In article m,
kens says...
This post is aimed at all you sinophobes out there.

I'm getting a little tired of hearing the complaint "___ is a piece of
****: what do you expect? It's made in China!".

Now it is true that a lot of crap--boatloads of it, literally--does come
from that great country. We've all seen it, used it, chucked it out.

But bear in mind the historical precedent: some of you are probably old
enough to remember the similar tarring of anything that had the label
"Made in Japan" on it. Anything Japanese was considered worthless.
Compare to today.

I'm finding more and more that "Made in China" really doesn't mean
anything about the quality of an item. Clearly, Chinese workers, as
underpaid as they may be, are quite capable of making anything as well
as anyone else in any other part of the world.

Part of the problem is that we're placing blame in the wrong place. The
*real* problem seems to be "Made in [anyplace] but designed in the U.S.
[or some other place]".


I'll tell you what MOST gets my goat: the materials science. Plastics
made in China seem to have about half the lifespan of plastics made in
Thailand. If that ... some stuff starts to crumble a week after it comes
out of the box.

Generally this is not quite as much a problem with stuff designed in XXX
and made in China, because they tend to do QC, but it happens still. Our
Bosch washing machine, when delivered, turned out to be manufactured
there. Within a week, two switches had disintegrated. Our friend bought
the same model, and found herself holding the plastic handle for the
door in her hand inside the first month.

Tools made from what can only be described as potmetal ... ok, the
Chinese don't have the Exclusive on that one, but they excell at it.
I've had Chinese 'stainless' go rusty 3 weeks after unpacking and
removing the gel-packs.
Chrome plating turning into a razor edged hazard in a space of weeks or
even days...

I used to laugh at some Chinese made knives - they obviously had been
copied as a design by people who had no idea of the intended use.
Cutting edge blunt and 1 mm wide. I've seen a lot of that sort of thing
in fact. Mimicry without understanding the functionality of the item.

I'm perfectly well aware of the Japanese example, and I fully expect the
same thing to happen with Chinese made goods. Just as it happened with
the Taiwanese and the South Koreans. I've no problems buying Japanese or
Taiwanese made, somewhat more weary of Korean stuff still, except
electronics.

But clearly, the Chinese are not there yet. And with their sanctioned
policy of 'saving face is more important than dealing with problems or
addressing the issues' this may take longer for China to get up to speed
and communicate reliably with the rest of the world. There's been a lot
of **** happening this last year in industrial relations between China
and Australia and New Zealand, because neither side understood how to
bridge this cognitive dissonance.

Some time in the last couple of years we had a German engineer & family
as a Servas guest and he'd just come off a tour of duty in China, as an
adviser on building up a car factory (I think, for local production of
VWs) there. We asked him if he would buy one of those Chinese built
cars. He went "coughcoughcough maybe not just yet".
Lol.

Personally, I shall await such time as ... for the time being I avoid
them as much as possible, even if I have to pay 20 times the price, and
no kidding.

f.w.i.w. -P.

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:56:34 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 12/17/2009 1:27 PM J. Clarke spake thus:

David Nebenzahl wrote:

I still say that the Crown Graphic (which I have) is the single best
cost-effective way for people to break into large-format (4x5)
photography, even at this late date. They're still available on eBay
for very reasonable prices, along with fantastic lenses. They may not
be all one would want in a view camera: limited movements, no
rotating back, etc. But compared to the Lexuses and Mercedes of LF
cameras, relatively speaking, they're a great deal. And they were
extremely well-made.

And after Graflex went under, Sakai bought the tooling and continued to make
them for another decade or so in Japan as the Toyo Super Graphic.

And at some point in the US Singer (the sewing-machine company) bought
up Graflex and made them (or had them made) under their name. Not sure
how that worked out w/the Japanese co.

I used to think that such things were quaint anachronisms until I found out
what they could do. Never got into large format myself but one of these
days . . .

They're out there just waiting for you. Film and stuff is still
available too.

