YouTube Discovery: La Deux (Automotive Channels)

 Times have come and gone again. YouTube tastes have changed (and stayed the same). There is a lot of junk on YouTube, both good and bad. Here is an updated list of my subscriptions on YouTube. Some are still the same, but this time I will at least try and categorize them. I will share all the channels I subscribe to, short of some that will be of no interest to anyone but me, such as the town channel for Sparta, NC.

I follow 94 channels, so for the sake of you, me, and the possibility of me continuing on with my blog, I am only going to post my channel subscription one category at a time. Seeing as how 22 of them are Automotive related, I will post that category first. All links to channels should work, but a quick YouTube search should put you in the right direction.

Format will be as follows:
Channel Name - Sub Category - Information - Family Friendly Rating

Automotive

84hatchi - Toyota/Car/Gadget - This channel is run by a gentlemen who drives an "86" Toyota Corolla. I was originally attracted to the channel because of this. He kept the stock carb'd engine, and built it up and added modern tech to it. He does not post regularly, but I enjoy his posts when he does. 

Rating - G, Nothing that can't be watched by all.

ChrisFix - General Auto Repair - Chris shows you how to repair car things, pretty much in your driveway. Great general automotive knowledge, that sometimes steers to race/performance. 

Rating - G, No worries here.

DODGEVANRACING - Japan Culture/Racing - In Japan, US Military bases left/leave/surplus Dodge B Series/Ram Vans. Motorcycle racers use them to haul around their bikes and parts. One day they decided to race them. Now they build them and once a year they race them. Not updated in awhile. They call them "Daijibans" which is broken English for "Dodge Van". 

Rating - G, its racing, and a Japanese channel. 

Donut Media - Automotive News/Builds/Etc. - I came by this channel because they did/do an "Up To Speed" on cars. Basically giving you the history of certain vehicles. They also do "High/Low" builds, where they build two of the same vehicles, but buy expensive part for one, and are trendy/cheap for the other. A lot of other content as well. 

Rating - PG/Soft PG-13. They are a group of late 20-40 year olds, with that type of humor expected for that age group. Language is low, but if they say anything harsh it is bleeped.

Goodwood Road & Racing - I watch for the Festival of Speed, but they have many other clips of races. Generally races involving historical/antique race cars. The "FoS" is a yearly hill climb at Goodwood, where they race one at a time to try and get the fastest times. All vehicles are raced: Trucks, Nascar, Rally, F1, Experimental, Antique, Pre-War, etc. 

Rating - G, Just car stuff.

Hagerty - Car/Engine builds. Various car content - A channel that host many different car shows and builds. I mainly watch the "Redline Rebuilds", hosted by Davin Reckow. If you have ever seen the time lapse videos of engines being broken down and rebuilt, this is where it came from. He rebuilds mainly odd engines and shares the steps involved. These engines have included old inline 8s, odd Buick V8s, and things like flathead Fords. The have other hosts that review and compare cars (think Top Gear), as well as share in car news and culture.
Rating - G - Of what I've watched, there is nothing to be concerned with. A corporate ran channel that appeals to all ages.

Jafromobile - Car/Engine builds - Specific to DSM cars, this channel is ran by one man, and all he does is build on 4G63s. He does this in his shed in his backyard, and is a true "Old School" builder (at least by 90's standards.) He post irregular, but they are long and detailed posts. His care and attention to detail is something to learn from. 
Rating - G/ Cautionary PG - I don't really remember him every having any real content issues/foul language, but this is his own channel, and there may be some "over the top" humor.

Matt's Off Road Recovery - Offroading/Car Builds - Matt and his crew run a towing/recovery service in Utah, and specialize in off road/trail recovery. Some of the recoveries are wild. He also educates on proper winch and recovery techniques. Additionally, he does all his own fabrication and truck builds. He runs XJ's for standard recovery, and has built track crawlers, a giant CorVair truck called the "MoreVair", and is currently building an even bigger extreme off road tow vehicle.
Rating - Cautionary Hard G. He is mindful of his content, but it is real life. There may be an occasional joke or word said by others. Nothing close to terrible.

