow you down.
Brand
Pittsburgh Pro
Pittsburgh Pro is a tool line from Harbor Freight. The takeaway is that the tools you inherit with a project car might not be a complete, matching set.
Craftsman makes tools that many people have at home. Here it’s mentioned to show that tool brands can be mixed, and you may still need to buy the right ones.
In this context, “interiors” means the inside of the car—seats and upholstery. The host is saying interior fixes can be easier to tackle than engine work.
Due diligence means doing your homework before you buy. On a broken project, it’s checking what’s wrong and what you’ll need so you don’t get surprised later.
Term
turn them up
In this context, “turn them up” means increasing the engine’s fueling/boost-related settings to make more power. On diesel project builds, that can be done, but it also raises stress on components, so it’s a common “trap” if the rest of the setup isn’t ready.
“Four by four” means the truck drives all four wheels. That can make the truck more capable, but it also adds more parts that can be missing or broken in a project.
They’re combining parts from different trucks to make one project work. It can help you finish a build, but it can also create problems if the parts don’t match up.
A cold air intake is a modification that tries to feed the engine cooler air. It can be fine, but if you drive in dusty conditions, the intake setup and filter quality matter a lot.
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I mean just like even before working here like you see all the different projects and you're like
dang I don't know about that and then like working here and you see the summer stuff that people
bought and they paid good money for and they're excited because of the the clutch that's in it
or whatever else and then they get it and you start looking at it you're like this thing
probably I mean it's probably got a crack KDP case you know if at the minimum like it's leaking
oil like it's like oh it's just got a couple oil leaks I'm like guy you have no idea what you just
signed yourself up for. There is that like hard time and you're excited about something you want
to get it yeah you've been looking for a long time here's your truck oh dude has got some cool parts
in it send me a bunch of money he's offering it a good deal this is a great idea and it's hard
to not overlook the obvious red flags some oil drip out of the front case like ah come and leak
oil. There's been a ton of like psychological studies they've made on people and people get
a lot more joy shopping for a project finding the vehicle they want like and dreaming about it and
thinking about it and like thinking oh these are all the parts I'll add these are the mods I'll do
it's actually more fun they found when they like study humans to think and plan and get all excited
about it than when you actually get the project when you start doing it. Now I will say that if
you finish the project it's like how close were you to this study. Do you see what we're sitting
in front of right now? The dozen different things. Well it's like I've done my own personal research
and I can say it's true. So I'm a case study I will I will put my hand on the Bible that is
true it's more fun to plan a project. Like I have tested that theory it is true. It's like no way
turns out they're right. So so just keep in mind you're at like the highest high of thinking about
buying this project truck car dirt bike go-kart whatever and then after that the fun slowly
just wanes. Yeah it's hard it's hard because it is attractive to get some parts on your truck
you're gonna want to get them anyway so if they come to the truck that's pretty sweet but
man I don't know even how to know how you would like vet out this person you're buying this truck
from to let them know so you could know with confidence what you're getting yeah because
man there's there's probably a reason why they are banning the project it could be money it could
be time and yeah for them those are all real things I get it. I remember we had an employee
that worked here in our machine shop and he had this nice he pumped 67 engine he built and
had like this special Hamilton head and all this crap on it and it never really ran great for him
he's a little bit of a I don't know he's he wanted stuff right he wanted a certain way
it's a little easier he used the he looking back he probably could have used a different piston
bowl and had better success but he was kind of doing something that we hadn't done before
like on a street truck and he finally got tired of it and just sold the I think he ended up pulling
the engine out because he couldn't sell the truck with the engine for anywhere near what he had into
it so he had to actually separate his project but I know the guy that bought the engine it was yeah
it was Joshua right and so and I think he was happy with his purchase oh he loved it yeah it was
that was a great engine for him and so for that in that case I know that Joshua guy he got a decent
deal I feel like and he was very happy with it but I also know another another guy won't even
say names but recently there's a there's a guy pretty local to us that bought a truck and tell
us what he found in this oh gosh dirt cheap common rail that he got I mean he got he did get a really
good deal on it um but he pulled it apart and I forget what the problem was it's like a third gen
dodge right it was yeah it was um it was I think he was doing a head gasket or something on it he
pulled it apart and the cylinders like someone peamed the pistons someone like there was water
sitting on the top of the cylinder so it's rust pitted like someone took a three stone hone down it
like kind of did a makeshift in frame rebuild and then slapped it back together and sold it
and obviously he wasn't told that when he bought it so it was like kind of shady I mean if you're
gonna do that crap like at least tell people what you did so they know what you're buying
and so yeah he was stuck with trying to either machine it out which I mean it's stupid you got
a good deal on truck but you start trying to pay for machine machine shop bills and like 40 over
pistons which is what it would take in to freaking clean that cylinder up like it adds up like that
good deal I mean it had standard bore pistons and it needed 40 over and the pistons were peamed
all around the top edge like I don't know if somebody's trying to tighten up the ring groove
that they thought it got loose or if the piston was rattling and knocking and they're trying to
quiet it swedging it yeah I don't know but it was like and I put together some pretty crappy stuff
and just just beyond and I looked at it and I was like I wouldn't do that I was like I'd be surprised
if it doesn't burn a quart of oil every hundred miles yeah he was trying to the bores looked he
was trying to decide what to do and he was like just he needed a truck and he's like don't want to
wait on machine shop he's like trying to side put back together I'm like dude like we've done some
pretty sketchy stuff like on a race truck where I know that engine's coming back apart in two months
and so like whatever like you kind of just do things that you probably wouldn't do on a vehicle
or a burnout truck for example yeah that you're going to just destroy anyway truck some perfect
example yeah I'm thinking back like with the godfather however to put together that engine
and had a little bit like that rust staining because the engine shut off while the water
injection was going in I was like it was worse than that and this is like a tow truck like he
won't be able to rely on it I was like dude so luckily we had some just random stuff kicking
around that we're able to kind of help them out with and get them back on the road but
that kind of like really brought up the podcast because you know you get a really good deal on
something it may not be a good deal the one that really hurts me like those guys are very
mechanically luckily that guy's very mechanically inclined he can do all the work himself
the people that hurts me more is they're not mechanically inclined they buy a vehicle they
think is a good deal and they're planning on having a shop do the like the work that needs
