I know a little about cars, but none of it is useful because I’m too broke for any fun cars or mods and all that knowledge was from the Donut YouTube channel so very little of it is actionable.
@phendrick I don’t mind the PCM systems, they actually make my life simpler and do something useful. But the asshole who came up with the BCM can dissolve slowly in a vat of formic acid.
@narfcake Or make a no-start issue into a $1350 twenty minute repair. Or force turn signals to stop working when LED bulbs get installed. Or any of dozens of other smartass fails.
Funny you should ask. My job is to secure entertainment / information (infotainment) systems for cars. So, yes, I am a car person because it gives me money to spend at Meh, well sometimes.
@phendrick Well, that show is a new one to me. A cross between Mister Ed, Knight Rider, and the Dick Van Dyke Show — put ’em all in a bag, mix it up, and pull out a little bit of each.
@xobzoo But it was not anywhere as successful as the ones you mentioned. Must have been some ingredient left in the bag.
Per Wikipedia,
Critics and adult viewers generally disliked the show, often savagely. In 2002, TV Guide proclaimed it to be the second-worst of all time, behind The Jerry Springer Show.
Until I saw the credits, I’d forgotten that Ann Sothern had been the voice of “Mother”, but never seen on screen. I remember watching her in black and white reruns on TV when I was a child. She was a great actress and comedienne.
@phendrick@xobzoo I watched this in first run as a kid. I am disappointed to say that too many of my brain cells are still occupied storing the theme song. A 1928 Porter
That’s my mother dear
She helps me through every thing I do
And I’m so glad she’s here
I was ten when this aired,I had the model kit I kept in an oat meal box it never left my side for months .the 85 year old neighbor seen my model he gave me an original cloth bound ford T service manual ,I wore it out reading it, When I was 32 I bought an 1928 model T 4 door convertible and restored it from scratch .did care if the show was silly I loved that car!
In the late 1970s, when NIASE first offered a Master Automotive Technician certification, I was in the first or second batch of mechanics who qualified for one. (It’s just ASE now.) But I spent more time in the parts end of the business than turning wrenches after that, which embarrassed a couple of people along the way when I was able to pull rank on them from the other side of the parts counter.
@PooltoyWolf As far as I know, only a small number were made, some of which were fitted to boats and the rest to a couple of other platforms as a test program, but the design was eventually judged to be a failure and never reached sale to the general trade. One pair was in a yacht that ran out of South Florida in the '70s, and the engines failed and got replaced by GM for free twice before the plug got pulled. When the last set chunked, the owner had an entirely different powerplant fitted. Changing engine designs on a vessel of that size is a bit of a bitch; the weight balance gets thrown off when you sub in three tons of cast iron where 2800 pounds of aluminum and steel had been allowed for in the design.
@werehatrack Being a massive two-stroke Detroit nut, I’m mildly surprised I’ve never heard of this before. A Google search doesn’t seem to turn anything up.
@PooltoyWolf It was long enough ago and sufficiently unremarked in the literature of the day that there are probably not too many people still around who know. I wish I had a photo of the carnage involved in swapping out the failures.
I have to be as I have no intention of having car payments. It’s crazy that the average monthly payment is over $700 nowadays.
Some of my cars were even purchased completely dead. Today’s battery pack wouldn’t have helped me when I purchased my current car, though; it was the hybrid battery that was the issue (as was disclosed in the listing. Still got it running and actually drove it home.)
@narfcake Heh. You too, eh? I’ve bought more than one DOA and resuscitated it on site just enough to get it home, and then put as much as 200K more on them before they developed too many simultaneous problems to be economical to fix.
@werehatrack In my case, no limping involved. Also I only learned of a potential resolution that very morning before I went over to look at it.
The seller was very surprised that I got it running, though my code scanner was still showing a battery fault. I did offer a right of refusal; she kept to her word, though, and sold it at the advertised price.
Years ago before everyone had cell phones in their pockets, I taught (mostly) business women who traveled a lot how to do maintenance and emergency service on their cars. I taught things like changing a tire, taping a burst hose, jump starting the car, oil change, battery check, etc., basic things so that if they were traveling, they could fix it well enough to get to a safe place off of the highway or road.
Many of them had no idea how to do any of those things, and it gave them a sense of empowerment, not feeling so helpless and dependent, and an idea if someone was taking advantage of them when their cars were repaired.
Most of them were relieved to learn from another woman because they didn’t want the teasing and ridicule that they thought they would get from a man teacher.
It was very rewarding!
@Tadlem43 But now I’d venture that the average male driver knows even less about their vehicles than those ladies you taught (before you taught them, even). [Except those that grew up on farms.]
@phendrick True!
When I got my first car, it was an old 1964 Dodge Dart with a push button transmission. AM radio, heater, and 4/40 A/C (4 windows down, 40 miles an hour).
My stepdad gave me a set of wrenches, and told me to go take it apart and put it back together. I was 18?ish… and it was one of the best things I ever did. It gave me a working knowledge of the car, so I knew if a mechanic was trying to rip me off, I could work on my own cars, and did until they became so computerized, and it allowed me to teach others.
It was about the only decent thing I got from him, but I will forever be thankful for learning it.
@detailer@Tadlem43 A high school buddy of mine had a 1963 4-door Valiant with Slant 6 and PB transmission. His nickname was “Large” (because he was, well, Large) so the Valiant became known as “The Large-Mobile”. He ran the hell out of that car for years and it just kept going.
@phendrick@Tadlem43
40mph!!! It must have taken you forever to go anywhere but then again where did people go? Maybe the next city, the interstate wasn’t even built yet. I would love a Time Machine to travel to simpler times and see what it’s like. I think that’s what’s I like so much about when the power goes out, it gets rid of all this extra shit we have now days. Except the heat in winter, it was a cold weekend a few ago when I lost power. Summer I could deal with.
@detailer@macromeh@Tadlem43 The guy who lived across the street from me in the late '60s had a Dart with a slant 6, and his job as a sales rep with a large territory made him drive it a lot. By the time he traded it in, he had put over 750K on it without having the head off. Two transmissions, though.
