[00:02] fun, they said. Welcome to Hooies Garage, the dumbest [music] And you probably wonder why I found myself inside of a Lotus Aspree where a V8 should be. And that's because [music] I am a total
[00:21] over and over again, and that's buying cheap, broken, exotic cars and thinking it'll all work out when it never does. Unfortunately, this Lotus is the latest had a crunchy transmission that needs to come out and be rebuilt. Numerous leaks
[00:34] and other issues. And that's where we started about a week ago at the Car Wizards. I'm at the end of the life for this uh top here. But Weezard, hello.
[00:50] Brand new AC Delco lifters straight in the trash. Absolute garbage. Yeah, you had to do the job twice basically on my Escalade hybrid that I'm sure you just >> Actually, I'm happy. And now it starts and runs. It's like quiet as an electric
[01:05] motor. >> Oh yeah. >> I brought a new toy for you. >> Yeah, I saw that.
[01:17] before, Wizard, but this one's different. >> This Let me Let me guess. It's a V8. It is SPV8 from 2001. And yeah, that's uh >> Yeah. What's the deal with the tape?
[01:31] >> That's That's the top right there. Is a piece of Lexan. >> Well, where' the original one go? >> Flew off. Didn't come with the car. I with the sale. They were kind enough to wrap this up.
[01:44] and then not disclose a bunch of things. But I honestly don't think the seller knew about the biggest issue and that's the transmission crunch from 1 to two >> maybe 20 30 minutes. And I feel like this is a dealer that just bought this
[01:58] >> That's the big difference between like nice dealers we know versus, you know, someone that just gets a car, puts on the lot, flips as much as they can. Like >> there's no value added to that kind of
[02:11] flipping versus what Bob does and others. But yes, it is. It is a V8 and others. But yes, it is. It is a V8 and she does run beautifully.
[02:25] Keep going. We can break the seal here. But just like the other Lotuses you've worked on. Not the most accessible engine here, plane crank. >> It is. And like the newer Ferraris, it's
[02:41] twin turbo. So, >> oh boy. Good power there, but definitely a leaker, I think, on the valve cover gaskets. >> When it's cold, the low coolant warning light flashes, you know, kind of goes on
[02:53] >> Be something to do with either low level or the sensor is going bad. >> And when we first drove it, it was smoking right here, like oil getting onto the exhaust manifold or whatever. It looks pretty oily the engine when I
[03:06] took a quick peek with the car ninja >> cuz we tried changing the fluid really to see if that would get rid of the crunch and no go. >> No go. >> No, she is smoked. Um, I found a shop in
[03:19] for 800 lb. >> 800 lb. freight it out. But I'm curious what else you'll find. And timing belt service, water pump. >> Mhm. Let's get get it on the lift and
[03:32] see. She does sound like a flat plane crank or Oh, the immobilizer. This >> A stick. >> It has to go into this little hole here until you hear that little disabled immobilizer noise.
[03:47] >> Mhm. >> And then she should start up. There we go. >> Oh, yes. >> Not bad. You see my uh airbag light?
[04:00] You see my uh airbag light? >> Yeah. It never goes off.
[04:14] >> I don't know. What does it look like? >> It's a Saturn. General Motors Pontiac. on it. >> Uh-huh. I think a lot of us feel like we these days. And I was blessed with many amazing opportunities over the past
[04:28] year. But it meant I had to push myself way beyond my operating limits. I felt running on empty. I was living off of energy drinks just to fight through the it in my videos during that period last year. I was dog tired and lost a bit of
[04:43] that spark. I had used BetterHel in the past, the sponsor of today's video, and with the mental overload. I was able to take a step back with an impartial guide and triage my situation. coping with the immediate needs like making my hectic
[04:55] travel schedule feel less stressful, taking better care of myself by making everything, and lay out a path for the future that helped me reconnect with myself and feel lighter in 2026. BetterHelp can help you start therapy
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[05:34] for 10% off your first month and let BetterHelp support you in feeling lighter in 2026. Yeah, the windows work. lighter in 2026. Yeah, the windows work. all the electronics work. Just no heat.
