The Autopian has been up and running since March 32nd, or precisely two weeks ago. We’d like to chat with you, the dear readers who have chosen for whatever reason to board this untested vessel piloted by two frankly not-100%-there captains. So let’s hang out in the comments, talk about cars, and chat about whatever you feel like discussing.
Torch will hop on in a bit; he’s doing Passover stuff. For now it’s Thomas Hundal— our car-obsessed news-writing contributor — and me, just chillin’ here in the comments section of a website that, just a few months ago, was just a figment of Jason and my imagination. Now I have an unbelievable number of responsibilities: editing basically all day, everyday; trying to get a moment to actually write my own articles; staring out at my driveway, praying I can get a single moment to wrench on a Jeep. Will all this work be the death of me? No, I’m pretty sure that Valiant Ute in Australia will, but running this site will definitely weaken me.
Anyway, you should ask Thomas weird stuff about infotainment systems and weird re-flashing mods and also any BMW ever built. He’s an absolute geek and I’d like you all to get to know him better.
I’d also like to get to know you better, so let’s hang out! (I’m not the only one with nothing better to do on a Friday night, right?).
Oh and here’s Thomas’s BMW 325i:
Love the site so far, it’s really what I hoped it would be! Pure car culture, in an approachable environment embracing the curious and weird. I really hope it’s financially viable and it keeps attracting a good crowd.
On a related note, my brake drum is firmly rusted to the back wheel on our second car. I really beat the hell out of them but I can’t get them off of there. Any tips from one of you rust masters out there?
Sit on your butt facing your wheel. Lay back, look up over your chest, and kick the living crap out of that wheel, alternating between 3 O’Clock with your right foot and 9 O’Clock with your left. You’ll get it.
Ah I was focusing on standing backwards ninja kicks at 12 and 6. I look forward to kicking the car even more and learning about the drum brakes within!
Soak it in PB B’Laster overnight, apply a torch near the mating surfaces, wail on it from the sides with a sledge like it owes you a briefcase full of Benjamins until you can slip a pry bar in, then work your way around the perimeter until the whole thing pops. Proper tools and equipment can make a world of difference, even if they’re bought at a place with a name similar to Hazard Fraught Tools
Of course, that’s assuming the drum and wheel came off the car in one piece. If the wheel’s still on the car, a bit of penetrating oil and David’s 9 and 3 kicking method works a treat.
Just chiming in to add to the heaps of praise, I started reading Jalopnik before I even got my license back after a decade of non-driving a little over a decade ago, and this certainly captures the essence of everything I love about car culture. Humble, fun, interesting, knowledgeable, and fantastically relateable. Without the inspiration of the writers of this site, and others that moved on to TheDrive/CarBibles, I would never have ended up with a first gen Montero that I rolled 300k miles in Moab, or the current daily 335ix GT.
We just did the oil filter housing gasket last weekend, not so fun.
Keep up the great work, good to have a new “first tab refreshed” site after my usual news.
“before I even got my license back after a decade of non-driving a little over a decade ago”
Hmmm, vague & mysterious. “Non-driving” due to … prison time?
Jason and David, I am glad I finally found your site. When you left the other place, it became bland. I am not a wrencher, but I enjoy reading automotive stories on off-the-wall topics. This site is now at the top of my list.
Thrilled with the site. Hoping we start getting some more of your wrenching stories. Wether the Chang blinker the jeeps!
Thank you for doing this. So far so good. Some growing pains, but overall the product is excellent.
Did “they” get to keep the orange? I noticed the “new” orange is more red?
Been with you both since the beginning. Keep up the great work!
Yeah, I had to leave orange behind. The Autopian’s colors are that turquoise you see in the main logo, and red for accent and workhorse use.
When the logo is the full word, it’s Turquoise; when it’s just the ‘A’ version, it’s red. Turquoise is the landscape, red is the figures on it, if that makes sense.
Anyway, I have all kinds of design parameters I really need to write up, but thanks for noticing!
Would it be safe to assume that the orange was because of you? I always identified it with you. Was hoping it would come along. I do like the red, though.
BTW, still have my 3d printed Cugnot Steam Hot Rod sitting on the shelf above my monitor.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4891944
Game: First Ride / Current (Daily) Ride
I’ll start:
1990 Nissan 300ZX (na, auto, t-tops)
(many in between)
2013 Ford Flex (SE FWD)
BEGIN!
