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BangShift Tune-Up: “Head Against The Wall” by Anew Revolution (2010)


BangShift Tune-Up: “Head Against The Wall” by Anew Revolution (2010)

Oh, readers…let me tell you about the fun that the last few days at BangShift Mid-West have been. You see, after weeks of heat and humidity, and a few days of outright hellish rain storms that dumped several inches of water onto the land, what followed was almost dream-like: temperatures in the upper 70s, lower humidity, sunny. Perfect timing to get things done, and that was exactly what I set out to do. The first day, I caught up on the lawn maintenance around the property with the recently-purchased equipment…all six hours’ worth. I might have been covered in trimmings and slightly sunburned, but that’ll keep the grass at bay for at least another week. Seriously, this stuff grows like nothing I’ve ever seen before!

Day two was earmarked for the day that the Great Pumpkin Mustang’s braking system would be complete, which would almost render the car drivable. “Almost”, only due to the oversized mag wheels being way too big for the front end to handle. But hey, if the brakes worked, I’d go get some cheap spare tire units from the local junkyard if it meant I could do some street testing!

From the moment I woke up until five minutes before this photo was taken, I busted my ass. Front calipers, rear lines, all new pads and rotors, functions checks, enough brake line bleeding to last another ten years at least, but success was at hand. So, the plan was simple: one final brake bleed with the engine on just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, then slap the mags on and yard-drive for verification. If that was a success, at least two new rollers would be sourced the next day and I’d street-drive the car. If that was successful, the Great Pumpkin would go back into limited-drive service while we started preparing the Explorer-sourced 302 for it’s time in the sun.

Here’s what really happened: two minutes after I started the car to let it idle some fresh gasoline through, there was a very metal-on-metal squwak noise that came from the bottom end and the 4.2L V8 stopped dead. I tried cranking it and the engine lugged to turn over, as if it was on a dying battery. Even with the jump pack hooked on, the same outcome. The brake system was ready to go, the car was ready to be put on the ground, and the engine decided to invoke the “Goodbye, cruel world!” act. Only one word was suitable for the situation, one that won’t be printed here. There was plenty of oil in the car, the engine was at proper temperature, and it wasn’t the alternator or the water pump, they both turn freely. Faced with reality, I simply put my tools up, shut up the shop and had a drink. What else can you do?

The song is a rocker, the video is interesting, but it’s the message that works here. Hopefully you haven’t had a day like that, but if you have…you understand fully.


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2 thoughts on “BangShift Tune-Up: “Head Against The Wall” by Anew Revolution (2010)

  1. BennyB

    Isn’t that the 255 car? Please give us pictures of the teardown and a bore-gauge shot of that minuscule motor.
    Then throw in the 302.
    I’m just curious.

    1. Bryan McTaggart Post author

      Benny, I intend to go through that engine once it’s out. It’s too much of a freakshow to not go through, and if it’s only a bearing, it might be brought back to life for another project.

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