done to it it's like dude that bill is going to add up quick like by the time you start talking about
like undoing custom janky crap like it's not it's not a good deal anymore so I really feel like that
you probably if you're going to do this need to separate yourself into a couple different
categories and neither is right or wrong are you the type of person who has the tools and
capability to do this or you want a cool truck and have a shop do it for you
nothing's wrong either way but if you're going to be the guy who's like I'm going to get this
truck save some money and have a shop do it for me I'd probably recommend start with something
way more stuff like I think about Willard and like I mean I think this is a this
is a it's a real topic on any on all facets of life is that when you're buying something
you're really tempted to look at the dollars and like that dollar amount is is a huge part in
deciding what to buy and the moment that happens like the day later you kind of forget what the
dollars were you have this truck now and so when you're trying to buy it you're trying to be cheap
and not spend a bunch of money you're looking at these good deals but after you bought it you're
living with those consequences and just buy sometimes buying the better choice the the right
tool a nice truck like I look at Willard I don't remember what you paid for it I remember when
you bought it I was like man that's a lot of money I don't care what you paid for it now
like it's been it's been awesome like there's some there's like some crappy wiring in it when we
bought it but that was it it's been awesome no issues like we've done a bunch of crap to it
and then on the flip side we have the other test truck Vindi we bought that that was sight unseen
so kind of like not an ideal situation which I would not recommend on a second gen these days
because you never know that was a poor choice but we do love Vindi Vindi runs great it's awesome
laughed out piece of crap but like we've done so much work to that like we had it had a crappy
leveling kit we had to pull out the steering was all crap the interior was trashed like
there's so we had to swap doors and body panels and like we did a lot of stuff to it
and if you look at what that time like obviously we're doing it ourselves but so our time cost
something even if you're at home your time is worth something you look at that probably wasn't
that great of a deal so I there's a guy kind of local to me an older gentleman and he used to work
at a parts counter very above average knowledge above average aptitude he does a lot of paint
and body work and he's kind of a muscle car guy and that's why I came to know this this guy and
he I remember he had a 12 valve tow truck and he's having some transmission problems he's like I
just need to upgrade so I'm going to get a newer truck and he bought a truck side unseen out of Texas
and his friend a dealer set out no big deal it's an O2 it's a great truck he's like it just
misfires one small just needs some injectors and he tells me and I was just like an O2 that
misfires everyone's a while I was like I was just like injectors aren't going to fix a misfire once
in a while on a VP truck it probably has VP death codes and it's probably like oh no no I know what
I'm doing whatever well fast forward a month or two later guy has a truck has put some new 75
horsepower injectors in it still has the same problem and now I see the truck for sale with
75 horsepower injectors upgraded ready to go and I'm just like that once again somebody that I would
say had above average aptitude didn't really know what they're getting and so if you get a VP truck
that's randomly misfiring it's common for a seller and they might not even be deceptive
they might just not know I'm like oh it probably just needs injectors and you're like oh yeah okay
and you buy the truck one really it needed a VP 44 now if you can install on yourself
you know what's a VP these days 1500 bucks if you got a good deal it's a good straight body
good truck it might be a good deal but if it's right on the verge of a good deal and there's
another truck there's 500 more that you didn't buy well you made a bad deal buying that cheaper
truck if it needed a VP 44 and so a lot of that you got to realize most sellers know a lot more
about the vehicle than you do and so as a buyer and so people call you lowball and you come and
cheat but sometimes you got to come in to a project and go all right the engine's been apart
you can tell it's been worked on you don't know it might might have dingled berry honed you know
boars that are that are smoked you can't count on that engine being solid or you know when you get
some of these older trucks you just you don't really know it's like vendee it had a rebuilt bottom
end in it we didn't even know we thought it was a stock engine now i had 300 000 miles on it but
not on that engine but not on that engine and so we we didn't know i knew it had a head gasket down
on it so i do oftentimes see classifiers where people put this extremely low mileage on their
trucks like you know 2004 with 10 000 miles like what like well 10 000 miles in a new engine
and i'm always question myself how many miles in the truck well 150 000 i'm like
why does a truck need a new engine in 150 000 miles i always question myself like new engine
like why did you have to have a new engine like these things with part making it maintenance should
go a long time why do you need a new engine and is that indicative of other maintenance down on the
truck like if you had to have a new engine under you know 200 300 000 miles yeah why does that mean
the rear end's about to go out because they never service the diffs the t-case smoked original
translude never know yeah but all right there's one more example i know of a guy that's really
good at buying stuff years ago there's a guy maryse that came by our shop and he was the king
on the forums back in the day used to like go on these forums and you go in the classified section
and he'd find a two or three year old truck that somebody had put 50 000 with the parts into
and for whatever reason back in that that day if uh let's say it was a 2006 dodge if back then
that truck was worth 40 000 or 35 000 because it had 50 000 miles on it well he'd find one with
compound turbos and dual cp3s and all this and he'd only have to give the guy about 5 000 more than
what the truck would just it's blue book value because nobody wanted a modified hot rotted truck
and he took the other aspect he would buy the truck he would take the performance parts off them
sell them turn the truck back to stock and now he can sell an 06 dodge with 50 000 miles for
essentially the same price he paid for it and his delta was the performance parts now
he wanted a hot rod truck as well and so sometimes you buy one like the truck fall in love with it
and keep it but that's one guy i know that that he found a way to to do well but it's a little bit
different level of truck when you're buying a 30 40 50 000 truck with parts on it back then
basically a two or three year old truck you're not going to have ball joint problems in two or
three you're not going to have diff problems you can tell if the paint and interior good because
it's not even old enough to be rusted and so there's different levels you get depending on how
new the truck is brings a good point there's a lot of um in the aftermarket or the
i don't know the aftermarket it's not aftermarket but you know the secondary market of sellers you
know you know your facebook ads your local classifieds whatever it might be there are a
bunch of people who basically have a part-time job buying and selling cars like marise you know he
bought these cars and hey it's those to you so you know these if you i don't know if you can
like look at the history of these people like they have a lot of ads like a lot of ads a
lot of cars they sell so you can kind of tell like okay this isn't like an original owner
so he might tell you one owner vehicle well he bought it from the first owner maybe maybe not
but it's like sometimes you get these guys who are just you know get a car know how to fix a simple
problem you know get it cheap and and then sell it off to you as well as like it's a great project