@phendrick@Star2236 lol We had paved roads and everything! lol When do you think this was?
Yes, we had interstates, we went much faster than 40 mph (that reference was to my air conditioning, tongue in cheek, because most cars didn’t have factory installed air conditioning, but you could put an A/C unit under the dash), and we went everywhere people go today. Why, in 1960 or so, we took the interstate from the SE all the way to California!
Travel-wise, it wasn’t a lot different from today, it’s just more modernized now. Much more electronic.
Yes, it was a simpler time, but we had electricity and gas stations.
Go watch some YouTube videos of the 60’s. You’ll see it wasn’t a lot different in a many ways.
@detailer@macromeh@werehatrack Yep. Slant 6. 170HP or 270 HP, if I remember? I drove it on the highway a lot and it would go 70 without much effort. It was easy to maintain, very straightforward, like most cars of the time.
I’m not surprised he got that kind of mileage out of it. It was a workhorse! And, for it’s time, kinda sporty.
@detailer@Tadlem43 My parents owned a Plymouth Valiant and it survived needing it’s frame welded more than once. They drove it into the ground and had it around 20 years.
@phendrick@Tadlem43
Oh maybe they meant the interstate wasn’t complete till the 70s (I read fast) I know you had electricity and gas stations lol I wasn’t born last nigh.
@blaineg@phendrick@Star2236 Ah, yes…and I remember them well! I also remember, and this was in the late 70’s, that I said if gas got to $1 a gallon, I’d walk. lol
Why, in 1960 or so, we took the interstate from the SE all the way to California!
That’s a good trick, given that large chunks of I-10, 1-40 and I-70 still had not been built in the early '70s when I first drove out there. Parts of old Route 66 were still in service in New Mexico and Arizona, among other things.
@werehatrack I didn’t say we took it the whole way, but we did take the interstate. Route 66, though decommissioned, is still in service in a lot of areas. The point is, we went faster than 40 mph and didn’t have horse and buggies.
@Tadlem43 Faster than forty until you fetched up behind The Guy Towing An Airstream Behind An International Travelall. That disturbingly common combo (west of the Missisoupy, anyway) was pretty much guaranteed to be running no more than 40 unless headed downhill with a tailwind.
I loved working on our cars into my '20s when things got too busy. My retirement project is getting my first car (still have it!) back on the road. I love mechanical work, and enjoy the electrical stuff, but I’m going to have to pay for bodywork and paint… meh.
I’m really looking forward to both fixing it and finally driving it again…
@duodec@werehatrack My first car (after high school, 4 years of college, and a few months of Air Force) was a 1966 Pontiac Executive. I loved that car. I bought it in 1970 as I headed to my new assignment. I put about 500 miles on it every week. Seated six comfortably, a trunk you could easily put a bicycle into without any disassembly and carry all your luggage. Gas mileage (IIRC) was about 18-19 mpg, whether or not the air conditioning was on, driving the west Texas interstates at 80, + or -. On two lanes I could pass without fear; its little two barrel carburetor would really kick when in passing gear. For its size, it handled like a sports car. There was really something to that “Wide-Track” they marketed.
I had done all my own work on it: brake jobs, the requisite water pump replacement, new alternator, alignments,shock replacements.
It survived about five years of my handling, but not my girlfriend of the time who tried parking it between two vehicles moving in opposite directions. She was fine; the car was never driven again.
Until then, I had thought the thing was indestructible.
My dream is that a factory-fresh low-mileage one will be discovered in somebody’s hay barn and offered on eBay, and no one else will appreciate it or want it.
@blaineg@werehatrack There are a lot of ways modern cars are better; certainly more advanced. But they’re also worse due to the insane level of complexity needed to support both the new cool features and the overwhelming amount of government mandated stuff that fills all the spaces and makes them a PITA to work on.
Mine is a '71 Challenger (not an R/T though), is going to get some upgrades (O/D transmission, suspension, etc) but mostly keeping it stock or upgraded stock. I miss that car. It was my first, and daily driver for quite a few years. Getting it running and restored is my retirement hobby goal (then enjoying it for as long as I can). Parts prices though… sigh…
Regarding handling; a LOT of work’s been done making these cars handle better through the years, and you don’t need a different suspension to do it.
About $2500-3000 for improved parts, body stiffening, and proper alignment plus the cost of modern handling tires and nice rims. They still can’t match a new sports car but they will handle surprisingly well and be reasonably comfortable on the streets. If you feel like spending low 5 figures $$$$$ you can replace the entire suspension setups and get modern handling with nearly stock appearance.
I am a car person in maybe not the way you mean. I mean I’d certainly enjoy a muscle car with a stick shift. Even a Saturn SL SOHC 5 speed is fun to drive. I’m not opposed to having a “nice” car. Just not where I’ve chosen to focus my resources.
I have had 3.5 cars. A 1990 Plymouth Acclaim my dad bought for $500 with a blown head gasket. I helped/did most of the work so after it was done and running and he drove it a bit he sold it to me for $500. It was actually in really good shape. Unfortunately fall of my junior year in high school i made a normal left turn… And got hit (i swear they ran the light).
Had to drop the engine into the parts car (hence the .5) in the freezing garage. But it ran. May have been a little clumsy with the torque converter. And only for like 9 months because… It had some fuel pump issues/random stops over the summer. Too unreliable for college.
Enter the 1999 $1650 Saturn with 100K miles that made it to 250K miles/lasted me 15 years. I did everything on that car.
Now the 1997 Ford expedition. Yes the 5.4L triton is shit but it’s the 2V not the problematic 3V so. Eh. $400. Resurrected that from half the cylinders misfiring. Cleaned out the rear diff pulling both axles. Bunch of your normal rust bucket fixes.
Never mind fixing other people stuff. Next round may be dad’s 1993 metro that needs an engine rebuild. Those engines are really simple. I wanted to just do it in highschool but he wanted to do it himself. I guess I did kind of occupy the garage for a while. He never got to it… He has cancer now but asked if I wanted it/hed like to drive it again. Honestly I am 90% sure I could drive there and pull the whole engine in a few hours. Take it home. Rebuild it and drop it back in. But then it’s been sitting for 20 years. And it’s a metro. At least in a garage.
