Asking Questions is Part of Being a Car Guy

Asking questions is an integral part of being a car guy, whether it's asking your mechanic, browsing a forum, or posting in a Facebook group. In fact, we asked our viewers to share some of their questions with us, and the response was overwhelming – over 2,000 questions were submitted.

The submissions ranged from really good technical queries to some quite odd ones, and even some sad stories that tugged at our heartstrings. We'll be discussing those questions in more detail on this 50th episode of Money Pit.

I still can't believe we've reached our 50th episode – it's surreal! Apparently, they even ordered us a cake for the occasion, and I'm thrilled to hear that my favorite flavor is strawberry cheesecake.

A huge thank you to Audible for sponsoring today's video. Audible is home to the largest selection of audiobooks, but that's not all – they also offer podcasts, theatrical performances, and exclusive original content that can't be found anywhere else.

Audible also lets you try their membership program for 30 days at no cost. As a member, you'll receive one credit every month that's good for any title in the entire premium selection. This month, I chose to explore an amazing opportunity with Audible – and I think you will too!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Asking questions ispart of being a car guy.Whether you're asking yourmechanic, asking a forum,or asking a Facebook group,asking questions is common.So we asked you guys forsome of your questionsand you turned in over 2,000 of them.- Some really good technical ones.Some odd ones, and quitefrankly, some sad ones.- Nice, well, we'll talkabout that and much moreon this 50th episode of Money Pit.I can't believe we'vebeen here for 50 episodes.I hear they even got us a cake.And it's a strawberry cheesecake.- Number one.- That's my favorite.(upbeat quirky music)Big thanks to Audible forsponsoring today's video.Audible is home to the largestselection of audio books,but don't think thatit's only audio books.Oh no, no.Because Audible has podcasts,theatrical performances,as well as exclusive Audible originalsthat you won't find anywhere else.They also let you try theirAudible membership programfor 30 days at no cost.And as a member, you'llget one credit every monthgood for any title in theentire premium selection.This month I chose "TheViscount Who Loved Me"by Julia Quinn.Yeah, I know.You didn't expect that, did ya?Well, my girlfriend, shegot me into "Bridgerton"and I didn't want to wait another yearfor the second season.So I hopped on Audibleand downloaded the book.Did I mention members will have accessto their Plus catalog?It's filled with thousands of titles,including meditation and sleep tracksthat come included with no credits needed.And the best part, Audibleis available as an appso you can connect seamlesslywhen you're on the roadand never miss a page.So what are you waiting for?Start listening today byvisiting audible.com/donutmediaor text donutmedia to 500-500.- All right, so first question here.Connor from Canada wants to knowwhat's your favorite part of the build?- Honestly, for me it mightbe, I think it's the brakes.I really like the brakes.They're really high quality.They went on really well.It was a nicely thought out kit.- Very expensive.- Very expensive.You gotta like expensive car parts.- And anodized, the purple.- Purple, exactly, theywere purple anodized parts.I love purple anodized stuff.That's just a fact.But yeah, I think Igotta go with the brakes.- So Dion from Westchester asks,"How come you have mo powah baby,"but not less lap seconds, baby?"- All right, well, there'sa few answers to that.And I think there is someconfusion around that.First off, I did shavesix seconds off, right?I think I ran a 1:56?- I think it was slowerthe second time around.- No.- Yeah.- No.- There's memes about it.- I honestly think everybody's wrongbecause I remember specifically.Now we can go back and check.I wanted to hit a 1:45.And I think I ended up at 1:56 at best.And so I was always like, well, dang,I didn't even come anywhere close.Granted we had someissues that time as well.- Both days were kind oflike a technical nightmare.There was things wrongin the first time aroundwith the heat and overheatingand blowing the gauges and all that stuff.And then the second timearound with pissin' oilbasically from everywhere in the engine.- Yeah, and both of thosewere like, you know,so crammed in scheduling wise.It was like, we literallygot this thing off the dynoand went to the track.And it basically the samethe time before that.So hopefully, eventually, Ihave a little bit more timeto sort things out betweenwrenching and track time.And then, you know, we won'thave issues like, you know,my PCV system stuff.But I do think the car hasa lot more speed in it.