The S-Type has awoken!!

The S-Type is running!!!

So I promised you an update on the S-Type if it starts running tonight, and it does! I'm not even going to waste your time with reading, just watch the video and enjoy the beautiful sound of a V8 minus the exhaust! This marks the beginning of our youtube chanel as well, so subscribe to us there if you want more!

Updates, the future, and treats from the past!

The future of The Last V8

Rejoice! So far we could not start the project, due to the restoration of the original S-Type, however the job is finally coming to an end, and we can start bringing you regular updates and actual, exciting, and original content.

Yesterday night the engine and transmission finally went back in the S-Type, so hopefully we can get it up and running in the next two weeks, and then it's all about The Last V8! Just to give you a bit of a treat, here's the S-Type ready and waiting just outside the garage for the engine to be replaced:




Now all that's left until the first start is tying the cables in, fitting the coolers, and filling her up with transmission fluid and oil, which are getting delivered just as you're reading this. So if everything goes well, you might get a quick update tonight about this beast of an engine in action!

So far we could not bring as much exciting content as we would have liked to, and we do apologise for that, but as Summer is coming, and university is ending, Sándor will come back to Budapest, which means you guys will get a lot more exciting video updates, which is a more appropriate method of documentation for The Last V8 project.

So if you were our faithful reader so far, hold on for a while longer, and you'll soon be able to see us get to work on the project. As a little taste of what is to come, next week we're going to set up the post apocalyptic repair station, so that we can do the project in full authenticity, and perhaps you'll get more on the S-Type as well as it gets back on the road and we can take it out for a spin finally.

Additionally, you get some old pictures from the last v8 archives that I just found:

Getting the engine removed

The Last V8 on the left next to her twin

Waiting to get the engines swapped

​Ps.: Before people freak out that we're going to ruin a beautiful S-Type to make a The Last V8 out of it, don't worry, we're going to salvage pretty much everything we can from it that is not necessary for the build project itself, so as to save them as spares for the S-Type on the road. 

Wasteland Weekend and OldTown Festival!

In case you weren't so pumped about building a Mad Max type post apocalyptic death machine, then our suggested video of the day for you is the official introduction to Wasteland Weekend! In case you haven't heard of it yet, it's held every year near California City, CA, in the desert, with over a thousand people attending from all over the world, bringing their war rides and Mad Max style costumes, to live 4 days in post-apocalyptic circumstances. If a picture says a thousand words, videos say millions, so watch this little introduction into what you can expect after the apocalypse:

Yes. As you can see it's pretty awesome. However, it is in the US, so if you're from Europe, it might be slightly difficult and pricey to get your ride across, or even to just attend yourself. However, don't ever give up! Europe has its own post apocalyptic festival, called OldTown Festival! OldTown Festival is a 3 day larp festival, where similarly to Wasteland Weekend, you get to try living in a world after the apocalypse! Unfortunately it is not as car centered as we would like it to be, but if you show up with your ride there, you're definitely going to get some attention! OldTown is in the Northwestern part of Poland, near Stargard, just 150 kilometers from Berlin, and in case you want to go this year, you still have time to prepare, as it's held from the 18th to the 24 of July!

Hopefully watching these videos got you in the mood for more wasteland madness and stay tuned, because next week you'll finally get to see the start of our project, where we'll finally start puting out videos! And should you want to meet The Last V8 in person, keep an eye on these festivals, because it might appear on one of them. ;) 

Pick your machinegun!

Last time we discussed a simple idea to put some armour on your ride, which is all good, but if you want to survive the apocalypse your ride will need to be able to bite as well. But what would be appropriate for the speed devil that our car is turning out to be?

MACHINEGUNS!

That's right, and I'm sure it doesn't surprise you, as machineguns are the answer to every major problem nowadays. But what kind of machineguns? What caliber? What rate of fire? Multiple, or just one? Don't you worry, after reading this handy guide, you'll be able to tell what the right choice of machinegun is for your needs.

