In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show

Live Car Talk From A Texas Cruise In

• In Wheel Time Podcast | Automotive talk with Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, and Jeff Dziekan • Season 2026 • Episode 65

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Your car does not usually “die” in one dramatic moment. It wears you down with a stack of estimates, a new noise every week, and that sinking feeling when the shop calls back. We’re broadcasting live from the Tailpipes and Tacos cruise-in at Lupe Tortilla Tex Mex in Katy, Texas, and we bring the same energy you get walking a real parking lot full of drivers, hot rods, classics, and daily beaters with stories. Along the way we talk community, the fun of showing up even when the weather threatens, and why we’ll always lean toward cars that get driven, not hidden. 

Stan Holt drops in with racing talk and a deep dive on a serious build: a 55 Chevy wagon project headed toward NHRA-style competition. We get into what it means to chase a “SEMA ready” look while still planning to run it hard, how a project can pivot from a classic 283 and four-speed plan to an LS swap, and what that change does for performance, maintenance, and class strategy. If you like drag racing details, gear talk, and real-world build decisions, this one delivers. 

Then Jeff’s Car Culture turns practical with a clear checklist of car repairs that often signal it is time to sell or trade in: blown head gasket, transmission replacement, air suspension failures, cracked engine block, electrical system overhauls, warped or cracked cylinder heads, heater core replacement, and timing chain or timing belt failure. We also cover what to do when you choose not to fix it, including trade-in, private sale, donation, or handing it off as a project car. Subscribe for more honest car talk, share this with a friend facing a big repair, and leave a review with the moment you knew it was time to let a car go.

Be sure to subscribe for more In Wheel Time Car Talk!

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Welcome To Tailpipes And Tacos

Don Armstrong

Don't fold your arms. From the Easter edition of Tailpipes and Tacos Cruise In at the Lippy Torchia Tex Mex in Katie, Texas, welcome to the N-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Today we're going to talk to the participants of today's big event in Jeff's Car Culture, vehicle repairs that signal when it's time to sell or trade in. I like to trade it, trade it off and let it somebody else deal with the old girl giving you problems. Is she trying to cost you more money? You're talking about cars now? Oh, I'm talking about cars. Okay. Just want to make sure. Mr. Mars has national parks in his driving destinations feature. Howdy. Along with Mike out of this world, Mars, who's uh come to the party.

Jeff Dziekan

Coming in, he's coming in. He's parking cars right now.

Don Armstrong

Uh we always need more Jeff Zeken, Chief Engineer David Ainsley is here. My name is Don Armstrong. Thank you so much for joining us today at the Lupi Tortilla Tex Mex in Katy, Texas. And if you're wondering where that is on the west side, we're pretty much at the intersection of I-10 and 99, the Grand Parkway. But it's not quite that simple. So you need to get off, and the real place where we are is at Kingsland Boulevard. Kingsland and 99.

Jeff Dziekan

So the West Timer, south of the I-10.

Don Armstrong

Just put it in your key map. They don't even make that anymore, do they? No. Key maps?

SPEAKER_06

Look for the big red and green Luby Tortilla sign and you'll find us.

Don Armstrong

Okay. Well, you may want to pull your microphone a little bit closer to your mouth. Okay. He doesn't care. How's that, my friend? I guess it's just fine. Stan Holt is uh over there. Yes, sir. And he's not even paying. It's so funny because you know you would say that oh, Stan Holt is here. And uh you go you you would you would think that that um he would look over here, but not. He's over there. Would you like to join us? Because we we're looking kind of for a guest. He's two-fisting it this morning. Um he's got a Pepsi Cola and a and a non-Pepsi cola. Non-Pepsi Cola. You have to sit down and put a headset on because we can't hear you. Liver and onions. Uh huh. Pure aid.

SPEAKER_06

That's why you gave up for Lant.

Don Armstrong

Uh so um Stan, by the way, is the founder of Lupi Tortilla and a true car guy, and that's how I got to know him uh basically at the drag races, and our first encounter was dinner at the PF Chang's in Las Vegas. And um I I cried pretty much laughing through the entire dinner, and um I thought this is a guy that I need to get to know. Now that I know him, uh we can't get enough of him. Does his microphone not with?

Jeff Dziekan

Yes, it's fine.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, can you hear me now?

SPEAKER_06

Can hear you now.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. You needed to explain it was at the RuPaul drag races. The RuPaul drag races. He took first second and third. Have you ever watched that?

