Car Throttle

I went to a junkyard yesterday in search of a few parts for my '97 3-series.  By this point, E36's are starting to pop up in junk yards with mechanical maladies or wreck damage, and the absolute cheapest way to get good parts is from a junk yard.  Sure, it's more of a hassle than finding the bit you need on eBay and clicking "buy it now" - you have to drive to the yard, pay a fee to get in, and find the kind of car you're looking for.  If it's got the part you want, most of the time you've gotta take it off yourself - unless it's already loose.

Turns out the only E36 there was a

In the wake of one of the mildest autumns in generations, snow and ice alerts are now kicking in for the UK in the lead up to Christmas. The warnings are nerve-jangling reminders of 2010’s cold snap, which triggered pandemonium across the country’s road networks, and led hundreds, if not thousands, of frantic drivers to ditch their motors. Unsurprisingly, Arctic weather seriously swells the odds of car breakdowns and collisions. Last year’s wintry weather proved this as roadside-assistance organisations strained to cope with masses of vehicles going wrong. So, with this in mind, Car Throttle has the following guidance for you, so you – and your car - can be prepared for the sub-zero season ahead: Groundwork You must set aside additional time for your trip, so

Recently I made the drastic decision to kick my Honda Accord to the curb.  In hindsight, this was not the wisest choice, but I'm still a happy camper.  The new car is a 1997 BMW 328i sedan, black over tan leather, with a 5 speed manual.  Due to it having a few "pre-existing conditions" and an intergalactic 166,000 miles on it when purchased, I got it for a steal.  This turned out to be a blessing. Being a 1997, it's an OBD2 car, which means it features the newer "M52" family of engines.  I've long been a fan of BMW's naturally-aspirated straight six engines, and this is a pretty good one.  2.8L, aluminum 24v twin-cam head, VANOS (variable cam timing), direct ignition, electronic traction control -

So a while back, I did a post about the death of my Saab 900 SPG via transmission explosion. It was a tragic event for me; so tragic in fact, that I went out and bought the antithesis of my beloved C900 Turbo: a Honda Accord. And while I've grown to love the Honda over the 14,000 miles or so I've put on it since August (seriously), I've come to realize that man cannot subside on VTECs alone.  In fact, 'tis a meager existence to merely pilot a vehicle like the Accord.  Since I've owned it, I've upgraded a few minor things to make it more to my liking (metal shifter bushings and a Comptech short shifter to fix the awful stock shift mechanism,

Perhaps the fact that most of my recent posts have been how-to articles tells you something about my preferred past time. While I like to write about cars, I love to work on them.  Sometimes that's reversed (see: Saab 900 water pump install), but besides driving, my favorite thing on this earth to do is turn wrenches on a car.  Now, if I didn't take forever and a day to do anything automotive-related, I could probably make some money with this.  But as a whole, I prefer writing about cars for a paycheck and wrenching on them as a hobby; I think if I added stress and deadlines to my wrench-turning escapades it would end in tears. So whenever I get the opportunity to work on

As a self-proclaimed DIY kinda guy, there's one thing I'm embarrassed to admit  I've never done: changed my own brake pads.  Illogical, sure.  But I've always thought of the brakes on a car as being a bit too important for a relative noobie like myself to dig into without risking massive consequences.  But in the never-ending quest to get my 900 SPG up to snuff, I finally realized I had to bite the bullet and do something about the brakes. The pads weren't totally worn out, sure.  But the brakes on my 900 were nowhere near up to par with the power it puts out; you can accelerate hard, but then you've got to really plan ahead with your braking.  Part of this is due to the

The reason old cars feel old and tired is that everything has a lifespan. Rubber bushings crumble and fail, hinges loosen and sag, plastics become brittle and rattly - sort of like humans.  Time may heal all wounds, but it's not a great beautician.  The best way to give an old car a new lease on life is to replace tired, worn out components - and the suspension is a fantastic place to start.  My SPG had a set of "God knows how ancient" KYB Gas-A-Just dampers on it when I bought it, and they've always made me pretty uneasy.  They've always felt a little floaty and underdamped, plus the serious terminal rust on the shock bodies I discovered when I mounted the new tires made

Most people see large diesel trucks as tools for accomplishing a job. What most people don't realize is that with a few choice modifications, a modern turbodiesel truck can produce an absolutely obscene amount of weapons-grade power.  I recently spent a few hours up to my elbows in a Cummins 6.7-powered Ram 3500, installing a Gale Banks Engineering Ram Air Intake, and the quality of the parts and the general insanity of the install inspired me to share some pictures and impressions with you all. This is what we're starting with: a 6.7L Cummins ISB-powered Ram 3500.  This is the latest and greatest powerplant from Cummins, who has supplied diesel engines to Dodge for decades.  This massive iron-block inline 6 makes 350 horsepower, but more importantly,

It's one of the worst-hidden secrets ever, but most people you'd ask wouldn't know exactly how alike a Nissan 350Z and an Infiniti G35 are. It's really pretty shocking; after all, they are two entirely different automobiles.  One's a 2-seat lift-back sports car, the other's a 4-door luxury sedan for the BMW crowd.  Under the skin, though, the G35 and the 350Z share more than a little DNA.  In fact, they've got the same engine, transmission, suspension (largely), differential...  you get the point. What this means is that the aftermarket that exists for the 350Z is largely compatible with the more "pedestrian looking" G35 Sedan and Coupe.  So G35 owners looking for a bit more grunt don't have to look far.  I got to get my hands

So recently, it came to my attention that my water pump on my '88 Saab 900 SPG was going bad. It wasn't exactly a difficult diagnosis.  The car was leaking coolant like a sieve, it was trying it's damnedest to overheat at every given opportunity, and the pump itself was making an awful grinding noise, much like an innocent clunker's crankcase being filled with sodium silicate mixture.

Now, like any sane person, I went and got an estimate on getting someone who knew what the hell they were doing to replace the water pump, from my friendly neighborhood eccentric Saab mechanic.  He quoted me two hours labor ($160) plus the pump ($129) and coolant ($35.)  Total cost: about $325, give or take.