G54B: Bird Seed & Oil Starvation Edition.

Jeremy Nutt 2 Comments

Over the weekend I acquired a mighty fine engine stand with a G54B engine attached to it.  For those of you not familiar with this Mitsubishi engine, it was the 2.6L that came in a variety of vehicle in the 1980’s.   Many people loved these single overhead cam 16 valve engines, but unfortunately….this one was loveless.  This one was roasted, toasted, and probably 2 rotations away from spitting connecting rods through the block at a very young age.  Before the engine was even broken in at just 46K miles, the engine lost oil pressure for some unknown reason, and promptly ate itself from the inside out.  The engine was then pulled out, set on an engine stand, and parked in the corner of a garage for the last few years.  Did I mention that it was sitting on a nice engine stand?  Well, that is the reason that this engine entered my life.  The price was free, and “POOF!” it landed in the garage as if from nowhere.

For my own entertainment, I tore the engine apart to see the catastrophic damage.  Here is a list of destruction:

– Timing chains tensioners ripped off the block, and chopped into many many small pieces. All hidden behind the timing cover.
– The crankshaft sprocket for the timing chain was missing every single tooth.
– The inside of the timing cover appear to be shot with a shotgun.
– The bearings for the balance shafts were blue, yellow, and black. The balance shafts themselves were blue around the bearings.
– The connecting rods were all loose on the crankshaft. The bearings fell out in multiple pieces.
– Then there was bird seed, so much bird seed. Once the engine became a fixture in my friends garage, it appears that a mouse or chipmonk moved into the upper radiator house. It was full, like 100% packed full.  Inside we found enough bird seed to probably feed all the birds in the Amazon for a month. I don’t know where it all came from, but it was epic.

So what now? Well, I am glad you asked. I am going to clean up the long block and use it as a base for a table. The engine stand was what I really wanted, and it wants an LS1 attached to it really badly.

…..updates on the coffee table will follow in the future 1A Auto Blogs…..

Beautiful and Likely Able to Survive a Dinosaur Attack.

Jeremy Nutt 1 Comment

They say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  I know that this statement is true because this truck’s license plate told me so.  Seriously though, this truck is amazing.  I saw it at a local show and instantly had dreams of driving through the jungle, fighting off a tiger, multiple ligers, maybe giant arachnids, and a dinosaur.  It is an absolute beast of a machine that would probably go around ripping tags off mattresses if you ticked it off.  I’m not sure what its intended use is, but it appears to be limitless in its abilities.  If Jurassic park ever becomes a reality, you better believe I will be the first one making friends with this “beauty”, and guaranteeing my survival of the dinopocolipse.

Bring Back Hood Ornaments

Jeremy Nutt 4 Comments

Am I the only one that thoroughly enjoys the gaudy hood ornaments on old cars, and really think we need to bring ’em back?   I do realize that dropping a giant chromed-out pelican on the front of a new Camry wouldn’t really work. However, if done tastefully it maaay actually improve the look of the car like it had in the past.  Sure it will cost extra money and it would be something for punk kids to rip off in mall parking lots, BUT pretend those negative factors don’t exist for now.  Instead, let’s think about how much class it adds to the vehicle, along with a feeling of luxury and honor.  Please raise your hand if you would not want a giant chrome bird, ship, plane, or beautiful winged goddess mounted to your hood.  Nobody? Yeah that’s what I thought. The fact is: these types of figures make you feel like a big shot.  You instantly feel more elegant, smart, and stylish than you really are.  Just go for a ride in any car from the 1940’s if you would like to experience this for yourself.  Even if the car doesn’t have paint, stalls out at stop signs, and generally looks like a beater, the hood ornament announces to the surrounding community that you are in fact, a really big deal.

Dear big 3,
Let’s try and make it classy again. I want sparkling chrome planes, goddesses, ships, and a variety of fowl guiding my vehicle down the roads. If you must, you can make them out of carbon fiber for a modern touch.
Thanks,
-Jeremy

Now who’s with me?…….echo……echo….

The Automotive Future Update: Ben-Dera Ford!