So that’s the kind of “car person” I am. I’m not so much into cars. But I can fix it. And the cars I’ve been in contact with have some of me in then. Mostly just cause. When you are trying to get that one mother fing bolt lose and put all your strength in it when it breaks free you’re going to end up bleeding on something
@unksol I’d say the definitive measure of how much a “car person” someone is would be how familiar they are with a bolt extractor and how many different vehicles they’ve used one on. My resume on such goes back to college days and a Honda 160 engine. (m.c., for anyone not familiar).
@phendrick lmao
When I was a kid helping dad idk if I was 12 or 13 ish. Replacing a strut tower. He said tighten this as far as you can and I’ll torque it. Then he kept doing something else.
Naturaly I did what he said… And snapped the bolt. Whoops.
Had to extract one on the Plymouth that would not come out and snapped. Never had to weld a bolt head on one/go that far.
Seized parts… That has taken some destructive. Work. Rust belt
@phendrick@unksol Definitely a car person in my book. I don’t get the mindset of owning a fast or interesting car and just putting gas in it. They’re missing half the fun.
@edsa I still listen to the shows, even though each is a composite of segments of different shows. They are very kind to their callers who have done silly things with the cars or who obviously know little about cars. And they are funny.
@andyw@edsa I loved the episode where they told a lady she’d need to get into the trunk of a VW bug to get at something and she told them that might not be possible because the trunk was an extension of her purse.
@blaineg it’s very satisfying if you just need to unwind and shake your head at… Just stupidity. . There are alot lol.
There is one where “customer states turns off when turning x direction” on an ATV . they had some junk on the key chain that would hit the steering yoke when turned one way and switch the ignition off.
@unksol Yep, that one was beautiful. How about “turn signal doesn’t work for right turns” because they’ve got crap hanging on the stalk.
Or one of my favorites: “doors lock & unlock whenever wipers are on” because a spare key fob is laying on the windshield, and the wipers are hitting the button.
@unksol The cars that are full of garbage (literally) and/or bugs (figuratively) creep me out. No way would I work on those, or even want to me near them.
@blaineg I mean there are tolerances. And then safety buffers. But honestly after finding one I probably would have backed away and not checked the rest. And just assumed moron all the way around and figured out how to safely depressurize.
It’s cathartic if you want to just have a laugh at idiots. It may be stressful if you realize there are people drive cars like this next to you.
@unksol Oh, I’ve been down that rabbit hole for a long time, no need to apologize!
Other rabbit holes I recommend are The Hydraulic Press Channel, The Slingshot Channel, The Slow-Mo Guys, Adam Savage’s Tested, Smarter Every Day, Project Farm, Dust, Colin Furze, FortNine, How Ridiculous, etc., etc.
@blaineg I think I’ve done all of those. The algorithm does sometimes work. You didn’t list torquetestchannel but based on the available data I’m sure you have watched it.
I love driving almost more than anything. Would love to be a car person, but I am happily married and have other hobbies and I would like to keep it that way.
@Star2236 So from these comments I know I’m not really a car person, because I just don’t get loving to drive - I like it, but it’s just a way to get somewhere to me, not an activity I love for itself.
@blaineg@Kyeh@Star2236 This was my first car - it didn’t look quite like this when I got it at 17, but after many mods and fresh paint.
1969 Mustang Mach 1, 428 Cobra Jet, 4 speed, posi-trac rear end, 3x2BBL intake, aluminum wheels, Goodrich TA’s etc.
Amazing that I lived through owning this car. I probably never should have sold it - it would be worth a pretty penny now.
Well I did manage to get a grand caravan to last 25 years and 3 months… I only did the painting myself the last 8 or 9 years of it’s life (the era of the peeling paint). For the rest I knew the mechanic’s phone number by heart. PS I did do some body repair. When it was about 16 or 17 a student took an axe to the body of each car in the faculty parking lot. I used clear bath tub sealant on both sides of the gash to cover it and fill it. When it died some years later no rust there. My kid called the thing the ghetto van and swore she’d never learn to drive it. I had to get the ignition kill fixed, because, well, she lied about was never going to drive it. She then said to me once, “Mom the ghetto van is broken”. I asked her, “And how would you know that?”. Hahaha she had told on herself.
My first car? 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix, just out of high school. I was the third owner, and was with my gearhead uncle the night he bought it from the original owner who only used it for towing his camping trailer. It had the 389 ci Tri-carb engine a year before the GTO came out.
Not my car, but it looked exactly like this, and was in excellent shape.
Those fins are not hubcaps, they are the brake drums, with 8 lug nuts around the outside edge. (Open the pic in a new window to get a bigger image.)
We won’t talk about my 2nd & 3rd cars. They were just cheap crap to get me through the winters until I could get back on the motorcycles.
My motorcycle history is more interesting than my car history. Learned to ride on a Bridgestone 60. It was a sportbike, it even says so on the side! Heel & toe shifter, with a rotary shift pattern. N-1-2-3-4-N-etc. Upshifting from fourth was embarrassing. Upshifting twice from 4th would have the poor engine crying in pain, and slow you quite abruptly!
It came with a 72 tooth rear sprocket and foot or so of extra chain. With that gearing, top speed was maybe 10-15 mph in any gear. But it could climb telephone poles. My little brother loved humiliating his YZ/CR/KX/RM riding friends on hill climbs. Better yet, in winter we’d tow the younger siblings around the yard on tubes or toboggans. My Dad not only didn’t object, he encouraged it.
The Suzuki TC250 (scrambler version of the X6 Hustler) was a massive upgrade. It came from one of my gearhead uncle’s friends (Uncle had the Honda SuperHawk 305 at the same time). Typical, and very entertaining, 2-stroke lightswitch powerband. It was a terrible dirt bike though, only a couple inches of suspension, and too heavy.
Honda’s CL450, a scrambler version of the CB450 twin. A worse dirt bike than the Suzuki because it was heavier. Slower too.