Just me, I guess. Here I thought we were gonna get to know each other ‘n all. But that’s fine. That’s fine.
I’m out. Bed time. Y’all have a good’n! And as everyone else has been saying, thanks for the good reads!
First ride 1968 Javelin bought for $75
Current ride 2001 Isuzu Vehicross
I’ll bite:
1967 Karmann Ghia (Convertible) / 2013 Abarth 500C
First ride 2009 VW Jetta Clásico 1.8T (Mexican versión)
Current 2022 Suzuki Jimny GLX
Then
79 Fiat Brava 131 so rusty the drivers door was tied shut, but what fun! Very young and stupid so long ago.
Now
Sedate VW Golf O’well the hazards of growing old
1990 XJ 5sp manual
2016 Audi S5 6sp manual
First ride is a tough question. First regularly driven? Or first owned?
* The first car I was the primary driver of was a 1977-ish Ford Courier pickup. 5-speed, purchased at the highway department’s vehicle auction. But that was my folks’ car – I just drove it every day during HS. Floor totally rusted thru so we pop-riveted in some scrap sheet magnesium to keep my feet dry. Carb was mis-adjusted so I could make it backfire at-will, which was hilarious to a 17-year-old me (and my friends.) Hilarious shitbox, but very useful.
* The first car I ever owned was a 1963 Ford Galaxie with a 289 V8. Nice big back seat… Did an engine-out overhaul on that 289, but somehow I was never able to get the trans pan to seal correctly and it kept dripping ATF on the hot exhaust, blowing smoke continuously. Finally got fed up trying to fix it and unloaded it. 🙁
Current-
* DD: 2016 BMW X5 40e (PHEV);
* Fun: 2001 BMW 330Ci (5-speed, original owner)
First vehicle I owned was a ‘71 Westfalia pop-up VW bus.
>did my first engine-swap 2weeks after I bought it, replacing the anemic 1300 with a dual-port 1600 so I didn’t have to piss everyone off in 1st gear driving home in the mountains.
30 years later I thrash another boxer, albeit water-cooled: ‘02 WRX
Hi everybody, longtime reader, first-time caller!
1986 Celica GT-S (manual)
…
2018 GTI (manual)
I might have a type 🙂
First car I bought myself: 1975 TR6
Current daily: 2019 Civic Si
Can’t wait till you guys get round to some first drive reviews, oh and when is the Pimp my Changli feature coming?
We’re figuring it out! Stay Tuned!
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone involved in this — please keep up the awesome work! This is already one of my favorite sites; can’t wait to watch it grow.
David, since you are on the Aussie ute wagon you guys should check out these guys in Colorado, Top Gear did a bit on them (American version, not UK) and a friend of mine put me on to them because I’m originally from Australia. They do some pretty cool stuff!
Check it out and their Facebook page too.
https://www.lefthandutes.com/
BTW-Aussies love their V8’s 🙂
Dang these are legits.
Though I’m a straight-six man!
IF… you keep away from the water, cars and trucks out here north of seattle can be amazingly rust free! we get maybe a week of snow each year. yes, lots of rain but hey, still better than snow for 5 months of the year. and lots of little oddities hibernating in back yards. we get brit iron from BC and the west coast was where the japanese first entered the US market. unfortunetly not the greatest for motorsports facilities, but you can’t have everything. we are isolated from the latest detroit info, but wonders of the internet, the whole world is a keystroke away.
I emailed your super-cool car designer guy (Adrian?) a very specific request involving electric lawn mowers. But if he ever has the time, I’d also like his take on an off-roadie CyberVAN. He might hate the low-poly aesthetic of the Cybertruck, and I’m not in love with it either. But I think it works much better on a van. Guess we can’t post pictures here yet? Was going to post a render. Well. Whatever. It looks kind of like this:
______
/ |
-O———O
Only slightly cooler.
Anyway, that whole thing you guys have going on there with him and the automotive-designs-by-request thing is absolutely funtastic. Great idea. How’d you meet the guy?
Hmm. My vanmoji didn’t translate well. Second attempt:
^ _______
/……………….|
-O————O
Nailed it.
I love it.