The Dinner Story That Went Sideways

Don Armstrong

He took first, second, and third. I know. Have you ever watched that? I haven't. No? I haven't either. Yes, you have. I've passed by it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't even know what it's about, but it sounds like it's fun.

SPEAKER_03

About an hour.

Don Armstrong

I will tell you that. There was a place in San Francisco, and I was with Rob Geiger, and I can't remember the guy's name that uh that was the PR guy for Mach One, which was a freight forwarding kind of company, uh handler or whatever. And um I remember that he and his wife lived in Oakland, right across the bay. Uh, because he said, hey, why don't you join my wife and I? We'll take you guys to dinner. Well, sure, we had a night off, so we went to dinner in San Francisco, and it was a place called Asia SF. Asia San Francisco. You look at the menu, it's American Chinese food, is what it was. Well, it was in a part of San Francisco that all of the buildings were probably built in the 1930s. Everything, including the windows, were all painted white. Everything for blocks. Except for this one place. You know, it was one of those old buildings where it sat on the corner, but the entrance to it was on the corner. So they kind of like saw it off at an angle.

SPEAKER_03

At an angle. Yeah.

Don Armstrong

And you walk in, and the vestibule, if you will, was tiny and a little desk there, and it's really good looking, and the really good-looking girl comes up and says, Hi, may I help you? Yes, we have reservations at five. Well, we've just opened five o'clock. Great. Let me take you to your table. We go in, it's a big place. Got a horseshoe bar in the middle of it, but it's big. It's got lots of tables and a whole set of tables and chairs around the perimeter. So you have a bench seat up against the wall, and then two chairs and a bar stool, bar type table. So we sit down and um the waitress comes over and she is absolutely knockout. Golly, she's gorgeous. And I'm going, uh and she said, Well, let me explain the menu to you. We have five courses, and we start with, you know, soup, appetizer thing, and it goes, yeah, la la la. I'm going, my god, she's fine. She is hot.

SPEAKER_01

Well, we go through dinner. She wasn't on a menu, though. No. We go through She was on a woo mu menu. Okay. Yeah. So we go.

Don Armstrong

We go through we go through dinner all of the different uh things of dinner, and uh we're just about ready for dessert, and she says, I I have something I had to do.

SPEAKER_03

Fly on your egg.

Don Armstrong

I have something I have to do. That's okay, he's used to it.

SPEAKER_03

Extra.

Don Armstrong

Um and she says, I got something extra to do. I said, Well, that's okay. We're not in any big hurry. We'd had a couple of cocktails, and everything was good. So she goes off. And by this time, I mean, we're 20 minutes into it's like 520, 5:30. This place is packed. There's a huge wedding party over there. All these girls, all you know, one of the girls' night out thing, the whole nine yards. Okay? But I'm still stuck on this waitress. She's now gone off to the back. And the lights go down, even though it's daylight outside. Lights go down. And, ladies and gentlemen, the announcer says, please welcome to the stage Candace. Okay. Up from the back of the bar, there's like a curtain. The curtain opens, and here she comes, steps up there. And a Barbara Streisand song comes on, and she starts lip-syncing it, and I'm going, wait a minute, wait a minute. It's a man. No.

SPEAKER_00

No.

Don Armstrong

Because it turns out all of the way. Oh my goodness. She did not have an Adam's apple, but I think that she had something else.

SPEAKER_03

I had a question.

Don Armstrong

Is it got a goal?

SPEAKER_03

What does that have to do with cars?

Don Armstrong

It has absolutely nothing to do with it. He's trying to tell the story of how he met you. Oh, that's what I've got a weird segue.

Jeff Dziekan

I wrote notes.

Don Armstrong

Yeah. But in any way, I thought that you would enjoy it. And of course, you know, the laugh was on the mouth. The laugh was on the one guy.

SPEAKER_03

That was there.

Don Armstrong

And uh it was also on Rob Geiger because he was fooled too. He's like, Yeah, she's hot. Well, Rob, guess what? I guess we're gonna do a threesome down in the basement. Oh no.

SPEAKER_03

That wouldn't have changed Rob's mind, that little detail.

Don Armstrong

Exactly. Anyway, so there is my story to lead off the Easter edition of the tailpipes and tacos.

SPEAKER_03

When we were in Beaumont, yes, was it you that did that long um extra day or whatever? It was me. About what was the subject?

