The gearheads at Grind Hard Plumbing Co. are not just a group of friends that make crazy cars and motorized contraptions. The wild vehicles produced by self-taught mechanical wizard Ethan Schlussler, ace videographer Edwin Olding (and their pals) are an alternative automotive universe. It all happens in their madhouse Idaho garage-workshop.
Grind Hard relies on eBay Motors to make it happen. Olding explains:
With eBay’s massive selection and with fast and free shipping being on tons of listings, we’ve been able to get a video out every single week for the last two years. We couldn’t have done that without eBay Motors.
Their magical creations are captured on the massively popular Grind Hard YouTube channel. Their Honda-powered, hot-pink Barbie Mustang Power Wheels was outrageous. To up the ante, Schlussler and Olding installed an eBay-supplied turbocharger kit on their customized BMW E36 rally pickup. Watch the video now:
Schlussler and the crew start with a $700 turbo kit and other goodies purchased on eBay. The list includes:
- A T4 type turbo
- Manifold
- Intercooler
- Fuel pressure regulator
- Blow-off valve
- Gaskets
- Piping and silicone boots
- ECU
- Mass airflow sensor
- Fuel injectors
- Spark plugs
- A tracker to help with tuning
The build requires fabrication work on the engine mounts and throttle body, along with a classy fender-exit dump pipe. The skid plate made from a speed-limit sign? Pure art.
The 32-minute long video covers the voyage from a stone-stock BMW engine through the install. It comes with the requisite slow-mo hoon sessions in Grind Hard’s Pacific Northwest playground, as well as trippy time-lapse build sequences.
Off-Road Reverse Trike Build
Does the turbo transformation of the BMW truck whet your appetite? Then you have to see the 11-minute video documenting Grind Hard’s off-road conversion of a 2007 Ski-Doo Summit 1000 snowmobile.
The Ski-Doo provides the foundation: a 1000-cc, two-cylinder, two-stroke engine rated 165 horsepower. But then Schlussler and Olding go on a shopping expedition on eBay Motors.
The duo gets their hands on a set of used front spindles, hubs, rotors, brakes, and A-arms from a Polaris Predator ATV.
Schlussler cuts up and combines the original Ski-Doo A-Arms with the Polaris A-Arms to achieve a wider stance. Then the rear tunnel is cut out to fit the massive rear tire. The tunnel’s removal allows for a sufficient amount of suspension travel and proper ride height.
The sled’s massive heat exchanger is removed and replaced with a Honda Civic radiator.
The Trike’s tail is pure magic. The magnificent one-sided rear swingarm is built from scratch with 1-1/2-inch, 120 wall tubing, while the tail section is a Polaris Predator unit. The spring-loaded chain tensioner uses Honda CRF 450 chain guide pieces. A gnarly 27×11-12 off-road tire wraps the 12×10 Polaris bolt-pattern, bead-lock rear wheel.
Schlussler fabricates the rear fender and gas tank, once again, from one of his favorite source materials: a street sign from the scrap yard.
After watching the video, we can’t help but wonder: Why aren’t snowmobile reverse trike conversion kits a thing? If that ever happens, you could find it on eBay Motors.
See Car & Truck Replica & Kit Makes for sale on eBay.