The first bike I bought with my own cash (Dad owned all the previous bikes, but they were each “mine” for a time.), Suzuki’s GS1000E. The Big Four in 1978 were the Kawasaki KZ1000, or the racer style Z1-R; Yamaha’s XS Eleven, the first 1100cc four; Honda’s amazing CBX 6 cylinder; and the GS1000. The GS was the best all around bike, and had the best handling, but some part of me still lusts after the CBX. I kept the GS1000E from 1985 to 1991.
Currently, my 1991 Yamaha FJ1200. Yes, I keep stuff forever. Big, fast, comfortable, torque monster. I’ve put thousands of miles on it on trips through most of the western states. A set of Krauser hard bags and top case make it a great touring machine. I need to revive it this year, it’s sat too long.
That leaves out three dirt bikes and a Quad, but I’ve yammered on long enough.
@blaineg@werehatrack The V8 is engine-out as the chains are on the back (firewall) side on the engine. The V6 and I4 engines, this is like the first step when doing anything:
@blaineg@werehatrack Alternatively, they are in full cooperation in how evil they can be to assure the most labor intensive job for anything beyond an oil change.
Alternatively, they are in full cooperation in how evil they can be to assure the most labor intensive job for anyeverything beyondincluding an oil change.
@blaineg@narfcake I have a filter removal wrench that’s perfect for those.
On a different vehicle, while I don’t have a photo, one of the Ford pickup models has the drain plug above a frame member so that it always makes a horrible mess. There’s a third-party accessory drain assembly that accommodates a short hose, but it’s about $80 and not factory-approved. Many models of cars and trucks now have a plate in the underbody fairing that has to be opened in order to get to the drain plug, and some of them are helpily hinged so that the vehicle has to be as much as an extra foot off the ground before they will allow using a regular drain pan. The list of design misfeatures that I refuse to tolerate in a vehicle of my own is growing. Eventually, I’m going to be reduced to restoring and maintaining antiques.
@narfcake@werehatrack Decades ago I was changing the oil on a 4WD Ford, and while the filter was easy to get to, you had to thread it through and around nearly every part of the front suspension and steering mechanism to get it free. Slopping hot oil the whole way.
@narfcake@werehatrack On the other hand, part of SWMBO’s Toyota minivan was obviously designed by a mechanic. The oil filter is mounted on the front side of the V6, and easy to get to. Right below it is a sturdy plate with a half inch or so lip around the edge to hold the filter. It’s pointed and notched on one corner drain and direct the oil flow.
Next project – not chosen by me – transmission replacement on a 2015 Mitsubishi. Also on the short list: Dakota front suspension rebuild, and Justy head gasket. Further down the list: Dolphin (Toyota) motorhome refurb.
@walarney Cool!! You own a Dolphin!!! I had a Sunrader (mine was V6 Nissan of which only about 20 were made apparently and didn’t have the problems the Toyota V6 ones had - eg engine issues). I had to sell it to pay medical bills but while I had it I loved it. You on the io groups for those things? If you end up looking for parts Linda on the one list (there are 2 of them) seems to have a magic wand for finding parts for people.
@Kidsandliz Yeah, but it’s a project. Roof had leaked when I bought it. Re-did the bathroom and replaced a lot of rotten wood throughout. That carpet – I think it was more staples than carpet. After it sat for a few years, discovered that the roof was still leaking when you park downhill. So back to starting over on the water damage repair. Waiting now to build a shop big enough to work on it indoors.
Thanks for the tip on the io groups! I’ll have to check it out. It’s always fun to see one on the road.
@walarney what I loved about the Sunrader was it was 2 piece fiberglass. The only leaks were window seals and stuff in the roof like the fan and A/C seals.
@walarney the two io groups of interest would be toyota-campers and minitruckcampers (Linda is most active on the later one). Yes I realize there are facebook groups and the email lists are far less active than they used to be but the archives are really useful for repair, updates people have done to theirs, nice photos… and as I said Linda seems to be able to find anything needed to fix the things not to mention giving suggestions for how to fix something (although others have good suggestions too).
Nope. I am a person person.
@yakkoTDI What if you’re Turbo Teen?!
[Yes, Turbo Teen!][1]
[1]:
@pakopako @yakkoTDI That’s some crumple zone.
I know a little about cars, but none of it is useful because I’m too broke for any fun cars or mods and all that knowledge was from the Donut YouTube channel so very little of it is actionable.
@shawn_mitch What, not even the “We tried out all these Wish accessories” whose appropriate action is “avoid”? I’m batting a thousand on those!
I used to be pretty good with them.
Then they started putting !@#$%%! computers into every !@#$%%! nook and cranny of them.
@phendrick I don’t mind the PCM systems, they actually make my life simpler and do something useful. But the asshole who came up with the BCM can dissolve slowly in a vat of formic acid.
@phendrick @werehatrack The BCM is pretty important on my car, as it’s the Battery Control Module.
The other BCM – Body Control Module – well, how else could they make a power window failure even more expensive to repair?!?
@narfcake Or make a no-start issue into a $1350 twenty minute repair. Or force turn signals to stop working when LED bulbs get installed. Or any of dozens of other smartass fails.
Funny you should ask. My job is to secure entertainment / information (infotainment) systems for cars. So, yes, I am a car person because it gives me money to spend at Meh, well sometimes.
@hchavers Secure as in obtain, or as in infosec?
@blaineg Blue team leader
/showme automobile-humanoid hybrid person (i.e. a car person)
@awk You want a car person? How about:
I can’t figure out why this show wasn’t renewed for a second season.
And I guess @mediocrebot isn’t old enough to remember it.
@phendrick Well, that show is a new one to me. A cross between Mister Ed, Knight Rider, and the Dick Van Dyke Show — put ’em all in a bag, mix it up, and pull out a little bit of each.
@xobzoo But it was not anywhere as successful as the ones you mentioned. Must have been some ingredient left in the bag.