Mighty Car Mods - Car builds/Auto Adventures - A channel made by two Australian friends, that I have been with since the beginning (2008/09?). They focus mainly on JDM/Import cars with the occasional dabble into the VW world. They have recently branched out into small JDM Trucks, and have done some light off roading. Their content is mostly builds and upgrades, ranging from DIY to "Advanced DIY". They also make a special or two every year, with their traditional Christmas movie/episode. A favorite channel of mine.
Rating - PG/PG-13. Some crude, tongue in cheek jokes at times. Language has become more "open" as they have gotten older. Noting super crude. Sometimes it's bleeped, sometimes it's not.

MCM TV2 - Car News and Culture - Mighty Car Mods second channel. More of a behind the scenes channel with B content. They host "Unicorn Circuit" here, where they provide commentary on automotive news and upcoming content.
Rating - See Above.

Noriyaro - Japanese Car Culture - Alex lives in Japan, and shares his automotive adventures. He races/drifts various cars, and shares the street auto culture and shops/garages in and around Japan.
Rating - PG. Nothing horrible. Just the content and subject matter that comes with automotive/street life.

POWERNATION - Builds/Tech/Etc. - Reminds me of the Power Block that used to be on TV on Saturdays. The do dyno engine builds, total car builds, and other car related things. Multiple hosts. Has a much more corporate feel, as in they still break for commercials (it might be that they also air on TV as well, I don't know.)
Rating - G. I feel that this channel also airs their content on TV, so language and humor is acceptable to all.

Puddin's Fab Shop - Fabrication, truck builds - Once a week, hour long videos centered around old, rusty, patina'd vehicles. He loves the old mini trucks, especially those old U-Haul trucks. He also works on other vehicles, like old cars and International Trucks (not the Semis). He takes vehicles that have been sitting for decades and gets them running. He also does a lot of suspension fab work.
Rating - Hard PG - Content wise, it's all safe. He is hilarious and I enjoy listening to him with his heavy hillbilly draw (My wife does not). Language wise, he bleeps nothing and occasionally says sh**, but you'll for sure hear a "damn" every once in awhile. About what you'd expect to hear/see from you grandpa while he was working on a car.

Puddin's Fab Shop 2 - Behind the Scenes - Just about the same content as his first channel, but the videos are shorter. I view it more of a "come along with me" channel. The videos are less edited, and a little more personal. Shows you some more in depth work of his projects, and shares info about upcoming projects.
Rating - See Above

Rich Rebuilds - Electric Car Builds/Random Car Stuff - Rich mostly focuses on repairing Teslas that Tesla itself either wont repair, or charge waaaaay to much for. He and his team also made the first V8(LS) Swapped Tesla, and is currently putting a diesel in a Tesla. He also has other car projects and automotive oddities and weird adventures. He and his crew do some pretty amazing general fab work as well.
Rating - Hard PG-13/TV-14. He bleeps any strong language, which I dont think is frequent, but there is frequent "suggestive" comments and crude jokes. He has an "assistant" who models outside of the channel, and her "features" are often commented on and shown when she is present. Not in a blatant, disrespectful, humiliating way, she is in on the humor, but it's still there.

Robot Cantina - Car Projects/Tinkering - This channel does a lot of homebrew/oddball car projects. The original project car was a Honda Insight with a Harbor Freight engine running it. He currently has a few Saturns that he is working on. One is getting a two cylinder diesel engine, the other is being modded for max fuel economy. Heavy on techy data. If you like tinkering and electronic tomfoolery, he is all about it.
Rating - G/Soft PG - Quirky, generally harmless humor. It's just him running the channel. 

