Motormouth Radio

Ray is transfixed by a complex rearview mirror repair, then spends time at the "Rolling Joint" food truck car cruise. Replacing a blown shock with a good used one solved the problem of the Fiat sitting too low in the rear, and Chris knows why a pair of 30-year-old sneakers has a cut mark in them. Falling asleep while doing a podcast, as well as the many options available for disc brake conversion hardware wrap up this hour of fun.  

Chris ruminated over his paint-soaked Tracker carpet issue & Ray mused over Fiat's selection of clutch cable adjusting hardware. Then, joined by Lake Speed Jr. the show got wings and took off into the unchartered territories of oil technology. Terms like zinc, calcium, phosphorous and viscosity were tossed around like projectiles at a beer pong party. Lake covered all the hard topics and passed on some excellent recommendations we can all use.   

We brought in some heavy hitters to compliment our EV knowledge this weekwith MatcoMan Brian and Carl Anthony from Automoblog. We covered waning EV sales, the charging anxiety many people are experiencing, and the new "electrici-trees" NYC is workingon implementing to help the charging issue. Many thoughts were thrown out there, but notall of them were fully explored....stay tuned for more to come.

Kicking off the "new year" (post Mother's Day) portion of the show, Ray describes to Chris how he cleaned his balls and will soon be polishing them, and of course he was referring to his pool table equipment. The use of Cataclean gets a thumbs up, but a CEL in the Impala gets a head scratch from even the experts. Chris describes with great detail how an "Italian Tune-Up" is performed, followed by an example of how to use a paint thickness gauge. Ray's visit to a mega-car facility raises some questions. 

Following a long tradition of doing a "best-of" show where we feature bits that highlight the callers, this is the 2024 edition. Featuring the likes of "Billy Velvet", the "ROMEO Club", and the Hijinx found on MatcoMan Brian's tool truck, we deep dive into the past year and find reflective thoughts from men like Dave Hayes and Carl Anthony, but the capper is Bob from RVC bestowing the MotorMouth Person of the Year on Tom from Massapequa. Not even Ray's "Crack cream" story can beat that show stopper.   

On our second fundraising hour we talk about how guest co-host MatcoMan Brian visits Harbor Freight to collect owed money. A current Mustang project and Ray's memories of riding in a first Gen 'Stang filled with teenage girls comes up. Work on making a dual quad RAM Air intake pan gets kicked around, as does making a replica of the original Bat Phone. 

On our first fundraising hour we talk about how to check a serpentine belt, what goes into buying a used car, and how much debris can actually accumulate between vehicle cleanings. Ray's home-repaired garage stereo system gets a late nod to the do-it-yourself mantra this show professes weekly.  

The show starts off on a clean note by talking about changing the cabin air filter in your car. A caller with a 428 CJ Fairlane diverts the boy's attention with his parts search problems, then Chris explains a "new" brake bleeding technique he came upon. Remember car cigarette lighters? We talk about them on this show too. 

Ray recounts the details of a recent southern road trip and Chris gives us the "caught red-handed" story about a rodent infestation in one of the family cars.  Freeport Raceway trivia is talked about, and a caller has a problem with his power windows and door locks,  Chris reads his latest recall letter from Ford.

Ray relays the Maxda sunroof repair that even he can't fully believe.  Guest Carl Anthony from www.automoblog.net dives deep into Ray's story about driving an old Chevy cross country on its 38th anniversary, then schools us all on the Gartner Hype Cycle.  Callers discuss Grand Funk Railroad trivia with the crew, and Chris questions the practicality of EV car use moving forward.

Chris kicks us off with a story of clogged drains, to which Ray counters with his worst cabin air filter encounter. Show friend Mike Mooney gets some air time this week talking about the Griffith automobile and Ray warns that one can never take anything for granted when working on an older car. A caller talks about fixing broken parts on the fly, raising some MacGyver stories, and we close with Chris' tale of three questionable recalls.

Ray recounts the Rolls Royce pre-purchase inspection he did this week, then Chris tells a story about how a local tire shop raked him over the coals for a simple service. Using a new USB soldering iron and charging old battery types gets discussed, as well as the Matco tools Ray bought and put right to good use.

The boys propose a thought that everyone should get in the Spring spirit and dust off and complete an old car project. Ray takes it in another direction and suggests that hanging out with good friends is the real gift of Spring, while Chris battles with changing clips that hold parts in place. Weird noises that you can't identify come into play, as does a small spring that has a mind of its own in Ray's garage.

Ray recounts a haunting issue with a Jeep where the radio dies when the lights are turned on. Carl Anthony from Automoblog.net is back and Ray gives him the full-on Grunge talk-up. Chris poses the question asking when you know it's time to keep or sell a collector car. A caller asks about the whereabouts of the Art Cars from Steve Hooper's collection, and the origins of STP treatment are questioned.

This show covers the relationship between car guys and good NY pizza, MatcoMan Brian talks about the recent tool expo and the new Matco flip-out panel clip tool. Callers respond by talking about their tool buying experiences and the benefits of buying from a local tool truck vendor. Ray relates how he would have recently bought a specific tool from the 1st truck that would have stopped by the shop.

Ray relates how pathetic the show's social media presence is, Chris has luck selling a used car to a young buyer, and the boys talk about the cool articles in the 50-year-old car magazines Ray is still reading. A caller's ABS brake trouble and some winter projects keep the show moving for the rest of the hour.

Even though our boys think they're slick and exotic they know the real score and have secured an interview with a real pro in field, Mr. Lake Speed Jr. who's a verified Tribologist. Oil brands, blend specifics, additive packages and testing procedures are covered, as well as the controversial concern about ZDDP levels.

This week we reported on a resolution from the contentious Kawasaki sold at a Hagerty auction, then Ray brought up the correct interpretation of local highway bridge height markings. Holley carburetor and Sniper EFI cold start protocol's were discussed, then chrome from spray cans and factory coatings got tossed around.

It was a trivia filled hour when the boys talked about the iconic 60's show car "The Uncertain-T" and a local custom Corvette that surfaced recently. Ray is jazzed over an Olds 442 that's coming into the restoration shop for him to work on, and a friend's 63 Lincoln is making forward progress in its re-do too.

As has been our emerging pattern, when the Hagerty Bull list report comes out we're sure to have Carl Anthony from Automoblog.net on with us to share his industry based thoughts since ours are firmly from the streets & garages of America. This week we also covered the auction purchase of a C2 Corvette a friend made, and all of the specifics associated with a purchase of that nature.