1998 Ford Explorer How-To Video Suggestions

Jeremy Nutt 2 Comments

1A Auto Wants Your Suggestions!

1998 Ford Explorer

Over the last few months, 1A Auto has recorded several hundred high definition how-to videos on our 1A Auto YouTube Channel and we are adding dozens more each week.  We want to give our customers all the guidance that they may need when replacing the typical do-it-yourself auto parts like the ones that we provide.   Our YouTube videos are all 10 minutes or less and they cover everything from the tools that you will need, to the time that it should take, and all the tips and tricks that we have learned along the way.  They show you how auto parts are replaced in a real world environment, not in the fantasy TV land of rust-free metal and easy to turn bolts.

Most recently, we acquired a 1998 Ford Explorer that we will be breathing some much deserved life back into.  It has typical mileage, normal wear and tear, and makes a fantastic winter vehicle in New England!  Over the next month or so, we are going through it and making dozens of helpful how-to videos about the entire process. This is where you come in! We are looking for “how-to video” suggestions for this Explorer project.   Read More

The Rust Heinz Designed Bowman & Schwartz Phantom Corsair

Jeremy Nutt Leave a comment
This picture above is what it looked like when it was new.
This is after it was modified and painted by the second owner.
This is what it looks like now.

Back in the mid 1930’s Rust Heinz (yes, the ketchup guy) decided to design a high end supercar.  He made a model out of clay, and had it built by Bowman & Schwartz (they were awesome car builders).  The car was known as the 1938 Phantom Corsair.  Rust Heinz wanted it to be a limited production car that would be sold for about $15,000, which was a massive sum of money at the time.

The car used a Cord engine in its original front wheel drive configuration. It had an automatic transmission, and they bumped the horsepower up to around 190.  Not too shabby for the 1930’s!  Once completed, Rust drove the car for a while and advertised it all over.  Unfortunately, Rust died tragically at the young age of 25 in a car accident (not in this car), and the “push” for the car to become a success was lost.  The car was stored for a few years after Rust’s death and then sold to a guy that modified it to be a more driver friendly vehicle.  Better cooling, a bigger windshield, and a modified roof were all molded into the clean original body.  It was then painted gold and driven by the new owner.

Decades later it came up for auction and landed in the Harrah Collection in Reno Nevada, which eventually became the National Automobile Museum. It was modified again back to its original design, and is currently on display in the museum today if you’d like to see it in person.   My only thought is that it needs more “low”, like at least 5 more inches of it.  Other than that, its bug eyed killer whale body is quite appealing to me.

Image Borrowed From:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t114/dog427435/1218%20ashbridge/Vintage/1039.png

http://www.supercars.net/cars/4422.html

Taking it Back to 1984 with “Fat Charlie”

Jeremy Nutt 3 Comments

Recently I had the pleasure of working on an absolutely beautiful 1984 Chevy Caprice.  I know, I know, “absolutely beautiful” and “Caprice” probably shouldn’t ever be used in the same sentence.  However, I assure you that this car is an exception to the rule.  This big fella, nicknamed “fat Charlie” by its owner, was clearly babied from the start, and always well taken care of.  He was parked indoors, and only driven when necessary which kept the mileage down around 2800 miles per year.  Yes, you did read that correctly, Charlie has just over 70K miles on it today.

When Charlie arrived in my driveway under the cover of darkness (don’t ask), he had a saggy headliner, stripped out windshield wiper arm, a leaky muffler, and a directional that only wanted to make left turns.  All were easy fixes that I thoroughly enjoyed doing.  Every nut and bolt was removed without a fight, and I took special care on everything I removed because I didn’t want to damage any of the original interior trim that was in perfect condition.  Overboard? Yea, maybe, but I love cars.

Several days later, Charlie had officially passed the state inspection, and I got to take the big guy for a truly enjoyable jaunt down the road.  It basically feels like a brand new 1984 car.  There is plenty of room for you and 16 of your closest friends, it has power everything, and the floats like a Cadillac down the bumpiest of roads.  I even got thumbs up from multiple people!  Going forward, Charlie will be kept in the family of the original owner, and driven and enjoyed daily for the foreseeable future.  Maaaybe Charlie will even make it to some local cruise nights?  We’ll see. 🙂

Any other 1980’s B-Body fans out there?

RPOTD: Chevado Wheelies

Jeremy Nutt 1 Comment

Random Picture Of The Day

 

Chevado doin what Chevado's do.

This morning I was thinking about things that this blog is missing.  One thing that jumped out at me was a “X of the day”, meaning something that people could check daily and thoroughly enjoy.  I knew it needed to be something great, but it also needed to be something pretty quick to whip together in addition to the daily blogs.  Thus, the “Random Picture Of The Day”  was born!

Picture Borrowed from:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm246/frankenstein1948/Chevado.jpg