Tag: Videos

An Electric Subaru Brat? Okay, This Is An Electric Vehicle Swap We Think Might Be Real Fun!

Jul 10, 2021CAR FEATURES, DRIVETRAIN, ENGINE, Hack of the Week, Project Cars, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos

An Electric Subaru Brat? Okay, This Is An Electric Vehicle Swap We Think Might Be Real Fun!

The idea of taking a gas or diesel-powered car and making it electric intrigues me. I think it would be a fun project and have been thinking about a few different fun cars to do the conversion on. Of course, I have a jillion other projects going so there isn’t much need to be worrying about anything in the short term, but I certainly think it’s a fun idea and love checking out projects that other people are doing. So when James Fleischman at Flash Drive Motors sent me an email with a link to this Brat build I was intrigued.

Finding out that he’s located just outside of Austin, which is only a few hours drive from me, also made me want to go and play with electric cars so trust me that’s on the list of must-do things this summer.

But back to this project. This one is a Subaru Brat, you know, the little truck that came with the seats in the back. It was in really good shape, as it had been driven on the road up until 2017 but it still needed to get redone. Luckily, Flash Drive is all about restoring cars and not just making them electric. In fact, they will gladly work on your gasoline-powered ride, do EFI conversions, etc.

But I digress! Here are the first two videos in the Electric Brat conversion series, and we’ll have more tomorrow!

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How To Make An F-Bomb Out Of Aluminum! This Is One Cool Project You Should Check Out.

Jul 04, 2021Hack of the Week, OTHER, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos

How To Make An F-Bomb Out Of Aluminum! This Is One Cool Project You Should Check Out.

I’m not saying everyone wants to make a miniature bomb, but the steps required to make this thing sure could come in handy when building something else in the shop. And the lesson is coming from the master of metal manipulation, Ron Covell. I mean this dude knows what he’s talking about, has been teaching others how to do it for decades, and is about as humble as they come when talking about his skill. And he’s partnering with 6061.com on this one so you know the end result is going to be fun as hell! I can tell you that if you are not familiar with building bucks or forming metal, then these two videos will be life changing for you. Seeing just how easy it is to manipulate aluminum sheet into the shape  that you want will be an eye opener for sure. I’m not saying that you’ll be a master in a day, but with these two videos and trying out this project, you will be changing how you view sheet metal projects for sure.

And they don’t require special tools! In the second video Ron goes over shaping three identical pieces of aluminum and does each one using a different method. The first is literally just using a hammer on a metal workbench. That’s it! Then there is a planishing hammer and then an english wheel. Guess what? Each one does the job perfectly fine, with just a slight difference in finish work required. I’m telling you, this is a video series to watch. Here are the first two in the series, we’ll bring you the rest as soon as they are out!

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Valvetrain Tech: If Light Weight And Low Reciprocating Mass Matter So Much, Do Stiffer Valve Springs Cost Horsepower?

Jun 26, 20211320 Engine Tech, 1320 Tech Story, Apex Engine Tech, Apex Tech Stories, Apex Video, ENGINE, ENGINES, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Engine Tech, XL Tech Stories

Valvetrain Tech: If Light Weight And Low Reciprocating Mass Matter So Much, Do Stiffer Valve Springs Cost Horsepower?

Roller rockers, roller lifters, beehive valve springs, lightweight valves, lightweight locks and retainers, and the list goes on. These are all things designed to aid in controlling valvetrain at high rpm and under extreme power levels, and they do this by reducing the load required to move and control these components. So it would make sense that lighter valve springs would also be good for that. After all, anyone that has built an engine before knows that spinning the engine over by hand is very easy when it is just a short block and gets harder as you add components. If you have an engine with no spark plugs in it, and no rocker arms, then it is still really easy to spin by hand. But when you also have to turn the valvetrain, it becomes much more difficult.

So if you had an engine that didn’t “require” heavier valve springs, because it wasn’t going to be run at high rpm or didn’t have a camshaft that needed the extra valve control that heavy springs provide, would it make more horsepower with lighter weight springs that the others? Logic says yes. Or at least it seems like it does. But what does the dyno say?

Luckily for us, Richard Holdener knows because he’s done this very test and here it is so you can see for yourself.

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Compression Testing Junkyard Engines, In The Junkyard. Know What You Are Getting Before You Buy, Because This Engine Is Junk!

May 23, 2021ENGINE, ENGINES, FUNNY STUFF, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos

Compression Testing Junkyard Engines, In The Junkyard. Know What You Are Getting Before You Buy, Because This Engine Is Junk!