I’m not one of the cool insiders like Jason & David. There’s some sort of initiation ceremony involving hoods and spanking paddles and being sprinkled with rust from one of Davids lawn ornaments that I haven’t been invited to yet.
Which is to say I haven’t seen your email.
I’m kinda sad my profile picture is leaning to the side. I need northerly directions.
Did you try turning your computer on its side while uploading?
I actually did, the picture was fixed, but the rest of the shit (sorry… couldn’t resist) got wrong, and typing was a lot harder. then I started leaning myself and the pic got crooked again.
I just want to take a second to publicly thank both of you for the opportunity to contribute something to this delightful madhouse. I’m having a terrific time, and finally, I get to blather about junky old cars to someone besides my wife, whom I’m sure is grafetul as well. You’re both a pleasure to work with/for, and it’s an honor to be here.
(But for the love of all that’s twin-carburetted, can we get comment reply notifications?)
We gotta get the reply notifications. It’s driving US mad.
It’s a pleasure working with you/editing your work.
The amount of pop culture I’m learning every morning is STAGGERING.
By “learning” David means he DMs me with some quote and asks if I know what the hell this is and I find myself schooling this adult on crucial human culture like the Swedish Chef and the Blues Brothers. How did this happen?
I’m not doing it on purpose, I promise…
Why not?!
Mix a fresh young engineer and a talented worldly mentor. Add writers from across demographics, blend in a mix of auto dorks, taillight techie geeks, word nerds, and general good folks.
Promise something great, allow to congeal like 20 year old motor oil, then plaster across the interwebs, sit back and watch the fun!
We need that boot camp for David’s Can He Get the Reference gameshow.
It’s the next big thing! 🙂
Your team is doing a fantastic job for a site which has been up and running for 2 weeks. Keep it up.
I cannot express enough appreciation for what you all are doing! I am not a person that can recite the Brake Horsepower, Stopping Distance, and Tire Size of every new model; nor do I care. You all are filling a gap that many of us have searched for. Nothing against the stats game that some of the manufacturers and larger publications promote, but that is not what makes a vehicle memorable to me. I see a Lincoln Blackwood every morning and still get excited about it. Open the “tailgate” on that thing and BAM you are in a whole new world of luxury. That is what excites me about what you all are doing. The unique. The things that the “artists” put into their automotive creations. You all are able to highlight the nuance of the mundane that most overlook. The content has been great and am happy to continue to support you. My closest is literally full of blipshift shirts, but looking forward to adding in more Autopian creations! If you can get on board with a license plate frame, I will take 5!
Jason will be creating custom shirts with EPIC drawings on them.
I’ve thrown all my shirts out in preparation. People think it’s weird that I walk around bare-chested BUT I’M NOT ASHAMED.
I said that I have a lot of Blipshift shirts, never mentioned pants; gnomesayin. 😉 Maybe some stickers to cover my gentleman bits while I wait for the Autopian/Dickies partnership?
From reading through the other comments, it seems that you all are overwhelmed with running the site. I assume a major part of that is creating/editing/editing others content. My request will not help, but potentially add more. It seems that most of us are not here for the mainstream press launch coverage. What I would love to see is a running series of what we, the community, are working on. Most of us have an eclectic flair and where better to source FREE content than us! Our writing skills may be sub par, but there are some AMAZING cars that your readership have in their stables. Maybe our collections seem blah on the outside, but the nuance/passion that we put into the vehicles would be appreciated/enjoyed by others. Just a thought.
My big question is, how’re YOU guys doing? I would have to think that the time and stress that go into a launch like this are overwhelming, but not only are you putting out great content–you’re interacting and and maintaining good cheer.
I just hope you all take a moment or two to enjoy and celebrate what’s happening. Also, looking forward to developing some familiarity with the non-Torch and David crew. The best, most satisfying blogs tend to be the ones where the author would be identifiable sans byline.
You’re a big peach to ask about us! I think we’re all a bit tired, but very excited about what we’re doing. I know I’m a bit ragged because tonight I was cleaning the kitchen and I accidentally poured out this wisteria syrup my wife was making and oh shit was that a bad move so I had to get Otto to take me to where the wisteria plants were to grab new flowers to get the process going again but it’s all okay now, so whew.