Jeff Dziekan

It was um what was it?

SPEAKER_03

Heck, I don't remember. You're asking me. Yeah, because you were razzing me after. I know, because I said, could you tell me more about it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff Dziekan

Started over. Gosh, I don't remember now.

SPEAKER_06

What did we do last week?

Jeff Dziekan

We were talking about the tools, it was one segments. Yeah. Well, that was last week as we were in the studio.

SPEAKER_06

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Two weeks ago. That's two weeks ago. I can't remember that.

Jeff Dziekan

Yes. But it wasn't in San Francisco. No.

SPEAKER_03

By the way, I won't but I think rumor has it she did drive a car to work. Oh. Yeah. Squeeze that in. Yeah. That's what that's what she was. She was pre-Uber, so she had to go. I appreciate for the listening and watching audience, you guys all have loopy tortilla motorsports surface. Yeah, we do. I asked Sheila's brother-in-law. I ran off, I won one of the new wallies.

SPEAKER_00

You won? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Just a class race, but I still got one of the new Wallies. So they're different than any Wally before. It has a diamond for the diamond anniversary. Right. 15th anniversary. It's got a black pedestal with a diamond. I'm sure if it's real, I'll have him take it back. And then it has the silver walleye on it instead of the gold one. So he's got a he ran back to the hangar to get it. I thought he'd be internet. Yes, we definitely will. Yes.

Don Armstrong

And somewhere is the uh Lupi Tortilla chili pepper trophy somewhere. Oh, there they are right there.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. There you go. Hidden in plain sight. Yep.

Don Armstrong

Um, but anyway, I don't know where all this was going, but uh the beginning of our friendship was in Las Vegas. And um I believe that uh that was gone.

SPEAKER_01

Moved on to Pomona, and we were like on a world tour.

Don Armstrong

Yeah, we in the United States. Yeah, never left the country. Yeah, amazing. So I want to tell everybody this is uh the oh that's Mike the Muffler. There's Mr. Heitzman. Yeah, Jeff Heitzman, ladies and gentlemen, has made a personal appearance all the way from NASA. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

NASA.

Don Armstrong

He just got off the uh the spaceship. That's it. Jeff Heitz is making a personal appearance. But anyway, part of his program. Yeah. He's part of our program.

SPEAKER_03

And um good. Nice to see you. Hi, Jeff. He's got a shirt on.

Don Armstrong

I like that.

Jeff Dziekan

Do you need an autograph or anything?

Don Armstrong

Good to see you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Watch the cable, watch the cable, watch the cable.

Cruise-In Culture And Driving Your Car

Don Armstrong

Yes, don't step on the cable for God's sakes. Um anyway, so today's big event here at the Lupi Tortilla, Tex Mex in Katy. This is one of your bigger restaurants. Successful restaurants.

SPEAKER_03

This is the uh well, that's turned into a rumor in the last week, but until last week, this was the busiest loopies of all 32.

Jeff Dziekan

So do they have competitions in different areas against each other?

SPEAKER_03

No, it just came up in a conversation because I thought this was busiest. And Chet said, no, they have one somewhere doing nine million a year. I'm really proud of this is doing eight million a year.

Jeff Dziekan

This is gonna put you over the top. That's what I think. I think so too.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Well, and there's two reasons, several reasons we do this car show. Uh one of it, of course, we like cars, and then it's a give back thing, and for surely kids, but that one in Beaumont, it really kind of another way to put you on the map without advertising. Right. And you're on a freeway and people drive by and see all the cars and curiosity and the posters and everything legal. And the NWL Time show.

Jeff Dziekan

Yeah, they say, I thought those guys were in jail. I was getting to that before you stuck your foot in the aisle. Yeah, I did. Yes.

SPEAKER_03

But anyway, it's uh it's right. I I I was concerned about the turnout because they're talking about rain and so on and so forth. But I'd reached a spot that it's kind of like a Go for it. No, you have a party, and the people that are there are the ones you want to see anyway, right? Yeah. Exactly.

Don Armstrong

Well, as I said at the beginning in our tease this morning when we first got on the air, I said, you know what, there are two kinds of car guys. They're the cruising kind of car guys, and then there are car show guys. And the car show guys have their car, they trailer it, and you know, don't touch it, don't let it get wet. Okay, well, that's fine if that's what you want. We or car guys, we like to drive our cars. And I can tell you a story that is interesting, and the fact that back in the early days when I had the other 77 Corvette, all painted up. I mean, uh pen stripes on the underside of it. I did the whole nine yards and trailered it in an open trailer up to Oklahoma City where there was snow. And it rained and it snowed all the way there.