So firstly, to look at firing rate. It's a simple criteria really, and provided that we are discussing a post apocalyptic situation, I think you might already know the answer to what's best to equip on your ride. Yes, lower firing rate gets us a more economical gun in terms of both ammunition and parts, it is more accurate, has a lower recoil, and a higher effective distance. However it is also worth mentoining that should you encounter a bigger swarm of enemies, or perhaps you need to spread covering fire on a larger area, a lower firing rate will come as a disadvantage. Instead of dragging it out, I'll let you watch this US propaganda video against the German machineguns during WW2. The difference emphasized here was the difference in rate of fire, as the MG42 had a cyclical rate upwards of 1200 rounds per minute whereas the US .30 cal had a cyclical rate of 400 rounds per minute.

Now it is worth mentioning that this is a propaganda video afterall, and its purpose is to make troops feel better about their equipment. But imagine if the scenario was that each machinegun has 10 seconds to fire at 30 targets out on the field, and you'll see that the end result would favour a high rate of fire. Unspent ammunition is worthless ammunition after all if you're in a tight situation.

So now we have part of the answer, a low firing rate for the sake of accuracy, range and economics. But what caliber? Well since we just watched a video about a sturdy and decent machinegun that is accurate and has a low firing rate, we already have an answer: .30cal. This caliber has been favoured by the US Army for decades, is relatively common, and quite powerful. A few hits to the engine block can take a car off the road permanently, not to mention other structural damage it can cause. The machinegun in question, namely the Browning M1919 has been in use since, and earned a reputation as the longest serving machinegun in history. It's big brother, the M2, which fires .50 caliber rounds has been in service with the US Army since 1933, and is still used today.

Browning M1919

Our choice

All in all we can conclude that the best option you could possibly choose is the Browning M1 machinegun, as it has been serving on vehicles the past 100 years, is reliable, durable, accurate and powerful, so basically everything you could want in a machinegun. However, if you think otherwise, feel free to comment your choice of vehicular armament, and we'll debate it.

The Mighty V8

​The rise of the V8

So far we talked about the Mad Max movies, the cars, and a little bit of DIY vehicle bulletproofing. Today it's time to talk about the power source of the beast, the mighty V8!

This is one of our beloved naturally aspirated V8 AJ28 engines, right before we put the timing belt on. In its current state it provides us a hefty 281 horsepowers with 389 Nm torque, which is more than adequate for driving around town, however if we want to survive the apocalypse, we have to squeeze even more out of it.

Supercharged, turbo, or naturally aspirated V8?

We want to gain a lot more power from that V8, so naturally as anyone who wants to gain a lot of power easily, we turn to the magical world of turbo/superchargers. Now at this point in time we haven't sat down to sift through the available turbos and superchargers for our price range and the adequate one for the engine itself, but we have plenty of opportunities to choose from, thanks to eBay and it's incredibly cheap turbo and supercharger kits. The prospect of installing a supercharger which would then be connected to the AC to allow us to turn it on and off during driving (like in the original movies) sounds very good as well, however they generally tend to give less power compared to turbochargers. Additionally it's worth looking into wether it's worth it to simply buy an AJ33S 4.2 liter supercharged engine producing 390 horsepowers with 541 Nm torque to get a more reliable boost in power instead of tweaking this one with dodgy aftermarket eBay parts. For now we're just throwing ideas in the pot, and the decision will come when we get to the actual stage where we can install something like that.

Another mad idea we had was to install a nitro system. Now as this will be more of a showcar than anything else, we don't have to be bothered by the extremely restrictive Hungarian laws regarding car modification, so we can go ahead and do it, although refueling the nitro would be rather hard after the collapse of civilisation, but we surely could find a way.

Additionally, there are minor, more obvious things we're planning on doing, such as a cold air intake, and to get that sweet low V8 sound out of it along with an extra few horsepowers, it will recieve a nice and wide straight pipe exhaust. ;)

How to armour your car?