I have a Linhoff Teknica 4x5 and an array of lenses that I still use
occasionally. The results I get are astounding. Worth the price just
for that wonderful compensating bellows on the back.

On Dec 18, 4:26*am, Peter Huebner wrote:


And, talking of reliable European cars, I've known quite a few series 2
Volvos that cracked half a million kilometres ... Now that Ford are
messing with the Volvo design I think that will not be the case any
more, I won't buy another Volvo designed & built since 2006. Currently
driving an 850 wagon and an XC70. Wonderful cars to drive, but lots of
little things go wrong all of the time :-(

I quite like the C30 Volvo. Ford's hands in things don't always turn
out bad.
The fact that a C30 fetches as much money as it does is a bit of a
****er considering that what it really *is*...is a Mazda 3.
I have owned Volvos in the past without any drama.

No new text?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"WW" wrote in message
. ..

"Stormin Mormon" wrote
in message
...
Mine were electronic (they went electronic after 1974). I
liked being able to set timing on the 225 CID with a 7/16
socket on the end of an extension, and a timing light. The
318 was a pain, I may still have my 12 point distributor
wrench. 9/16 was it?

The one slant six I had, I screwed up and got the wrong
plugs, one time. I had to troubleshoot and replace two
plugs. Under a bridge, in Wyoming, with about 40 or 50 MPH
wind from the west.

I remember my Mopars being very moisture sensetive. Even
knowing the module ground and all, somtimes they just
didn't
want to start if there was some humidity around. Or rain
the
day before.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"LDosser" wrote in message
...


I had several with the 225 slant six and one with the 318.
Did most of my
own work on them and all tune ups. Only thing I didn't
like
was setting the
points on the slant six (exhaust header burns on fore arm)
and trying to
start either if a neighborhood dog peed within a block or
so
while the
engine was turning over ...


Wrong site Cris This is a woodworkers site. WW

On Dec 17, 10:23*pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Mine were electronic (they went electronic after 1974). I
liked being able to set timing on the 225 CID with a 7/16
socket on the end of an extension, and a timing light. The
318 was a pain, I may still have my 12 point distributor
wrench. 9/16 was it?

The one slant six I had, I screwed up and got the wrong
plugs, one time. I had to troubleshoot and replace two
plugs. Under a bridge, in Wyoming, with about 40 or 50 MPH
wind from the west.

I remember my Mopars being very moisture sensetive. Even
knowing the module ground and all, somtimes they just didn't
want to start if there was some humidity around. Or rain the
day before.

I remember when I was a real little kid my dad had an old beater
Valiant - I think it was a '64 or thereabouts. He was always having
problems with the carburetor on it... years later I dated a girl with
a '69, that car had a Holley 1bbl and it too had issues. Replaced the
carb with a Carter and it ran splendiferously ever after. Only
problems with it after that point were a ballast resistor that failed,
and the fact that the points would burn just about every 9 mos. like
clockwork (maybe due to a off spec replacement ballast?) then she had
to have the head redone because she didn't adjust the valves (probably
ever) and burned one. Other than that it was a very reliable car,
wish I had it today.

nate

Probably replacing the starter, which is on top, on the
drivers side.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"LDosser" wrote in message
...

That'd be a pretty neat trick, considering that the
distributor on a
slant-six
is half-way down the block on the passenger side, and the
exhaust manifold
is
all the way at the top of the engine on the driver's side.
You'd think
that
someone who'd done all that work on a slant-six would know
where the
distributor is.


Long arms. They say memory is the first to go ... Anyone
know what the hell
I was burning myself on?

J. Clarke wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
Leon wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
J. Clarke wrote:

John Silber, former president of Boston College, was asked what one
thing could be done to improve the quality of education in America.
He answered: "Abolish colleges of education."


Sounds exactly like the typical "former" employee with an ax to
grind would say.

I'd say get rid of public education and all the bureaucracy that
come with it. Privatize it.

Yep. If universal education is felt to be a worthwhile goal, give out
vouchers.