Per Wikipedia,
Until I saw the credits, I’d forgotten that Ann Sothern had been the voice of “Mother”, but never seen on screen. I remember watching her in black and white reruns on TV when I was a child. She was a great actress and comedienne.
@phendrick @xobzoo I watched this in first run as a kid. I am disappointed to say that too many of my brain cells are still occupied storing the theme song.
A 1928 Porter
That’s my mother dear
She helps me through every thing I do
And I’m so glad she’s here
@macromeh @phendrick @xobzoo I’ve never seen it, I just remember it as the butt of many jokes.
@macromeh @phendrick @xobzoo I found a car person in the video comments:
In the late 1970s, when NIASE first offered a Master Automotive Technician certification, I was in the first or second batch of mechanics who qualified for one. (It’s just ASE now.) But I spent more time in the parts end of the business than turning wrenches after that, which embarrassed a couple of people along the way when I was able to pull rank on them from the other side of the parts counter.
Gearhead yes, but mostly locomotives and airliners rather than road vehicles…but a Detroit Diesel is always amazing.
@PooltoyWolf Ever seen one of the infamous aluminum X6-71 mills? (“Rare” is an understatement.)
@werehatrack Aluminum block 6-71? What were they used in, minesweepers?
@PooltoyWolf As far as I know, only a small number were made, some of which were fitted to boats and the rest to a couple of other platforms as a test program, but the design was eventually judged to be a failure and never reached sale to the general trade. One pair was in a yacht that ran out of South Florida in the '70s, and the engines failed and got replaced by GM for free twice before the plug got pulled. When the last set chunked, the owner had an entirely different powerplant fitted. Changing engine designs on a vessel of that size is a bit of a bitch; the weight balance gets thrown off when you sub in three tons of cast iron where 2800 pounds of aluminum and steel had been allowed for in the design.
@werehatrack Being a massive two-stroke Detroit nut, I’m mildly surprised I’ve never heard of this before. A Google search doesn’t seem to turn anything up.
@PooltoyWolf It was long enough ago and sufficiently unremarked in the literature of the day that there are probably not too many people still around who know. I wish I had a photo of the carnage involved in swapping out the failures.
/showme carresapien AKA car person
I have to be as I have no intention of having car payments. It’s crazy that the average monthly payment is over $700 nowadays.
Some of my cars were even purchased completely dead.
Today’s battery pack wouldn’t have helped me when I purchased my current car, though; it was the hybrid battery that was the issue (as was disclosed in the listing. Still got it running and actually drove it home.)
@narfcake Heh. You too, eh? I’ve bought more than one DOA and resuscitated it on site just enough to get it home, and then put as much as 200K more on them before they developed too many simultaneous problems to be economical to fix.
@werehatrack In my case, no limping involved. Also I only learned of a potential resolution that very morning before I went over to look at it.
The seller was very surprised that I got it running, though my code scanner was still showing a battery fault. I did offer a right of refusal; she kept to her word, though, and sold it at the advertised price.
Years ago before everyone had cell phones in their pockets, I taught (mostly) business women who traveled a lot how to do maintenance and emergency service on their cars. I taught things like changing a tire, taping a burst hose, jump starting the car, oil change, battery check, etc., basic things so that if they were traveling, they could fix it well enough to get to a safe place off of the highway or road.
Many of them had no idea how to do any of those things, and it gave them a sense of empowerment, not feeling so helpless and dependent, and an idea if someone was taking advantage of them when their cars were repaired.
Most of them were relieved to learn from another woman because they didn’t want the teasing and ridicule that they thought they would get from a man teacher.
It was very rewarding!
@Tadlem43 But now I’d venture that the average male driver knows even less about their vehicles than those ladies you taught (before you taught them, even). [Except those that grew up on farms.]
@phendrick True!
When I got my first car, it was an old 1964 Dodge Dart with a push button transmission. AM radio, heater, and 4/40 A/C (4 windows down, 40 miles an hour).
My stepdad gave me a set of wrenches, and told me to go take it apart and put it back together. I was 18?ish… and it was one of the best things I ever did. It gave me a working knowledge of the car, so I knew if a mechanic was trying to rip me off, I could work on my own cars, and did until they became so computerized, and it allowed me to teach others.
It was about the only decent thing I got from him, but I will forever be thankful for learning it.
@Tadlem43 You’re lucky! A friend of mine had his daughter do that too. I’m envious.
@Tadlem43 My Sister had the “sister car” of that one. 1964 Plymouth Valiant PB trans.
@detailer @Tadlem43 A high school buddy of mine had a 1963 4-door Valiant with Slant 6 and PB transmission. His nickname was “Large” (because he was, well, Large) so the Valiant became known as “The Large-Mobile”. He ran the hell out of that car for years and it just kept going.
@phendrick @Tadlem43
40mph!!! It must have taken you forever to go anywhere but then again where did people go? Maybe the next city, the interstate wasn’t even built yet. I would love a Time Machine to travel to simpler times and see what it’s like. I think that’s what’s I like so much about when the power goes out, it gets rid of all this extra shit we have now days. Except the heat in winter, it was a cold weekend a few ago when I lost power. Summer I could deal with.
@detailer @macromeh My Dart was a great car! I wish I had it now!
@detailer @macromeh @Tadlem43 The guy who lived across the street from me in the late '60s had a Dart with a slant 6, and his job as a sales rep with a large territory made him drive it a lot. By the time he traded it in, he had put over 750K on it without having the head off. Two transmissions, though.
@phendrick @Star2236 lol We had paved roads and everything! lol When do you think this was?
Yes, we had interstates, we went much faster than 40 mph (that reference was to my air conditioning, tongue in cheek, because most cars didn’t have factory installed air conditioning, but you could put an A/C unit under the dash), and we went everywhere people go today. Why, in 1960 or so, we took the interstate from the SE all the way to California!
Travel-wise, it wasn’t a lot different from today, it’s just more modernized now. Much more electronic.
Yes, it was a simpler time, but we had electricity and gas stations.
Go watch some YouTube videos of the 60’s. You’ll see it wasn’t a lot different in a many ways.