it'll has parts that's not part so i don't know how to say be aware of those yeah i'm saying you
should i'm just saying like there definitely is like a whole market of people who buy and sell
trucks all these classifieds and so they really don't have a good knowledge of the vehicle history
vehicle and their purpose is really just to make some cash so kind of be try to you know fish those
guys out i remember one time i was looking at a truck and this is the one that got away i still
think about this is that 8000 dollar oh six work truck that was a single cab uh-huh like
race truck you're talking about like a couple years ago yeah the white one i still think about
that one has a crank of windows yeah it's a perfect truck for racer is that the one down in
st george no it was in salt lake yeah and um i called the guy i knew it's a good deal and i
didn't call him two weeks later i saw it back on the classifieds for about 5000 more than
he was asking for my guess so some guys saw it's a good deal picked it up and selling it again now
he's just selling it again and he's probably sold it quick because it's a good deal but anyway
there's a lot of people who are just scouring the these classifieds looking for good deals
how to make a few bucks so you know if you're buying from one of them you know they don't care
about you or the vehicle i just mm-hmm and i'm not saying it's wrong it's just what it is
which kind of changed topic a little bit like you said that there's two different guys
your categories of guys is like one is that you're going to take it to a shop and you're going to
fix it the second is that you are capable of fixing yourself there's actually a third category
and that's the true project guy where you're going to pull that engine anyway and those guys can get
murdered because i don't care oh it's scored whatever i was going to put 67 in anyway
very true and so and so then i think that third category is a little different though
if for example you're the engine swap you're going to put a built transit anyway you're more
looking at body panels to be straight and rust that's the kind of things that you don't want to
deal with if that matter if you're going to put carbon fiber doors on your truck you don't care
if the doors are rusted out right uh and if the interior is all ready and you're going to gut it
should build a race truck you don't care but if you're trying to build a nice street truck
and you care about body and paint you're going to you know you're going to buy a cleaner truck if
you're a body shop and you don't mind doing rust repair you might find a truck that's
mechanically solid as a rock it's got all the ball joints and everything all fresh engines all great
but it looks like a piece of crap and so the guy can't get money then the body shops like
aha dude that's this funny deal for me we have a body guy that's pretty close like we're
friends with whatever um and he bought a 12 valve and he was like he brought it by and he's like
super proud of it and i looked at it and i'm like i mean mechanically it looks sound but like this
thing is beat like not be it's it was missing paint it was like it was rusty like all like
interior stuff like all crap i would never want to deal with i would never bought that vehicle
because i didn't want to have to do like i wouldn't buy that vehicle and deal with the paint and the
rust and all the crap but and the mechanical mechanically it was sound but i don't really care
because i can easily fix that i probably would put a new engine in anyway he was the exact
opposite he's like oh yeah it's mechanically sound like we got all the problems so we can fix those
it was really easy like interesting let's see him very difficult i don't i never even want to think
about paint like yeah he's like it's just so funny and he's like oh yeah the body's straight
like it's i'm like huh it's just so funny to like hear it from his perspective of like
his problems that are easy to fix are way different than my problems that are very true
but if you're in the you know the market looking for a truck or project be aware of you know a lot
of these projects are a terrible deal you'll be way deeper than you imagine you know if you
would just bought a little bit more expensive truck to begin with yeah by the time you fix everything
on them but recognize your mechanical aptitude or what you actually want to do and you know if
you're looking for a father and son project and you buy a truck that needs the engine rebuilt and
your son has dreams to rebuild a six liter engine that's we're doing right now me and my boy that's
great and i knew what i was getting i got a good deal but yeah that's the thing is you got a good
deal and that's like you said spend a little bit more money it's not just like spending more money
on the same vehicle is going to somehow fix the problems like you gotta make sure what you're buying
like is worth it and so one thing like a couple things i when i pop the hood i'm looking for first
of all the hood insulation and the cow insulation if it looks crisp you know that this thing has
it's not been some lemon that people have been working on a bunch if it's all hanging down and
stuff it's seen some crap yeah um second is like a firewall the oh yeah we're talking yeah and the
headliner yeah another common one which i think it's a lot of people is leaks like people like oh
it's got a couple leaks like we can fix that no problem first of all pay on the leak it could
actually be kind of sucky like you either got to pull the trans for the remain you got to pull the
pump off for the tap cover or you got to pull the front apart for the kdp like the case cracked or
front cover like whatever yeah there's several like this let's actually talk about this i think
about this we kind of got to have a head of ourselves like okay we're telling guys you know
you can't find trucks are there but what are things okay might roll up to sing you pop the hood
what are you looking at i think this is something i can tell has been worked on a lot
the one insulation and firewall insulation the fire and hood insulation so that thing i was
just about to get into with the whole oil leaks thing is first of all they suck to fix yeah second
of all like some of that you can suck to fix sometimes it's super easy problems the second
thing though is that if it's leaking a bunch of oil that owner probably didn't care about it like
you get vehicles like i i think back to a couple of the vehicles i've owned over the over the years
and one that always stands out to me was this old toyota um uh forerunner and it that thing pissed
me off like i had my i on my tow truck i painted the engine i did a bunch of nice stuff to it
whatever and you pop the hood you can see it's painted it looked kind of nice this stupid
toyota forerunner wasn't it was a 97 i think i don't remember the exact year but it was
pristine like i have a picture i just like i told someone i was like super clean and they're like
didn't trust me and so i popped the hood just a random day it was snowing outside like whatever
i popped the hood it looked like it was on like in a showroom floor like the hole somehow it doesn't
collect dust i don't understand how the underneath this hood looks so freaking good but the guy was
super meticulous when i talked to him you could tell it was his baby and he wanted to make sure
he was going to a good home and um like he like just it would have like the dumb little issues
like the the center armrest had like a crack in the leather and so he's like hey i he's like i
bought a replacement here it is like i never installed it but like a little crack like i
personally would probably lock let it get way worse before i ever touched it but he's like oh
i replaced that and he's going over a list of all the things that he's replaced like oh this
thing's hard to do this and so i replaced it i replaced that and put like like a oem radiator
and stuff like that and it's like yeah this guy's super meticulous like and yeah that thing it had
a small leak but he's like ah he has a small leak it pissed me off but the guy said it was going to
take a long time it'd be a big deal to fix and so he's like the drip every once in a while is not