​How do you armour your car? A question I'm sure we all ask ourselves from time to time. But is it possible? Can a normal street car be equipped with armour that protects it from gunfire?

The secrets of an armoured car

The answer is yes and no at the same time. Real armoured cars are designed from scratch to be able to support the weight of the extra armour material to protect them, with which the overall weight can reach up to 7 tons. On top of that, they come with a whole array of extra defensive features, which - unless you are the president of the United States - you won't really need for your daily commute. However I said yes, because to a certain level, it IS possible to make your car bulletproof. Nowadays a lot of companies specialise on outfitting your car with a bit of extra protection, offering a wide range of options. You can choose different types of kevlar, polyethylene, fiberglass and polycarbonate, and depending on your choice this can cost you quite a fortune. However, you can do it relatively cheapely, depending on your skills, your aesthetic needs and the level of protection you're looking for.

If you're looking for cost effectiveness, the best choice is kevlar. It's easy to apply, lightweight, and cheap. In comparison to other materials, it might not be able to withstand armour piercing rounds, or larger calibers such as .50 or 12.7, but it will give you an adequate protection against regular small arms fire, and even shrapnels coming from explosions. Even though the end result won't really be an armoured car, rather than a bullet and shrapnel resistant one, it's still worth the effort.

But how do I make an armoured car?

As this is exactly what we're looking for, it would be a perfect solution for us to make The Last V8 a lot sturdier and increase the chances of survival in a post apocalyptic world. The concept of armouring with kevlar is relatively simple. Kevlar works just like fiberglass, laying the sheets on the desired surface, and then applying epoxy resin on it to harden. However, since kevlar is UV sensitive, it has to be covered with an additonal layer to be protected from the harmful rays. Since you're going to end up with a rather rough surface after applying the kevlar, a good idea would be to cover it with something that is not particularly smooth itself. In this case I would recommend bed liner, as it provides a formidable layer of protection as well. Now if you got yourself some extra bed liner left over after spraying your car, don't be afraid, it will serve as a perfect spall liner for the inside. Spalling can occur when a high kinetic force hits the armour from the outside. Even without penetrating, the sheer power can make the material spall, which basically means that small fragments will break off, which might hurt the passengers. If you apply a coat of spall liner, which will be bed liner in this case, it will protect you from this effect, and will generally improve the protection of your vehicle.

As a small demonstration, here you can see how much a thick coat of bed liner can actually improve your protection.

​So there you go, if you follow this very scientifically accurate guide, you'll get your own armoured car in no time! All it take is some kevlar and bed liner. ;)

Practical effects in the wasteland

The Mad Max experience

In case you were wondering what makes Mad Max a cult classic, and one of our favourite movies, there's really no better way to tell you than to watch the video below. What makes  the Mad Max franchise stand out in the movie industry is the excellent stuntwork involved in making it. I remember the first time I watched Mad Max, and how I watched the stunt scenes over and over again (especially the infamous scene where one of the riders gets hit by his motorcycle after crashing it...in the head). You could really see that while the movie was low budget, they put all the effort into making it look and feel as realistic as possible, turning it into the masterpiece it is. Following in the footsteps of the first three movie, George Miller kept the use of computer generated imagery to only where it's necessary. Take the time to watch the full video, and I guarantee you'll want to put spikes on your car, paint your skin white and take buses down on the highway.

 All the action you're about to see was done without the use of CGI.



Hopefully this gives you an idea on exactly why Mad Max: Fury Road raked in all those Oscars, and perhaps now you'll take the time to sit down and watch it. And while you're at it, pay attention to the underlying message of the movie, and try to really grasp what it is about and how it's relevant to the world we live in today. Once you figure it out you'll be surprised, it's not what you would expect from a testosterone and nitro fueled action movie, which will only make you appreciate it even more.

On a different note...

