March 2025
From Rusty Trucks to Outdated Servers: A Tale of Two DIY Heroes
Picture this: Two lifelong friends from a dusty little town called Guymon, Oklahoma. Chad and I grew up together but eventually chased dreams in different directions—I moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Chad headed north to Nebraska. Despite the distance, our friendship endured, bonded by one unmistakable truth: we both passionately transform old, forgotten machines into glorious masterpieces of questionable reliability.One day, Chad excitedly shared news of his latest treasure—a rusty Chevy S10 he affectionately dubbed his "SHITBOX." Naturally, he decided the tiny truck needed an engine far larger than the original engineers ever dreamed possible. Listening to his tale, I chuckled as I realized I had done something strikingly similar—only my "SHITBOX" was a decade-old Dell server. And just like Chad's truck, my server now bore modifications that would surely leave the original Dell engineers scratching their heads.
Chad’s Chevy S10: Rusty Glory on Four Wheels
Chad’s prized S10 isn't just any old truck—it’s a rolling testament to rebellion. Rust and flaking paint proudly display its years of wear, while the Nebraska license plate seems ready to escape every time the engine roars. The hood no longer fits, permanently ajar like a beast attempting to swallow more than it can chew. This has been a theme of Chad's that I've admired over the years. The oversized V8 engine, custom mounts, and a borrowed fence post as a drive shaft defy the truck's humble origins, but Chad thrives on the impossible. Hot summers and no AC? No worries. Sweat dripping down his face is a badge of honor as he proudly parades his roaring masterpiece. It will keep him warm during the Nebraska winters. And yes, he's always got bailing wire and duct tape tucked away somewhere in the cab, prepared for any roadside emergency.
Chad's S-10 is looking really fast!
Was this once on fire or was it going so fast the paint fell off?
Chris' Dell 7910: The Server That Could
Cardboard cover complete with painters tape, foam support, and the circus colors of the Nvidia 3090
Dell 7910 AKA the TOASTER OVEN
WAGO Push Connector saves the day
Back in my office, under stacks of outdated manuals and a jungle of tangled cables, lives my own creation: a Dell 7910 server turned AI powerhouse. Much like Chad’s truck, this server was an older server but certainly not a "SHITBOX". It was cheap, outdated, and begging for experimentation. Delivered in a cardboard box filled with antistatic foam, both box and foam now serve a new purpose, helping ensure airflow since the side panel no longer closes. Sure, I've secured it with painter’s tape (no proper duct tape for me), but the server runs remarkably. Initially boasting dual CPUs and a terrible video card without a GPU, I upgraded its "engine" with an NVIDIA RTX 3090 GPU featuring 24GB of VRAM and boosted the RAM to 512GB, allowing it to handle almost every local AI model imaginable—tasks the Dell engineers never envisioned. Like Chad’s truck, it generates enough heat to transform my office into a sauna, each bead of sweat marking another late-night victory over stubborn Linux drivers and BIOS quirks. If you look closely, you will discover that I didn't have the correct three power supply cable. This barely slowed me down as I couldn't find the Duct tape but I did find a leftover WAGO push connector. It was good enough to trick the RTX to "think" I had the proper cable
The $10,000 Fancy Machines Need Not Apply
The sleek and beautiful $10,000 Mac Studio
Of course, we occasionally encounter flashy newcomers like the sleek Mac Studio. Sure, it costs nearly ten grand and offers top-notch tech support on-demand. But Chad and I have something even better—the boundless wisdom of the entire Internet, solving problems we never anticipated. The Mac Studio is polished, perfect, and completely devoid of adventure. It has the same 512G as my server but its much faster. It’s the shiny sports car some dad bought his kid for fun. It's bought and not built—flashy yet lacking heart. Every battle scar our machines proudly display signifies lessons learned, knowledge earned, and adventures conquered. If you add up the cost of Chad's SHITBOX and my Dell Server you could still have an extra $5,000. That will buy both of us a fire extinquisher... Just in case.
The hood won't fit
The hood won't fit here either
Different Machines, Same Spirit
Despite vastly different appearances, Chad’s S10 and my Dell server share uncanny similarities. Both are absurdly modified far beyond their original designs. Both run hot enough to cook a meal. And amusingly, both have lost their hoods (or computer covers, in my case). Born from stubborn defiance and unyielding ingenuity, these machines echo our shared determination.
Ultimately, it’s not about horsepower, gigahertz, or specs—it's about the joy of exploration. It's for the tinkerer who sees beauty in rust, the dreamer who finds promise in outdated circuits, and the optimist who turns setbacks into stories worth telling. It’s about laughing through epic misadventures, savoring every "aha!" moment, and sharing the pride of challenges conquered together.So here’s to Chad, and to every tinkerer, dreamer, and visionary who sees not what is, but what could be—transforming every "SHITBOX" into something truly extraordinary.
You're welcome Chad!
This article is brought to you by Wacktastic's exclusive "Missing Manhood" underwear line. Let's face it—anyone stuffing oversized engines into rusty, crusty shitbox trucks might just be compensating for something, right? I'm not saying Chad needs a pair... but he definitely does. My Dell AI server sacrificed a few GPUs to create an uncannily lifelike Chad avatar just to model these briefs.