SPEAKER_03

That car would have fit right in in Oklahoma. Yeah, especially in the frame. Yes, yeah.

Don Armstrong

Didn't win anything, but I spent an entire 24 hours trying to clean it up. And I managed to do that quite well. Did not win a trophy or anything, but yeah, you know, and um cars are meant to drive in my world. You've seen our we have the Playboy bunnies here.

Jeff Dziekan

See, I need ears. I want to get some ears. I'll wear them. You will look good on you. I think it's a look. Maybe a bunny tail. Oh, yeah. A little poofy money.

Don Armstrong

You know, uh, my mind is going in a different direction with the bunny tail thing. No.

SPEAKER_03

Actually, the Easter bunny's gonna be here. Yeah, is he?

Don Armstrong

Yeah, she's been advertised all week. Good. Well, my grandson and daughter are supposed to be here too. Oh, really? Yeah, nice. So we're looking forward to uh having them. I know Sheila's all excited about it. I know. I talked to her last night, she says, Yes, Dad, we're planning on coming out. Sheila, you mean Amy. Amy, sorry, yes.

SPEAKER_03

And um why was he talking to my wife? I know.

SPEAKER_07

It's the ears.

Don Armstrong

The ears. Yeah. That's funny because I met Sheila the same time I met you. You did. Yeah. So on the short bus. That's exactly. Up to the Pomona Mining Company. By the way, is that still there? It is. Is it?

SPEAKER_03

I haven't been in inside, but I saw it. It's still there.

Don Armstrong

It's up there, the parking lot down below in the and the travel parking lot.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. You take the short bus to the top. Yep. Where the restaurant is. The short bus had a pole, which you use all the way to the top.

Don Armstrong

Yes, once I got my uh red pumps off. Yes. Uh-huh. I had to do that one.

SPEAKER_03

Where you can really make the moves. Yeah, exactly. But um, I hope my son shows up in the poster car.

Don Armstrong

Oh, does he does he have the poster car?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he has that little iseta.

Don Armstrong

Oh god. Yeah. And I said it with the original engine in it? Everything's original.

SPEAKER_03

It's uh it's better than original.

El Camino Rumors And EV Backpedaling

Don Armstrong

I'm sure. Yeah. Does he still have the back to the future car?

SPEAKER_03

He does.

Don Armstrong

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's a big hit wherever he takes. One of his sons might drive that here. Boy, that is a beautiful El Camino driver through here.

Don Armstrong

It certainly is. Uh, you know, I saw online this week that apparently Chevrolet is going to uh have a competitor to the Ford Maverick, and they're gonna call it the El Camino. Now, what it is gonna look like is a different story, but it won't be like that. But it's gonna be a c a competitor to the Maverick.

SPEAKER_03

The Maverick. Look at this, isn't it pretty? How unusual. It is.

Don Armstrong

I like the paint. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

So thanks for coming.

Don Armstrong

Yeah. Um it was it was uh kind of a surprise, but not a surprise that they would use the El Camino name, but Ford used the Maverick name.

SPEAKER_03

They've been threatening forever to reintroduce the El Camino, but they don't do it.

Don Armstrong

Yeah, well apparently that's in the works, from what I understand, for a 2027 model year debut. So it's a year away. Um car industry is in uh turmoil, obviously. A little bit, yeah. Just a little bit. Yeah, with the with the EV stuff. Uh they've you know bet the bank on going EVs and Porsche's Porsche's backpedaling on the EV deal.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I saw that. All of them are just their new model, Porsche backpedal. Yes, instead of EV or yes, that's the backpack.

SPEAKER_07

Like the old paddle boats you can get on the lake.

Building A 55 Chevy Wagon Racer

SPEAKER_03

Um on the racing front, please. The um the Lupi Tortilla team. But the uh 55 Chevy wagon is coming along.

Don Armstrong

Oh that's the one that you told us about last week.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm gonna try to. Well, this is a real Stan Holt deal. I'm not bragging, I'm complaining, and but it it even Jared, our good friend at Cruci, said so the project started. I always admired this guy's 55 Chevy Superstar wagon. It's sat showroom level. Pretty car nice, you know. Um and every year at NDU I would make him an offer, and every year he would decline it. So we finally got together on a number, and the reason what started it is I had a 283, a brand new 283.