[05:46] >> Oh no. >> When I had that flashing coolant light and then drove off and had no heat, I was terrified that I just really screwed to get to up in the dash. I had to fix bills and get it. There's a cable comes
[06:00] hopefully that's what it is. >> Okay. wheels, Wizard, but these definitely work on this car. >> They do look good. >> Yeah. Well, I guess we can start in the
[06:16] front even though there's not much to see, right? >> There's your fans. Three in a row. I see a That's either antifreeze or AC compressor died. Does your AC work?
[06:30] Maybe it doesn't. >> That's antifreeze. Uh >> From somewhere something. >> That's a good way to start the party, >> Yeah, I guess. >> Okay. There's a hose just resting there.
[06:45] >> Yeah, but it's all on that side. >> Mhm. We'll have to pressure test it and see what's going on there. >> That's great. Okay. And then fur to back are the floor pans. This literally the bolts for the seats.
[07:01] >> That is one way to do it, I guess. >> I guess there's some oil leak. Looks like a front main seal. Sure enough,
[07:13] there to do the the timing belt and water pump or whatnot, >> but probably not a front main seal. >> No, probably not a front main seal. >> Can you see the timing belt? I don't know if it's visible.
[07:27] >> I don't think so. They're behind this plastic cover. >> Black cover there. There's your turbos. >> Yes, two of them. two little Garrett >> Yes, two of them. two little Garrett turbos on either side and they're happy
[07:41] >> but what's not happy is this transmission back here which pretty common here for this to leak the little seals. very leaky transmission which is probably what led to its issues in the
[07:54] >> Yeah. It could have gotten low on fluid They'll have to see when they get it apart. Seaf shafts are okay. I don't see any blown out struts. What are these holes for?
[08:08] It goes into >> for air movement, I guess. >> It comes in through the scoops. >> All right. >> It's going to be expensive. >> It's going to be,
[08:21] straightforward. >> It is. That's the thing about Lotus is it's it's weird in that sense where it's not some crazy complicated machine, but not some crazy complicated machine, but it's also a bespoke kind of handbuilt uh
[08:36] garage just kind of slapping it together kind of thing. >> It kind of does. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, the transmission out from the top with all of this business going on.
[08:48] >> Yeah. You take the trunk, the floor out, unhook everything, slide the top. >> I see a little bit of seepage going on dripping onto the exhaust. That's your smoke.
[09:00] >> That's my smoke. Okay. >> I hear a school bus is This thing's >> I think. Yeah, they think school's out even though it's only 1:00 cuz I pulled >> I like the code though with all the pearl metallic on it and stuff. But, uh,
[09:13] pearl metallic on it and stuff. But, uh, >> yeah. This This is so weird. This is not >> all handmade stuff. >> It's all weird. Well, I guess we can system's doing. >> Yeah, we'll lower it down and do that.
[09:25] payday on this one. >> Very much so. All right. Got our Swedishmade pressure tester here. >> This is the only thing you use it for, right? >> The only thing, I promise.
[09:43] is known to crack and this this is known to strip out on this cap. They make a >> Spooks or some brand or something. They make a metal one. >> So, it's at 15 PSI. We can raise it back up.
[09:55] before it goes back up. Another thing that needs fixed is uh that >> Oh, it's winking at me. >> Now, sometimes it works, but
[10:07] yeah, definitely stripped gears like a C4 Corvette, right? You can hear it clicking. >> Death of a thousand cuts. Well, there's the engine bay, but then everything else is
[10:20] >> At least the body looks nice, though. >> The body does look nice. The old saying Serious. >> Yeah, you're going to see that in your comments on this video a lot. Well,
[10:34] it looks like it has an upgraded radiator. Aluminum. >> Oh, there it is. You see the staining on the fins?
[10:47] >> Oh, >> so it's probably got a torn core. One of >> so it's probably got a torn core. One of the little cores in there. >> So, I need another upgraded radiator. >> You do. You'll need another one.
[11:00] have to take the fans out and take a bunch of stuff out and it comes out the fun. >> Okay. Well, what's going to be fun for you is sitting down in the office and counting all your money, right?