Sarah -n- Tuned - Car Projects/Culture/Reviews - Sarah takes on various car projects, and completes them with amazing detail. Some new, some old. Her attention to detail is second to none, and I am constantly amazed at the clean builds she finishes. She also reviews new vehicles, but that has become less frequent, as she has made a new channel for that. For the most part, she does all the work by herself, but has recurring guests at times. She also works in a shared shop space. Some episode are personal/blog style.
Rating - PG/Soft PG-13 - Mild language, that is mostly bleeped. Frequently uses the, "That's what she/he said." jokes. She is (proudly) awkward, and that can lead to awkward jokes/comments. Some might think she occasionally dresses... for lack of a better word... "inappropriately", but nothing you wouldn't see at the mall. On second thought, in today's day and age, it would be more appropriate.

Sloppy Mechanics - Car Builds - If you are into LS SWAP THE WORLD, this channel is for you. Matt takes junkyard LS engines, throws simple parts/tech at them and makes 600 to 1000 WHP cars and trucks. If you have ever seen the 600+HP White Chevy Colorado on the internet, this is the guy. He graciously shares his knowledge and experience for free. He also builds other LS swapped vehicles, and shares other projects that come into his dyno. If you are into LS Swapping, this is the man. Find his website as well.
Rating - PG-13 - Generally just him in his videos. Content is nothing to be concerned about. Language can be strong at times. Think general "shop talk" language. 

Tom's Turbo Garage - Car Builds - Tom is another person that performs amazing, super clean, detailed car builds. He hasn't posted in a year, but he has plenty of content. He is a DSM guy as well, but has made some other amazing vehicles. A heavily modded LS3 Swapped 2nd gen Miata, a turbo LS swapped 1st gen Tacoma, and more. All his builds are meticulous and detailed, no corners cut. 
Rating - G - Tom's content is as squeaky clean as his shop is. No language concern. Family man.

Toyota Maintenance - Toyota Specific Maintenance - Peter runs an independent Toyota repair shop and shares his work on the vehicles that come in. A "by the book" mechanic, that believes in proper maintenance and shop procedures. A helpful channel if you own a Toyota, specifically a Prius or Tacoma.
Rating - G - Just an above average mechanic working on cars. His cheerful personality and accent are great.

Uncle Tony's Garage - Car builds/Tech tips - A true old school mechanic. Works mainly on Mopars, but dables in other things as well. This is a man that has years of old school tuning and hot rod building experience. Contains knowledge that has since been forgotten. Knowledge that comes from years of turning wrenches and trial and error. Tony is the kind of guy that can just make it happen with a few tools and some time. Low buck tech and power mods.
Rating - G/Soft PG - Content is always clean and car related. I cannot recall any red flags on language, but I would think of him as you would any shade tree mechanic. He generally has a cigarette in one hand at all times.

Vice Grip Garage -  Car builds and Automotive tomfoolery - Derek is a joy to watch. Through his heavy midwest accent, and hilarious name of auto parts (sparkalators = spark plugs), he builds and restores various older vehicles. He is known for finding a car or truck hundreds of miles away, flying there, getting it road worthy (or close) then driving it all the way home, sharing all the mishaps along the way. Many tips and tricks are shared as well.
Rating - G/Soft PG - Content is clean, may be some tongue in cheek comments/humor.



Ok. I think that's it. Well...
Let's see if I continue with this.

KBye.

The 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

Mitsu-byebye

 

 

After the wreck of the Rabbit, I was given an allowance towards a rental car. I was given the choice between a Toyota Camry or this, a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. Being as how I do not think I have every driven a Mitsubishi in my life (strike that, an ex-girlfriend did have a sweet 5 speed 2 door Mirage that was lowered and had a super loud exhaust), I decided to take the new one for a ride.

Initial Impressions.