Here’s another junkyard video from Richard Holdener, the king of junkyard horsepower, and one that teaches you how to choose the right engine at the junkyard. This one hits close to home as Richard needs one too replace the Ameri-Barra that he strapped to the dyno but that has no compression in some of the cylinders. Sometimes you end up with a loser when you grab an engine from the wrecking yard. It’s just part of the deal. Hell, with as many engines as Richard has pulled from the yard there is no way he can be too made about getting one that sucks. The odds are usually in his favor, but not with the Atlas 4200, aka Ameri-Barra engine in the video below.

We’re putting these two videos together so you can feel Richard’s pain during the testing of the first engine so you can understand his motivation to do some testing when trying to find another one. Oh and did we forget to mention how many head bolts broke while trying to get them out of this engine? Yeah, it isn’t pretty, but you are going to want to watch because you just have to laugh. After all, if you don’t laugh then you will cry and nobody wants to see a grown man cry.

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RockyNats 2021 Video: Burnouts, Rev Limiters, Cruises And More. And That’s Just Day One!

May 13, 2021Event Coverage, RACING & ACTION, Videos

RockyNats 2021 Video: Burnouts, Rev Limiters, Cruises And More. And That’s Just Day One!

The Aussies sure know how to have a good time, and RockyNats proves it. Like most of their big shows, there is tons of car show going on, lots of cruising, and epic burnouts happening each and every day of the event! This video is from Day One of the RockyNats and is brought to us by our friends at Street Machine TV. If you aren’t familiar with RockyNats, that’s okay as it is SuperNats but brought to Central Queensland in Australia. Check out the cool cars, and amazing burnouts. The talent to keep the car inside the barriers without running into them, all while moving around the pit like a champ, is what makes them better at this than anyone else.

And the engine combos are awesome. I used to wonder why anyone would need such big power to do burnouts like this, but now I know. It’s because the pit is so full of rubber, and with so much laid down on the ground, that it can get hard to spin the tires. All the marbles also make it hard to hold the car in one place sometimes, so the combo just makes it more of a challenge than you might think.

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ABS On Tractors? This Video Demonstration Proves How Necessary It Actually Is!

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When Last Minute Testing Your Burnout Truck For Cleetus And Cars, Sometimes Your Driveway Becomes The Burnout Pad

May 02, 20211320 Spotlight, 1320 Videos, FUNNY STUFF, RACING & ACTION, Videos

When Last Minute Testing Your Burnout Truck For Cleetus And Cars, Sometimes Your Driveway Becomes The Burnout Pad

Yep, James is no poser, that’s for sure. When under a time crunch to get their LS Swapped S10 Burnout truck, aka Burnie, ready for Cleetus and Cars Burnout Rivals in Indy, sometimes you have to piss off the neighbors. After stealing the trans out of his race car, and going through brake issues and a couple other snags, Burnie was back up and running with just hours to go before leaving for Indy. Of course there were a couple other snags and just an hour before it had to be on the trailer there was testing that needed going. After all, you got to know if there are vibrations, if the new torque converter is okay, and whether the brakes will hold for big time tire frying excitement or not.

Testing was in order and with no time to go anywhere else, the driveway became the burnout pad whether the neighbors liked it or not. Now I happen to know James’ neighborhood. I went there to pick up some tires he hooked me up with for the drive days on Rocky Mountain Race Week in 2019. It’s your average Colorado high desert neighborhood with family homes all around. This is not the country, and it is not remote. It is very close to town.

But the testing had to happen and the results were no vibrations, a tune that needs some tweaks, and brakes that need more bleeding to hold. But most importantly the smoke happened. And lots of it. Watch.

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Boost Makes Better: This Build and Dyno Test Of An 8-71 Blown 427ci LS3 Is Awesome – Airboat Engine!

Apr 27, 20211320 Engine Tech, 1320 Tech Story, 1320 Videos, Apex Engine Tech, Apex Tech Stories, Apex Video, BangShift 1320, BangShift APEX, BangShift News, BangShift XL, ENGINES, MISC, Videos, XL Engine Tech, XL Tech Stories, XL Videos

Boost Makes Better: This Build and Dyno Test Of An 8-71 Blown 427ci LS3 Is Awesome – Airboat Engine!