- Mateusz from-- Workaholics.- Massachusetts."What is the most frustrating experience"you've had working on the Miata?"Something that pushed you to the brink"of never wanting to workon the car ever again?"- (laughing) Well, thathappens every week.No, I mean, the truth is working on carsoften is frustratingand you will feel thatway from time to time.But there haven't been toomany really devastating timeson the Miata.But the one that comes to mind firstis the power steering rack.- Right.(dramatic music)(beeping)- I've never seen anythinglike this in my life.I can't believe this.This is some stuff I wouldjoke about happening.I knew it was a terrible idea.I didn't want to do that,which is what made for a good video.I was like, I know that it's worth itto pay somebody to do thisor to buy a whole rack.Rebuilding it is not gonna be fun.And guess what?It was not fun.- And naturally, thesame mistake that we makein pretty much every episodeis we buy one of thething that we need to fix.- All right, let's give it a shot.- It hasn't been that long.- Well, how long do you think it takesto warm that little tiny thing up?- At least more than two minutes.- What do you mean?It's as hot as thetemperature of the water now.- We got one shot.- Well, what do you think I've learned?Yeah, 'cause you know,I don't want to spendunnecessary money and thenwhen I break the thingthat I need to make the video,I gotta get another one to do.So it was just, that was a big pain.And I cried inside a lot on that one.- You could see it, it shows.- So what do you guys think?Is this worth it?You want to get into cars?- So next question.LJ asks, "What caused Zachto get into repairing cars?"Did he go to a trade school?"- I mean, repairing carsis really the evolutionof just being into cars.And I've thought cars werereally cool since I was a kid.And I started working on themas soon as I could reallyget my hands on one.I didn't really growup in a family of like,you know, mechanics or anything like that,but I just started tinkering on,well, the family lawnmower I thinkwas the first thing I reallygot to turn any wrenches on.And you know, it kindof took off from there.Into high school when,you know, people I knewstarted getting cars, wewould just wrench on them.And then I took a autobody class in high school,which was really where things skyrocketed.- I'm jealous, we didn'thave anything like that.- Yeah, well it was really cool.So I bought my first carfrom a junkyard when I was 15and took it to my highschool and rebuilt it,repainted it, did a bunch of work to it,and brought it back fromthe dead for my first car.So that was what really got me into it.And then after high school,I did end up going to tradeschool to my community collegethat offered an automotive program.- Efrain from New York.- Efrain.- "When preparing your home garage"to tackle any job necessary,"in what areas should wespend our hard earned money?"- Yeah, I mean, tools,getting yourself a good set of hand tools.I mean, it's a common phrasethat you need to have theright tool for the job.And it's common because it's true.You can get away with abasic set of hand toolsfor most things automotive related, so.Be organized too.Organize your tools andtry to keep them organized.And utilize your space as wellas you can in that regard,and you're off to a good start.- "Do you haveany tips for someone"who is really anxious to get into cars,"but needs to wait a while before he can?"- Be patient.(laughing)Yeah, I mean, be patientand learn what you can.I mean, you can learn a lotwithout actually having a car,especially now that we'vegot the internet and YouTube.You can watch videos likethe ones that we makeand a lot of other folks make.And you can learn stuffwithout even having a carso that you're preparedonce you do get a car.- EvergreenKings.com asks.- Yo, Evergreen Kings.- "What's Zach'sfavorite mod so far?"What made the biggest difference"in the car's overall performance"besides obviously the turbo?"- It's honestly probably the tires.And it's a pretty easy mod to do,but getting that extra gripthat some good sticky tires give youis a huge performance benefit.And it's really easy to do.So I suggest anybody getsome nice sticky tires.Oh, my God.(laughing)It's my 50th birthdayand I'm feeling fabulous.- "How is Eddie likingthe lifted Miata so far?"- Well, Eddie seems tobe liking it pretty well.Uh, you want to answer that.