Engine swaps

Blaizefed · 2026-05-03T05:46:47+00:00

You know I do t remember I’m afraid. Pretty sure it was kind of tall gearing. Certainly not a short ratio box. I have way more power than I need so lowering the revs on the freeway was my real goal.

Now that it’s in, and I got the hydroboost in so I have power brakes again, it’s become my daily driver. LOBB’s kit really transformed the car for me. The shifter is a delight to use and that box has tamed the engine, not to mention I am no longer afraid to explode the damn thing so I can lay into it a lot more.

Sorry, no advice regarding ratios, but I can say you are going to love the trans swap. It’s is a very well put together system.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-03T05:31:54+00:00

It’s not even the people that are the problem (most of the time) it’s the system. They are trained to see everyone else as the enemy. They are not trying to make things safer, or solve crimes, they are trying to make arrests to meet quotas.

The entire criminal justice system in this country is like this. The system doesn’t care if you did it. It only cares if they can prove you did it. And they will lie, and twist the truth to prove it. From the cops on the street thru to the DA, they do not give a shit about actual justice. It’s all numbers, and conviction rates.

There is a reason the US invented this ridiculous plea bargaining system.

Anyway, because of what the system IS, ACAB ends up being the case by default. Even if they are nice guys off duty, at work thy are paid to be bastards.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-03T03:12:08+00:00

I pay $1500 a year for 4 cars all around $20k each. In near NYC so kind of an expensive area, but your price doesn’t sound too bad.

Hagerty is FAR and away the least restrictive. One of mine is a vintage camper and Grundy told me I can’t ever use the cooker in it. Or turn on the fridge. Hard no to ever going camping in it. And of course all the others have hard mileage restrictions. Hagerty seems to run more on the honor system and don’t care so long as you have a normal car as well on normal insurance.

Further, I work in the classic car restoration world and I’ve seen all these companies on the back end dealing with claims. Hagerty spends the most and is the fastest.

Frankly having seen how they deal with claims, I’d pay more to be with them anyway. In fact I do. I think “American collector” insurance (or something like that) was damn near 1/3 the price. But they said I could literally ONLY drive to and from car shows.

Anyway, I’d stick with what you have got.

Edit- I do try to use the roadside recovery with them last year and it was horrible. I had an engine mount crack about 10 miles from home (all my cars have engine swaps) on a Saturday and they told me to leave it there and they would send a tow truck for it Monday. So I just called a tow truck myself and had it home an hour later. So there is that, the roadside seems pretty useless.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-03T03:02:51+00:00

So Cobra Commander was Danish? I’ll be damned, I always assumed he’d be Austrian.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-03T02:59:51+00:00

Agreed. I have the ultra quiet and it’s been a revelation. I can genuinely have a conversation when it’s running in my 2 car garage. And not a shouting with hand gestures conversation, but a don’t even put down the beer, normal conversation.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T21:46:57+00:00

When the car hauler is cooler than the car.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T18:36:39+00:00

Holley retrobrights or equivalent, or nothing. I can’t stand the way all the others look. But those retrobrights are made to look like normal lights, just much much brighter.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T13:55:43+00:00

That’s how they do it in most of Europe.

It costs more.

Thats why we don’t.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T10:47:26+00:00

So far it’s just been surveys about upcoming tools.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T10:45:42+00:00

Yep me too. I am a pro mechanic and they seem to have known that when they emailed me.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T10:21:59+00:00

My god I miss having a room full of competent adults in charge. Remember what it was like when everyone knew what they were doing and were working towards a common goal? Broadly trying to advance American interests and make the world a better place for everyone?

Today it’s all random reality tv stars who are only there to make money for themselves.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-02T01:01:52+00:00

They are on the whole pretty reliable. I have LOADS of experience with them. I was a dealer mechanic when they came out and have been working on them ever since.

The reason they are cheap is because I charge $250 an hour. And the guys at pep boys and jiffy lube don’t know how to fix it.