Jeremy Nutt 3 Comments

Last week we talked about a spacecraft-looking car that was spotted at a Wendy’s in Ohio recently.  It was mystery with so many twists and turns, that the automotive community was left scrambling.  We needed to know the story behind this vehicle.  Who built it? When? What is it? Why?  Thanks to the super sleuth detective work of “oliver@triplezoom” on vwvortex.com, we now have the answer!  The vehicle from Friday’s 1A Auto Blog is a Ben-Dera Ford built by John Bender over 3 years in the mid 1990’s.

It turns out that in June of 1998, “Car and Driver” actually featured this vehicle and it’s owner / builder.  His name is John Bender and he built this vehicle because well….. he wanted to.  In fact, he built a couple of them!  I would go into details, but honestly, this article sums it up way better than I ever could.

Pictures borrowed from:

http://www.oliverdueck.com/misc/benderaford/

Which were originally in:

Car and Driver Magazine.

The Automotive Future Has Arrived. Embrace It.

Jeremy Nutt 3 Comments

Once in a while you see cars that leave you wondering what exactly the owner was trying to accomplish.  Then there are those cars that literally make you question what planet you are on, and how in the heck you arrived there.   Today we have one of the latter.

Recently this “submersible-car-ship?” was spotted at a Wendy’s Restaurant in Ohio and posted up by “B3passatBMX” from VWVortex.com.  He was wondering what the heck he had just witnessed, because we all know that “what has been seen, cannot be unseen”.  Luckily for us, he grabbed photographic evidence of the “jet-vehicle-hover-plane?” because there is absolutely zero chance of the world believing this story otherwise.   Now…. what he found sitting in this parking lot was truly amazing, almost beyond words.  It was something so futuristic, yet retro, yet gangsta, that you aren’t sure what planet it was from or where it may have landed.   Is it from the future? Could it be from the distant past?  Nobody actually knows. All we know is that its home base in Ohio, and it appears to have once sported wings.  Yes, I said wings. Also, notice the crazy blower-style drive belt inside, and fully custom hubcaps.   The word on the streets is that it had a VW engine tucked underneath it, but who really knows.  It may be a decoy so that you don’t notice the turbo rocket booster packs.

That being said, please enjoy the beauty that is this wonderous space-time-traveling-plane-car-ship, because it may be the only photographic evidence that it really exists. If you have any further information on this …… “car”, please enlighten us. Clearly somebody put a LOT of time and effort into this for a reason, and I personally would LOVE to see and learn more about it and it’s builder.

UPDATE: WE NOW KNOW THE TRUTH – This is the Ben-Dera Ford

Pictures Credit:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5000902-What-the-hell-did-I-just-see-!

So You Want to Build a Luxury Hotrod…

Jeremy Nutt 3 Comments

In my never ending search for greatness on the internet, I came across some sad looking cars that gave me a really great idea (for you, not me…).  Ok, are you ready for this?  These four words might change your world forever, so I hope you are sitting down. Seriously.  Ok… here goes….   “Rolls Royce Hot Rod”.  That’s right folks!  Live the life of luxury with hand built quality, the finest metals, and do it on the cheap! “But how!?” Well, with the Nutt’s & Bolts Blog Guide to greatness of course!!

Nutt’s & Bolts Blog complete guide to greatness – Now featuring  more Luxury!

Step 1) Start with a parted out Rolls from eBay for like $700. Doors and trunk lid are recommended but not completely necessary.  (Home made tube doors will work fine in a pinch.)

Step 2) Build a custom boxed steel frame, with a junkyard IFS, and a usable junkyard rear differential (welded of course).

Step 3) Pull that spare 350 out from your shed, and shove a 8-71 blower on it. (Trust me on this, do what I say, and you will be the coolest person in your neighborhood.)

Step 4) Gut the interior of the car of anything that has mass. Throw it all in the trash or sell on eBay for maximum money recoupage.

Step 5) Rig up a manual transmission of your liking with a universal hydraulic master cylinder setup.  Piece of cake.

Step6) Add drag radials to the back & tub floor pan as necessary. Any wheels that bolt onto the front will be fine. Black steelies maybe?

Step 7) Be sure to paint it flat black, and get the car as low to the ground as possible.  It’s the only way to succeed.

Step 8 ) Burnouts, donuts, and jealous friends and neighbors will soon follow.  Be ready for high 5’s, gift baskets, and invites to pool parties. So much win, for so little investment.

mean rolls royce

Pictures borrowed from:

Ebay item number 190433491734

Ebay item number 190433491718

http://autoclerks.com/