really worth fixing and and so anyway like that kind of guy is the perfect guy you want to buy
some from he's he you could just look at it no he cared um whereas you get something that's just
leaking from three different spots who what else are they not dealing with and not maintaining
i mean that guy probably the guy that's leaking from three different spots also probably doesn't
do his oil changes on time that Toyota guy i think he said he did every 7000 miles
i'm gonna tell yoda why
true another thing i look at when i i mean i like to pop the hood obviously
but what kind of wiring have they added oh my yes and how did they add it how did they do
if you see some two wires twisted together with some electrical tape they want to say
ray at least be cognizant of where he that man went all right so like on the junker drag track
when i was first building it i needed someone commented was said we need to bring the timer
back so i i needed to add an electric fan in the back and i didn't have a wire at that time and i
was cheap so you're like i had an extension cord i had a freaking regular extension cord and i cut
the ends off it and i wire nutted of a temporary fan in there okay it was temporary and it ended
up going down the raise tracks several times that's how temporary it was pulled it out in like
2024 like you were like what the heck is this i was like well sometimes when you do a temporary
thing it just stays and it's a vehicle you don't care about you truly think it was temporary
no it was a trans cooler so i mean what else i could do okay so actually i'm gonna have a
stance on this people hate i also did similar things back in my Missouri farm guy days people
hate on it but i'm like it's outdoor rated sheath like you can rub for years like this is actually
the go extension cords are good use that's a good use for extension cord however if i was looking to
purchase a nice truck and i was the junk orange i think maybe this isn't for me now i work for you
as as the owner of the vehicle do what you want but if you're selling that vehicle so i'm just like
they might think hmm yeah that's good i don't care enough you're buying a cheap burnout vehicle
okay then you know price is all that really matters because you're gonna beat the crap out of
you're gonna be working on a ton anyway but if you're looking to buy some a project to enjoy
and have free worries if the title is junker you may stay away from that yeah for sure but i just
feel like it's hurts me because i feel like extension cord does get like a super bad rap
and like it's like if i saw a vehicle i'm like i wonder what else crappy did but it shouldn't
it's actually it's to me it seems like it would be a really good solution to a lot of problems
it's better than these two single wires dangling up and down the frame hooping between things because
a lot of people they'll buy wire from auto zone and do that and it's not she it rubs and arcs over
time or that it's crimp connected you know in the butt splice connectors get loose and yeah that's
another good thing is you're crawling around these trucks do you see bunch of wires that are running
and they're not inside a kind of loom just litter wires that are that are zip tied to some other
thing and like it's easy to look at that those things and say like hey like i can fix that just
tie up a couple zip ties we'll fix that a little bit loom like i can do that for two dollars five
dollars i can freaking click to clean that up what else did this guy touch yeah and it's not
always just that i was i was once again this uh this local guy those muscle cars he called me
over one day he's like dude i got a perfect car for you and it was this like late 60s muscle car
that somebody had back half and i crawled under there and looked at it and i'm kind of a scabby
welder a little bit i'm getting a little bit better but i've done some some wtf you know
will terry fab stuff i'm not impressed or i'm not proud of i looked under this
car and i was like just like if the back half looks this bad there's no way the motor or
whatever else in this car i was like pass and he's just like really i thought this
would be right up your alley and i was just like so yeah the fab works a little rough back there
and i was like a little rough i'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart just being on a trailer
and i'm like if it's that bad i was like and that's why i told him i said who knows what the
rest of the car is like i said to me if the same person that did that is the same person
that touched anything else on the car the whole thing needs to be torn down to bare nuts and
bolts and started over if the guy that did the back half got fired and that's the only thing he
touched might have been a decent car after you cut the back half off and and redid it and i was just
like so sometimes the right answer is to just walk away that doesn't always rain true like there's
a guy that has a car that he's worked on a bunch and you look at the welds and some of the fab work
there it's like eh but he can machine a heck of a block so like sometimes you just gotta like know
what you're good at you know another thing that yes very true very true heck of a block
sometimes you have this guy that's really good on podcast but he's a jerk
cameras turn off the jerk mode goes way up dude sometimes the camera doesn't even turn off
i feel like that sign filled episode when george castanzis turn him you know get people back
and he's like they're all out of you the jerk store call
the jerk store call oh my gosh so i mean electrical gremlins can really bite you though
like literally like if there's junkie they've got especially gone to the harness like the actual
engine harness if you see things popping out of that guy like the scotch locks what you call them
where they just pop together yeah like they'll take quick caps or whatever yeah i guess i mean
electrical stuff can really ruin your time because that's kind of more difficult than most people
want to get after which i mean like 12 valves are not terrible because like there's a little wiring
that like they could really do basically anything and it's pretty easy to fix be
start talking about newer truck like a vp those things are known for wiring gremlins the moment
you have a wiring gremlin like like do you care about the truck or just sell it like those are
your two those are your two options and like oh people tell you oh go check your grounds and
like when you don't know like when we say check her ground your grounds like there's we just kind
of know like okay there's these couple grounds this ground mod you do in the front like there's
a couple things you do you spend a like a day on the weekend on it you can get it done but like
as a someone that doesn't know what they're doing and what they're looking at they pop the hood and
say like here check your grounds where do i start there's a bundle of 100 wires there yeah and so
yeah like you start getting people messing with wires nah so when i pop a hood i'm hoping to see
very little aftermarket wiring now somebody maybe does some led lights you know or some other things
and you can you know or little things happen in these older trucks but if you see a rat's nest
under there man i'd be very leery of the truck like that but if you're good at wiring yeah i may not
be scary and you're not good at mechanical stuff and the engine is beautiful and there's no drips
and the steering's tight and there's some ugly wiring you might be like this is the perfect
thing for me i can get this at a little bit of a discounted rate because nobody wants to touch
the wiring and i myself am a wiring wizard and that doesn't intimidate me and so you've got to
decide what you're good at if you're not good at any of that you're best off to buy a pretty
bang clean close to a lower mileage truck that just doesn't have the problems but you're going to
pay a premium for it yeah because that's what everybody wants if you start stock if you're
the guy's going to have a shop build a lot of your build the closer to stock you can start with
probably the cheaper you're going to be in the long run because those original parts are probably