If you are going to build a kick ass airboat engine, you need a few things. The first is obviously some horsepower, the second is  a deep reservoir of torque, and the third is reliability so you are not gator food out there somewhere in the wilderness. This video is a comprehensive and awesome look at the build of just such an engine. In the typical fashion of the channel, Jeff at Horsepower Monster takes us through the build from the block on up to the end results of dyno testing. Starting with a Dart LS-Next block and stuffing the whole thing full of the best parts in the aftermarket, the engine is a 427ci power maker topped with Prestige Motorsports (the engine builder here) own design LS3 11-degree cylinder heads. Breaking news: they work.

After all is said and done, the engine sits more than 6ft tall on the dyno cart all hooked up. The height will not be a problem in an airboat where literally the sky is the limit. There are two sets of dyno pulls made, one with the supercharger basically at 1:1 with the engine and the second with a little bit of overdrive. Both pulls are made on 93-octane gas and the engine is only pulled to 6,000 RPM which is the max it will see in an airboat.

The power is impressive for both pulls and we agree with Jeff that with some higher octane gas, a little more OD, and some more RPM, they could be way bigger! This is a great video and an awesome engine.

Press play below to see this big-inch LS3 get an 8-71 huffer and make awesome power –

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Goodwood Fun: Here’s 10 Wild, Weird, and Bodacious Touring Cars From Goodwood Over The Years That You Forgot About

Awesomely Weird: This 1970s Chevrolet Parts Film Stars Evel Knievel And Literally Makes No Sense

Apr 24, 2021Apex Video, BangShift APEX, BangShift News, FUNNY STUFF, HISTORIC, MISC, Videos

Awesomely Weird: This 1970s Chevrolet Parts Film Stars Evel Knievel And Literally Makes No Sense

 

We’re guessing someone lost their job for this one. You are going to watch this 1970s Chevrolet parts film which stars Evel Knivel and makes literally no sense at all. The theme of the film is “conflict” and it is illustrated by a series of scenes where animals eat other animals, black and white movies are shown, and Evel Knievel jumps stuff on his motorcycle, sometimes crashing, sometimes not. Throw in a dose of 1970s Anchoman-level hilarity with a bikini-clad woman, and you have yourself one of the most singular odd things we have ever seen.

Make no mistake, Knievel would never turn down a gig, especially one with Chevrolet that likely was a great payday for reading some cue-cards. The company definitely did not hire him for his suave acting ability because this dude is straight up stiff while narrating the action. By action, we mean the bizarre things we are shown on screen.

Oddly, while Chevrolet parts are mentioned a handful of times there’s barely (if ever) a Chevrolet car shown as a prop in the film. This whole thing is some weirdo theater of the mind that was likely schemed up by an executive’s kid. “Hey Johnson, get my son a job in the media department and let him run wild!”

Obviously, Knievel was majorly famous at this point and his star only grew bigger. Note that he mentions that someday, “I’ll jump a mile….” we all know how that quest ended.

You have to see this one to believe it.

Press play to see the weirdest Chevrolet Parts video ever made, starring Evel Knievel!

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Inside An Incredible Collection At IKONICK Miami

Mike Supercars TopSpeed is at it again

We’ve seen his handiwork filming the wildest cars in South Florida, and now Mike takes us behind the scenes at an incredible collection of artwork and cars at IKONICK Motors Miami. Words can’t do justice to this because every supercar and classic is included. That means a Porsche GT3 RS of every color alongside a dozen 918 Spyders. A full lineup of Panteras, Koenigseggs, Bugattis, and more are surrounded by large sculptures and metalwork. A big thanks to Mike and Brett David (Prestige Imports) for making this possible, so click the button to find your next daily driver.

For GREAT deals on a new or used Mercedes check out Mercedes Benz West Covina TODAY!

Street Racing Action From The Small Tire Short Notice KC Cash Days In Mexico

Apr 18, 20211320 Videos, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Street Racing Action From The Small Tire Short Notice KC Cash Days In Mexico

The Wyco Racing Small Tire Short Notice Cash Days event looked to have a very diverse group of racers ready to throw down on the street. The location was interesting as well, and in this great video from Urban Hillbilly Videos you’ll get to see all the action from start to finish. And like I said, there are some interesting cars at this one. Sure you are going to see Camaros and Mustangs and Novas oh my, but you are also going to see interesting imports, Mopars, trucks, and more. This is a cool video that is fun to watch. And the road? WTF are they thinking? This thing goes up and then down before a huge hill after the finish line. I guess it helps you slow down quick, but man it looks like a weird place to race.

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