Oh, and before you shrug off John Silber as a disgruntled
ex-employee, you might check his Wikipedia entry. I just did and I
see I made a mistake: He was president of Boston University, not
College.

FWIW, I have a friend who has a PhD in education, and is retired, not
fired, so one can't claim that he is "disgruntled", who shares the
opinion that the flaws in the system are inherent in the educational
philosophy currently being taught in the colleges of education, and
in the poltical tendency to require the schools to provide more and
more social functions that are not rightly part of education.

It's worse than you think.

In America, we do not have a single living Nobel laureate or Fields
medalist, not even the president, who is qualified, by law, to teach in the
schools of my state. No winner of the Pulitzer, Booker, Hugo, Edgar,
Newberry, Caldecott or other literary prize. Nor can any of the justices of
the Supreme Court stand in front of a classroom as a teacher.

In my state, one can be certified to teach mathematics at the high-school
level without ever having had a college course in Calculus.

Pitiful really.

Does anyone doubt that a retired Civil Engineer could teach geometry off the
top of his head? Would you expect a retired nurse to be able to instruct in
high school biology? And so on. Well, they can't.

Makes one want to weep.

On 12/18/2009 8:34 AM, N8N wrote:
On Dec 17, 10:23 pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Mine were electronic (they went electronic after 1974). I
liked being able to set timing on the 225 CID with a 7/16
socket on the end of an extension, and a timing light. The
318 was a pain, I may still have my 12 point distributor
wrench. 9/16 was it?

The one slant six I had, I screwed up and got the wrong
plugs, one time. I had to troubleshoot and replace two
plugs. Under a bridge, in Wyoming, with about 40 or 50 MPH
wind from the west.

I remember my Mopars being very moisture sensetive. Even
knowing the module ground and all, somtimes they just didn't
want to start if there was some humidity around. Or rain the
day before.

I remember when I was a real little kid my dad had an old beater
Valiant - I think it was a '64 or thereabouts. He was always having
problems with the carburetor on it... years later I dated a girl with
a '69, that car had a Holley 1bbl and it too had issues. Replaced the
carb with a Carter and it ran splendiferously ever after. Only
problems with it after that point were a ballast resistor that failed,
and the fact that the points would burn just about every 9 mos. like
clockwork (maybe due to a off spec replacement ballast?) then she had
to have the head redone because she didn't adjust the valves (probably
ever) and burned one. Other than that it was a very reliable car,
wish I had it today.

nate

I had two slant sixes. One in a 1962 Plymouth and the other in the most
terrible car ever built a 1976 Aspen. (I only got 200k trouble free
miles on the engine, and there a few rattles as it approached the 200k mark)

I had trouble with the carburetor on the Aspen. When I made a left turn
the car would die out for a second and then continue normally. After
messing around with it for about a year an old mechanic told me the
float was saturated with gas and replaced it. Never had a problem after
that

Question: Will your Craftsman table saw handle the rpm produced by the
slant 6? :-

In article , "Stormin Mormon" wrote:
Probably replacing the starter, which is on top, on the
drivers side.

Ummmm...... No, the starter is *not* "on top" on a slant six. It's on the
upper side of the slant, yes, but it's down at the bottom of the block, just
like it is on every other engine I've ever seen.

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:54:39 +1300, Peter Huebner wrote:
But clearly, the Chinese are not there yet. And with their sanctioned
policy of 'saving face is more important than dealing with problems or
addressing the issues' this may take longer for China to get up to speed
and communicate reliably with the rest of the world.

Well yes, because there's no incentive for them (or anyone else) to sort
out the problems or make better products - it really is "you get
what you pay for", and most folk seem happy to buy complete crap so
long as it's cheap. I've seen good Chiense products in the past - with the
associated price tag.

Their labor's cheap, but still skilled if that's what's required; they'll
build and test stuff to the exact level that the buyer's paying for.

cheers

Jules

HeyBub wrote:
J. Clarke wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
Leon wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
J. Clarke wrote:

John Silber, former president of Boston College, was asked what
one thing could be done to improve the quality of education in
America. He answered: "Abolish colleges of education."


