Beneath the layers of foliage captured over several seasons under a yard full of trees is an early version of the Honda Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion or CVCC engine. The engineers at Honda managed to design an engine that made good use of combustion chamber efficiency to meet 1970's EPA emissions standards without use of a catalytic converter. Honda achieved this feat … [Read more...]
Using Lean Burn Technology
Back in the late '70s the big three were in the soup. Increasingly stringent emissions regulations in conjunction with some long in the tooth designs made for some interesting attempts at fuel and spark management. Some of these things worked. Some sort of kind of worked. A few actually did their job pretty well, considering. In the latter category was the Chrysler Electronic … [Read more...]
One-Dollar Taco Bailout Plan
While the junkyard floor may serve as great inspiration for engine swaps, or trigger a fresh want for a car or truck which had up to that moment been long since forgotten, it is not a source for fresh or even remotely safe cuisine. No matter how hungry you are while out mining greasy gold inside the junkyard, never eat any food found on the premises or in the vehicles. Even … [Read more...]
Nobody’s Name on My Behind
Just when you thought nearly everyone had well and truly forgotten about your Cazal and Adidas Superstar wearing days comes this 1984 Ford Thunderbird FILA Edition from a junkyard long ago. The FILA and ELAN Thunderbird editions were offered as part of the top of the line 1984 FoMoCo fleet, and were the only new additions to the Ford Thunderbird lineup in that same model year. … [Read more...]
Take it Easy, Turbo
Turbocharged automobile engines are experiencing a resurgence in popularity thanks in part to a more performance and efficiency minded consumer hive. This new swell of turbo madness would in fact be the second wave. The first wave of production turbocharged rockets occurred in the Eighties, as fuel control systems drifted away from carburetors and into computerized multipoint … [Read more...]