The 2018 Outlander Sport, at face value is a fairly nice ride. It is a compact crossover powered by Mitsubishis' 4B11 2.0 attached to a CVT transmission. The 4B11 makes 155HP and 146 lb ft of torque. Not that much. This particular model had "4WD", but I never used it.

Exterior

I'm not a huge fan of colors on cars. White, Silver/Grey, and Black are what I prefer (in that order). However, the blue of this Outlander really grew on me. So much so, that I started looking for blue cars in my search for a new vehicle. The exterior looked every bit the part of "Sporty". It was edgy and aggressive so you wouldn't think it was just another dull cross over, at least at first glance. It had LED running lights, as well as fogs lights and rear amber turn signals (a favorite of mine). Over all, the outside of the Outlander impressed me, but it kind of felt like a consolation prize over all, a shiny wrapper on something absolutely average.

Interior

The interior, like the exterior, was decent. One could say adequate. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about as well. Everything was laid out where you would expect it would be, and all you HVAC and Radio controls where in hands reach. Steering wheel controls covered pretty much everything you would need to touch, so you generally did not have to take your eyes off the road.

Room was good. Both car seats fit, without compromising driver or front passenger room. Still not as much room as our 2015 VW Passat, which has an uncomfortably large amount of rear leg room (seriously, 3 years later and it still blows my mind how much there is). The seats were supportive and nicely bolstered, and I liked the red stitching. The cargo area was large enough for a weeks worth of groceries, or a trip to the pool bringing all your floaties and toys.

Drivability

For what I take the Outlander Sport to be, it is perfect. a simple commuter car. The 2.0 is nothing special, but it is adequate. You put your foot on the gas pedal, and it goes. Not overly slow or overly fast, but at a "I'll get you there but I'm not in a hurry." pace. One thing the car has that took some getting use to was the CVT transmission. For those that do not know, a CVT is a type of automatic transmission that does not shift. It is a Continuously Variable Transmission aka single speed transmission. From a "Racecar guy" standpoint it is horrible, but for a simple commuter vehicle I think its great, even more so than the standard automatic transmission. There is no shifting, so there is no jerks or bumps or surging. You put your foot on the gas, and it ramps up to 5-6k RPM and stays there until you level off. It's very strange at first, but I adapted quickly.

Again, there was a "4WD" system offered, but I never used it. It offered two 4WD modes. A full time, and a locked center differential mode. The set up appeared to be a Haldex type set up, so I would imagine it to be more street/light rain and snow oriented. More "AWD" than "4WD"

Summary

That's pretty much it for the review. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is a perfect rental car. Take that how you will. Would I personally buy one? Probably not, but I would consider it with the manual 5 speed. While driving the Mitsubishi, I could see why they are failing while simultaneously seeing how they are trying to fix them selves.

I have an affinity for Mitsubishi, as well as most Japanese auto makers, that spawns from their glory years in the early 90's. They have seem to have lost their way for the most part, and have all become dull point A to B cars, no pizazz. There is the saying, "A rose by any other name, is still a rose.", and with that mentality I think you could also say, "A turd by any other name, is still a turd."

What I mean is, you can add all the Bluetooth, Infotainment, and flashy garbage you want, but at the end of the day, if it's all wrapped around a hunk of junk, I don't want it. Maybe that's the problem, maybe I am one of a dying breed. One who views cars as more than an appliance. I don't need to drive around in my cell phone. I need a reliable, peppy, fun to drive car. One that lets me know what the road is saying. So many cars today are built and sold on the premise that they will isolate you from the outside world. I don't want that. I want to hear the engine. The real one, note fake engine noise pumped through a speaker. I want to feel the road and hear the tires. I want to shift my own gears, and be allowed to make mistakes without electronic nannies cutting in.

I think that is the biggest down fall of many auto makers right now, that they are building cookie cutter vehicles, that are no longer viewed as "part of the family". There are some that still have that passion for a fun, connected vehicle, but they are slowly disappearing. On the flip side of that coin, I think the amount of people who want that type of vehicle are disappearing as well.