still pretty good other things you need to check about mechanically wise and check the oil check
the transfer as it come out red as it come out brown smell burnt and nothing else when you take
that transmission dip stick out and you put up to your nose like my wiffer doesn't work but i do
it anyway because it makes me feel really cool like you whiff it and they're like oh dude this
guy knows he's like he's like hmm like oh not getting anything past this guy but like another
thing is is rust like we don't have that problem super much here in utah but like back east oh my
gosh yeah like you can crawl under there and see how rust it is i had we we bought a truck that was
like a back on the farm we bought a truck and shouldn't have bought it but it was a really good
deal so we could sell like the engine for the what we bought for the truck so it's like kind of hard
to turn it off turn it down probably should have though because it was rust pretty rusty and then
after a couple years of owning it it would just you drive down the road it was a farm truck it
never really went on the road but like how many tetanus shops did you have to get after owning
the truck i drank water from a hose growing up so we didn't have to have it but a normal person
probably had many um but it would like you go down the you bump down a gravel road or a driveway
or something and it would just put itself in neutral i'm like that's weird i mean some mechanical
linkage like puts itself in neutral i'd never seen this before but the cab mounts were so rotted out
that the cab would like bounce and pop it in neutral oh my gosh wow that's that's rough
that's just like stupid like and that that project like i'm not a body guy so i'm like
no like now i like doing it now i'm like i could do that just freaking like mounted cab
ah it's easy a little bit of welding done but i see commonly a lot of guys want a hot rod maybe
they pull the engine you know hot rod truck they buy a roller it's a lot easier i think
sometimes to buy a roller because you're not paying a premium for an engine that you may not
know anything about you can see everything that's there and if that's the bones that you want to
work with you know maybe it's a a back tap race truck or maybe it's a burnout truck or maybe it's
just a really nice street truck that had some you know maybe the engine failed but so it doesn't
doesn't really matter the condition it's it's your unique situation that's going to determine
what what works best for you but but there are a lot of times when people they're like oh it's just
got a little oil like no big deal front main seal and they had no idea that actually the killer
dowel pin had fallen on this 12 valve cracked the case and to fix that you have to pull the whole
you know radiator and everything out pull the front cover off and you have to pull the cam
shaft out which means someone's got to hold the lifters up which means and it's like it's not
just a front main seal that like oh i looked on rock auto and the seals 25 30 bucks and i looked in
on uh ai and it said it's a two hour job to do a front main seal yeah it is if that's all you're
doing is a front main seal and you're not pulling the case you're doing the whole case and all that
nelson your half day project if you're competent if you're a home mechanic you might you might look
at what's involved and go i can't do this oh yeah like i'm intimidated you know yeah and that so
you're talking about rollers that actually brings up another good one um and when i was looking for
six ohs i saw this more but you still see in the commons world too is someone pulled the engine on
it working on a project decide they didn't want anymore and so like yep all the parts are in the
bed i'm like okay like i don't want to play nancy drew trying to figure out where all the bolts are
and like especially at something like i if it was a commons like i could look at it and figure out
okay this is this bolt this is that bolt like i'm familiar enough but six oh i i would be struggling
trying to think of like okay there's this bag of bolts like what does it even go to if i'm lucky
and it's bagged if it's just an all in a bucket like oh that's a that's a rough one because you
don't know where all these bolts go and you need to put in the wrong bolts and wrong holes and
either strip out the bowl or it's just dumb and then that's if you have everything
and there's a lot good very good chance you don't because like when there's a bucket i mean i think
anyone that especially if you work with other people in the same shop you can put a tray or bucket
or something of bolts for your project and you leave it for an evening the bolt they're gone
let alone a month let alone outside it's gone there is one benefit though when you get a
vehicle that was a part like that you get to play Nancy do with the bolts but you also generally
you'll find like 10 millimeter sockets mixed in there like all the common wrench sizes that you're
just $5 for the tools really help offset
i will say though very commonly when i buy project cars in that state it's very common to
find tools oh yeah intermix that they missed and you're just like oh snap on wrench doesn't match
my my harbor frame you know i'm gonna slide it in there though i'm gonna take my Pittsburgh pro 12
i don't even put this craftsman 12 in here or this snap on but the reality is though i mean
you know if we're gonna lean towards more of the DIY guys there's not much out there that you can't
fix oh in parts today like if you're i mean we've done interiors here like just ready interiors
we pulled out new foam new cushions yeah new leather and looked freaking amazing and oh yeah
well you can do this stuff you absolutely can do this stuff engine wise yeah you can pull it out
you can pull the wiring stuff out if you have the knowledge you can pretty much take whatever you
want and make whatever you want but man you just are you ahead maybe just it depends on the vehicle
right depends on the deal obviously in what you're getting for it but there's a lot of traps
for people if you're not really mechanically inclined or excellent in that in that thing
that i'd hate to see people burn money on a bad vehicle or they could have what they wanted if
they just did a little more due diligence but if you're committed you could have a 10 year long
project oh it still doesn't run what's that what do they say like that that that three month project
i think it's those who can't do teach teach no there's like something going around right now
it's like it's like if you got to do the three month project just remember that two year project
will be the best 10 years of your life yeah they do take a long time it does i don't it's
i custom work is yeah long but i was now i don't want to discourage people so i want to like go
over so my first truck i ever bought first vehicle ever bought was a 97 it had some small issues in
it but because it had those issues it was a 97 i got for two grand like it was a two wheel drive
auto um but because i had those issues i researched how to fix it and then researching
a 12 valve fuel system how to fix those fuel system issues i learned that you can turn them up
but i also learned that the automatics are trash and i would never want anything to do with them
and so then i was like okay well i'm gonna leave this one stock but i'm gonna buy another one
and um it's gonna be a manual it's gonna be four by four and it's gonna be my project it's gonna be
hot rod and so because of that or 12 that had its dumb issues i've got into the 12 valve scene
and then i didn't want to pay the 8000 dollars that people wanted back then for you know
breasted out nine like a busted out manual transmission four wheel drive Cummins so i was
like oh i'll just buy this one out of a junkyard it was rolled over paid 1200 bucks for it with
engine trans everything so then i bought a v10 for 1100 dollars and started hybridizing parts
and then because it was in a junkyard i found out really quickly that a lot of parts were missing
and so i bought another parts truck for a thousand dollars and so i had $3,300 tied up to
these three vehicles and that's what i moved cross country with and because of that i got
really good at bolt sizing so if you ever need to know the bolt size on anything i'm your guy
