CarPassion

Hey there! My name is Greg Peters and I love cars! I have a YouTube channel that’s dedicated to them actually, called TheCarPassionChannel.

I’ve always loved working on cars, well, working on everything really. It all started with Lincoln Logs and Legos back in the day. I’d throw away the instruction manuals and build my own creations. Later I dove into taking apart remote controls, old TV’s, and my dad’s leaf blower. From there it progressed onto electric and then nitro powered r/c cars, followed by building high compression/high revving GoPed engines. (No really, the kind that would deafen the neighbors and lift the front wheel on command. They revved to 16,000RPM+ and would only run on leaded 117 octane fuel).

I had been studying cars day and night up to this point, but was still too young to get my license. I’d had an interest in cars since I was a little kid, but what really sparked the flame was my dad giving me Need For Speed III in 1998 when I was 10 years old. I would play for hours, memorizing all of the specifications and testing out the cars.

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Then it happened. I got my first real car. A 1988 Dodge Aries K, 2.2L with a 3-speed automatic. I even made some epic “car videos” toting around my parents’ news-style VHS camera on my shoulder and doing timed acceleration runs; obsessed with my aftermarket tachometer as it swept a mind-boggling 5200RPM. I loved this car. The only thing that could have made it better was if it was a manual transmission. After learning how to drive stick in my good friend’s 1988 Volvo 240DL Wagon, I was confident in my ascent to a LeMans racing career. I had to do something.

I was confident in my ascent to a LeMans racing career. I had to do something.

So I duct taped a plunger to the floor, and slapped a tennis ball on top with a crudely sharpie’d-on 5-speed shift pattern. I learned how to manipulate the throttle with such perfect timing between shifts, I could make the slushbox feel identical to a manual trans. I’m not making this up people.

I was quickly informed that I would be responsible for all of the maintenance needed on the car, so I had to find a job pronto. I started working as a mechanic-in-training at a bicycle shop, and continued as a wrench turner for six years in two different shops. The wrenching skills I learned in those shops have helped me tremendously on my car projects, believe it or not.

I owned quite a few vehicles and worked several different jobs from there on out, but I’ll write a complete article on that later. The part of the story I really wanted to get across, is that the only way I can afford to own and modify these cars, is by doing 99% of the work on them myself. I also love to teach other people about cars… and one day in February of 2011 I decided I could combine those things in one place: YouTube. TheCarPassionChannel was born. I was never any good at naming things, but I knew that would at least get the point across.

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Five-and-a-half years later I feel like I’m really starting to scratch the surface of my goal: to make a notable impact in the car community.  -Greg