Car Throttle

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,

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. 

Well, if there's one thing that's eternally true about old Saabs, it's that they keep you busy. True to form, my Saab has been keeping me busy (and draining my wallet at a horrific rate!) this last week.  Here's what I've been up to lately. Foglights This was fairly easy for me.  My car came with one working foglight, and another one with a cracked housing that was dead as a doornail.  Until I can find some of the OEM Bosch foglights (long since out of production) I figured I would get some sweet 80's looking fog lights to fill the gap.  This wasn't too hard. So basically for your money you get two plastic-cased fog lights with reversible lenses, wiring, switches, and some basic mounting hardware.  The

So I picked up an '88 Saab 900 Turbo to replace my '05 Jetta as my daily driver.  As you'd expect, this isn't quite as simple as it sounds.  Even with a very well-maintained car, when you get to this kind of age (this car is as old as I am!) there are a few things that need taking care of.  I've barely gotten my hands dirty with this car, but here's what I've been up to so far. With any turbocharged 80's car, it's important to keep an eye on your boost pressure levels.  This is because all the systems and associated plumbing that keep boost in check age and fail over time, and it's important to keep an eye on things.  The car comes with

As great as it is to bolt a shiny new mail-order part onto your ride, there is something about modifying a car with your own ingenuity and elbow grease that you just don't get with pre-fabricated parts.  Plus, doing some things yourself can leave a LOT more cash in your pocket -which you can spend on expensive modifications that are worth it! My car is littered with DIY modifications, all small things that I either wanted to change, or update.  Here are a few details about the two lastest DIY (Do-It-Yourself, if you didn't know) modifications I've subjected my poor VW to.  Nothing's blown up yet, so here are a few tips 'n tricks to help you with your own little weekend projects. Black Grille Total Budget: $11