Don Armstrong

Racing engine?

SPEAKER_03

Racing engine. Okay. I had a brand new, fresh out of the box four-speed. I think you're a third of the way there, maybe 40% of the way there because with the engine and transport. Just in parts, yeah. Yeah, the engine's like 40 grand. You're 38.5. But you're you're there. Right. So we buy the car, we send the roller up to Ohio to a place called PK Racing Cars. It was a ladder bar car, I don't know if you know what that means. Ladder frame. We had it four-linked, and he said, What do you think? And I said, I want it slammed to the ground, four-linked, SEMA ready, right? Gotcha.

Don Armstrong

And what class is it gonna race in?

SPEAKER_03

Superstock. Superstock. Well, that's that's the punchline. So we were at the race in in Louisiana, and I said, Jared, I had an epiphany. I said, Oh lord. You taking anything? Uh clutch medicine. Anyway, uh, he said, what? I said, well, who wants three quarters of a dream? You know what? I said, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00

I said, here we go.

SPEAKER_03

You think you could sell that 283? He said, what? The whole project's based on a 283. I want to put an LS in it. So I can then have a five-speed. And I want to open the hood for nobody but NHRA to inspect it. That shiny fuel injection cap is sitting on top of the LS.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, car because you already own the 283 in the transmission. Now you want to shut the transmission and get a new transmission in a new engine. So a new LS built by the right guys is about 40 grand. Okay. He calls a friend of ours who had three of them. Two of them still in the crate, spares. So I was able to buy it for 25,000. We're now allowed to run titanium valves and stuff for lighter and faster, they say. So anyway, that whole project that started off because I had a 283 and a four-speed. The 283 is for sale, if anybody's listening. So uh anyway, it's gonna be a really exciting car. I I was doing it. The concept was to slow down. As I'm aging, I thought, well, rather than stand behind a car, I'll just slow down. You know, be running running the tens. It'll be that'll be great.

SPEAKER_07

So so what does that do to your class?

SPEAKER_03

Well, it'll be it'll be superstock GT something. We don't know what the letter is at this point.

SPEAKER_07

So it's still an offshoot of the superstock class. It's still superstock. It's like a modified superstock.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so you're super stock, and once you you can run any Chevrolet engine, any combination you want to, any year, and then it becomes superstock GT.

SPEAKER_06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

So the nice thing about the LS is you can run, you know, if they hit you with horsepower, you can say, okay, well, now it's an 88. I changed my mind. So, but it's gonna go from a high 10-second car to a low nine-second car.

SPEAKER_06

It should be a little bit easier to maintain because of fuel injection and everything.

SPEAKER_03

Well, yeah, they're they're not hard to maintain, but it'll have rack and pinion, and it's just gonna be a beautiful low-to-the-ground type. Almost a show car, but it's gonna be a positive. Until you give it to Sheila. Yeah.

Don Armstrong

She doesn't like the Liberty, so I'll say the Liberty Transmission. Um, so are you going to trailer it? Are you gonna drive it to the racetrack?

SPEAKER_03

Oh no, you can't trail it. 600 rear gear. Oh my god, stop for gas every 12, 15 miles, yeah, every four or five miles. But the point of the story is we're hoping to debut the car in Indy this year. That's the goal. Uh which is Labor Day weekend. And it's uh it's it's in paint right now, and then upholstery, and ready to go.

SPEAKER_06

You mentioned SEMA earlier. You guys can take it to SEMA?

SPEAKER_03

I don't know if it'll still look that good after a few races in SEMA. We'll have patina. A little patina, patina.

SPEAKER_07

Rocks, but if you take it as a race car, then you know.

Don Armstrong

Well, you just need to find somebody's booth to put it in.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you have a booth there, don't you? I do. Oh well.

Don Armstrong

It's the Lupi Tortilla booth that I'll manage.

SPEAKER_02

What a koinky dame. Pinstrike the frame. Yeah. Pinchripe the frame.

Don Armstrong

So Stan is hosting this tailpipes and tacos event at the Lupi Tortilla Tex Mex in Katie. Always good to talk to you. We can have you back at the end of the show and kind of wrap things up.

