Autoblog

Project Ugly Horse: Part IV

Zach Bowman — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:58:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Budget, Performance, Etc., Hatchback, Ford, Humor

Bits and Pieces

The asphyxiation-blue plastic of my dash looked like it would snap under a crass tone.

The line between cleverness and idiocy is a blurry one. After reading a number of write-ups on the best way to swap pedal boxes in a Fox Body Ford Mustang, I decided to eschew common wisdom and blaze a new trail of my own. Traditionally, putting three pedals where once there were two involves pulling the entirety of the ancient plastic dash from the vehicle in order to gain access to a few carefully hidden nuts and bolts. Undo some linkages, pull said hardware, reverse the process and voilà! You suddenly have a portion of the controls necessary to row your own gears.

It was pulling the dash on Project Ugly Horse that had me sweating. The asphyxiation-blue plastic of my dash looked like it would snap under a crass tone, so rather than go all hog wild with the ratchet, I took a closer look at the construction of both pedal boxes. From what I could spy with my little eyes, the swap could be accomplished with a little ingenuity, some sweat and a few well-placed curses. I busted out the grinder, set the welder to warm and got busy.

Continue reading Project Ugly Horse: Part IV

Project Ugly Horse: Part IV originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WHOA! Gear-shift coat rack coolest coat rack ever

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:31:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

The greatest inventions in human history have often been the simplest. Like the wheel. The greatest inventions also have a way of being beyond language -- you can understand them in Uruguay or Urdu. It might not be the greatest invention ever, but the shift knob hanger rack is terribly simple and anyone who's seen the inside of a stickshift car gets it. All you have to add is a wall to hang it on and coats to hang on it. The web site selling it (either Shop Colour or USA Colour, we couldn't tell) looks to accept every form of payment known, and if you're in Japan it looks like you can get it at 7-11 and Circle K. (How come our local 7-11 doesn't carry these things?) It's about $68 at today's exchange rates. Like the ad says: Cool.

[Source: USA Color via Carscoop]

WHOA! Gear-shift coat rack coolest coat rack ever originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 May 2007 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Davidkart vs. Goliath GTR

Noah Joseph — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:03:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Videos

What's faster, a kart or a Viper? That's the question Nurburgring wunderfrau Sabine Schmidt asked and answered in this ten-minute segment on her German television show DMAX. (You remember Sabine... she's the girl who dragged Clarkson's sorry old ass around the 'Ring in a diesel Jag.)

To make the plum even sweeter, we're not talking about any ordinary Viper or any ordinary kart here. The Viper is the GTR race version based on the first-generation super-snake, and the kart, as far as we can gather (we've yet to launch Autoblog German) is one beast of a suped-up shifter kart with a 164-hp 1100cc motorbike engine.

No contest, you say? The Viper'll win it hands down? Not so fast (no pun intended). Power-to-weight is the name of the game, and even with a quarter the power, the kart doesn't weigh nearly as much as the big American muscle. It's a close race... you'll have to watch to see which crosses the finish line first. Blitzschnell!

[Source: 0-60mag.com via Motorpasion]

VIDEO: Davidkart vs. Goliath GTR originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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