Also, Passover started today, so no leavening for me because shove it, Pharaoh, let my people go and all that.
What a weird answer. How the hell did you turn “how are you?” into a story about wisteria syrup… 😮
The Wisteria Incident defined how I was doing pretty intensely for a bit there. Sally was PISSED.
When we started this business we understood the work it would take to get it running and keep it running. It’s an unbelievably taxing undertaking. I’m 30 and single with no other major responsibilities, so I’m in a good position to bear lots of load; I’m a Ram 3500. JT is in a different place in life, and yet he’s acting like a chassis cab — he’s doing SO much. I love him for it, but I sometimes worry that the site and I are being too demanding (he has a family and house and pets and, you know, normal-person responsibilities). Him being happy is very important to me and to the success of this endeavor, so if I have to replace is damn Nissan Pao’s head gasket, I’ll do it! (Seriously, that’s happening. He hit a deer, lost coolant, overheated, and blew the HG).
Thrilled with the help we’ve gotten. Thomas impresses me regularly, and Huibert, Secret Designer, Dave Wilson, Adrian, Rex, Mark and the rest of the contributors are just good people with brains full of great car stuff.
Aw, everyone look at this and feel all the love here and understand why I’m so happy this rust-addled loon is my partner here! He’s the absolute best. I know he wants to stab me like six times a day so this is even more meaningful.
The log in issues have been fixed. ????
Like the format, althoigh in theory is follows along your past location. Not bad, just an observation. So AT is much more user responsive. Especially with comments from the ED staff. Hope your time commitments continue to allow it.
DT and J are keeping a very everyman vibe to the site. Much more relatable to common folk. Will it last? I’ve outgrown my lust for unobtainable vehicles . Although I do aspire to more than $hitbox.
One more comment. Again, I’m an old / old school guy. But…. The excessive use of four letter words does not imply class. Again, maybe I”m too old fashioned. And Ive been trapped into using “shitbox”…. My wife was shocked but completely understood….
Love the site…..
Thank you GLL.
I myself hate cursing, but for some reason shitbox has just become “okay” to me; rolls off the tongue! I will admit that, in a story earlier today, I did tell a man to shove something up his ass, but can you blame me? The guy was trying to pressure me into selling my brother’s Mustang!
Jason’s not an excessive curser, either. Thomas only does it hilariously.
We don’t force it ’round these parts. We just try to call things like they are and have a good time.
I will admit, I love using profanity when it feels right. And, to be completely honest, I don’t understand why it’s offensive? Personally, I suspect classist roots (talks like a sailor, etc) and I just love words, profanity included, so I won’t lie and say I won’t use them, sometimes with glee.
Just please know it’s never meant to be disrespectful! I want you as a reader, so I hope you can periodically indulge me in this. I’ll try not to make it excessive, though, you have to remember I get carried away easily. Anyway, I appreciate talking about it.
I’ve got a whole rant about how “curse” words in English are just old Anglo-Saxon words that were suppressed after the Norman French won at Hastings. No idea where I picked it up or of it’s even true but it feels right, you know?
English has some fascinating aspects to it because of 1066. If you take synonyms, one from Anglo-Saxon and the other from Norman French, the French derived term is always considered ‘classier’. Some examples: eat vs. dine, hit vs. strike, house vs. mansion. English is the only language with its own inferiority complex.
When used properly nothing is as efficient as swearing for expressing emotions, one word can tell everything. I have a bad habit of overuse when I’m excited though.
My hypothesis on profanity is as follows:
There are some words that are genuinely offensive, mainly because they have historically been used to demean or harm groups of people. Those are actually bad words.
But then there are the classic swear words, shit and fuck. Now…shit doesn’t mean anything that poop doesn’t mean. Fuck doesn’t mean anything that screw doesn’t mean. These two seem to have just been arbitrarily chosen as bad words. And I think I know why.
The use of these words gives kids an opportunity to be rebellious in a way that’s completely harmless. Most of the time they get away with it, and it scratches that rebellion itch. Then when they do get caught by a grown-up in authority over them, they get in trouble for it. That maintains its status as a taboo, reinforcing the rebellion outlet.
So our duty as “responsible adults” is to keep up the charade and lecture the kids any time they say shit or fuck, otherwise they’ll need to do rails of cocaine to scratch that rebellion itch.