Racing Friends And A Fuse Fail

SPEAKER_03

Like the Carson show I've done here. Well, um back to the green room. Get on the rollback. Can we get a rollback for Stan? I have a my the act that's probably gonna follow me pretty soon is a lot prettier than me, even though it is radio. Yeah. We got video. Oh, we have video. Oh, yeah, yeah, we got video. In case she doesn't forget, in case she does forget, I always have to give a shout out to the Emmons brothers. Absolutely. Great, great close friends in racing and first close friends in general. Great guys. The last two races uh have uh been beaten by the elder Speedy Emmons. Speedy up the the first time was the two thousand running out the backdoor race. So it was really a good race. And I was all set for my sweet revenge at His last race, I dumped the clutch, and the car went. Great. Yeah, what it was a little fuse. On the floor, there's all the fuses for everything. There's lights on each one. You can look down to see that it's out. But what happened when I lost the car, the wheel stand, it went off. When it came down, it came back on.

SPEAKER_06

What was it for? I mean, what was the light? I mean, what circuit? The ignition. Oh, the ignition. Shut everything off.

Jeff Dziekan

We got that problem with the camera. That could be a problem. Yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03

Anyway, just a little. Thank you. It's always good to see you through the club. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being here. Thank you. I'm uh I don't understand these weak guys. The car count right now is pretty low. It's a little early. There's always a 50-50 chance of rain in Texas. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06

So but there's some cars I don't remember seeing before. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I brought my car. That's a driver.

Jeff Dziekan

Nice Volkswagen bus coming in there. There you go.

Event Invite And Where To Listen

Repairs That Mean Sell The Car

Don Armstrong

He probably just came from lunch. Exactly. Delivery in the back. Thank you guys for coming out. Thank you very much. Hey, um, just ahead, Jeff's car culture and repairs that may signal it's time to sell that old game. Yeah. Okay. So that's coming up here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Today coming to you live from the Loopy Tortilla Tex-Mex in Katy, Texas. Come on out. It's Tailpipes and Tacos. We'll be back right after this quick break. The Easter Bunny's coming. To the Tailpipes and Tacos Cruise In at the Loopy Tortilla Tex-Mex in Katy, April 4th, 8 to 11 a.m. And you're invited to. Bring the kids and grandkids. It's a cruise in like you've never attended before. With a donation to Shirley's Kids, you'll get a free Loopy Tortilla breakfast taco. There'll be coffee and adult beverages, plus chili pepper trophies for the best hot rod, best modern classic, and best classic. There's no entry fee and no registration. Just bring your ride and the kids. Bad bunnies aren't allowed, but the Easter bunny will be there, and he'll be full of joy to help make this Tail Pipes and Tacos a very special one. Photo opportunities abound. The NBA Time Car Talk Show will be streaming around the globe, and you can be selected to tell your car story to a global audience. It's the Tail Pipes and Tacos Cruise in Easter Medition, Saturday, April 4th, 8 to 11 a.m. at the Loopy Tortilla Tex Max in Katy, located on 99, the Grand Parkway, just south of I-10, the Katy Freeway, in Katy. Make plans now. Loopy Tortilla is pretty good. Apple or Android En Wheel Time podcasts can be found everywhere, on the stream, and through downloads. Whether you're on the road or at home and Jones in for a different kind of car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try. Honest new car reviews, fun, informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture and Mike's driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time. Check us out on Sirius XM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music. Mm-hmm. InWheeltime.com has a list, and we know you love lists. Hey, the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show invites you to join us 10 to noon Central Time every Saturday for our live show. That's when we're normally on. Talk about all things automotive. Next week we're back in our dual city studios at the regular time, 10 to noon. We hope you join us live or online. And thanks for being with us today. All right, Jeff's car culture. Car repairs that signal it's time to sell.