Sounds exactly like the typical "former" employee with an ax to
grind would say.

I'd say get rid of public education and all the bureaucracy that
come with it. Privatize it.

Yep. If universal education is felt to be a worthwhile goal, give
out vouchers.

Oh, and before you shrug off John Silber as a disgruntled
ex-employee, you might check his Wikipedia entry. I just did and I
see I made a mistake: He was president of Boston University, not
College.

FWIW, I have a friend who has a PhD in education, and is retired, not
fired, so one can't claim that he is "disgruntled", who shares the
opinion that the flaws in the system are inherent in the educational
philosophy currently being taught in the colleges of education, and
in the poltical tendency to require the schools to provide more and
more social functions that are not rightly part of education.

It's worse than you think.

In America, we do not have a single living Nobel laureate or Fields
medalist, not even the president, who is qualified, by law, to teach
in the schools of my state. No winner of the Pulitzer, Booker, Hugo,
Edgar, Newberry, Caldecott or other literary prize. Nor can any of
the justices of the Supreme Court stand in front of a classroom as a
teacher.

In my state, one can be certified to teach mathematics at the
high-school level without ever having had a college course in
Calculus.

Pitiful really.

Does anyone doubt that a retired Civil Engineer could teach geometry
off the top of his head? Would you expect a retired nurse to be able
to instruct in high school biology? And so on. Well, they can't.

Makes one want to weep.

There is a notion popular in the colleges of education that the teacher's
skill is teaching and that the teacher doesn't actually have to know
anything about the subject matter, and that expertise in a subject is
actually undesirable.

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:51:01 -0600, Leon wrote:
"hot" water heater? I only need a "water heater". ;!) Iknow, I know, it
reheats relatively hot water, but would a hot water heater work if it were
full of cold water?

Define "cold". My water comes out of the ground at a pretty much constant
55 degrees year-round, and that's considerably hotter than freezing ;-)

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:15:21 -0800, LDosser wrote:
The Tube in London, early sixties.

I believe they fitted aircon to at least some of the lines recently - I'm
yet to go back over and try it out. I used to go into London a few nights
a week and the trains were always hell in the summer months, with almost
no air circulation... (and they used to bump around and feel like they
were coming off the tracks, and the lights would sometimes all go out for
several seconds at a time... ahh, memories :-)

cheers

Jules

I remember when I was a real little kid my dad had an old
beater
Valiant - I think it was a '64 or thereabouts. He was
always having
problems with the carburetor on it... years later I dated a
girl with
a '69, that car had a Holley 1bbl and it too had issues.
Replaced the
carb with a Carter and it ran splendiferously ever after.

CY: Those carbs were interesting, you could actually adjust
them. I found the adjustment that worked for me was lightly
closed, and then out 3 half turns. The vacuum lines always
wanted to fall off. If the vac line fell off (the one to the
air cleaner) the car ran poorly.


Only
problems with it after that point were a ballast resistor
that failed,

CY: And the engine didn't run. I learned to carry spare
ballast resistors. As also did most Chrysler owners.

and the fact that the points would burn just about every 9
mos. like
clockwork (maybe due to a off spec replacement ballast?)

CY: Burning points is typically due to bad condensor. They
are replaced as a set.


then she had
to have the head redone because she didn't adjust the valves
(probably
ever) and burned one.

CY: Most likely, never. Few people do.

Other than that it was a very reliable car,
wish I had it today.

CY: A starter and alternator every year and a half?

nate

"Keith Nuttle" wrote in message
...
On 12/18/2009 8:34 AM, N8N wrote:

I had two slant sixes. One in a 1962 Plymouth and the other
in the most
terrible car ever built a 1976 Aspen. (I only got 200k
trouble free
miles on the engine, and there a few rattles as it
approached the 200k mark)

CY: What was wrong with the Aspen? Mine was a 1974 Dodge
Dart Swinger. Got 10.5 MPG, wouldn't run when it was wet.