I tell my kids a modified version of that famous old axiom: GRATUITOUS profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate motherfucker. We’re as foul-mouthed a household as ever made a longshoreman blush, but we endeavor to use it cleverly, dare I even say tastefully. Entertainingly, the way Torch does so well.
That motherfucker is articulate!
As Mark Twain once said, “The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” And that includes swear words. Sometimes nothing else will do.
Used as a spice rather than a main course it’s okay. What annoyed me at Jalopnik was the juvenile snark about almost everything…probably. (“probably” after absurd assertions is even worse than the snark).
You’re doing it very right.
Thank you!!
I must be dumb I can’t even figure out how to comment on the story so I have to reply to you comment.
Nice not to have that dumb gray font for newbies. Hundreds of witty posts on the old site and my contributions are still barely readable…
…interesting. The reply to your comment appears as a new comment (?)
I must be dumb I can’t even figure out how to comment on the story so I have to reply to your comment.
Nice not to have that dumb gray font for newbies. Hundreds of witty posts on the old site and my contributions are still barely readable…
Not entirely it seems. I’m still getting this issue. It’s really quite annoying.
David, you’re the EIC of The Autopian? Very fancy!
I think it’s cooler that he’s Jason’s friend.
Can I be your friend too?
Jason would NEVER turn down a friendship with a Daihatsu Taft owner. Never.
Correct.
So do I.
Change his business cards to ‘Jason’s friend’ and see how long it takes him to notice.
I gotta say, you guys have surprised me with the breadth and volume of content. At first, I kinda metered my drop ins so I wouldn’t run into the dreaded “nope, nothing new yet!” That hasn’t been a problem! I’m enjoying getting introduced to new writers and their voices a heckuva lot.
Hang in there, I think you guys are cooking with gas on this.
You’ve exceeded all of my expectations (except for copy-editing, which could use a little work) and I couldn’t be happier with this site. I love the eclectic expertise that’s here and your stable of contributors (including/especially you and Torch) is fantastic. I hope you can score a few more J alums like Mercedes and Graverobber and maybe even Tom McP. I don’t know what your monetization plans are, but I hope they don’t involve too many ads. I love the non-intrusive Optima sponsorship (my next batteries will be Optimas) and I’d much rather pay a monthly subscription than look at damned ads. Have you thought about expanding your merchandise efforts? Like, maybe co-branded wrenching tools with someone like Tekton? Or maybe have affiliate links for your sponsor(s) so we can buy Optima batteries and other stuff directly through this site and score you a cut of the sale? There are so many better options than pop-ups and slideshows and the like. I’m on here every day, multiple times a day, and I read nearly everything that gets posted, and I hope your traffic keeps growing. I know you all must be working your asses off keeping this thing going, but it’s great so far. Thank you for all your efforts and for your passion to deliver the best auto-enthusiast site ever.
Thank you! To Torch and me, we’re not even 1/100th the site we want to be yet. We’re super happy with our contributors, and the level of expertise and insight they provide; at some point we want some staffers with strong voices and lots of love for cars to hop on here and delight you each and everyday.
I find myself in a weird spot in that I know some readers came here to read me, but I’m searching for writers, helping them develop stories, then editing them (I realize copy-editing isn’t optimal, but that was a conscious decision on our part to get started (at least while we’re lean, content has to remain king)). But I have a plan in place that will drastically improve it without adding too much burden to our process.
For now, we’re getting our feet underneath us, figuring out our needs, and then developing a growth plan. We’ve got lots of different strategies for monetization, many unconventional. We will not be sacrificing the user experience to keep or coffers full, because that defeats the whole purpose.
Thank you for the support! <3
It’d be nice to get Daniel Stern aboard.
First, thanks so much for the support and kind words and, most of all, reading and being part of the community! That’s why we’re doing this, after all. As far as revenue streams go, we’ll be looking into all these options, but we never want to impair the user experience. Can’t hurt to buy some Optima batteries!
Let me know when you guys want follow along drone shots of vehicles with audio, and are in Colorado, I’ll be the guy.
Seriously though you guys are killing it. This site surpassed my expectations on so many levels.
Torch – Everyone loves the site and you guys are doing great. Get some rest!
And then next week, we’d all appreciate reading more about taillights.