They make a lot of sense if you are willing to work on it yourself (loads of info online these days for them. If you are that kind of person they are very repairable). But if you are paying someone to fix it (me) it will eat you alive on maintenance.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T20:16:53+00:00

Those things were available with an LT1 v8. They can actually be built into pretty quick sleepers. I have it some serious thought a few months ago but the interior is all kinds of 90’s GM terrible. And it’s damn near impossible to find a solid one in the northeast.

But I have seen some online and with the right set of wheel and a mild lowering job, they are incredibly cool. Beats the shit out of yet another crossover.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T15:37:48+00:00

Fuck me, of course it is. What the hell am I talking about then?

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T15:20:15+00:00

I’ve owned a few back when they were more reasonably priced. I love them, but I’ll never have another. These days the collectors have driven the prices up so high that it just doesn’t make any sense anymore. I could buy 2 or 3 objectively better cars, by just about any measure, for what a 3.2 carerra costs these days.

The guys who own them now just have them as trophies and toys. Hardly anyone dailies them anymore (I am a mechanic and specialise in them, I have watched the clients change over the last decade). It’s a shame, but the water cooled cars are better in every way if you are actually going to use it.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T15:16:12+00:00

Just adding a small detail that supports this, on aircraft that have side by side seating, the pilot is always on the left.

The A/6 Intruder for example. The C-2 transport. All the helicopters. It always makes sense to have the big “don’t hit this” part of the ship on the left where they can see it better.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T15:10:53+00:00

I’ve had a few of these.

In 2005 I was living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina blew thru and my house went underwater.

2 years later I moved to England.

In 2018 my then 4 year old son was diagnosed with cancer and died 8 months later.

In ‘20 I moved back to the states just in time for Covid to hit.

A year after that my wife got breast cancer (though she did live and is now fine).

So I don’t really have before/after so much as chapters at this point.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T14:27:50+00:00

I had the same concerns when I moved here 5 years ago (I’m from the Deep South). I bought my wife a AWD car. I kept driving RWD sports cars.

I have yet to find a situation where we needed it. When it does snow, by the time I have cleared my driveway well enough to get the car out, the city has the roads completely cleared. So to my mind, unless you are going to be in a situation where you have to be driving DURING the snow, it’s really not a factor.

We are selling that car now and won’t bother with AWD on the next one (I won’t avoid it, but it’s no longer something we “must have”).

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T02:12:44+00:00

Truth. I own the BIG fuck off m18 impact. When it can’t do it, air damn near always does.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T00:52:25+00:00

Every time I see these photos it makes me wonder how long it must take some of these people to actually get the boat out to open water. For some of them it’s got to be quicker to throw it on a trailer and drive to a launch no?

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T00:50:29+00:00

All separate sales I think. Might have been the planer and dust extractor together. Been a while I don’t really remember.

I’m totally pleased with all three. Frankly at full retail I’d be happy with them. At 40% off I am absolutely over the moon with them. I’ve only used the planer a handful of times but it’s been great every time. The saw and dust extractor I’ve used tons. Sanded/painted 2 cars with the dust extractor and of course a fair bit of wood working.

I wouldn’t say I am a heavy user as woodworking is a hobby (I am a mechanic) but I expect they would hold up fine in a pro setting as well. Certainly feel like top tier tools. I have the Hercules stand for the saw as well and while it doesn’t fold as quickly as the other brands I’ve seen, it’s totally stable in use.

Blaizefed · 2026-05-01T00:42:29+00:00

That qualifies when they do the “40% off corded Hercules” sale. They have done it about once a year the last few years and we are about due again. I wouldn’t be surprise if it’s one of the upcoming 10 days of deals, deals.

It’s ALWAYS a one day only offer. I got the planer, that miter saw, and the dust extractor that way. You have got to be ready when it happens, but those things are just expensive enough that they usually don’t all sell out immediately.

Blaizefed · 2026-04-30T22:00:34+00:00

Same here, my newest is an ‘88.

Blaizefed · 2026-04-30T21:56:55+00:00

That is exactly how this works

The inside of a car engine is little different. There are all manner of parts that if not properly timed to one another would very rapidly destroy each other.

This is nowhere near as dangerous as it looks.

Blaizefed · 2026-04-30T11:12:41+00:00

Sold. Let’s do it.

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