I had trouble with the carburetor on the Aspen. When I made
a left turn
the car would die out for a second and then continue
normally. After
messing around with it for about a year an old mechanic told
me the
float was saturated with gas and replaced it. Never had a
problem after
that

CY: That mechanic was worth his weight in gold.

Question: Will your Craftsman table saw handle the rpm
produced by the
slant 6? :-

CY: Adjustable throttle, silly. Just don't rev it wide open
like a teenager.

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:10:14 -0800, David Nebenzahl wrote:
I had an old bus ('65 w/a Super Beetle engine) that I drove from coast
to coast. It finally died, but nearly everything bad that happened to it
was my fault, even though I otherwise took very good care of it.

Question: did they ever sell the truck version in the US? (think bus
but with most of the roof chopped off and a load bed in the back).

Couple of my uncles had those as farm trucks in the early 70s (because
they were cheap, easy to fix and they never needed them to be fast or
go long distances, I suppose). There can't have been many manufacturers
offering rear-engined pickups. Not seen one on the road for years, though.

cheers

Jules

"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
J. Clarke wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
Leon wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
J. Clarke wrote:

John Silber, former president of Boston College, was asked what one
thing could be done to improve the quality of education in America.
He answered: "Abolish colleges of education."


Sounds exactly like the typical "former" employee with an ax to
grind would say.

I'd say get rid of public education and all the bureaucracy that
come with it. Privatize it.

Yep. If universal education is felt to be a worthwhile goal, give out
vouchers.

Oh, and before you shrug off John Silber as a disgruntled
ex-employee, you might check his Wikipedia entry. I just did and I
see I made a mistake: He was president of Boston University, not
College.

FWIW, I have a friend who has a PhD in education, and is retired, not
fired, so one can't claim that he is "disgruntled", who shares the
opinion that the flaws in the system are inherent in the educational
philosophy currently being taught in the colleges of education, and
in the poltical tendency to require the schools to provide more and
more social functions that are not rightly part of education.

It's worse than you think.

In America, we do not have a single living Nobel laureate or Fields
medalist, not even the president, who is qualified, by law, to teach in
the schools of my state. No winner of the Pulitzer, Booker, Hugo, Edgar,
Newberry, Caldecott or other literary prize. Nor can any of the justices
of the Supreme Court stand in front of a classroom as a teacher.

In my state, one can be certified to teach mathematics at the high-school
level without ever having had a college course in Calculus.

Pitiful really.

Does anyone doubt that a retired Civil Engineer could teach geometry off
the top of his head? Would you expect a retired nurse to be able to
instruct in high school biology? And so on. Well, they can't.

Makes one want to weep.
SWMBO is a high school teacher, 10th, 11th, 12th grade biology, forensics
and AP biology as well as chemistry and physics.
She entered the teaching profession about 6 years ago after
having worked 17 years in private industry.

She is unique in the local school system, in that she is the only person
employed
by the local school board that has ever been a success outside of education.
Most
teachers and administrators have no clue how the real world works and wait
for the next crumb of "enlightenment" to drop from the ivory towers of the
universties and state administrators.

When school is in session, SWMBO will average working 15 hours a day
with 5 of that spent on non teaching related task.

Effective discipline is nonexistant, most parent are unreachable and could
care
less what happens at school.

No one is allowed to fail.

The system is broken beyond repair.

In contrast she sometimes teaches partime at a private military school, the
kids are
respectful and do their work.
I have sit in on several of these classes and always leave feeling good
about life in general,
just knowing that there are pockets of humanity where good behavior, manners
and
and hard work are still practiced in school.
Zero discipline issues in these classes, if any one ever raises their
voice or causes a disruption they are removed from the room by
upperclassmen, and
according to her, when they return there is no more problems with that
student "ever".

basilisk

On 12/18/2009 9:35 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
"Keith wrote in message
...
On 12/18/2009 8:34 AM, N8N wrote:

I had two slant sixes. One in a 1962 Plymouth and the other
in the most
terrible car ever built a 1976 Aspen. (I only got 200k
trouble free
miles on the engine, and there a few rattles as it
approached the 200k mark)

CY: What was wrong with the Aspen? Mine was a 1974 Dodge
Dart Swinger. Got 10.5 MPG, wouldn't run when it was wet.