David, did you ever make the pilgrimage to my birthplace, Kenosha? I’ve been waiting for the exciting recap.
I did! Do you want a recap? This was in 2019. It was legendary. I took my J10 and met some real AMC nuts.
Well, I’d read it. I’m not sure what it would do for your readership numbers.
They’d go up by at least two! (You and my mom).
Make it four, I’d read twice.
I finally figured out that if you login, and it then takes you to your profile (which, lets hope that changes and it just takes you back the the article you were on), if you click back to that article and it says “you must be logged in to comment”, hit refresh and that finally allowed me to be able to type this comment. HTH anyone having the same login issues. Have a great weekend everyone! ????
Sorry about that. When we hired our web development team they said they were headed by a guy named Lucas. Turns out, it was actually THE Lucas.
So hold onto your hats!
George? George Lucas?!?
No no, the Prince of Darkness.
I am aware of this man and what he is capable of.
Oh look DT making a pop(?) culture reference!
To the “pop culture” commenter below: put “Lucas magic smoke” in your google box. Realize this is about as far from pop culture as possible 😉
Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: Check the position of the stars,kill a chicken and walk three times clockwise around your car chanting:” Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant..”
growing pains, love you guys!
did he provide a jar of harness smoke? or smoked cookies or something?
Yeah, I’ve had that problem too.
Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ – THANK you for posting this! My enjoyment of the Autopian is now at an 11 (hat tip to “This Is Spinal Tap”)
Wait until we start doing it in Dobly.
Just want to congratulate y’all on this whole thing. David, I met you last year in some parking lot in WA. We chatted and you asked me what I thought about that other website. I was like, “I really wish you and Jason would do your own thing”. And holy shit…
Also, I just got my Autopian T-shirt today.
Be careful what you wish for!
(And thank you for the support)! Gosh I love that part of the country; I may end up moving out of Michigan soon. I’ve been here a while, and I LOVE the car culture, but I’m ready for something new I reckon. I’m not quite sure the PNW is the move, but west perhaps?
WTF? Move west?
Okay, may I suggest Walled Lake? That’s West of your current location.
I’d hate to see you leave Michigan. We have such an intense car culture here!!! What exactly are you looking to move for?
In the meantime: sleep on it and get back to me. K?
I love Detroit. I’d like to settle down here. But I’m not settling down right now; I want to experience a few other corners of the world a bit first.
Consider Bullhead City Arizona. No rust, easy registration for vehicles the casinos in Laughlin Nevada just across the river have car shows like every 2 weeks, also plenty of buffets. Not far from California and 80mph speed limits if any of your cars can go that fast.
I can relate 100%.
I did the same thing many years ago, I moved from Michigan to California and I lived there for 2 years and then ended up moving back to Michigan.
You need the never ending supply of rust buckets the Michigan offers…
IF… you keep away from the water, cars and trucks out here north of seattle can be amazingly rust free! we get maybe a week of snow each year. yes, lots of rain but hey, still better than snow for 5 months of the year. and lots of little oddities hibernating in back yards. we get brit iron from BC and the west coast was where the japanese first entered the US market. unfortunetly not the greatest for motorsports facilities, but you can’t have everything. we are isolated from the latest detroit info, but wonders of the internet, the whole world is a keystroke away.
Remember who you’re talking to when extolling the lack of rust in your region. You might scare him away.
Bullhead City, AZ / Laughlin, NV are hotter than the “Hinges of Hell” in the summer months. A good location for escaping the Michigan “5 months of snow”. Also the location of the steep grade used for the SAE towing capacity test.
Probably not a “prime” location for a 30 year old… .
Russ
Kalamazoo is west, come join us!
I grew up in Romeo and my dad worked for GM his entire career, so cars are kind of in my blood. Let me know if you’re ever on this side of the state. I’d love to buy you a local beverage or two and chat!
Absolutely love the atmosphere here so far. You guys are my heroes. If I can grow up to be half the man that both of you are combined, then I’ll feel pretty good about myself.
I have many, many questions about electric motor control systems and am most keenly interested in how to take older ICE recreational vehicles and even agricultural equipment and converting them into full-blown electric monsters. I do not have an engineering background or a computer science background, so it seems a bit daunting. I feel like the public deserves a step-by-step guide on how to do ICE to EV conversions, presented in a way that the average tinkerer could comprehend and execute.
