wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 May 2011 23:34:26 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:
On 5/26/2011 10:51 PM, Robert Green wrote:
(snip) Before the Riviera and the Jag was a 71 Ford LTD
ex-state trooper car. Humongous engine, incredible torque but likely
to set
sail at really high speeds because of its very boxy design and high
undercarriage. Prodigious understeer, too. A whopping 7 miles to the
gallon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_LTD_(Americas)
It's "sweet spot" was the ability to catch up quickly with almost
anything
that shot past you. Accelerating from 55 to 85 was like having a
rocket
assist. But at about 90, it started to lift. With the window cracked
the
whoosh kept getting louder and louder until you got to a little over
90.
Then it was clear something had changed aerodynamically - as if I were
passing the sound barrier. (-" That car was very high off the ground
and as
enough air got rammed under the chassis the handling became terribly
squirrelly. Squirrelly is NOT what you want at 90+ mph.
--
Bobby G.
1963 Valiant with sagged rear springs - lowered the Torsion bars to
match and installed heavy duty gas shocks from a 'cuda.
Cornered like it was on rains, and stuck to the road like glue.
The "warmed over" slant six was putting 206HP to the rear tires
through the pushbutton automatic - 60 in Low, 90 in second, and bury
the speedo in drive at 6500RPM.
Didn't idle worth crap - pretty well HAD to drive in low in town.
Loved the pushbutton shifter. Had a Dodge Dart that blew the lower radiator
hose. I was too young to realize what a sudden jump in water temp and a
thump meant and when the dial settled back down (it was a bad design - the
gauge looked to be in the normal zone even though the sensor was no longer
in the coolant, which was now a yellow-green streak stretching out behind
the car). The result: burned out piston heads.
Rebuilt it (last engine rebuild I ever did - my mom couldn't stand all the
swearing!) and eventually sold it to a kid who managed to burn the rebuilt
engine up one week later by leaving the sump drain plug only hand tight.
Eventually it worked loose and he left a brownish-black trail up until the
moment the engine seized once again. He heard a thunk, too, and even saw
the oil pressure light come on. By that time the poor little Dart was
headed for the scrap heap.
My wife's the automotive expert. She and her friends race (ugh) Corvairs
rebuilt into "Yenko Stingers"
http://www.yenkostinger.com/faq.html
but IMHO, a Corvair is a Corvair, and gussying them up doesn't alter that
fact. The folks that race them, love them. There's no accounting for
taste.
I wonder, have they finally got things computerized enough so that engines
now shut themselves down when there's catastrophic coolant or oil leakage?
Based on all the codes that my OBD II scanner lists in the codebook, the
onboard computer's got a lot of sensors throughout the car that should be
able to detect a catastrophe in motion. Hell, my van knows when I'm using
an aftermarket locking gas cap and complains about it. It should be smart
enough to keep from committing suicide by oil loss.
--
Bobby G.