Jalopnik: Engine

Mechanics find bee colony in engine

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 13 May 2011 12:30:00 EDT

Alf James always took care of his 11-year-old Peugeot 106, so he was surprised when the car wouldn't pass the British emissions inspection. Unable to diagnose the problem, the inspectors sent it off to another shop where James was even more surprised to discover that a bees had implanted honeycombs in his engine. More »

Hear the Scion FR-S for the first time

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EDT

There's no doubt the Scion FR-S looks great. But how does it sound? Sort of like a small chainsaw being started in a closet. More »

What is your favorite production car engine?

Tom Joslin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EDT

79 years ago this past week, Henry Ford unveiled the flathead V8 in a move that would change automotive history. The hype and legend of the 65 horsepower engine keeps the '32 Ford one of the most popular vintage hot rod platforms almost 8 decades later. Keeping in mind the fact a great engine can make an ordinary car a legend, this week's Question of the Weekend asks what is your favorite production car engine? More »

Watch a chunk of aluminum CNC'd into an engine block

Justin Hyde — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:00:00 EST

Kirkham Motorsports usually needs about 30 hours of computer-controlled machining to turn a 383-lb. aluminum billet into a 64-lb. engine block for its self-designed 427. Luckily for manufacturing geeks, they've shortened the process to seven minutes for this video. More »

How Much Engine Chrome Is Too Much?

Justin Hyde — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:45:00 EST

Every auto show has a basement/storage area set aside for custom cars, one-offs and other strange beasts, like this Gangster Lowrider Chevy, which accounts for 94.2% of the chrome plating in the greater Los Angeles area. Photo Credit: Matt Helm More »

What's The Most Legendary Four-Banger Of All Time?

Murilee Martin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EDT

Last winter, we asked for your opinions on the Most Legendary V8 Of All Freakin' Time and the Most Legendary Inline Six... and then I totally spaced on what may be the most important Legendary Engine question of all! More »

Nearly The Engine Swap Of The Day: Saab Turbo B Into Nissan 300ZX!

Murilee Martin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT

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Dropping an L28ET yanked from a Datsun 280ZX Turbo into a third-gen Firebird and racing the result was a good idea, which makes today's swap a great idea! More »

If You Buy Just One Book About Engines This Year, Buy This

Pete Vack, VeloceToday.com — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Veloce Today's Pete Vack recently took a look at Griff Borgeson's The Classic Twin Cam Engine, a dive into the origins of the modern overhead-valve powerplant. Tech geekery? Intrigue? Crazy Frenchmen? This is where your engine came from. —Ed. More »

Phallic Jet Engine Nipple Cone Thing, The U.S. Army Wants To Grope You

Sam Smith — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:30:33 EDT

An American soldier inspects the engine on a plane bound for Afghanistan in March. We cannot stop laughing at this picture, and we cannot explain why. That is all. (Getty Images/AFP/Vyacheslav Oseledko) More »

What's The Coolest-Looking Intake Manifold?

Murilee Martin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EDT

After watching the '90 Taurus SHO commercial, I got to wondering about other engines with great-looking intakes. You know, the kind you'd like to clean up and hang on your wall as fine art. More »

Henry Ford, Boss From Hell, and His Newfangled V8

Murilee Martin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST

We've already covered the flathead Ford V8 in the Engine Of The Day series, but Ate Up With Motor's excellent essay on the origins of this engine deserves a read. More »

When Connecting Rods Go Bad

Murilee Martin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:55:55 EST

There's nothing like a race track full of beat-to-hell hoopties to give you a crash course in Blowed Up Engines 101. The Southern Discomfort race offered plenty of busted blocks, oil pans full of bearing shards, and the like. More »

Engine Of The Day: Continental Motors

Murilee Martin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST

Engines manufactured by Continental 1920s and 1930s powered about four million cars, which seems moderately impressive. Read Daniel Strohl's list of Continental-powered marques, however, and you'll be floored! More »

Nissan GT-R Owner Voids Warranty, Grenades $36K Engine

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST

A member over at NAGTROC made the mistake of modifying his Nissan GT-R engine while it was still under its temperamental warranty. So, when he then broke the cylinder block, he was completely screwed. How it happened, plus pictures, below. More »

Holy Nickelbag!

Murilee Martin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST

Twin-turbocharging your V8 doesn't have to be difficult… provided you choose the right vehicle. More »

Engine Of The Day: Renault Ventoux

Murilee Martin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

As we continue to work on the Ultimate Engine Survivors Honor Roll, certain engines start to stand out for their incredibly long lifespans. Here's one that was built in some form from 1947 through at least 1997. More »

Question Of The Day: Most Legendary V8 Of All Freakin' Time?

Murilee Martin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

After the agonized debate over the most legendary inline six of all time, we have no choice but to roll this grenade into the room! More »

How About A Straight-Eight-Powered Ford Tempo? T-Drive!

Murilee Martin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

You know what's wrong with most engines? The transmission is forced to take the power from the end of the crankshaft. But, hey, what if you were to take the power out of the middle of the crank? Transverse-mounted I8! More »

Question Of The Day: Most Legendary Inline Six Engine?

