On Fri, 13 Dec 2013 06:17:42 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 22:55:05 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 17:53:54 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 10:08:55 -0800, pyotr filipivich
wrote:

Gunner Asch on Thu, 12 Dec 2013 08:03:49 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 09:08:03 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
news5uia9tsaj9jfcn77oq9hj9ioeil4c2heb@4ax. com...
On Wed, 11 Dec 2013 21:58:05 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
.............

Actually..Clares way is the only way I know how to do it.

Ive seen guys pull the rims, toss em into a bon fire and cook the
goop off. or hit em with a rosebud on their O/A torch....but that
seems a bit radical to me. Have you tried a good course cupbrush in
an angle grinder?

Gunner

Not yet. I bought some old wheels for the tractor and demounted the
tires to do that, but the electrical problem with my truck has
consumed all my spare time this fall. I finally replaced the coils and
ignition module and the check-engine light shut off, though the old
module tests OK. The error codes didn't pin down the problem very
closely.

When I bought the shop manuals for it I didn't notice the
Engine/Emissions Diagnosis Manual, which applies to every engine and
vehicle Ford made that year and was listed separately from the Ranger
books. I got one from eBay this fall. The damn thing is 3-1/2" of
onion-skin paper and hard to understand beyond the simplistic
trouble-tree diagnostics meant for parts-swappers spending the
customer's money. It didn't address the suspiciously large dwell angle
I saw with a scope.

I now have a run list in the computer of every wire in the engine
controls and custom-machined connector pins and test points to measure
their resistance and observe that the signals match the graphs in the
manual. Several connectors were corroded and at least one was open
when I started. One of the ignition module screws broke off so I
machined a drill jig to clean it out, then when I loosened the power
steering pump that was in the way its rusty pressure line cracked. At
least it failed in the driveway rather than on the road. The old truck
keeps getting newer as I replace parts.
jsw

Restoration !! Soon it will be worth more than its scrap value!!

(been there, done that..more than once)

(It costs more than buying a newer truck..but..it takes smaller bites
out of ones pocket every month....)

"Time to replace the truck. Now, do we do it all at once, or one
part at a time?"

snort I'm glad I wasn't drinking my tea when I read that.

All vehicles eventually reach the age and mileage where the costs are
equal between the used car repairs + insurance and the new car +
insurance. When it gets even close to even, I opt for a new car. I've
only owned two new vehicles in my life, both trucks, and those have
been my last two vehicles. I sure prefer driving new to used.
Over the 17 years I drove the F-150, I put on 2 new sets of tires, one
new set of brakes, 3 sets of spark plugs, a set of spark plug wires, a
set of tie rods, a drag link (I set the toe myself, so total cost in
parts was about $350 in the first 14 years), and, near the end, a
rebuilt tranny ($1825.) It was considerably cheaper to own than any
of my previous vehicles and amortized maintenance was 5 hours/yr.
Having put $6k down, monthly payments were only $150 for the first 5
years. (oil changes are about the same for either, so I left them
out)

It was also the first EFI vehicle I owned and I absolutely -adored-
being able to go out on a very cold morning and just drive off.
Carburetors, even when in perfect tune, are far too often a real bitch
in the morning...and I tuned 'em for a living. I had to rebuild my
Ford Ranch Wagon carb on the side of the road in the Mojave Desert
once. I was a mile outside of the city of Mojave when it crapped out,
so I troubleshot it, removed it, hiked into town, found a carb kit and
1.5gal carb dip, then asked a local resident if I could use his lawn
hose to rinse my carb off. I was back on the road in under 2 hours.
What a hassle, but I'm glad it was so easy to do.

So far in 6 years with the new Tundra, I've spent $4 on tailgate clip
(last week when the gate wouldn't open), $3 on a turn signal bulb, $8
on a headlight bulb, and $65 on a battery. Total: $80. Nice! Oh,
payments were $313/mo.

I might keep a used vehicle as a secondary, but my primary vehicle
will always be new.

Your primary vehicle will always be new for one day - then it is a
USED vehicle.

My mindset is a bit different from that. I see a vehicle as new until
things start going wrong with it, usually a minimum of 5 years or 50k
miles.


As a said, I buy 5 year old "new" cars. 2003 Ford Taurus with 58000kn
- thats less than 40,000 miles - for $6000.