because you're like i ordered a lot of bolts because yeah just everything was missing
because all like the v10 was together but that didn't help me and the others were all torn apart so
yeah that engine still still same engine in it never touched it roll over this is so nasty
that's why it's got v10 badges i think we should know things i wouldn't be afraid of when i'm buying
a used and we're kind of talking mostly about Cummins now but but diesel tow trucks i wouldn't
be afraid of a truck that's a cold air intake to me no whatever that's there's no that's like
someone put money into their baby like that's that's a exhaust system is great and really there's not
if it's a k&n filter and they live on a dirt road and it's eight dirt its whole life i would be a
little bit wary going like all right it probably has a little bit higher rate of engine wear because
that k&n filter doesn't filter that great and they're in a bad environment but at the same time
it's still not going to make the engine fail you know in 10 000 miles but i just might be a
little bit wary to have a little extra blow by you know but but that's about the only thing
i think of when i see an air intake i don't think this is a race truck it's been rotted to
to no degree by golly ourselves a race truck yeah i mean i don't know i mean i i guess
bone stock is like the any banks part you know that they're not serious performance enthusiasts
it's true no they're just well educated that's the difference um and nothing gets banks they're
just they're very mild parts that are very they're kind of expensive and so i would say
generally i would classify as a little bit either a more premium customer or somebody
that went to a shop that that really like banks and kind of talk them into the the more expensive
option and so to me they cared yeah they they cared what that really means about the truck not
really much other than it probably doesn't yeah it's not been hot rotted this hard
yeah then once you get so i mean air filters like the start with an exhaust and all that crap
like if i saw it like a drop in turbo like if i saw a truck that had one of our 6064s in it
obviously it's got bigger turbo they probably wanted more power and so that that could be a
sign that they're wanting to beat the crap out of it more generally like they beat the crap out of
more i feel like that really does like oil leaks and stuff follow with that so if it's like leak free
i'm like okay they bought a drop in turbo like their turbo probably failed or something like
and they picked a decent unit then just go to ebay and get some freaking whatever cheap option but
it's easy to fall in that mistake and be like this has a thousand dollar turbo on it and this
truck's only 500 more than the street value of what it should be i'm getting a great deal if you
don't want that turbo that ats aurora or whatever's on there it's not really that t4 s 300 it's not
really an upgrade but you justify that yourself when you're buying the truck if you specifically
wanted an aggressor 6064 and it has it on there and the truck didn't really cost more than one
without it then that's a bonus you got a freaking sweet turbo but if it comes with something you
didn't really want yeah then i'd say the next step of fair let's just talk about like if i was
trying to buy a truck and it had compounds on it that's a risky game someone spent the time and
money installing those they probably wanted to beat the crap out of it because they wanted to
feel the power and so were they tasteful with it and like not like beating it up all the time or
they just hot and routed it around every single day and so that that's where you get a little
bit more tricky but if you want a truck and you wanted compounds anyway if i if you want a tow
truck i would not buy that like you say oh i can return it back to stock whatever wear and damage
has been done is done like it's ready to beat the crap out of but if you wanted a 700 worse i mean
i argue a little bit there back in the day bd used to make these really small towing compounds
that's true and if i saw a truck with small towing compounds like ours on there and the
truck was clean and doesn't have oil leaks where somebody took care of it to me that is that is
a great tow truck to buy it's ready to tow it's set up if i saw a truck that had compound turbos
and had oil leaks and mismatched valve covers and that one was match tires i'd be like all right
this somebody bought this beat the live and crap out of it and they put enough turbo on it to earth
the engine so i think it depends once again on the overall condition if it's clean compounds to me
is not a deal but to me that's a bonus if i want to want the compounds anyway like if if you were
just looking for a bone stock just haul your camper around truck and you're like oh this one's
got compounds and i've heard it's gonna tow better maybe be weary depending on what the
compounds are in the condition of it and the owner and everything else yeah really compounds like a
marketed you know commercial kit or is it something like uh something scab together
something yes i have together years you should have stared clear and so obviously quality
of fabrication makes a big difference and if it's a commercially available kit it's gonna be good
and as long as it's been maintained well it's probably designed properly and so that that
is always true my street truck has beautiful fabricated compounds and i beat the tar out of
it if i sold that to somebody i'd be like there's no warranty the engine could blow up tomorrow
or it might be good for 10 years i don't know all i know is it's making four-digit power and
anything can happen do you know that and so just because i think it makes for me makes over
makes like 112 115 pounds of boost okay i'm sure it does you're just used to the
junker drag truck being so light is all anyway but what but what i'm getting at is is to me
just because it's beautiful compounds doesn't necessarily mean that it's a solid
you know yeah foundation i guess i feel like my truck's a solid foundation but there's no
guarantees at that power level on anything no yeah i was gonna say like anyone buying any vehicle
1100 horse or about let's just say above a thousand or even above 800 like you're buying
something that has an expected life expectancy like yeah who knows how much is left i'd say the
person you're buying it from would make a big quality for me like am i buying it from like a
my cousin you know our guy down there like i'd buy that guy's compound truck in a second you know
what i mean yeah my extract is beautiful i wouldn't hesitate twice look at the truck and you're like
yeah looks like take my car because it's beautiful it's clean it has good well fabricated compound
but it's compound turbo and it's a four-digit tractor right there yeah upper nines and so
he's that he's yeah he's upgraded since we died out who knows yeah he put a 480 on there he could
be probably north of a thousand now he's probably a thousand so i mean you know the who you're buying
it from you know look at the quality of the build again the maintenance the quality of the truck and
so there's no like what if that was bought through an estate sale an old guy that maybe a diet or
something and it has all those nice parts i wouldn't be leery of it as i would be if you
bought it from a 21 year old kid that needed money and yeah good luck you're all 21 years old
ones we know we know what you guys do we still do i'm like girlfriend sent me a bad text i'm gonna
go do a burnout to show her who's boss i'm gonna do another one just because it made me feel good
my buddies are here taking tick tocks i'm gonna do another one
yes it's got a funny noise i'm gonna do just one more just to make sure that that doesn't fix the
noise okay it definitely has a rod knock but if i sell it while the engine's still cold it doesn't
knock so i can get premium dollar for sale i know what i have no low balls yeah you got a
wild childhood there well definitely definitely not anyway there's i mean yes so things be afraid
of things not to be afraid of after market i mean a new transmission in a dodge truck it's gonna
happen you're gonna hopefully you got a fresh winner a good build if it's on it's a