That was in part my mission when starting the Electric Off-Roaders Alliance, which currently has approximately two and a half members plus a couple of bots that posted to the forums.
I’ll be keenly watching your Jeep to EV conversion progress and might be interested in donating a 2-door JK with plenty of life left to live and nary but a speck or two of rust.
I really hope this corner of the interweb thrives for generations to come, and I’m excited to be along for the ride.
Add me to the membership list. The FC project is going to happen.
With the blue rustbucket.
Color me AMPED.
I am diggin’ that choice!
Thanks David! Perfect timing, I just finished throwing a Turner intake on my 325i. Will it make any actual power? Who knows? A little more induction noise above 3,000 RPM sounds nice though, plus the new intake fixes a small post-MAF air leak. I just have to finish up a driveline refresh and this high-mileage sports sedan should be back on the ground again. What’s everyone else up to this weekend?
Hey let’s show everyone your car. Let’s update the post.
Brb, grabbing pics of my non-functional transportation
I for some reason have recently gotten bit by the ‘aesthetics are important too, right?’ bug. So my 2012 MINI Cooper Clubman has been receiving a small list of purely cosmetic changes. It feels strange, but also perhaps is proof I’m really starting to settle in with the thing after 6 years. On that note, a parts delay is keeping me from doing the last round of changes this weekend.
What changes are we talkin’? Stripes? Union Jack?
Body color taillight bezels vs. OEM black and some dash bits of a different color. Since MINI (especially during its 2nd BMW-MINI generation) went a little nuts with their configurator back in the day, there are a lot of OEM options to choose from, including some special edition, limited run stuff.
Body-color tail light bezels on a Clubman sounds very distinctive. I bet they’ll look fantastic with the black pillars.
I feel that, small cosmetic changes can make a big difference. Even a change as small as chrome-ringed volume knobs can sometimes brighten the day.
Thomas, you sound like Adrian here 🙂
Also, just wanted to say thanks for cranking out as much content as you do on a daily, tell these other slackers you work with to catch up!
Aesthetics are ALWAYS important! A Mini is a good canvas to have fun with, too. Go nuts, I say.
I’ve owned a 2006 base Mini Cooper for, gosh, as long as the site’s been live (And the title just came–a NYS DMV speed record). I both enjoy driving it and want to burn it to death because things keep breaking (To be fair, it was $1200 and I’m a dope).
That’s a lot of soul for a little money.
And let’s be real: You knew what you were getting into. It’s a Mini, and it was 1200 bucks.
Guilty as charged. What I try to do a few times a year is buy an undervalued $1000 beater, fix the most horrible parts, then trade said beater for a 60s/70s/80s semi-beater. The Mini may wreck that flow.
A cheap R53 is exactly my sort of crazy, all the way down to the ratchet strap trick for the front crank seal. Five percent of the time, they work 100 percent of the time. So much fun to drive though.
I had an all black 2011 Copper Clubman and I fell head over heels in love with that car. So much character, good build quality and go kart handling.
I wrote it off after a year by taking a wet roundabout too fast (it was a road I didn’t know and it was dark) and stuffing it through a fence. The insurance wouldn’t let me buy it back, and it broke my heart.
Needless to say it’s back on the road somewhere, and if I found another like it (all black, roof rails, chilli pack, big wheels) I’d probably buy it.
My current Clubman is actually my 2nd Clubman because the 1st Clubman was totaled via a box truck performing a pseudo-pit maneuver on me on the highway. I hope you find your 2nd Clubman eventually! 🙂
My hat is off to you; I’ve been working on cars for 35 years, and the one car that finally made me say “Nope, I’m selling this thing right now before something else goes wrong and it defeats me utterly” was a 2005 E46 325i. I can’t even begin to imagine what one newer than that is like. A man’s got to know his limitations, and one of mine is post-1990s German cars. You’re a braver man than I am, Gunga Din.
Thanks Mark! Honestly, BMWs have their quirks but there are so many resources out there that they’re usually pretty joyous to work on. It only starts getting bad once you get into the first-generation turbo cars. Wastegate repair on an N54 calls for 10 hours of book labor, so that’s about as fun as the ball pit at DashCon.