[11:12] This is going to pay off that rolls pretty quick. >> Oh, yeah. Speaking of Yeah. Speaking of this Rolls-Royce that I sold to you for $7,500 in store credit, even though I was $17,000 into it.
[11:24] >> It was an easy fix, huh? >> Yeah. I've got it torn down right now. We're going through doing all the BMW things, pulleys and hoses and and things of that nature. Radiator, but there's two ECMs on here. One of them had, you
[11:40] >> right? >> One of them had the immobilizer chip burned up in it. >> I sent it to RPM Motorsports who they were able to fix it and the engine runs perfect.
[11:52] battery detailing it and jumped it the wrong way or too much or whatever, then >> yep. >> Sucks, but an easy fix. The immobilizer love to do the same thing, I guess, but it's working for now. But at some point,
[12:07] I guess that Lotus is going to look more like my old Audi. [laughter] >> Oh god. >> I finally got all the parts in to go quite an ordeal. >> Yep. I dodged the bullet with this one
[12:19] and then walked right into a nuclear blast with the Lotus Aspree V8. >> Mhm. >> And April's over there loving on her GNX. >> Wizard is searching for the British
[12:32] British car and I figured I should probably shoot for the crown jewels. >> I think this thing probably would pay for like a Rolex or some other things expensive before >> very easily.
[12:46] audio there. >> Yeah, it's get gets a clear signal here. >> Yeah. Very good. Okay. [laughter] All right. So, what do we got? >> Yeah, I know. [laughter] I know. I bought it. Yes, I bought a Lotus
[13:00] >> and it's going to pay off the rolls really quick. [sighs] >> so the This thing's bothering me. [laughter] >> Move it. >> Okay. The radiator itself is like 1,200
[13:12] >> Just the part. >> And it's been replaced once and has >> But now I need another one. >> Okay. coolant and everything. It's going to approach two grand for the radiator.
[13:25] approach two grand for the radiator. >> Wonderful. We're off to a smashing start It's probably going to be a grand to,500. It's going to be quite a lot of >> That includes splitting the transmission, getting it ready for
[13:38] to England is probably going to cost at least 800 bucks just the shipping alone. >> Yeah. To put on a pallet, put it over there to England, and then what? $800 to rebuild it is about what, like a,000 US? >> Like 1,100 bucks, something like that.
[13:52] >> Yeah. And you'll have shipping coming back again. >> While it's there getting rebuilt, we'll do the timing belt service, which all be around 2 grand. >> $2,000 for the timing belt, water pump,
[14:07] pulleys, and then the reseal the engine for the front cover and the valve >> Wow. >> And then to reassemble everything and any miscellaneous seals or gaskets, it could be another two or three grand on
[14:19] top of that to put it all back in. >> Wow. Then there's the headlight motor >> 400. Okay. >> Do both sides. >> Pull it all apart. >> Well, one's one's okay.
[14:31] >> All right. >> Might as [snorts] well do both. >> Yeah. Your heater valve repair, which I've done before. I think I'll be able to fix it. 4 to 500 bucks. I have to pull some dash panels apart and reach up
[14:44] loose. >> You're looking at around 12 grand roughly. There it is. Read it and weep. >> Yes. >> I bought it for $41,000 with fees that
[15:00] made it like $45,000 then shipped it here. So 46 56 58. Okay. So under 60 grand for fully
[15:12] nice cosmetic condition. >> It is. It looks nice. >> There's been sales of these for six figures. one multiple six figures have brought $220,000. The same color, few years newer, but like 2,000 miles on it.
[15:26] So, they they are popping to where like I won't be sitting in this thing. >> I don't think so. >> I think it's probably a a 70 $80,000 car >> I hope >> you're going have to figure out the top
[15:41] there. >> I did look that up. That's another 1,500 bucks. And that didn't include the latches which are missing. So that make that $13,500. >> Yeah.
