Gear Head Slang: List Your Favorites

[Solo2driver]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Original - overused term for describing ragged-out/rusted-out musclecars and restorables.


Robert, I hear most of your cars are "original"

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Solo2driver
Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Original - overused term for describing ragged-out/rusted-out musclecars and restorables.


Robert, I hear most of your cars are "original"


Right-On, Bro!

(Anyone have an origina...., I mean new old stock quarter for a 70-73 Camaro? I already have an original!)

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

-Three quarter race cam (and the ignorance behind the usage of this type of term is hilarious)


And of course "full race"

just when I thought to include this one, y'all beat me to it!
I think I was about 10 or 12 when I read about how this term came about, some hot rod article of 'definitions'.

 

[tom slick]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

-Three quarter race cam (and the ignorance behind the usage of this type of term is hilarious)


And of course "full race"

on that same note: "RV cam" for some reason if you put any non stock cam in a pickup is was an RV cam.

more;
street legal
bored out
double pumper
trailer queen

all the different names for fasteners:
american
inch
fractional
standard
SAE
metric
foreign
whitworth
british standard
allen head
flat head (screwdriver)
slotted



one I hadn't heard until BITOG is "ring pack"

 

[Pablo]

original miles

 

[Pablo]

alloy pistons

 

[Pablo]

chipped

billet shifter
billet can holder
billet seat mounts
billet sun shades
billet moon roof
billet bong
anodized red billet PCV bracket
double billet muffler clip

 

[mechtech2]

Garage Queen
[ A car that ends up living in the shop for an extended period.]

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Then there are the 50s-60s custom terms - dropped, chopped, channeled, Z'd, frenched, shaved, etc.

Digger - old term for dragster

Slicks - everybody knows, right?


I'd have loved to grow up in those days. Solid front axle meant no camber change or anything.

 

[Brett Miller]

"Keep it classy"

 

[gonesurfing]

"Throwing a code" - Malfunction Indicator Light
"Prop shaft" - Propeller shaft, drive shaft.
"Bell housing" - Converter housing
"Binders" - Brakes
"hit a gear" - Shift to said gear
"cubes" - cubic inches (think C.W. McCall)

I'm sure I can think of more!

 

[moribundman]

Most of the terms mentioned in this thread are more jargon than slang.

 

[eljefino]

Prindle... that thing under the speedo that says if your slushbox is going forward or backwards.

shoot... speedo, odo, tach
e-brake (both the device and the turning method)
high-test, ethyl, regular (leaded) vs regular (87 octane unl): I remember deliberate confusion on the issue in the 80s: "Regular 99.9!" Oh, you meant regular unleaded? That's $1.18." Similarly the early 70's Dodge "bluesmobile" had no catalytic convertors and got good mileage on regular gas.

synchromesh, crashbox, toploader, cats

 

[tom slick]

mile an hour

"hit" a certain speed

bologna skins

gear drive gotta have a pete jackson so it sounds like you've got a bad power steering pump.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: Shannow


I'd have loved to grow up in those days. Solid front axle meant no camber change or anything.


You would love changing kingpins.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
alloy pistons


Good one. I have yet to see non-alloy pistons.

 

[tom slick]

throw a rod
throw a piston
suck a valve
spin a bearing
blow a gasket
tweak (adjust)
short block
long block
monkey wrench
smoke wrench
hot wrench

one I learned from BITOG "poison a cat"

"small block" gets used generically when it really only applies to certain chevy engines.

 

[dkcase]

Corn-Binder

Applied in my case to an International Harvester Travelall I was issued at work. I suppose any IH vehicle counted, like the Scout, or any real Ag equipment.

 

[eljefino]

Don't forget the blue wrench, it's hot and smoky

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: tom slick


"small block" gets used generically when it really only applies to certain chevy engines.


That is incorrect. There are Small Block Ford and Chrysler engines as well.