@detailer @macromeh @werehatrack Yep. Slant 6. 170HP or 270 HP, if I remember? I drove it on the highway a lot and it would go 70 without much effort. It was easy to maintain, very straightforward, like most cars of the time.
I’m not surprised he got that kind of mileage out of it. It was a workhorse! And, for it’s time, kinda sporty.
@detailer @Tadlem43 My parents owned a Plymouth Valiant and it survived needing it’s frame welded more than once. They drove it into the ground and had it around 20 years.
@phendrick @Tadlem43
Oh maybe they meant the interstate wasn’t complete till the 70s (I read fast) I know you had electricity and gas stations lol I wasn’t born last nigh.
@phendrick @Star2236 lol Well, it kinda sounded like it. lol I know I’m old, but dirt was around before I was. lol
@phendrick @Star2236 @Tadlem43 How about full service gas stations? That’s a definite age benchmark.
@blaineg @phendrick @Star2236 Ah, yes…and I remember them well! I also remember, and this was in the late 70’s, that I said if gas got to $1 a gallon, I’d walk. lol
@phendrick @Star2236 @Tadlem43 And all the kerfuffle with gas pumps that couldn’t handle more than 99.9.
Or going further back, gas “price wars” that were fought with the tenth, instead of being fixed at $xx.9.
@Tadlem43
That’s a good trick, given that large chunks of I-10, 1-40 and I-70 still had not been built in the early '70s when I first drove out there. Parts of old Route 66 were still in service in New Mexico and Arizona, among other things.
@werehatrack I didn’t say we took it the whole way, but we did take the interstate. Route 66, though decommissioned, is still in service in a lot of areas. The point is, we went faster than 40 mph and didn’t have horse and buggies.
@Tadlem43 Faster than forty until you fetched up behind The Guy Towing An Airstream Behind An International Travelall. That disturbingly common combo (west of the Missisoupy, anyway) was pretty much guaranteed to be running no more than 40 unless headed downhill with a tailwind.
I loved working on our cars into my '20s when things got too busy. My retirement project is getting my first car (still have it!) back on the road. I love mechanical work, and enjoy the electrical stuff, but I’m going to have to pay for bodywork and paint… meh.
I’m really looking forward to both fixing it and finally driving it again…
@duodec I sort of wish I still had my first car. But really, I have better ones now.
@duodec @werehatrack My first car (after high school, 4 years of college, and a few months of Air Force) was a 1966 Pontiac Executive. I loved that car. I bought it in 1970 as I headed to my new assignment. I put about 500 miles on it every week. Seated six comfortably, a trunk you could easily put a bicycle into without any disassembly and carry all your luggage. Gas mileage (IIRC) was about 18-19 mpg, whether or not the air conditioning was on, driving the west Texas interstates at 80, + or -. On two lanes I could pass without fear; its little two barrel carburetor would really kick when in passing gear. For its size, it handled like a sports car. There was really something to that “Wide-Track” they marketed.
I had done all my own work on it: brake jobs, the requisite water pump replacement, new alternator, alignments,shock replacements.
It survived about five years of my handling, but not my girlfriend of the time who tried parking it between two vehicles moving in opposite directions. She was fine; the car was never driven again.
Until then, I had thought the thing was indestructible.
My dream is that a factory-fresh low-mileage one will be discovered in somebody’s hay barn and offered on eBay, and no one else will appreciate it or want it.
Mine was white.
@duodec @werehatrack Yes, I was in love with my uncle’s 1969 Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car replica. But the 5th & 6th gen Camaros are better in every way.
In the 60s & 70s, who’d have thought that American Iron could go AND turn?
@blaineg @werehatrack There are a lot of ways modern cars are better; certainly more advanced. But they’re also worse due to the insane level of complexity needed to support both the new cool features and the overwhelming amount of government mandated stuff that fills all the spaces and makes them a PITA to work on.
Mine is a '71 Challenger (not an R/T though), is going to get some upgrades (O/D transmission, suspension, etc) but mostly keeping it stock or upgraded stock. I miss that car. It was my first, and daily driver for quite a few years. Getting it running and restored is my retirement hobby goal (then enjoying it for as long as I can). Parts prices though… sigh…
Regarding handling; a LOT of work’s been done making these cars handle better through the years, and you don’t need a different suspension to do it.
About $2500-3000 for improved parts, body stiffening, and proper alignment plus the cost of modern handling tires and nice rims. They still can’t match a new sports car but they will handle surprisingly well and be reasonably comfortable on the streets. If you feel like spending low 5 figures $$$$$ you can replace the entire suspension setups and get modern handling with nearly stock appearance.
Its going to be fun!
@duodec @werehatrack No disagreement about modern complexity, but unlike most, my Camaro still has a lot of space to work under the hood.
Every time I see this topic, I keep thinking it says are you a cat person
@heartny different thread. But you can do both!
@heartny @unksol You can even be both.
@heartny @werehatrack :p
I am a car person in maybe not the way you mean. I mean I’d certainly enjoy a muscle car with a stick shift. Even a Saturn SL SOHC 5 speed is fun to drive. I’m not opposed to having a “nice” car. Just not where I’ve chosen to focus my resources.
I have had 3.5 cars. A 1990 Plymouth Acclaim my dad bought for $500 with a blown head gasket. I helped/did most of the work so after it was done and running and he drove it a bit he sold it to me for $500. It was actually in really good shape. Unfortunately fall of my junior year in high school i made a normal left turn… And got hit (i swear they ran the light).
Had to drop the engine into the parts car (hence the .5) in the freezing garage. But it ran. May have been a little clumsy with the torque converter. And only for like 9 months because… It had some fuel pump issues/random stops over the summer. Too unreliable for college.
Enter the 1999 $1650 Saturn with 100K miles that made it to 250K miles/lasted me 15 years. I did everything on that car.
Now the 1997 Ford expedition. Yes the 5.4L triton is shit but it’s the 2V not the problematic 3V so. Eh. $400. Resurrected that from half the cylinders misfiring. Cleaned out the rear diff pulling both axles. Bunch of your normal rust bucket fixes.