[15:54] >> It's adding up quick, isn't it? >> All right. Well, I'm going to do it. >> Mhm. >> So, it is worth doing. It's It's a >> Okay. >> I'll leave it here. And I guess is there
[16:10] an Escalade with no hood. >> No, but you do have the Breaking Bad >> No, but you do have the Breaking Bad Cadillac. Oh, the old Deville. Okay. And >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. So, yeah, it was
[16:24] leaking from the transmission. He did a carburetor, the radiator, the valve covers, the rear shocks, and uh yeah, new belts. So, the grand total $2,500 leaves me about five grand left, which we'll have the Escalade bill. It'll
[16:39] >> They'll probably eat most of that up. >> So, then there'll be none left for the >> Maybe a little. Okay. Well, >> but you have the GNX as well. for that. >> Okay. Yeah, I hear that. Okay.
[16:52] >> Cool. Well, this car couldn't be any more opposite from the Aspree V8. A 1977 Cadillac Deville. No handling prowess with this thing at all. Just a cruisy, comfy boat. But the cool part of it, it was used in the TV show Breaking Bad. In
[17:06] machine gun mounted in the back and it was spraying all the bad guys down. And the car survived in a back lot for a while and then was sold at auction But we're not done with the spree quite yet. The car wizard said that next week
[17:20] sometime he'll have the drivetrain completely out of the car and we can there's anything to add to the massive massive bill. So uh let's pick up sometime next week. Back to the car wizards with the drivetrain totally
[17:33] blown out of the Lotus. Once more into the brereech, huh? after paying a big bill on this thing, it looks like the power steering has decided to let go and leave a nice little trail as I was doing this
[17:45] three-point turn all the way through the garage. Doing a nice little abstract painting here. Wonderful. Oh, it's all the way down the garage. Seriously, I got the phone call for the
[17:58] engine coming out a lot quicker than I thought. But first, this is incredible. thought. But first, this is incredible. A fastback Fiat. It actually works. It's amazing. Also amazing is the amount of bird poop right
[18:11] amazing is the amount of bird poop right there. But look at this. Daniel's son's >> He is. He's very deep. >> Wow. >> Almost ready to come out. >> Okay. Well, is this all that needed to
[18:26] itself? >> Yeah. Me and Danielson are both surprised about this that this little car, few little parts and engine comes car, few little parts and engine comes out. It's so just the trunk cover, a few
[18:39] hoses, the coolant bottle. >> Mhm. Some nuts and bolts, exhaust, a >> Mhm. Some nuts and bolts, exhaust, a crossmember, and some air filter. It's the smallest amount of parts to come off I've ever seen in my life for
[18:51] an engine to come out. It's crazy. >> And you're pulling it all in one unit. transmission first, but instead you're doing all at once, huh? and we can split the transmission and send it off for rebuild. when we did it
[19:05] years ago with the Mercielago because it was so long you had to like do this looks like it's more or less just going to go straight up in the air, too, huh? >> Yep. It appears that way. >> Okay. Well, are you ready to start
[19:19] clear. >> What we don't want is some kind of still connected. Right. >> Right. That's kind of what I'm doing here. Kind of the eyes and ears and moving hoses and pipes and whatever
[19:33] out of the way. >> So, those aluminum cooling hoses have a too bad. Huh. >> No, this can be sanded off and cleaned up, but it does have some corrosion on it.
[19:48] >> It changes orientation. >> Yeah, it changes. It's a load leveler and kind of the center of gravity. You can shift it back and forth. You want it to come out fairly straight. You don't want it like the Mercielago where it's
[20:01] dipped up in the air. And >> that was a crazy experience for sure. >> Whoa. >> What was it caught on the strap? >> No, the engine mount here. See, there's
[20:14] >> Oh, there's head of the bolt or something has a lip. and then there's a lip and that's what kept getting caught. can >> Yep. Just go the other way.
[20:26] >> Yep. Just go the other way. >> Yeah. >> Oh, >> yeah. Everything's clear. You seeing anything over there, Tyler? Any hoses catching or?
[20:40] >> Looks good to me. >> Okay. >> How puckered are you? >> You know, just a little bit. The real pucker is one will start going that way with it and it could, you know, fall on
[20:53] your car. We don't need that. >> Daniel loves Ferraris. And Ferrari bottom, don't they? >> Well, most of them. mid-enine engine out cars, >> then. Yes.