I buy 5 year old new vehicles (usually) - low mileage 5 year old
vehicles for $6000-ish. I keep them (generally) about 10 years. The
last few have cost me less than $6000 in lifetime repairs. My daughter

In my new car, most of that would have been under warranty and cost me
nothing. I spent half my life repairing vehicles and the new car
thing (no repair downtime/trouble) is a new and joyous thing for me,

Spent half my working life as a mechanic too.
OK? Besides, in the USA, where people commute, low-mileage 5y/o
cars are very, very hard to find. Ask a car rental company why they
rent 0-3 year old cars. Most cars here get 20k miles annually, so at
5 years, they're worn out and into the StartShovelingMoneyAtMe stage.

Not easy to find here either, but they are around. I try to start
looking for a new one before the old one gets too bad - that way I can
still sell the old one for a half decent price and I'm never (well,
almost never) in a position where I HAVE to buy a car.

Checked my records - the 88 New Yorker - not counting the body
repairs, cost me $2800 in repairs over 140,000km and 12 years of
ownership. That included rebuilding cyl heads and replacing
transmission.. Add the body repairs -about $900 in parts total between
the 2 incidents, and it was still a cheap car - considering I still
got $1700 for it when I sold it.
The '96 Mystique cost me $3000 over 12 years - only about 80,000km -
including lower control arms, A./C reciever, Transmission repair ,
engine mount,and brakes.


and wife each cost me a front fender/bumper/header panel on the '88
Chrysler - would have cost at least as much to repair if the vehicle
was new - and I sold it when it was 18 years old in good running
condition and looking almost like new. Currently driving a 18 year
old pickup with about 320,000km on it - over the last year I hnave
spent NOTHING on repairs. I added AC and new tires/wheels - but not a
single repair. Oil changes only for maintenance.

Yes, some used cars are unlike kept women and DON'T cost you an arm
and a leg at every turn, but I haven't found that to be the norm.
I'm happy to be able to do many of my own repairs, but I'm happier not
having to do my own repairs. I like having clean fingernails today.

For guys like you and I it's not hard to get ones that don't cost an
arm and a leg to maintain because we (or at least I) know what to look
for.

I've had2 cars over the last 30+ years I should never have bought.
The 1985 LeBaron 2600 wagon - I bought it at night from a mechanic and
took his word for what happened to it. It was a non-runner I bought
for $1000 - and that was about $900 too much. I put an engine in it
(rebuilt the old one - using only the original cyl head - it was that
bad) and drove it 'till it wasn't solid enough to put on a hoist any
more. Other than it being a $4000 pile of rust by the time I got it on
the road, and it only lasting me 6 years before I sold it for parts,
it didn't give me any trouble or expense.

The other one was the 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport I bought for scrap
price with a blown engine and 275000km?. I put in an AC-Delco crate
engine, and within 6 months a rebuilt trans as well, for a total
investment of about $5000 - and that piece of crap nickelled and dimed
me to death over the next 7 years or so. Never anything serious enough
to make me mad enough to get rid of it - but it was just a piece of
junk. When the engine let go on my daughter on the 401, it went
straight to the scrap yard.

That's out of 25+ cars over the years.

The only "new" vehicle I owned was 1 1976 Dodge Ramcharger SE. It was
a nice truck, but the dealer didn't PDI it properly and there was a
never-ending list of things that needed fixing - some of which they
finally fixed under warranty, some that I fixed - and a water leak
that didn't get fixed untill I got rid of it 18 months later. I took a
bigger loss on that vehicle than I've ever PAID for a vehicle since.

Now I let someone else pay the depreciation.


The last (and only) brand new vehicle I ever owned had more spent on
it in the first 18 months than I've spent on any 2 of my used cars..
It was all warranty - but I was without the vehicle and had to put up
with all the BS from the Chrysler dealer convincing them to fix it -
and then having to redo half the work myself to make it right. They
basically threw the parts into the truck, and I (re)did the repairs.

Well, if you buy Chrysler or GM vehicles, you'll have that experience.
So solly. My old truck was built right there in your Canada.


I've fixed a lot of cars on the road too - back when I drove REALLY
used vehicles. 1969?VW 412 in Zambia, 1949 VW beetle in Zambia, 1967
Peugeot 204 in Zambia, - and the not-so-old 1990 Aerostar here in
Canada (always broke down in Michigan) - and all of those together
didn't cost me $1000 in parts/breakdown repairs.

That's a whole new world, isn't it? I remember those days, buying
$100 vehicles, rebuilding the engines, and then being able to drive
them. Fond memories.

But, today, gimme a new car/truck! I drive 6k miles a year, so they
last a very long time with me.