Category Videos

My wife’s Explorer lost a hubcap driving through Tuscon last year and that sounded like a great excuse to do some upgrades to her cheapo steel wheels! All it took was a little bit of elbow grease, some primer, black matte paint, some excellent 2K clear coat, center caps, and some trim rings to make them look brand new and completely custom!

Skip the trim rings if you want your Explorer to look like a cop car.

The whole process really was a piece of cake, and I’m really impressed at how easy the 2K clear was to apply and how awesome it ended up looking. I will definitely keep it in mind for the future of the Bullnose. I’ve got some ideas for places I can use a quick shot of clear coat.

It took about a can and a half of each type of paint, including the clear to get it where I wanted it.

You can replicate the look I got here by using the following stuff:

Primer: https://amzn.to/3c5MyYe​
Paint: https://amzn.to/2Y3OE2z​
2K Clear: https://amzn.to/2KLvCLm​
Center Caps: Part Number 1L24-1A096-HA (Find on eBay or salvage yard)
Lug Nuts: Dorman 99027.1 (Buy packs on eBay)
Trim Rings: https://amzn.to/3oiRDip​

I finally built my mechanic’s workbench for the garage! I’m very happy with how it turned out, and it was easier to build than I thought it would be. For under $250, I can’t imagine a better workbench than this one that I made in only a few days.

Using some pre-built adjustable legs (BenchPro), a couple of 4×8 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood, a little poplar, some glue, some screws, and just a bit of bedliner, this bench came out better than I could hope for. In this video I’ll walk you through just how I put it together and what steps I took to make sure it’s as strong as I can make it.

Here’s a materials list:
2 – sheets of 3/4 inch birch plywood (4×8 sheets)
1 – sheet 1/4 inch hardboard
2 – 1/2″x3x6ft Poplar Board
2 – 1x3x8 Poplar Board
1 Set – Adjustable workbench legs: https://amzn.to/2JYEzQS
1 Set – Swivel Casters: https://thd.co/3oumIQQ
Primer: https://amzn.to/3oxbECL
Bedliner: https://amzn.to/38w6LnF
Titebond III Wood Glue: https://amzn.to/35qxRKS
1 1/4 Coarse Drywall Screws: https://amzn.to/35qxW18
Lag Screws: https://amzn.to/3hYPJBE
Construction Screws: https://amzn.to/2Xu2quS
Cutting Guide: https://low.es/38u2bGs
Countersink Kit: https://amzn.to/3nxWI5Z
Light: https://amzn.to/3pZfSDg
Power Strip: https://amzn.to/2LzB1Fd

Adding a new Ford emblem to my grille and sticking on a set of chrome center cap stickers was a quick and easy way to add a little bit of flair to my bullnose. Both add-ons are cheap and I think they turned out nice!

The Ford emblem on the bullnose trucks that have them is a little under 7 inches wide, so a 7 inch replacement fits just right. If you have an early 80’s model bullnose, your grille probably doesn’t have an emblem like this, but replacement grilles from later model bullnose trucks will bolt right in if you want one.

I also want to give a shout out to House of Grafx for the excellent center cap stickers and some amazingly quick turnaround time. Check them out at https://houseofgrafx.com.

You can get the emblem I used here: https://amzn.to/3rwSDlt

Installing and using Speed Bleeders for your brakes is a no-brainer upgrade if you work alone or value your time. In this quick tip, I’ll show you just how easy they are to install and use in both calipers and wheel cylinders.

I’ll also quickly cover an issue I had with one of my bleeder screws and how I solved it to get a complete bleed on my new brake system using my new speed bleeders.

Speed Bleeders I used:
Front – https://amzn.to/2Kqy4q7
Rear – https://amzn.to/38mGC9R

Bleed Kit I used (plus an empty bottle):
https://amzn.to/3adOg8N

Brake Job Videos:
Part 1 – https://youtu.be/4Ibk_P7l1DA
Part 2 – https://youtu.be/qwVwLimpfxU
Part 3 – https://youtu.be/sl7ht-gbPVc
Part 4 – https://youtu.be/kjTLogUQGl0

Finally finished my brake job… no thanks to my broken parking brake cable, broken torque wrench, and broken (dry) master cylinder. In this final episode I bench bleed my new master cylinder, re-install my front brake cable, lament about my problems, and talk about the pain that bleeding my brakes turned into.

Turns out that letting a master cylinder run dry turns into a huge headache. Since I had to bench bleed the master anyway, I just replaced it. I also learned the hard way that bleeder screws can leak around the threads, making it seem like your brake system has an endless supply of air bubbles trapped in another dimension.

I also learned that you get what you pay for when buying a torque wrench. :-/

Here’s the good stuff:
New good brake cable: https://tinyurl.com/y5cveov3
New master cylinder: https://tinyurl.com/y679wcd9

See how I replace the entire front brake system – rotors/hubs, bearings, calipers, and pads on my 85 Ford F-150. It was an interesting experience and something I’ve never done before, so I learned a whole lot.

For instance, I learned that new hubs/rotors often come with bearing races pre-installed… and that getting them out is harder than the internet makes it seem. I also learned that trying to prevent a brake line connected via a banjo bolt from spilling the entire contents of your master cylinder is a lost cause unless you want to try to clamp your brake line… a risk I wasn’t willing to take.

In the end, I thought I had it all figured out, but then… I didn’t. Make sure to stick around to part 4 where I’ll talk about everything I learned and some of the ‘above and beyond’ steps I had to do in order to get my brake system back in working order.

Some of the parts/products I used in this video:
Hubs/Rotors: https://amzn.to/39N8PJ1
Inner Bearing Seal: https://amzn.to/2VBPJNR
Inner Bearing: https://amzn.to/2JBsYXT
Outer Bearing: https://amzn.to/37R2Lgf
Bearing Packer: https://amzn.to/39IQ6hV
Grease: https://amzn.to/39KLlEq
Driver’s Caliper: https://amzn.to/39FxAHb
Passenger’s Caliper: https://amzn.to/37ux4c4
Brake Pads: https://amzn.to/2IgTwgs
Spindle Nut Kit: https://amzn.to/3mJNFPI