Murilee Martin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

Now here's a QOTD that's sure to get the single-interest fanatics swinging their sabers at the neck-pipes of perceived infidels, but we're hoping that y'all can dredge up some, like, objectivity here: Which I6 engine is most legendary? More »

Engine Of The Day: Third-Gen Chevrolet Inline Six

Murilee Martin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

We honored the Pontiac OHC Six, which was based on the Chevrolet 230, a couple weeks back. Today, we honor the pushrod Chevy! More »

Engine Of The Day: Pontiac OHC Six

Murilee Martin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:30:00 EST

How would the Malaise Era have played out for The General if he hadn't given up on Pontiac's high-performance SOHC inline six of the mid-1960s? More »

Engine Of The Day: BMW OHV V8

Murilee Martin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

A pushrod, carburetor-fed V8 from BMW? Sure, but you have to go back about a half-century. More »

Engine Of The Day: Ford Kent

Murilee Martin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST

We've already honored the Ford "Pinto" OHC engine here, but what about the pushrod four that served as the early Pinto's base engine? More »

Engine Of The Day: Toyota JZ

Murilee Martin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EDT

After we had Engine Of The Day Overload last weekend, I got the usual flurry of emails pointing out the really important stuff I'd overlooked. One engine kept coming up, though: the mighty Toyota JZ! More »

Engine Of The Day Overload!

Murilee Martin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EDT

We've been doing the Engine Of The Day series for a couple of years, so it's time we put all 74 EOTD honorees together! More »

Engine Of The Day: Buick V6

Murilee Martin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT

If we ever get around to doing an Ultimate Engine Survivors list (to accompany the Survivor Cars list), this engine will surely be near the top. 47 years and counting! More »

Engine Of The Day: Nissan VG

Murilee Martin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EDT

With 20 years of service, installation in dozens of different vehicles, and an excellent racing record, the Nissan VG definitely deserves Engine Of The Day honors. More »

1961 Nash for $16,500 Cash!

graverobber — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EDT

Generally, describing a car as an appliance is pejorative, indicating it is dull as dishwater. Today Nice Price or Crack Pipe brings you a car that's totally not boring, but does look an awful lot like a refrigerator. More »

Engine Of The Day: Saab Two-Stroke Three-Cylinder

Murilee Martin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:30:00 EDT

Two-stroke engines for cars have always been on the smoky and noisy side, but they sure do make a lot of power for their size! More »

The Official Ford Scorpion Diesel Engine Mascot. No, We're Not Kidding.

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:45:00 EDT

Apparently Ford contracted an out-of-work Detroit-area album cover artist for 80s hair bands to do the mascot for the 2011 Ford F-Series HD's all-new 6.7-liter V8 turbodiesel Scorpion engine. Or they were channeling the band of a similar name. [Pickuptrucks.com] More »

Engine Of The Day: Chrysler Flathead Six

Murilee Martin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT

How long does an engine family need to survive in front-line use to become a legend? 42 years, like the Toyota R? 47, as with the small-block Chevy? Today's engine may have them both beat! More »

Engine Of The Day: Fiat SOHC

Murilee Martin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EDT

We get quite a few suggestions for EOTD honors and we try to get to all of them, but a tip from a Fiat X1/9 racer always gets jumped to the front of the line! More »

Engine Of The Day: Ford FE V8

Murilee Martin — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT

One fun thing about this series is the vast quantity of big-displacement V8s built by Detroit during the second half of the 20th century. We'll never run out! More »

Engine Of The Day: Ferrari Dino V6/V8/V12

Murilee Martin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT

We've been doing this Engine Of The Day business for a couple years now, yet we haven't seen a single Ferrari engine? Whoops! More »

Engine Of The Day: Saab H

Murilee Martin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EDT

This Swedish inline-four debuted in 1981, but it was essentially a redesign of the 1972 Saab-Scania B engine, which itself was based on the- wait, can this be right?- Triumph Slant Four engine. More »

Engine Of The Day: Mitsubishi Sirius

Murilee Martin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EDT

Mitsubishi hasn't been well represented in this series, so let's follow up its Astron engine with another Mitsubishi four-cylinder: the Sirius. More »

Engine Of The Day: BMW M70 V12

Murilee Martin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EDT

We've only seen one V12 Engine Of The Day so far? Unacceptable! Let's take a look at an engine that you Project Car Hell masochists should have no problem obtaining cheap at the junkyard! More »

Engine Of The Day: Ford (Yamaha) SHO V6

Murilee Martin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:30:00 EDT

It seems that at least a couple of Taurus SHOs show up to any given 24 Hours Of LeMons race, so I've become quite familiar with the sound of this engine at full scream. More »

Engine Of The Day: Oldsmobile Generation 2 V8

Murilee Martin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EDT

Maybe it didn't make financial sense for GM to have each division design its own engines- a policy that continued into, and sometimes beyond, the Malaise Era- but the results were some excellent pushrod V8s! More »

Engine Of The Day: Alfa Romeo Twin Cam

Murilee Martin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EDT

For some reason, I thought we'd already given EOTD honors to this fine engine- more than 40 years of front-line service and endless racing glory certainly qualifies- but such was not the case. More »