Motormouth Radio

This week we catch up with the F-Body projects our friend Chassis John is working on and you'll be in awe of the stuff he's cranking out. We learned that not all car mods are good ones and John gives us some examples from his own garage. He then goes on to tell us how to register a race car on the street in Florida, and we ponder the exhaust note on some UPS trucks we've heard in our area.

Chris is on the hunt for old Chrysler parts including a working clock, & Ray reports seeing water squirt out from the grease points in his cars front end. Chris rants about the "Donk" car craze and Ray soothes him with a story about a Grand National rear end purchase. In a bold move, Ray reports his use of zip ties to secure an exhaust pipe.

What do you do when your show guest doesn't show up to the party? You talk to yourself, and that's precisely what the boys did this week. Ray's speaker re-foam job, Chris' oil change monitor reset, and checking a rebuilt rear end occupy us until Chris explains how he was insulted twice in one week then Ray dropped his new automotive pet peeve on us. The fine art of car show judging rounded out this hour of programming.

Ray & Chris share the honor of interviewing their literary friend Matt Stone who talks about his latest car related book titled "Bullitt:The Cars & People behind Steve McQueen". The subject of this iconic movie, actor and the cars involved has never been done before, and it takes a real car-guy to tackle this job and Matt was certainly up to the task.

In a rare twist of fate Ray & Chris both worked on car antenna's this week, a caller asks why his radio has no reception, and Joe D. passes on his recommendation for a Chrysler scan tool. Ray relates a victorious win over his dry well when he was able to fish out his fallen reading glasses and was able to finish rebuilding a Ford Autolite carburetor.

Do you have a transmission or dishwasher leak you can't fix? The boys talked about how they'd go about solving their own on this show. Applying creative leverage to big fasteners, and how to deal with ancient car clocks & sagging headliners kept us amused also. On the tech side, talk turned to purchasing a good scan tool to diagnose wheel speed sensors & other computer issues on our newer cars.

The big news this week is that Ray's GTO is home after the paint job and trim installation and the thumbs started popping up already. This led to a discussion about the complexities of building an older car vs the robotic process first used on the Ford Taurus. California's 2035 ban on gas engines, diagnosing an Infinity motor mount & the restoration of a Honda 750 motorcycle also get talked about.

The boys try to diagnose a non-working vacuum advance mechanism in Chris's car, then quickly shift to talk with guest Carl Anthony from Automoblog.net. Ray ruminates about swapping his Mazda 3 for a Toyota FJ, which leads a caller to ask on which axle to mount his new truck tires. We wrap by talking about the article on Automoblog that covers winter car prep.

Ray & Chris talk about a listener's '59 Olds Super 88 project, and define the difference between a show car and a driver. Another listener, Colin, rides with the Prince of Darkness in his MG and is restoring a Fiat Spider, which got Ray's full attention. On the technical side, headlight relay theory & saggy sun visor repair round out the hour this week.

The boys reminisce about the return of Cousin Bruce Morrow to NY AM radio, then dive right into the topic of how to best sell off the old car junk in their respective collections. With the help of a caller that topic morphs into talk of buying old audio gear, and what it was like driving 60's Ford Hi Performance cars many years ago.

The boys interview the noted graphic portrait artist Keith Sturgeon who works in the very unique media using only pinstripe lines. We talk about his portraiture, as well as his work in the custom car and motorcycle scene. Along the way we still get to cover a few repair topics and dance around Ray's flaky Internet connection once again.

Among a mass of cobbled up wires and cables Ray is able to connect via the Internet this week. Chris talks about "repair problem stack-up" while working on his car, and the boys kick around ways to fix his dented oil pan. Chassis John calls in and talks about the Vintage Air A/C system he's installing for a customer, Billy G. swaps a big floor jack for a smaller one, and the boys discuss the problem solving relay test kit that Ray shows off.

Internet issues aside, the boys soldiered on once again & pulled off a show where Ray talked about eating White Castle "road food" in his car while driving, & caller Christian talks about driving to a local racetrack for a "daddy-daughter" day. Ray complains about installing trim parts on a car with a fresh paint job, then mentions a useful pressurized cleaning gun sold by Matco Tools.

Storm damage in our area brings up the question of how to maintain our small engines. Joe helps diagnose a blower module on a 2007 Trailblazer with YouTube backup, which also covers the brake job Chris recently performed on his Le Baron. We round out our repair segments with a discussion about how to best polish cloudy headlight lenses.

Not even a failed Internet connection can stop our boys from bringing you topics like: how to endure working in extreme heat, removing bumper covers to access headlights & some specialty tools you won't find on a tool truck. Ray's A/C clutch failure, diagnosis & stretch belt installation prompts Chris to talk about rounded timing belt cover bolts & how to deal with them.

The boys spend some time with their friend Artie Schilling, who's very well known for his charitable work hosting the "Artie's Party" pin-striping event at the Syracuse National's car show. Besides talking just about painting, Artie shares his thoughts about East vs West Coast car culture & the differences he's found between living in the South and the North East where he came from.

Chris relays his "danger drive" experience after rebuilding brake components, then suffers an electronic failure. Ray counters with a curbside car speaker fire, then the talk turns to Ford's axing of the Lincoln car brand. Guest Billy Velvet tells us about a tri-carb 65 Mercury that needs some attention, and the boys discuss some of the odder multi-carb linkages they're come across in their time.

Ray & Chris talk amongst themselves about rebuilding old wheel cylinders, the myths associated with freeing up seized parts & tools with old motor oil, and some of the red flags observed when watching YouTube videos. Oil level vs H.P. and the pains felt when schematic diagram colors aren't what's found when working on a car round out the hour.

Ray & Chris have the pleasure of talking with Marc Mathot, President of the revived classic car magazine "CarToons." The boys also talk about other car magazines they're associated with, how they cope with back pain while working on cars, and a pesky brake repair. Be sure to listen to the end to catch Marc's terrific Steve McQueen story as related to him by Gene Winfield.

Ray & Chris talk about best practices for adjusting wheel bearings, bleeding brakes & making jack stand and floor jack purchases. The bottom line so eloquently summed up by Chris is, "If you're going to work on a car, bring your brain." Now those are MotorMouth endorsed words to live by!