OK, I went a little off topic.

Sorry.


That's it for now... more latter. :)

Captain's Log: The Fourth

Three Day Weekend

Hardly did 9anything Saturday, used it as a freebie. Watched the Daytona 500 Sunday (I have a casual relationship with NASCAR), and finished off the day with some Winter Olympics. I must say that with the new NASCAR season, and the Winter Olympics, this is the most "Fan-ing" I've done in awhile. I'm looking at you, Green Bay (maybe next season).

The race was fun, and I actually watched the whole thing. Trying to pick a driver to like right now. Before the race, I had narrowed it down to either Austin Dillon (because of his seaming embodiment of the "3" car and his willingness to "wear the black hat") or Bubba Wallace Jr (Because I like Petty, and I think he see's something in Wallace). I'm still on the fence, as Dillon won the race, and I don't wan't to jump on the band wagon yet.

As far as the Winter Olympics, I have always enjoyed it more than the summer games. Almost every winter game involves speed of some kind. My favorites are the Super G and Alpine skiing, Skeleton and Bobsleigh, as well as Ski Jumping. They just feel faster than the summer games.

ANYWAYS, on to Monday (Presidents Day)

Spent most the day working on the the Rabbit, on and off. Swapped out the intake manifold for a newer revised version. The newer manifold has shorter runner, and will in theory give me more top end. Even more so once I get the Rabbit tuned.

The Old Intake - Longer Runners

The "New" Intake - Shorter Runners

Spent some time cleaning the manifold, as well as the ports on the block. Not too much build up after 122k miles. Plenty of Chemtool and rags took care of the mess.

Installed new O rings on my cleaned injectors.

Crud. This was probably the worst of the five

Didn't get too into it. Just a finger and a rag.

The only snags I ran into were reaching the two bolts on the manifold hidden on the bottom and the rubber spacers between the manifold and it's front bracket.

The first issue didn't take me long to figure out, but it did take me a while to implement my strategy. There are four bolts on the bottom part of the flange that attaches the manifold to the cylinder head. Two of them are on the outside and easy to get to. The other two are hidden, and you have to use an extension to reach through these two holes in the manifold to get to them. The holes aren't big enough for a 3/8th drive socket, but the socket bit (a 6mm allen head) does not come in 1/4 drive.

ADAPTATION.

I took my suuuuper long 1/4 inch extension, a 7mm socket and the 6mm allen bit from a 1/2 inch drive and combined them into one super tool.

I had to sacrifice the 1/2 inch socket, but it will not be forgotten.

"It cant be tight if it's liquid"

Good night, sweet prince

After that, the 6mm bit didn't fit in a 6mm socket, so I had to use a 7mm. The fit was too lose, so I had to wedge something down in between the allen head and the socket. A piece of paper clip did the trick. My tool was made, and off came the manifold.

Long John Silver

After the above mentioned cleaning took place, I started back on reassembling. "New" injectors in, and double checking on my hose and wire connections.

Old versus "New"

This brought me to my next hiccup. These stupid rubber mount things. I dont recall the engine in the junk yard having them, but my car did. The mounts were captured on my manifold, and I couldn't swap them over to the new one.

Stupid

I ended up freeing them from the old intake by cutting the intake up, and them melting and crushing the ABS plastic in a vice. Then I couldn't get the brass insert off. I said forget it and went to Home Depot to make myself a mount.

After installing the manifold and loosely bolting it back in, it looked as if I didn't need them after all (nor would they have fit.) I ended up sticking a few rubber washer in between the mount and manifold for good measure, and called it a day. The Rabbit fired up without hesitation, and a little while later we went for a test drive.

Finished!

Impressions:

I've pretty much lost all my bottom end, or at least it feels that way. I knew that I would probably experience a little drop in low end torque, but the drop was noticeable. I guess 4 inch shorter runner would do that.