Never mind fixing other people stuff. Next round may be dad’s 1993 metro that needs an engine rebuild. Those engines are really simple. I wanted to just do it in highschool but he wanted to do it himself. I guess I did kind of occupy the garage for a while. He never got to it… He has cancer now but asked if I wanted it/hed like to drive it again. Honestly I am 90% sure I could drive there and pull the whole engine in a few hours. Take it home. Rebuild it and drop it back in. But then it’s been sitting for 20 years. And it’s a metro. At least in a garage.
So that’s the kind of “car person” I am. I’m not so much into cars. But I can fix it. And the cars I’ve been in contact with have some of me in then. Mostly just cause. When you are trying to get that one mother fing bolt lose and put all your strength in it when it breaks free you’re going to end up bleeding on something
@unksol I’d say the definitive measure of how much a “car person” someone is would be how familiar they are with a bolt extractor and how many different vehicles they’ve used one on. My resume on such goes back to college days and a Honda 160 engine. (m.c., for anyone not familiar).
@phendrick lmao
When I was a kid helping dad idk if I was 12 or 13 ish. Replacing a strut tower. He said tighten this as far as you can and I’ll torque it. Then he kept doing something else.
Naturaly I did what he said… And snapped the bolt. Whoops.
Had to extract one on the Plymouth that would not come out and snapped. Never had to weld a bolt head on one/go that far.
Seized parts… That has taken some destructive. Work. Rust belt
@phendrick @unksol Definitely a car person in my book. I don’t get the mindset of owning a fast or interesting car and just putting gas in it. They’re missing half the fun.
I became more of a car person with Car Talk.
@edsa I still listen to the shows, even though each is a composite of segments of different shows. They are very kind to their callers who have done silly things with the cars or who obviously know little about cars. And they are funny.
@andyw @edsa I loved the episode where they told a lady she’d need to get into the trunk of a VW bug to get at something and she told them that might not be possible because the trunk was an extension of her purse.
@edsa @Kidsandliz Mine is a bit in that mode too!
/youtube customer states
@unksol This stuff is what the internet was made for.
@blaineg it’s very satisfying if you just need to unwind and shake your head at… Just stupidity. . There are alot lol.
There is one where “customer states turns off when turning x direction” on an ATV . they had some junk on the key chain that would hit the steering yoke when turned one way and switch the ignition off.
@unksol Yep, that one was beautiful. How about “turn signal doesn’t work for right turns” because they’ve got crap hanging on the stalk.
Or one of my favorites: “doors lock & unlock whenever wipers are on” because a spare key fob is laying on the windshield, and the wipers are hitting the button.
@unksol Just watched that one.
Holy cow, 145 psi in all tires? Why didn’t they explode?
@unksol The cars that are full of garbage (literally) and/or bugs (figuratively) creep me out. No way would I work on those, or even want to me near them.
@blaineg I mean there are tolerances. And then safety buffers. But honestly after finding one I probably would have backed away and not checked the rest. And just assumed moron all the way around and figured out how to safely depressurize.
It’s cathartic if you want to just have a laugh at idiots. It may be stressful if you realize there are people drive cars like this next to you.
Sorry if I sent you down a rabbit hole
@unksol Oh, I’ve been down that rabbit hole for a long time, no need to apologize!
Other rabbit holes I recommend are The Hydraulic Press Channel, The Slingshot Channel, The Slow-Mo Guys, Adam Savage’s Tested, Smarter Every Day, Project Farm, Dust, Colin Furze, FortNine, How Ridiculous, etc., etc.
Sorry in advance.
@blaineg I think I’ve done all of those. The algorithm does sometimes work. You didn’t list torquetestchannel but based on the available data I’m sure you have watched it.
/youtube Stuffmadehere bat
I love driving almost more than anything. Would love to be a car person, but I am happily married and have other hobbies and I would like to keep it that way.
Yeah I’m a car person as in I love to drive. I can tell you what’s wrong with my car, majority of the time but fixing it is the shops job.
@Star2236 So from these comments I know I’m not really a car person, because I just don’t get loving to drive - I like it, but it’s just a way to get somewhere to me, not an activity I love for itself.
@Kyeh @Star2236 For me the vehicle makes a big difference. The minivan? Eh, it’s a box to get places, or better than a tent for some casual camping.
The Camaro or a motorcycle? Let’s go find the horizon. Preferably on twisty roads.
@blaineg @Kyeh @Star2236 This was my first car - it didn’t look quite like this when I got it at 17, but after many mods and fresh paint.
1969 Mustang Mach 1, 428 Cobra Jet, 4 speed, posi-trac rear end, 3x2BBL intake, aluminum wheels, Goodrich TA’s etc.
Amazing that I lived through owning this car. I probably never should have sold it - it would be worth a pretty penny now.
@Kyeh @macromeh @Star2236 Very very nice.
Well I did manage to get a grand caravan to last 25 years and 3 months… I only did the painting myself the last 8 or 9 years of it’s life (the era of the peeling paint). For the rest I knew the mechanic’s phone number by heart.
PS I did do some body repair. When it was about 16 or 17 a student took an axe to the body of each car in the faculty parking lot. I used clear bath tub sealant on both sides of the gash to cover it and fill it. When it died some years later no rust there. My kid called the thing the ghetto van and swore she’d never learn to drive it. I had to get the ignition kill fixed, because, well, she lied about was never going to drive it. She then said to me once, “Mom the ghetto van is broken”. I asked her, “And how would you know that?”. Hahaha she had told on herself. 
My first car? 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix, just out of high school. I was the third owner, and was with my gearhead uncle the night he bought it from the original owner who only used it for towing his camping trailer. It had the 389 ci Tri-carb engine a year before the GTO came out.
Not my car, but it looked exactly like this, and was in excellent shape.
Those fins are not hubcaps, they are the brake drums, with 8 lug nuts around the outside edge. (Open the pic in a new window to get a bigger image.)
We won’t talk about my 2nd & 3rd cars. They were just cheap crap to get me through the winters until I could get back on the motorcycles.