Even though this blog is supposed to document our build progress with the Last V8, we haven't posted much about it yet. This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the street legal S-Type is not finished yet, it's still missing its transmission and we cannot focus on this project until she's done. However good news is that we'll show you what the mighty V8 sounds like once it's operational. Secondly, I, Sándor (the writer of this blog as you could assume) am away studying in Scotland until the end of April, therefore I will not be able to be there and put my free time into working on the car and bringing you news "in person".
Either way, in the future we're going to take a look at what we actually have planned for the car so far, although the exact hows will be answered during the build, but you'll know all about the whys.

The V8 Interceptor Pursuit Special part 2

The Last V8

In the last part you got some of the background for the Pursuit Special, as seen in its original state, before things really kicked off in the Mad Max universe. Now let's see what a true wasteland survivor looks like, and take a look at the changes made to the original car.

The most notable difference is the changes to the back, which are quite practical for an after apocalypse scenario. The trunk door has been removed, and the car was fitted with two additional high capacity fuel tanks for those long stretches between two sources of fuel out in the desert. The front bumper was also taken off to allow easier off road driving, and the front left seat was removed to accomodate Max's dog (who was called "Dog" by the way, and was saved from a local dog pound to get trained to appear in the movie). As the original Weiand blower has been lost after the car was put up for sale after the first movie, a new supercharger was fitted, however this time it was a functional one. It did not have a functional switch however, as seen in the movie, so when they shot the scenes with the supercharger starting up, they placed the car on a moving trailer, and would simply start the engine to imitate the effect.

Lastly, Max added a very unique security feature to the car, which would prevent other survivors from stealing the much needed fuel from the car in the form of a self destructive device, a bomb planted under the fuel tanks. Of course this was just a dummy, but it's an often overlooked detail in these builds.

With these additions The Last V8 reached the end of its on screen life, as at the end of the second movie it gets destroyed in a fiery explosion (don't worry, that car was just a replica, the original was left intact). The original today is out on display at the Dezer Car Museum, however it's not movie accurate anymore, as it was restored to the state of the V8 Interceptor Pursuit Special from the first movie, but retained the gas tanks and the interior from the second one.

So hopefully this has given you at least some idea as to what we would like to achieve with our project, and provided a good short brief of what you have to know about possibly the most legendary vehicle, the Mad Max Interceptor, ever appearing on screen.

The V8 Interceptor Pursuit Special

In order to understand what exactly we are aiming to do, one must know what The Last V8 actually is. I'm sure most movie fans already know what we're talking about here, as the V8 Interceptor is the main character of the Mad Max movies, and one of the most iconic movie cars of all time. 

The original V8 Interceptor Pursuit Special started off its career as an Australian Ford Falcon XB GT, before getting sold at an auction along with two XB sedans to be used for the low budget Mad Max movie. The XB GT was modified to be "The Last V8", a special police car used for high speed chases, while the sedans became known as MFP Interceptors, the standard issue police cars for the Main Force Patrol, the last remaining authority in Australia's collapsing civilisation. 

The Pursuit Special recieved 4 exhausts on each side, with only two of them being functional. It was fitted with a Concorde style front end, which gave it a more futuristic and unique look, and two sets of spoilers were installed. Perhaps the most eye-catching modification is the massive Weiand supercharger installed one foot above the V8 so that every inch can be exposed. Unfortunately, this was merely a prop, driven by a small 12V electric motor. Despite all the props added just to achieve the badass look, the car was by all means a functional stunt car, ready to be put to hard use.

After the filming was done, the car was given to Murray Smith, the film's mechanic as payment. It toured Australian malls as a promotion for the movie, and was even up for sale for $7500 for a while, but nobody wanted to buy it (can you believe that?).When Mad Max aired, it became an instant classic both overseas and in Australia, and the makers decided to buy the car back for a sequel... Which we will discuss in the next post, as this sums up the original Pursuit Special's history. Tune in for Part 2, where we'll take a look at a true wasteland survivor.