I had trouble with the carburetor on the Aspen. When I made
a left turn
the car would die out for a second and then continue
normally. After
messing around with it for about a year an old mechanic told
me the
float was saturated with gas and replaced it. Never had a
problem after
that

CY: That mechanic was worth his weight in gold.

Question: Will your Craftsman table saw handle the rpm
produced by the
slant 6? :-

CY: Adjustable throttle, silly. Just don't rev it wide open
like a teenager.


Let me know how it works on your saw.

I had a 3 speed standard transmission on my slant six Aspen an got about
19 to 20 miles per gallon. About the same as today's cars of the same
weight and size.

Do the presently employed teachers do a good job teaching
the liberal agenda? Be dumb. Be compliant. Fear global
warming. And, lets teach everyone how to have "safe" sex by
rolling a condom on a cucumber before going to town.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...

FWIW, I have a friend who has a PhD in education, and is
retired, not
fired, so one can't claim that he is "disgruntled", who
shares the
opinion that the flaws in the system are inherent in the
educational
philosophy currently being taught in the colleges of
education, and
in the poltical tendency to require the schools to provide
more and
more social functions that are not rightly part of
education.

It's worse than you think.

In America, we do not have a single living Nobel laureate or
Fields
medalist, not even the president, who is qualified, by law,
to teach in the
schools of my state. No winner of the Pulitzer, Booker,
Hugo, Edgar,
Newberry, Caldecott or other literary prize. Nor can any of
the justices of
the Supreme Court stand in front of a classroom as a
teacher.

In my state, one can be certified to teach mathematics at
the high-school
level without ever having had a college course in Calculus.

Pitiful really.

Does anyone doubt that a retired Civil Engineer could teach
geometry off the
top of his head? Would you expect a retired nurse to be able
to instruct in
high school biology? And so on. Well, they can't.

Makes one want to weep.

Does one replace a slant six starter from under the hood "on
top" or from laying on the ground "underneath"?

I've always done Chrysler slant six starters from under the
hood.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:
Probably replacing the starter, which is on top, on the
drivers side.

Ummmm...... No, the starter is *not* "on top" on a slant
six. It's on the
upper side of the slant, yes, but it's down at the bottom of
the block, just
like it is on every other engine I've ever seen.

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:33:43 -0500, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
I've had a major hankering after a first-generation Celica for a few
months... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!

I don't know which generation was which year, but when I came to the US
from Australia at the end of 1977, I saw Celicas that looked
considerably different from - and inferior to -- the ones I had been
seeing in Australia for the past year or two. The internals might have
been the same, but I much preferred the styling of the Australian ones.

Interesting. I found that with a lot of the old Holdens when I was in Oz
and NZ - lots of them were based on US models, but somehow they just had
that little bit more grace and elegance in the styling...

And actually, when I say "first generation Celica", I think I'd aim for
one of the post-'75 ones after they gave them the facelift. Problem with
my being in the US is that I think all of the US ones may have had ****ty
rubber bumpers added - the Oz ones just had chrome as Toyota intended.

I'm a self-confessed sucker for '70s cars with quad headlights...

cheers

Jules

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
"Keith Nuttle" wrote in message
...
On 12/18/2009 8:34 AM, N8N wrote:

I had two slant sixes. One in a 1962 Plymouth and the other
in the most
terrible car ever built a 1976 Aspen. (I only got 200k
trouble free
miles on the engine, and there a few rattles as it
approached the 200k mark)

CY: What was wrong with the Aspen? Mine was a 1974 Dodge
Dart Swinger. Got 10.5 MPG, wouldn't run when it was wet.

