A younger cousin of mine asked me if there was such a thing as a plastic engine. Since she had such a serious look on her face I held back the laughter and asked why. Turns out she and her boyfriend were looking at a car for sale.

She asked him if it might be a good car...he gave it a once over and replied "nope, it has a plastic engine". I had to pop my hood and show her that he may have been looking at a cover.

The tears are still drying as I type this. I also found out he does brake work (his own car) and doesn't know to bleed brake lines.

I explained to her why the lines should be bled, it seems she has had stopping issues when driving his car....

After all that she couldn't figure why I called her boyfriend an idiot and said he should always see a mechanic.

Wow.

I wouldn't doubt that we see a plastic engine in the next few decades, but not yet...

Wow, so did he really think the entire engine was plastic? lol

If so, I'm surprised he knows enough to even do ANY kind of brake work.

But if you're just doing pads you don't generally don't have to bleed the lines. It'* definitely not a bad idea to do it though.

kinda morbid, but maybe brake work is what he should be doing... Oh yeah, don't let her ride/drive with him til it'* fixed...

My 83 Eagle has a plastic valve cover (not for long though), which is pretty much the only plastic on the car (besides the interior), but wow, even if I wasn't a car guy I would know that isn't possible with the heat grnreated from the engine

So by "Fixed"... do you mean the brakes, or his brake work getting him killed?

I was hoping she was joking since I make fun of her boyfriend not being the brightest even though he claims to know everything. She was dead serious.

I had to explain bleeding the brakes because she said they would just add brake fluid to top off from time to time. Come to find out the brakes have been sketchy at times before.

I told her she must really really really like him (in differ terms) to drive his car the way it is.

I think chevrolet had an engine that had plastic rods in it. just because they were cheap and easy to mass produce. that was way back in the day though, kinda around the same time they tried the displacement on demand with the caddilacs and failed horribly. yes i know... it sounds stupid, but, i was taught by not only one, but three different instructors said the same thing, that GM had put plastic rods in engines. big mistake, but...money was an issue.
If you think about it, what kind of idiot in the engines design department says..."lets press some plastic dust material in to the shape of a connecting rod and put it in a bore making it move in a reciprocating motion continouisly at 800-5500 rpm. it should hold out."

In terms of material strength and durability, it COULD be done. But the various metals we use now are far stronger and much more durable, and FAR cheaper and easier to make. That said, I'm gonna go buy one of those 1/3 scale Testor small-blocks now....

All I can do is hang my head in shame..... That is one of the single most asinine things I've ever heard. Were they looking at a freaking power wheels?