[21:14] out in less time than taking a Ferrari 355 engine out. >> Yeah, I have to agree. This was pretty easy. >> I'm going to have to get me an Aspree V8 now. This is too easy.
[21:26] >> Well, look how easy it is to work on. >> Buy a Lotus Aspree V8. They said it'd be >> Buy a Lotus Aspree V8. They said it'd be fun. They said it was so cheap. Look at that. A flat plane crank twin turbo V8 flying in the air.
[21:43] >> Not me. >> No. >> Look at that. That's so cute. And then there's a little is a little wastegate >> That's it. >> Very cool. And it's on both sides.
[22:03] down somewhere, right? >> Probably should. Okay. flat for now? >> Uh, yeah. underneath. >> Bam.
[22:16] >> No. No. Bams. >> Well, years ago, Junior Mint dropped >> He He tried to save it for you. He was >> He was holding it. >> I I told him, you know, we can get
[22:28] another engine, but we don't need you to get hurt. So, told him to let it go. >> Oh, yeah. >> Good. It's a nice balanced V8. >> You can see how easy it will be to do
[22:41] the timing belts now. They're just right there behind those covers. That would be >> I am curious what those look like because the seller said that had newer blue belts in it, but they had no idea what year. I'm curious if they look 10
[22:55] years old, 20 years old. But the big reason for the engine coming out was that front main seal leak, which that is some very leaky stuff there. It >> And then the valve covers could have been done obviously with the engine
[23:09] been done obviously with the engine still in there. But is there some more >> Maybe from this pipe right here. >> Is this the power steering? of these covers? >> Yeah. I'll get a
[23:30] >> but how long ago was that? We don't know. that it doesn't look here. Get >> It looks fairly new. >> Looks okay. >> Looks okay. >> Let's look for a date.
[23:48] That looks like an old one. And the other one look Did they only do one? other one look Did they only do one? >> Wait, >> Yes. >> How? It's like two four cylinders. Okay.
[24:04] But why would one look See, this one has a part number on it, but I don't see a a part number on it, but I don't see a date. This one is old. This one's brand >> Why would you do just one? >> I have no idea. Maybe because they could
[24:18] make any sense. >> Let's Let's rotate it around and see if there's a This is so strange. One looks 20 years newer than the other. One looks 20 years newer than the other. Good compression there.
[24:35] There it is. There's I don't know if it's a date code, but it's the part >> same as on that other side. Yeah. >> J AE. There's a Lotus supplier. >> So, the seller was half right on the newer blue belt.
[24:50] >> This is >> The other one is definitely not new. >> This is so weird. I wonder if there's an extra step on that side. one here. Made in USA. >> Yeah, that's all we need.
[25:04] >> And that's Yeah, that's that you made it all the way around. One full rotation >> Got a little bit, you know. >> Well, we're going to make it right. >> The transmission will have [clears throat] to be unmated.
[25:16] >> And sent off. The rest handled here inhouse. The parts are all getable. >> They are. They're all getable. >> So, it's not a sad ending. Really? >> No. There's nothing sad about what's
[25:29] going on here. It is sad they did one timing belt and not the other, but it >> No, it didn't. I'm glad that I got it like this to where I can go through do YouTube as well that I get to document all this stuff rather than, you know,
[25:42] not knowing what's been done. We got a nice car that's in really good shape and pretty. >> Mhm. >> Obviously, a lot of detailing needed to happen in the engine bay as well. Gez,
[25:55] >> dirty dirty. Yeah, this does not look like a high-end exotic here in the engine bay. >> All right. Well, thank you so much, >> Yeah, thanks to Daniel. >> What do you think?
[26:08] >> It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. And uh I wouldn't I still wouldn't trade a Ferrari for this. >> Well, never going to happen. >> Ferraris are way more expensive, unfortunately. Thank you so much for
[26:20] watching. >> The [music] Lotus is a sports car that many want [singing] to own. But it breaks [music] a lot. Some say Lotus stands for lots of trouble, usually serious.
[26:37] A man named [singing] Hooie owns one and [music] seems to really love getting financially [singing] [music] destroyed by owning broken [singing] cars like this.
[26:53] like this. Lotus