(laughing)- It's great, honestly.Somehow the steering got lighter.It's like really recognizable.Fans of the show see the car and stop byand say like, what's up?It's a lot of fun.- That's cool, so you're into the lift?- I love it.Honestly, I wish I can go even further.I think Paco Racing has like a $5,000 kitthat they sell for that carwith like gnarly, gnarly suspension,completely freaking builtarms and stuff like that.- Wow.- It's so cool.- That sounds fun.- Yeah.- Make her into a real off-roader.- Dude, it'd be very cool.Mustafa from Turkey asks,"What is the worst thingthat's happened while filming?"- Hm.- I don't know, that rollbar episodegot pretty hairy there towards the end.Oh, God.(crashing)- Thought that might happen.(sighing)- People could have got hurt on that one.- Yeah, someone almost got guillotined.- Yeah, that was an interesting one.Against everyone's better judgment,we just plowed forward with some ideasthat were definitely sketchyand we ended up yankingthe whole forklift over.(crashing)Luckily, we were thinking,you know, safely enoughthat we didn't haveanybody in the forkliftor that close to it, but thatwas still pretty sketchy.Pretty hairy.- Questionable for sure.It was a lot of fun though.- It was fun.- It was awesome.- But if the neighbordidn't have that forklift,the day would've been over.There's no getting that forklifttipped back over without another one.So shout out to the neighborof Forsberg and Dylan.- Austin from Iowa asks,"What part install took the longest?"- I think I'd probably say the clutch.I think the individualpart that took the longest,you know, transmission out and everything.- A two or three dayer.- Two day.You know, and that's the other thing toois like with filming,everything takes extra time.So I think the clutch is probablythe longest individual item.- I think the most tedious one to dowas definitely the alignment one.- Oh yeah, there was a lotof guess and check there.You know, you're saving about $75,000over buying an alignment rack.You're gonna have to do a little checkin'.- Or you could pay like 80 bucksand have someone else do it for you.- Oh yeah, there is also that option,which actually I, youknow, definitely recommend.- "How many things go wrong"in a typical Money Pit recording?"And how long do you guys get set back?"- How high can you count?I mean, it happens all the time.I mean, think about any timeyou've ever worked on a car.Did it go perfectly?Did you have to go to AutoZone 17 times?That stuff happens all the time.I'm always running to PepBoys right up the street,running to my house to pick something up.I think the short shifter episodewas the one that that went smoothlyand I didn't have to goto the store or anything.But pretty much everyepisode something comes upor I break something or I need something.And that's just how it is.I mean, we're really working on carsand that's really whatworking on cars is often like.- Vinnie from North Carolina asks,"What did Zach and other team members do"before working at Donut?"- Before this, I worked atECS Tuning in Wadsworth, Ohio.I worked there for about six years.So I worked in their researchand development department.Did everything from managingthe research and development shopand a lot of the technician workthat goes on there for a part development,all the way to making videos.I made YouTube videos at ECSfor parts that we madethere or just for fun.And I had a lot of fun doing thatand ultimately, that'skind of what led me here.- What about you, Phil?- Tell me about your last job.- My last job, I was workingat an organic chemistry labat San Diego State.- Damn.- Doing what, what waslike your day to day?- Just, you know, regularlab work, synthesizing.- Oh, yeah, regular lab work,synthesizing some chemicals.- Atropisomers.- Oh yeah, atropisomers.- I'm gonna get out of here.(laughing)- Yeah, hook me up with some atropisomerswhenever you get a chance.- Felipe is definitelythe smartest of the bunch.And then for me, I joined Donutstraight out of film school.I didn't go to any fancy school.I just went to community college.- Nice, nice move.- I was doing Uber andnight shifts at the timewhen I first started at Donut at Target.- What were you driving?- My Prius at the time.- Ah, nice.That's the Uber move, baby.- It's true, Tyler fromYork, Pennsylvania."What was your favoriteepisode to film and why?"- This one.Oh yeah, actually, yeah,that's a good point,Felipe, thank you.It was actually the drifting episode.That was, I mean, theclosest to really doingwhat I want to do as we get.I was out driving, sliding around,and making a bunch ofnoises with my friends.And that was absolutely great.As much as I like working on cars,what I really like todo is drive cars aroundand that was a great day of driving cars.So probably the drifting episodewith my boy, John Jack Cerrone.