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Marty and MOOG recently went through the FIVE LEVELS OF TOOLS (CLICK HERE) people need in their life with cars, and it got me thinking about some of the tools I have in my kit which I have absolutely needed to finish a job (or make it ridiculously easier to finish).  Here are 5 of my picks for tools you need if you're going to work on any project car. STUBBY SPANNERS Having a good quality set of combination spanners (ring and open) is a must for anyone who wants to do anything handy on a car. Or house. Or...

Back in August of 2024 I hit some roadworks in my '64 Pontiac (CLICK HERE to watch the full 30min video on its back story) and it smashed the transmission pan on the Hughes Performance-built 4L80E four-speed auto. I got the car to Laurence at Brintech Customs so we could pull the trans pan and see if it could be fixed - being cast alloy this is a difficult repair, as you'll see below.  Cast aluminium alloys are tricky to weld because they're nice and light thanks (in part) to their loose metal density. That refers to how the particles...

The Yatabe Test Track was a place which should be special for all serious Japanese car fans as it hosted some of the most important top-speed events during the JDM tuner era of the '80s and '90s. Located in Tsukuba, in the Ibaraki Prefecture, Yatabe was opened in 1964 as a location for Japanese manufacturers to test their vehicles, with a long high-speed course joined by two infamous banked corners (like a NASCAR speedway). It originally came to fame when Toyota broke 16 endurance records in their 2000GT supercar there, but it wasn't until the early '80s it truly became an icon....

If you've seen THE EPIC GEMINI FINALE (CLICK HERE) Marty buttoned up a whole bunch of fiddly jobs to get the Gemini driving and engineered for road use, and a big one was finishing off his custom brakes. Now, because your ability to stop in an emergency rides on the brakes, any modifications to the braking system of your car needs special care.  So, let's take a look at some considerations when setting up custom braking systems and the modifications you might have to make. Your brakes are a closed hydraulic circuit, which will normally use vacuum assistance from the engine to...

The internet is awash with news that the mega-popular, ground-breaking show Roadkill has been canned after 13 incredible seasons. On the show, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan represented their brand of grassroots automotive shenanigans but, like any successful outlet, there was a lot more going on behind the scenes.  I'll start by saying, a huge congratulations to everyone who worked on Motor Trend shows. They were super well-produced with great storylines and beautiful visuals, and were presented by genuinely brilliant car enthusiasts who built epic cars and undertook amazing adventures. To last over a decade in such a highly competitive arena is a testament to what a...