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Modding cars and turning them into cool, fast pieces of stress relief can be a tumultuous experience. The joy of completing an engine swap, or bringing a long-forgotten car back from the dead, can soon be shattered by soaring temperature gauges or the dreaded rod knock.  Having spent 25 years buying, building, driving, wrecking, and blowing up cars (good lord, I am old), here are some of the key ways to avoid blowing your engine up like a goose (ie: don't do what I did).   Health Check When you get a new project, or you pluck it's new heart from...

If you've been watching the build of our sleeper Hilux you'll have seen us throw the old single-cam carb-fed NA four-cylinder in the bin, in favour of a turbocharged 2.7-litre DOHC 2TR four-cylinder from a modern Toyota commercial vehicle. People have been impressed with the power this pretty simple engine has made (SEE THE VIDEO HERE) and this is partly due to how modern engines are designed.  So, why do modern engines seem to make power much easier than older engines? There are several reasons for this, but it mostly comes back to engines being far more efficient, and better...

Buckle up, kids. This week I'm dishing some hacks out that I've learned the hard way through years of struggling with nugget project cars. Cars are an awesome hobby, but they can test you with mental acrobatics or physical pain, so here are a few of my top tips for whomever is undertaking a project, no matter if you're a newbie or a seasoned veteran.  From bodgy Subaru RS Turbos, to nugget E30 BMWs, decrepit V8s, to my out-of-control pound puppy Pontiac, I've done the hard yards so you guys can learn from my mistakes. Knowledge is key, organised knowledge...

We love swapping engines in our cars. But what do you do when "everyone" has seen Barras in Bugattis, Novis in Nissans, and LS V8s in everything? Well, you look at some forgotten gems...   3-cylinder: Ford EcoBoost "Dragon" We have done a lot with three-cylinder engines on the show over the years, and while people tend to sleep on them in favour of swapping in a larger four-cylinder, there is real charm and fun to a hard-revving three-pot. Ford's turbocharged DOHC EcoBoost three-pot unit has been available since 2009, with the post-2013 998cc (codenamed "Fox") produced between 74kW and 103kW. ...

Workshop Manuel takes us through what you need to do to getan old or abandoned engine running safely.