- I think the flame throwerone was mine for sure.(engine revving)- Ah, that was one of my least favorites.- Is that right?- Yeah.- Tell me worst case scenario,what might happen here?- Burn down the house,burn down the Miata,burn down us.- But I meanseriously, I mean like-- Worst case, yeah, burndown the house and the Miata.I mean, honestly, likethe house is right here.I hated that episode.- It was so much fun."For the Money Pit Team:"how much time goes intoshooting an episode?"From start to finishor just the production?- Well, I think overall, likefrom coming up with the idea,and then like jotting down allthe ideas within that idea,and then figuring outwhat we're gonna shoot,then shooting it, then editing it.I would say each episodeprobably gets north of 24 hours?- Ah.- Oh yeah, I guess includingediting, right, right, right.- Way more than that.- So I'm thinking of my part, I guess.So I spend about 24 hours like outliningand then shooting, at least.- And then in the editing front,it probably takes about(beeping) 30 hours?- I mean just actual work hours, yeah.I would say we're easily at72 to 80 hours per episode.- And most of the episodesthat we end up releasingon YouTube, could easilybe 20 to 30 minutes long.- At least, most of the roughcuts are closer to an hour.- "Who was the Mr.Miyagi mentor that taught Zach?"His knowledge is endless."(laughing)- I mean, I guess reallyI've had a lot of teachers.But the biggest one is the internet.You know, I think that ifyou've got a specific questionor if there's anything thatyou really want to learn,we live in a time that you can learn itwithout really even talking to anybody.And that's nice.People definitely, you know,that you work with commonly,but also the internet isdefinitely a huge mentor.You just gotta learn howto siphon through the crap.- "What is your favorite"Fast and the Furious" movie?""Fast and the Furious" movie.- I mean, "Tokyo Drift" isprobably my favorite to watch,but the one that holds themost special place in my heartis probably the first one.(roaring)That movie kind of changed my life.So I'm gonna have to go with the first.- Dude, I almost had you.(crowd laughing)- "Does Donutfund the Money Pit Miata?"- So yeah, Donut does pay forall the parts on the Miata.Originally the car was mine.I bought the car when I moved out here.And then when we started Money Pit,Donut bought the car off of me.So now Donut pays for all theparts, which is pretty nice.We really don't do a wholelot of like sponsorshipor even asking people to send us stuff.We just buy what we like orwhatever we think we want to doand just go from there, soDonut does foot that bill.- "Do you listen to tunes"while working on your car?"If so, what do you generally listen to?"- You know, that is barnone, in my opinion,the worst part about likemaking this kind of showbecause we can't listen tomusic when we're filming.Because then we'd have to pay for it.So that really, really sucks to be honest.But when I'm just working ona car and we're not filming,yeah, I got the tunes going.Uh, what's on the radio though?It's all over the place.It is literally all over the place.I love classic rock to technoand everything in between.So it really depends.Lately I've been on a jazz kick.Ramsey Lewis, check him out.- "What do your neighbors think"about you working on yourcars a lot on the driveway?"- They don't like it.- No, they get very upset.- My neighbors don't like me.- Believe it or not,the episode that we actuallycaught the most heat forwas the driveway cleaning one.- Yeah, that was interesting.- We got lit up.- Yeah, I've been screamed atby several of my neighbors,which is jarring.But that one was a doozy.And that was because we had a pop-up tentto give us shade while wewere scrubbing the driveway.One of my neighbors came overand literally unleashed on usbecause of how terrible itlooked to have that pop-up tent.- It's like afrat house around here.- And it was just a ridiculous,ridiculous interaction.Couldn't believe it,and it lives in the backof my head to this day.So, you know, don'tgrow up to be like that.- "Has Money Pit changed"how you view the Mazda Miata?"If so, is it in a positiveway or a negative way?"- That is a good question.This is actually the firstMiata I've ever driven.You know, obviously Miatas are ubiquitous.I've been aware of them.I've been around them a long time,known a lot of people that have had them.This is the first one I'vedriven and actually worked on.And I gotta say, I think Igot exactly what I expected.I expected it to be easy to work on,parts availability to be huge.And it just basically is.I love the Miata,and I'm glad that's what wechose to use for this show.