newer transmission than the engine that wouldn't concern me because i figured i was just gonna
kind of part of the course but if it's a built transmission you're like oh my gosh i'm saving
$10,000 to build transmission that's a pitfall to me think of it as basically a fresh stock
unit when you see it's it's built now if they have a receipt from us or some other reputable
builder and you know exactly what's in there you can pull the inspection cover off on your
four speed and see that it has the right color of torque converter you could pretty well deduce
most people are too lazy to pull out a built transmission and put a stock one in there to
sell the truck it's a lot of work um but at the same time there's no guarantees but still
then i'd be there but if it's built from some no-name shop i would think of that as basically
a fresh stock transmission and don't be adding money to the value you're willing to pay now
the person selling it's going to think that it's worth a billion dollars because they paid $6,000
or $8000 but we've seen i mean so first of all like most transmission builders the warranty
doesn't carry over to the new owner so like yeah the guy paid $6,000 for it and you're like oh it
may or may not have a warranty still so confirm with whoever he says build it to confirm that but
secondly we've seen where people will like buy a truck and say hey it's got your transmission in it
like it's got this this and this and we're like that's weird like it shouldn't have that that
power level that that should have been you know built to go and fight now it's just red paint on
the transmission it's not ours well that's just kind of an awkward situation but like what do you
want us to do with this or might have our torque converter in it yeah like this is not our kind
of or might have our torque converter in it or it might have one of our pans on it or something
maybe they said it was a power driven built trans but really they used our built kit or
something and so like yeah i mean it's got good parts but who knows how how it was built and so
yeah doing some due diligence there don't just say like oh wow it's worth another five grand
because it's transmission but very rarely do you get one that has a really nice transmission
and the people didn't know about it like most people don't put a $10,000 transmission in the truck
sell it two weeks later it's fresh and perfect and not tell anyone about it so generally it's not
common to buy a truck and open it up and find a bill and input shaft and a bunch of nice parts
it's very common to find one with an aftermarket torque converter because it's probably been
rebuilt at some point and you know so it might be five percent better than stock but it's not really
it's basically just that's a that's a willard head and the guy said i had this heavy duty
transmission a towing transmission my local shop they have a heavy duty version towing version
it's a very mildly upgraded transmission basically stock it was great for it was i mean they didn't
sell anything wrong you nothing wrong with that just it's not this like oh i got a built trans
yeah i mean if you just keeping it stock for a long time it's probably less than three long time
yeah exactly we did that one is the the thrust washer or something oh that's right yeah it
lasted for a while yeah it was coming out soon anyway um so yeah i mean the reality is you're
buying a used truck right you're you're going to get something you want to make a project out of it
there's reasons you might want a new truck like you don't want your camshaft roller lifters to fail
some knew that they're so expensive there's a few reasons to look in the you know the used
truck market to look for older vehicles that i don't have some of the issues the newer ones do
and that's i mean you've kind of brought up there and this is something i also see is like if you
look on marketplace like at least right now you can get a 2019 to like 2021 fifth gen for cheaper
then you can get a 2015 to 2018 fourth gen and because people that know know that that already
has the flat tapets in it it's got really solid it's still got pretty good trim levels and and so
it's like kind of like the go-to truck right now it's like what the enthusiasts are wanting because
a lot of enthusiasts are skipping the 19 and newer right because they don't want to deal with the flat
tapet because that being the parts themselves are a couple grand you get by the time you pay labor on
a shop like that's not an easy job although you're adding five grand by the time you're in labor or
more i think the kit's over three yeah so you're probably almost three and yeah i mean if you lift
a cab you're dinging your 10 probably to just i mean i don't know exactly but you're at least
i would say between five and ten to do to do all that work i mean anybody that's called them to
dave's auto they do a lot of them they could probably tell us what the quote is but i'm guessing
yeah that's that's a good amount and like so yeah they don't want to deal with it they just go to
the older trucks and so that's something i see is like um i know multiple people that wanted a
newer Cummins and they're not super into the whole Cummins game and like which ones what years are
the desirable whatever and they're like oh wow i can get this 2019 for a pretty good deal like i'm
just gonna buy it and they're like yeah i hear that little tiki got there so i know we're getting to
the end here we should at least tell people what what exactly is happening on fifth gen what did
they change and and what's failing yeah for those who don't know the 19 plus stuff they went to a
hydraulic roller lifter tap it so they made two changes yeah they went to a hydraulic
roller lifter tap it and the roller there's apparently a couple different issues between
the roller the key whatever in the block but ultimately either the roller wears out the
bearing in the roller wears out and so then it has no bearing left or the tap the roller tap
itself the key wipes out to where it's not actually being held square in the block anymore
it tries to go sideways and that causes problems as well and then they have some weird issues
with on the push rod too where um the push rod because they inverted the the cup so normally
on which i never even thought about this yeah but on a 12 valves forever 12 valve 20 vp common
rail all the way up to 18 there's a cup in the tap it which the cup faces up to hold oil and there's
a cup in the push rod and on the rocker side and that cup faces up to hold oil i never even thought
about it but like yeah it holds oil that way it flows it fills shut the truck off there's still
oil in there doesn't get a dry start because there's freaking oil and on 19 and up they inverted it
ball ball and where it's kind of a lot cheaper to manufacture and so yeah they have the ball the
tap it's still a ball on the bottom cool it's going to hold oil but now you've got this inverted cup
that's upside down and off you've ever taken a cup and like unless it's like a smoothie or a
blizzard from Dairy Queen the crack falls out and now you're doing a bunch of dry starts and you'll
wear out that top and so that'll be like so then it gets clearance which then makes just the roller
lifter can't pump up enough yeah so then it hammers every time it cracks so you hear a small tick
definitely um check out your your rockers and make sure the push rods aren't worn out you can get like
we sell like some stage one just like i mean it's not a huge upgrade you're not looking for a huge
upgrade you're just looking for a better material that it's made out of so that way it helps hold
that oil but the whole crux of it is from 1989 through 2018 it had a flat tap it so it's a mechanical
solid flat there's a cast cam with a cast tap it a push rod and there's a push rod adjuster on the
rocker arm and you adjust your valve lash every on these later models every every 100000
miles is the interval so it's not a big deal to go away from that i heard that you know Daimler
Chrysler Fiat whatever you want to call that parent company Stalantis Stalantis made them go to a
hydraulic so that there was no adjustment needed and it's quieter but yeah and it there's some