I had trouble with the carburetor on the Aspen. When I made
a left turn
the car would die out for a second and then continue
normally. After
messing around with it for about a year an old mechanic told
me the
float was saturated with gas and replaced it. Never had a
problem after
that

CY: That mechanic was worth his weight in gold.

Question: Will your Craftsman table saw handle the rpm
produced by the
slant 6? :-

CY: Adjustable throttle, silly. Just don't rev it wide open
like a teenager.

I owned a '76 aspen as well, drive train was
beyond complaint, but the rest of the car
disintegrated to nothing.
Engine held up to about 280,000 miles
but I will admit to running bar and chain oil in
it for the last 6 months of its life.

basilisk

On Dec 18, 9:19*am, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , "Stormin Mormon" wrote:Probably replacing the starter, which is on top, on the
drivers side.

Ummmm...... No, the starter is *not* "on top" on a slant six. It's on the
upper side of the slant, yes, but it's down at the bottom of the block, just
like it is on every other engine I've ever seen.

I'd still consider it "on top" as in one would replace it from under
the hood, not by crawling underneath the car like one would on most
engines...

nate

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...

Do the presently employed teachers do a good job teaching
the liberal agenda? Be dumb. Be compliant. Fear global
warming. And, lets teach everyone how to have "safe" sex by
rolling a condom on a cucumber before going to town.


I should think it would be better to simply explain that if they washed the
cucumber properly first, there would be no need to slip a condom on it for
safe sex...

--

-Mike-

To reduce leaks?

My green Dodge van, had a leak at the rear crank shaft. I
ran exclusively used motor oil for the last year or so.
Amazing ammounts of oil.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"basilisk" wrote in message
...

I owned a '76 aspen as well, drive train was
beyond complaint, but the rest of the car
disintegrated to nothing.
Engine held up to about 280,000 miles
but I will admit to running bar and chain oil in
it for the last 6 months of its life.

basilisk

Funerals for dead cucumbers. The thought boggles the mind.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...
warming. And, lets teach everyone how to have "safe" sex
by
rolling a condom on a cucumber before going to town.


I should think it would be better to simply explain that if
they washed the
cucumber properly first, there would be no need to slip a
condom on it for
safe sex...

It might be simpler, but it would be incorrect. Perhaps with
fatal
results.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
To reduce leaks?

yep, leaks around the rings and valve stems.
Can't say I reccommend this for climates colder than AL,
those winter starts are tough.

I just got rid of a '84 toyota p/u that was running with bar and chain
oil in it to keep it from fouling the plugs.

basilisk

My green Dodge van, had a leak at the rear crank shaft. I
ran exclusively used motor oil for the last year or so.
Amazing ammounts of oil.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"basilisk" wrote in message
...

I owned a '76 aspen as well, drive train was
beyond complaint, but the rest of the car
disintegrated to nothing.
Engine held up to about 280,000 miles
but I will admit to running bar and chain oil in
it for the last 6 months of its life.

basilisk

In article ,
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

Do the presently employed teachers do a good job teaching
the liberal agenda? Be dumb. Be compliant. Fear global
warming. And, lets teach everyone how to have "safe" sex by
rolling a condom on a cucumber before going to town.

--

If you're having sex with a cucumber, you don't need a condom.

Interesting idea. I've used heavier oils, or STP oil
treatment.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"basilisk" wrote in message
...

"Stormin Mormon" wrote
in message
...
To reduce leaks?

yep, leaks around the rings and valve stems.
Can't say I reccommend this for climates colder than AL,
those winter starts are tough.

I just got rid of a '84 toyota p/u that was running with bar
and chain
oil in it to keep it from fouling the plugs.

basilisk

On 2009-12-18, Stormin Mormon wrote:


318 was a pain, I may still have my 12 point distributor
wrench. 9/16 was it?

Depends on the vehicle. I had a 318 in a 74 van. When the weather
became very hot (100+), specially after they took the lead out of gas,
it would ping badly going up a grade. I timed it by removing the
engine shroud, loosening the distibutor clamp nut, and adjusting the
distributor until the pinging ceased. All this while driving up said
grade, the distributor being a within easy reach of my right hand.