- Yeah, and the parts are so cheap.It's just kind of hard to go wrong.- Yeah, and it's like a little toy.It's like a little go-cart.It's a good one.- "How did you cometo join the Donut team?"- Ooh, how did I?How did I get here?Hello, Donut Media.My name is Zach Jobe, andthis is my audition tape.As I recall, Donut posteda post on Instagramsaying they were looking for new hosts.And the criteria was beingcomfortable on camera,knowing a lot of stuff aboutcars, and living in L.A.And I figured I had like1 1/2 of the three things,so that's probably close enough.So I just sent 'em a message,and one thing led toanother and here we are.So yeah, it was an Instagrampost looking for hosts.I responded, and they werelike, okay, we'll take ya.- Peter from Sydney, Australia asks.- Peta.- Peta, as they say.- Yeah, all the ones from Australia,can we get an accent out of you?- I'll do my best.- Thank you.- "Will you do a shoey?"(laughing)- And the most Australianquestion of all time.Sure, but I need somethingto be celebrating before.- The 50th episode, your birthday.- Oh, (beeping).- I'm gonna go get it.- You know, I've had theseshoes for at least two years,and I work and skate in them all the time.- Disgusting.- Yep.(laughing)- That's the whole thing.(gulping)(banging)(clapping)- High five!- You love to see it."Who is in the Money Pit team?"- We three gentlemen.We got me, we got Eddie, we got Felipe.We've always been here.We're always cranking on it.We've got some assistanteditors to help you guys out.Tom.- Yep, our new buddy, Tom.He just joined the team.And a couple other peoplelike Manny and some other.- Kinda have a group of guysthat can help these guys outwith editing when possible.But the core team is we three gentlemen.- "Why Miata?"A lot of other projects have much better"improvement trajectory ofthat sort of mod budget."- That is a good point.We did spend a lot of money,and we're still only makinglike 230 horsepower basically.So the Miata is a reallygood classroom skeleton,if you will.I mean, it's easy to work on.There's room in the engine bay.You can kind of seeeverything we're doing.Parts are available.So the Miata was just a choicebecause I thought it wouldthe best thing to learn on.Sure, we're not makingthe biggest numbers.And you know, if that's what you're after,the Miata really isn't the right platform.But we're just trying to makevideos that help educate.And I think the Miata's great for that.So that's why we chose it.- "Why is Eddie not hosting?"He is much more attractive than Zach."TBH, I did not write this.(laughing)- Didn't you not.- Yeah, Zach, you canstill hit me up though.(laughing)- Well, you know what?After coming at me like that,I'm not gonna hit you up.But why don't you host?You are cute.- I've thought of hosting,but I want to make sureit's something that makes sense.That like is in my wheelhouse,that I have a firm understanding of.Yeah, once those things come about,then I'd be glad to do so.But until that day comes,you'll find me behind the scenesmaking this content for you guys.- Yeah, behind the sceneslike you are right now.- Exactly.- Yeah, no, as well.I hope to see an Eddiehosted show in the future.- Also Ben, my guy, I appreciate you.- Ah, you know what, Ben?Not a huge fan.- "Favorite car from Initial D?"Other than the Miata."- Ah, '86.(upbeat music)- So that's gonna do itfor us here today, guys.Thanks so much for watching.- Our 50th episode.- Our 50th episode spectacular.- We've done this 50 times.I can't believe it.I honestly thank youguys so much for watchingand for enjoying this showand for being on the otherside of YouTube for us.It really makes everything we do worth it,and I'm excited for the next 50.So thanks for being with us folks.- And it means a lot tous to have all you guysthat are so kind andawesome in the comments,telling us what you want to see.- Look at all these questions we got.- Yeah, over 2,000 questions.We do apologize if wecouldn't get to them.This video would be five years longif we did answer all of them.If you wrote in, we appreciate you.- Yeah, seriously.Thanks so much for beinghere for the first 50.I hope you're all here for the next 50.And for however long we go after that.Don't forget to follow meon Instagram @Zachjobe.Follow my wife, Eddie @Eddy_Esparza,and follow Donut @donutmedia.- I'll see you guys.- And our boy.- Oh yeah, and Felipe.And you gotta follow Felipe Armenta.He's got two Instagrams.You can go with Tendoroni or F_Armenta.Follow him on both accounts.And we'll see you guys next Wednesday.Goodbye.I love ya.- Cawaiee.