I do feel, or think I feel, a harder pull around 4000 to 5000 RPMs, but unfortunately, I currently top out at 5700, so I'm not sure if this surge continues. Hopefully the tune will sort this part out.

On the highway, It looks to be getting slightly (+ 2-4) MPGs. This could just be hopeful thinking (or weather), but next trip to Orlando will be the judge.

Well, that about wraps it up for this one. 

I'm sure there will be more work related stuff coming up this week, and I'll try to get in a non car related personal post here soon.

Ok. Thats it.

Captains Log: 2

What I had planned on doing this weekend involved working on my car. I am working my way up to a tune for the Rabbit, so I was wanting to get in some supporting mods, mainly a revised intake and exhaust manifold, as well as fuel injectors.

 

However,

I went to Ikea instead.

 

The Land of Swedish (USA, Chinese, French, Italian) made wonder

 

Now I'm not a super Ikea fanatic, but I am an Ikea family member, and I do enjoy the establishment. The wife and I wanted to tackle the toy issue in our house as well as clean up our media area. While there might be more "quality" furniture else where, I have yet to see someone tackle storage like Ikea does. Ikea quality is fine as well. I've found it to be very solid furniture.


So I switched the Rabbit into truck/station wagon mode and we headed out. The Rabbit can handle pretty much whatever I throw at it. I usually carry my BDM tools with me wherever I go, and that includes a ladder. It can hold all of it with the seats up. That's for another post though.

 

7'x2' is the max safe load I can fit. More could fit with some tetris skills.

The purchase.
Wife trying to price it out before we check out.



Plenty of room left. The Rabbit didn't even squat. I even folded the front seat back up.

 

 

Everything was loaded up, and after we got our snacks we headed out. This is the part of the story where I discuss the "bomb" scare at Ikea, and us having to evacuate. I'll save all the typing, and just link you to the news article. Watch the video! I was interviewed! IM FAMOUS!

 

BOMB AT IKEA! (IT WAS A BAG OF POTS)

 

While I enjoy shopping at Ikea, I less than enjoy assembling Ikea furniture. However one comes with the other, so after a slight delay I started building. This time around I thought I'd be "professional" so I got out my levels. Wrong move. This probably doubled the build time. I made it my mission to not have a single crooked door, and between the bubble and laser level I think I succeeded.

 

Well, that's about it for this weekend. Hope to get into some shenanigans at work and share them here. I'll leave you with some pics, see you then!

 

People leaving Ikea during evacuation

Hanging out, waiting for the all clear (it never came)



Being pushed back even further

Where I stood for a few hours, waiting for my car. We were eventually moved even further back.





Captains Log: 1

To mix in the personal with the work, I'm going to start these "Captain's Log" posts. So we will start off with a little review of what's been going on these past few weeks.

Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM)

A few weeks ago I drove down to Lorida, a small town south east of Sebring. I joined a group of people other from various places (Virginia, Delaware, Michigan) who are part of a group called Brethren Disaster Ministries. This group is part of the Church of the Brethren, but that is a story for another day. You can read more about them here: http://www.brethren.org/bdm/

We did roof repair and replacement on around 17k square feet of buildings. Patched holes and vents, and then installed metal roofing. I was the youngest one there, and I really enjoyed my time there. I hope to join up with a group again, as I really felt like I did something.



The Rabbit

My latest car is a 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit. 2.5 Inline 5 cylinder, Manual Transmission. Mundane by automotive standards, but a fun car none the less. I'm currently in the process of "sprucing it up", to either sell it or keep it as a run around. 125k miles and as of this typing, seems to be running like a top. I have a couple of things lined up for it to better improve it drivability and "fun-ability". All on the cheap.

 

 

 

That should catch you up to date in the personal life area for now, I'd like to go more into detail later on a few of the car stuff, but that can wait for later. Will update with a work related post here in the next couple of days.

 

Thanks for reading!