Anybody here watch the Powerblock on Spike?

[AMCRambler]

It's usually on Saturday and Sunday starting at 11 or 12. That's usually right after I get up on the weekends so I watch it while I eat my breakfast. There's three shows, 30 min each that they air, Horsepower, Trucks/Extreme 4x4 and Muscle Car. It's pretty cool stuff because on each show they've got a project engine, car or truck that they're working on. They show a lot of tips and tricks for fabricating parts, body work, custom work and rebuilds.

They do engine builds on Horsepower which are always cool. They'll buy a short block and build them up and usually dyno the motor to show the results.

On Muscle Car this weekend the guy walks you through rebuilding a starter motor. I thought they were fairly complicated and never rebuilt one myself but they're actually pretty simple inside.

Anyway, just thought I'd see if anyone else watches these shows.

 

[NutBucket]

Used to watch it when I had DirecTV. Sure it was nothing more than a thinly disguised infomercial but it was somewhat informative anyway.

 

[KentState]

I have mixed feelings on the various shows. I like watching them because it's car related, but some of the tips are just out right wrong. Plus they are paid to endorse certain products that are generally known to have little if any benefits.

 

[Vetterin]

I miss Shadetree Mechanic.

 

[bruceb]

I watch it every week. 4 shows total starting at 11AM NY time. Plus I also like Shipshape TV .. good tips about boats. Shadetree mechanic was good, but it is now known as 2 Guys Garage (on Speed TV) .. another nice show is Gearz with the former host of Trucks, Stacy Davis (also on Speed) .. and TruckU is not bad (Speed TV)

Note: I saw the info on the starter rebuild and it touched on most of the important items except one. The Solenoid, in addition to moving the Bendix gear into the flywheel, is also a High Current Relay to route the power from the Battery to the Starter itself. Those contacts in the solenoid will wear out over time and in my view, it should be replaced when doing an overhaul of the starter.

 

[kornphlake]

I watch Xtreme 4x4, mostly because I'd like to have a 4x4 but doubt I'll ever own one. Posers watch poser TV right? There are some blatantly paid advertisements, and others that are honest. I used to work for a company that is regularly featured on Xtreme 4x4, they asked permission to promote our products but were never paid to do so as far as I know. They actually caused problems for us when they promoted an aftermarket bumper for the new Jeep JK that was still in R&D at the time. It was the first aftermarket bumper available for that vehicle and got a lot of attention, several customers got upset because the product was advertised before it was in catalogs and the dealers couldn't order the bumper.

I used to watch the whole Powerblock, but it is a little stale, they don't really do anything innovative, mostly just bolt on upgrades. The Muscle Car host's voice is like nails on a chalk board to me, so I don't watch that one.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I used to watch it a lot, the original Trucks host was much better before they replaced him with a salesman and Mr. Clean.

 

[franksta]

I watch them every weekend. I'd say Extreme 4x4 is my favorite as it's the most informative. The guy covers everything and absolutely knows his stuff. But as far as 4x4's go I have little interest.

The guys on Horsepower don't seem to be as knowledgeable as the other shows.

Trucks is reasonably good. The one older guy knows his stuff as far as autobody repair but the kid appears to just tag along.

MuscleCar was my favorite when Lou hosted but it's not horrible now, I just liked Lou better.


The plugs throughout the show are annoying:
"And of course we're filling our Moroso oil pan with Royal Purple break-in oil" "We wipe with only the finest Kimberly-Clark bathroom tissue!"
I'd probably use that stuff too if I was getting it for free.

I think the most obnoxious part is the monster budget a person would need to do some of the things they do. Dropping in a 572 big block when the average audience member is probably just doing a rebuild of a small block or maybe a stroker kit in said small block. That has improved a lot though which I'm glad to see.

So I have my criticisms but I still watch it. They have some pretty useful nuggets of information from time to time and I do harvest some ideas from it for my own projects.

 

[AMCRambler]

I agree with you on the advertisements. If you culled out all the commercials and in show ads I think the show is only like 14 minutes long. They definitely beat you over the head with some of the crap. The Royal Purple stuff especially. That company must throw a lot of money at their show.

Ignoring all that, they still do some cool things you just don't get to see done unless you know somebody with one of these cars or have your own to play with. They also cut out a lot of the hard work and make it look real easy. I bet it takes them a week to film one episode.

 

[angry hampster]

Gearz and My Classic Car are the only ones worth watching.

 

[BW86]

I still watch Horsepower TV but I also used to watch Trucks when Stacey David hosted. I usually end up recording them along with Gearz

 

[syzygy]

Aah, so this where I should look for half-decent car shows . . on Spike.

Here I am laughing at all the craptacular nonsense SpeedTV cosniders programming.

Where the hell is Al Goss and his garage tips ? how about Auto Week ?

 

[joutlaw]

I like Xtreme 4x4. Horsepower TV seems to be in a rerun rut lately. Trucks can be good at times... especially the new Mazda-cloned Ranger with a 4v 4.6L.

Muscle Car is unwatchable with the new host. Trucks was that way when they had the big meathead that yelled all the time and never did a damn thing. Thankfully he got replaced and the other guy isn't too bad.