quiet technology there there's there's no question that's quiet and and so anyway so they they went
that roller hydraulic and those are having failures and so right now the fix is to do a
flat tap at conversion and so you're basically going back to the old style cam and that last
a million miles yeah yeah and it's proven and now you have to go back to doing valve lash
adjustments every 100000 miles go day but but a lot of those you know they're
failing under warranty so much i was talking to a tech and basically they're having such a shortage
of parts that dodge was saying you can go to the aftermarket and buy aftermarket fixes for this
and letting it go out of the shop because they didn't they can't supply parts because they didn't
have enough wow yeah enough roller lifters so the same thing happened um back so 2019 to 2024 i think
has the roller i mean obviously 2025 still has it so i don't know if they change anything in those
the new engines but either way um the 2019 also got a cp4 and those guys have where all
sorts of issues and they had the same deal where they not only was dodge like doing or did a recall
where they put a cp3 in it and bring this down a little bit a cp4 is what so cp3 is what like
obviously your 12 valves have a p pump your 24 valve second gens have a vp pump well cp3 is like
the common rail fuel injection pump yep and the 2019 they went to a cp4 so instead of being a
three plunger it's a four plunger and actually i don't know if that's true i don't know if that's
anyway don't go around that i think it's a different model than the common different model
everybody runs it has more flow to it that way you know help support whatever handle higher
rail pressure that's why they went to that yep but there are some fatal flaws in that and so they
were failing and so um they did a recall on it and not only did they do the recall where they'd
put a cp3 conversion back into it so you'd have a cp3 again but they also they had such a shortage
on parts so they said like hey if you like just buy an aftermarket cp3 like we'll cover the cost
and like reimburse you and so people are buying 12 mils they're buying upgraded aftermarket cp3
only only like $2,700 deal but anyway so yeah they were getting reimbursed for freaking 12
mils and stuff but now i'm sure like a lot of that has passed and so they they'll i think they're
still doing the recall they'll still put a cp3 in for you but um that's a 2019 2020 thing 2021
they went back to a cp3 and so and that's a risk a lot people don't realize when you buy the newest
model of truck they do a lot of testing but they don't actually know what's going to be a problem
and what's not in that model of truck and so you're a little bit you know if you have a warranty
at least you have a warranty rely on but yeah but yeah you just got to be a little wary when
you're buying trucks and that's why these newer ones are cheaper than the 15 through 18s because
people that know no enthusiast know that there's a little bit more work the fifth gins are a fine
truck they're beautiful trucks which i actually had a funny realization a while back so i'm i'm
kind of slowly keep my eyes open for like a newer fortney duly fourth gen fifth gen whatever tow rig
and i wanted a that 15 to 18 like i wanted that gem and i realized i was like why like what i'm
afraid of is the engine or forms diesel shop and it's parking at billa rods anyway so that's not
always just either fix the problems with like a flat type of conversion or i could just use an
older block yeah so and so but like in your unique situation because your mechanical
altitude and your resources to you a fifth gen is a way better deal because it's a nicer truck
that's why i realized it's better for towing it's a stiffer frame it's got better brakes
it is a better truck other than the engine problems and to you you're going to build
either engine on either truck so to you it's just like a bonus but to somebody that doesn't
build engines yeah maybe they'd be better off getting a fourth gen because they're gonna you
know so if anyone knows like a clean like blown up engine trans no trench and no trans
for a ridiculously good deal i'm your guy probably after ultimate call challenge when i have some
money
no no not winning just like i haven't spent it all
awesome well i think about a time on this one guys but anyway we don't want to we're not trying
to discourage anybody we're actually trying to help people buy used trucks because we think
they're worthwhile and they are fun projects i have them will has them myer has them and uh
just you can save yourself a lot of headache and time with a little bit of homework a little bit
due diligence and um yeah i wish you guys look out there on your projects and as always we'd love
to help you i'll call if you need parts or advice we can help you out there and uh please you know
like and share this this video subscribe to our channel leave us comments as i always say a lot
of our videos come from your ideas we appreciate it and uh yeah we'll see you next time on the
podcast
About this episode
Buying someone else’s unfinished project can look like a bargain, but the hosts keep pointing to red flags that turn “cheap” into expensive labor. They describe how oil leaks, cracked cases, and hidden internal damage can force major teardown work, while sketchy wiring, junker titles, and neglected driveline service add risk. Diesel examples highlight deeper fuel-system problems (like VP44/CP4) and costly machining. The episode’s through-line: inspect carefully, verify claims, and do due diligence before you commit.
Buying someone else's unfinished project truck sounds like a shortcut, but it can turn into one of the most expensive decisions you make. Todd, Will, and Myer break down exactly what to watch for when you're rolling up to a used diesel truck with a head full of optimism and a wallet that needs to survive the trip.
The guys get real about why sellers abandon projects in the first place, and why that reason matters more than the deal itself. Money, time, boredom, a problem they couldn't solve, all of it changes what you're actually inheriting when you hand over the cash. Not every truck listed with cool parts is worth what the seller thinks it is, and not every deal is what it looks like on the surface.
A big part of the conversation is the physical inspection. Pop the hood and you can tell a lot fast. Firewall insulation and hood insulation are some of the first things to check because they tell you how many times someone has been in there and whether they cared when they put it back together. Wiring is another one. If you see bare twisted wires and electrical tape where a proper loom should be, that truck is telling you something and you should listen.
The guys also talk through the secondary market and the reality of flip sellers on classifieds who buy trucks cheap, patch a surface problem, and resell without any real knowledge of the vehicle history. Knowing the difference between a guy who built something and a guy who bought it to move it is one of the most useful skills you can develop when shopping for a project.
They cover transmission talk specific to Dodge trucks, including what a shop-claimed "heavy duty" or "towing" transmission actually means versus a real built trans, and why you need to ask the right questions before you assume the drivetrain is sorted. For Cummins trucks from 2019 and up, there is also a conversation about the hydraulic roller lifter design and the failure concerns that make some buyers think twice about the newer platform when they are looking for something they can actually work on and source parts for.
The episode closes with the bigger question every buyer has to answer honestly before they shop: are you someone with the tools and knowledge to take on whatever you find, or are you someone who needs to start with a cleaner slate and let a shop handle the build. Neither is wrong, but getting that answer wrong before you buy can cost you a lot more than you saved.
If you are looking to pick up a diesel project truck, pull up a chair because this one is worth hearing before you write that check. Subscribe on YouTube and follow on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.