Jeff Dziekan

Yep, well, uh fix it or sell it. These repairs usually mean it's time to move on. And the way to do that is every car reaches a point where repairs start to cost more than the vehicle is worth. We all know that. Certain jobs hint that your beloved ride might be living on borrowed time. If you see these types of repairs, you might want to have something uh to consider. So here we go. One of them would be a blown head gasket. A blown head gasket is one of the most dreaded and expensive repairs a car can face. It can lead to overheating, poor engine performance, and even catastrophic engine damage if left until repairing it involves hours of labor and significant cost. So use that as a either a yay or nay on that. The next one, Mike, would be a transmission replacement. Now, who doesn't have a problem with a trans? So failure doesn't just ruin your day, it can wreck your budget. Symptoms like slipping gears, grinding, or total refusal to shift are early red flags. So if you got that, be aware of it. A full replacement or rebuild can run several thousand dollars depending on the type of vehicle you're driving. If you got a high-end vehicle, it's going to be more money. A little lower end, not so much. It might be time to say goodbye to that car. The next one that we have on the list would be a blown suspension or air ride systems. A luxurious floaty ride can have a steep cost when air suspension fails. Sagging corners and uneven stands, much like us here on the day I said uh or warning lights that often means systems that are on this last year. Sagging, I'm familiar with that. Yeah, and and uh thousands, especially for high-end makes of the vehicles, even standard strut or shock overhauls are not cheap. Next one, Michael. Cracked engine block. If you got this, this is very tragic. Uh the block is a death sentence for most vehicles. It often means your engine is overheated or suffered a major trauma, and fixing it requires either a complete rebuild or an engine replacement. Unless your car has significant value, this is the kind of repair that says thanks for the memory. So gotta move on from that one. Electrical system overhauls. When multiple electrical components start acting up in dashlights, power windows, instrument clusters, it can all point to a deeper wiring issue. They can be expensive on a time-wise in any shop. Diagnosing and fixing electrical gremlins is often labor-intensive, but with no guarantee that it's fixed. If glitches in multiple fasteners are faster than your mechanics answers, it might be a more cost-effective way to cut the ties of that vehicle and move on. Back to engine-related issues, warped or crack cylinder heads. A warped or crack cylinder head usually results from engine overheating, like we talked about earlier. Fixing it requires machine work, replacement gaskets, hours of labor. You may face lingering issues after that. If damage is severe, selling might be more practical, less painful of a decision. Heater core replacement, back to the related parts. Does your cabin smell like maple syrup or fog when you turn up the heat? Well, I don't know. Uh your heater core may be failing, but repair replacement is usually means removing the dashboard, a labor-intensive job. Combine the cost of the age of the vehicle, and it's often repair tips that tips the scale towards selling the vehicle. And the last one, a big one, timing chain or belt failure. When a timing chain belt chain or the belt fails, your engine internal harmony collapses. The repair involves removing large chunks of the engine. Uh which racks up labor costs very fast for interference. For interference. Making the fix even pricier. And we don't want to go pricier, so be aware. If the repair is more than the vehicle's worth, I'll get rid of the vehicle. Mike has to be a good thing.

Trade In Donate Or Give Away

SPEAKER_06

One thing I wanted to ask you, because we kind of well, we're kind of running out of time.

Jeff Dziekan

That's right.

SPEAKER_06

What do you do with it? If you decide I'm not going to repair it.

Jeff Dziekan

That's up to you. If the car's paid off, you can you you can sell it to a private owner, you can do a trade-in, or go over the paper of the drive it. No, you can't drive it, but there's uh places that can pick it up to donate the car. We did that with Kathy's uh vehicle. Uh didn't get a lot out of it, but it was it was a good feeling that you donated to can be repaired for right. Or you might give it uh give it away or or write it off in the taxes or have somebody have it as a project car.

Final Thanks And Sign Off

Don Armstrong

Running behind, thank you for joining us today here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. We're gonna have our next segment coming up right after this quick break. Stay with us. You own a car you love. Well, why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it? Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts. We promise you'll be impressed. Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano ceramic window tent, or new windshield protection called Exoshield, Gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go. Curbed your wheels? Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired? How about a professionally installed radar detector? Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too. Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshield.com. Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior. Call them today, 832-930-5655 or gcautoShield.com. Gift giving should be meaningful, and we have an idea. A hand-painted custom illustration of your car from one of the nation's leading artists. You've seen his work at car shows and on display at the Heavy Hideout. Now you can have an illustration or car poster customized for you, a friend or loved one. Bill Sites is a real car guy that speaks the language and will be happy to guide you through the process. No matter what today, birthday, anniversary, or any day, an autographics custom illustration adds an extra touch of class to any home. Call Bill today, 832-922-0963. That's 832-922-0963. That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show. I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheelTime.com website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict. Tune in, Pandora, and Amazon Music. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.

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Don Armstrong

Host
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Jeff Dziekan

Co-host
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Michael Marrs

Co-host