My motorcycle history is more interesting than my car history. Learned to ride on a Bridgestone 60. It was a sportbike, it even says so on the side! Heel & toe shifter, with a rotary shift pattern. N-1-2-3-4-N-etc. Upshifting from fourth was embarrassing. Upshifting twice from 4th would have the poor engine crying in pain, and slow you quite abruptly!
It came with a 72 tooth rear sprocket and foot or so of extra chain. With that gearing, top speed was maybe 10-15 mph in any gear. But it could climb telephone poles. My little brother loved humiliating his YZ/CR/KX/RM riding friends on hill climbs. Better yet, in winter we’d tow the younger siblings around the yard on tubes or toboggans. My Dad not only didn’t object, he encouraged it.
The Suzuki TC250 (scrambler version of the X6 Hustler) was a massive upgrade. It came from one of my gearhead uncle’s friends (Uncle had the Honda SuperHawk 305 at the same time). Typical, and very entertaining, 2-stroke lightswitch powerband. It was a terrible dirt bike though, only a couple inches of suspension, and too heavy.
Honda’s CL450, a scrambler version of the CB450 twin. A worse dirt bike than the Suzuki because it was heavier. Slower too.
The first bike I bought with my own cash (Dad owned all the previous bikes, but they were each “mine” for a time.), Suzuki’s GS1000E. The Big Four in 1978 were the Kawasaki KZ1000, or the racer style Z1-R; Yamaha’s XS Eleven, the first 1100cc four; Honda’s amazing CBX 6 cylinder; and the GS1000. The GS was the best all around bike, and had the best handling, but some part of me still lusts after the CBX. I kept the GS1000E from 1985 to 1991.
Currently, my 1991 Yamaha FJ1200. Yes, I keep stuff forever. Big, fast, comfortable, torque monster. I’ve put thousands of miles on it on trips through most of the western states. A set of Krauser hard bags and top case make it a great touring machine. I need to revive it this year, it’s sat too long.
That leaves out three dirt bikes and a Quad, but I’ve yammered on long enough.
@blaineg You got some kind of little motor bike in an Irk once, didn’t you? That was pretty amazing, even though you had to fix it yourself.
@Kyeh Yep, a fold up electric scooter. Still have it. The perfect IRK for me.
@blaineg Typo up there, I had the GS1000E from 1978 to 1991, not 85.
@Kyeh Ah, there’s the tale: https://meh.com/forum/topics/project-irk-scooter
@blaineg Oh, great! I remember that, really fun to see you figure it out and get it running.
/showme car person with a huge gear head
That looks like an Audi cam chain. I mean chains.
@blaineg Replacing that isn’t a job, it’s a career.
@blaineg @werehatrack The V8 is engine-out as the chains are on the back (firewall) side on the engine. The V6 and I4 engines, this is like the first step when doing anything:
/image audi service position
@narfcake @werehatrack I’m pretty sure the Audi engineering and service depaprtments have never spoken to each other.
@blaineg @werehatrack Alternatively, they are in full cooperation in how evil they can be to assure the most labor intensive job for anything beyond an oil change.
@blaineg @narfcake
FIFY
@blaineg @werehatrack The evil oil change goes to Subaru.
/image Subaru ring of fire
@blaineg @narfcake I have a filter removal wrench that’s perfect for those.
On a different vehicle, while I don’t have a photo, one of the Ford pickup models has the drain plug above a frame member so that it always makes a horrible mess. There’s a third-party accessory drain assembly that accommodates a short hose, but it’s about $80 and not factory-approved. Many models of cars and trucks now have a plate in the underbody fairing that has to be opened in order to get to the drain plug, and some of them are helpily hinged so that the vehicle has to be as much as an extra foot off the ground before they will allow using a regular drain pan. The list of design misfeatures that I refuse to tolerate in a vehicle of my own is growing. Eventually, I’m going to be reduced to restoring and maintaining antiques.
@narfcake @werehatrack Decades ago I was changing the oil on a 4WD Ford, and while the filter was easy to get to, you had to thread it through and around nearly every part of the front suspension and steering mechanism to get it free. Slopping hot oil the whole way.
@narfcake @werehatrack On the other hand, part of SWMBO’s Toyota minivan was obviously designed by a mechanic. The oil filter is mounted on the front side of the V6, and easy to get to. Right below it is a sturdy plate with a half inch or so lip around the edge to hold the filter. It’s pointed and notched on one corner drain and direct the oil flow.
I need to buy that guy a drink.
Not a great photo, but the best I could find.
Next project – not chosen by me – transmission replacement on a 2015 Mitsubishi. Also on the short list: Dakota front suspension rebuild, and Justy head gasket. Further down the list: Dolphin (Toyota) motorhome refurb.
@walarney Cool!! You own a Dolphin!!! I had a Sunrader (mine was V6 Nissan of which only about 20 were made apparently and didn’t have the problems the Toyota V6 ones had - eg engine issues). I had to sell it to pay medical bills but while I had it I loved it. You on the io groups for those things? If you end up looking for parts Linda on the one list (there are 2 of them) seems to have a magic wand for finding parts for people.
@Kidsandliz Yeah, but it’s a project. Roof had leaked when I bought it. Re-did the bathroom and replaced a lot of rotten wood throughout. That carpet – I think it was more staples than carpet. After it sat for a few years, discovered that the roof was still leaking when you park downhill. So back to starting over on the water damage repair. Waiting now to build a shop big enough to work on it indoors.
Thanks for the tip on the io groups! I’ll have to check it out. It’s always fun to see one on the road.
@walarney what I loved about the Sunrader was it was 2 piece fiberglass. The only leaks were window seals and stuff in the roof like the fan and A/C seals.
@walarney the two io groups of interest would be toyota-campers and minitruckcampers (Linda is most active on the later one). Yes I realize there are facebook groups and the email lists are far less active than they used to be but the archives are really useful for repair, updates people have done to theirs, nice photos… and as I said Linda seems to be able to find anything needed to fix the things not to mention giving suggestions for how to fix something (although others have good suggestions too).
https://groups.io/g/minitruckcampers
https://groups.io/g/toyota-campers