I remember my Mopars being very moisture sensetive. Even
knowing the module ground and all, somtimes they just didn't
want to start if there was some humidity around. Or rain the
day before.

I had this happen once. I removed the distibutor cap and saw it was
literally dripping moisture. I liberally sprayed it and the points
with WD40 and reassembled. Fired right up. The WD stands for water
displacement.

nb

On 2009-12-18, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Interesting idea. I've used heavier oils, or STP oil
treatment.

The old-timer's trick was to change to paraffin-based oil. It would
slow the leak and any smoking way down. This was always a last ditch
solution to an old tired engine needing rebuild cuz it would sludge up
an engine beyond belief and could never return to reg oils. I doubt
you can even find/buy paraffin-based oil, anymore.

nb

On 2009-12-18, Lew Hodgett wrote:

Still gets 25 MPG.

My old '62 Dodge Lancer with slant six and AT got 22mph on highway.

nb

On 2009-12-18, Peter Huebner wrote:

And, talking of reliable European cars, I've known quite a few series 2
Volvos that cracked half a million kilometres ... Now that Ford are
messing with the Volvo design I think that will not be the case any
more, I won't buy another Volvo designed & built since 2006. Currently
driving an 850 wagon and an XC70. Wonderful cars to drive, but lots of
little things go wrong all of the time :-(

Even the supposedly best of them ...Mercedes and BMW.... are not
without flaws. My buddies SL head gasket leaks oil like the Exxon Vadez and its
paint went just as quickly as my same year Civic in the scorching CA
sun. Another friend's BMW dash upholstery split open like ripe puffball, and it
only 8 yrs old. I've seen brand new Mercedes with orange peel paint
to rival the worst from detroit. Having recently moved here to CO,
I'm stunned to find how popular Buicks are. Talked to a Fifth Ave
owner who had 350K miles without a hiccup. Quality is where you find
it and not necessarily from where you expect it.

nb

"Lew Hodgett" writes:

"Swingman" wrote:


I have a 01 Dodge PU ... beginning to rethink the decision, a little
late.

Stepped out of the diesel rabbit and into a 99 "Tonka toy".

A 4 banger /W/ a 5 spd stick.

Passed 100K a few years ago with only rubber and wearing replacement
parts needed.

Still gets 25 MPG.

Can't complain.

Lew



my 2000 ranger 4-banger (5 spd stick) (24mpg) just turned 100k. No
issues other than rubber (lasted 75k) and brakes (lasted 85k).

scott

On 2009-12-18, Jules wrote:

Question: did they ever sell the truck version in the US? (think bus
but with most of the roof chopped off and a load bed in the back).

Definitely. Very popular in CA.


offering rear-engined pickups. Not seen one on the road for years, though.

I've seen one, recently, in a Euro repair garage parking lot. I don't
know if it runs or is jes fer show, as it's eternally in the same spot.

nb

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:45:33 +0000, notbob wrote:

On 2009-12-18, Peter Huebner wrote:

And, talking of reliable European cars, I've known quite a few series 2
Volvos that cracked half a million kilometres ... Now that Ford are
messing with the Volvo design I think that will not be the case any
more, I won't buy another Volvo designed & built since 2006. Currently
driving an 850 wagon and an XC70. Wonderful cars to drive, but lots of
little things go wrong all of the time :-(

Even the supposedly best of them ...Mercedes and BMW.... are not
without flaws. My buddies SL head gasket leaks oil like the Exxon Vadez and its
paint went just as quickly as my same year Civic in the scorching CA
sun. Another friend's BMW dash upholstery split open like ripe puffball, and it
only 8 yrs old. I've seen brand new Mercedes with orange peel paint
to rival the worst from detroit.

I think the important part is in distinguishing between design issues and
manufacturing ones - i.e. whether there's something fundamentally bad
about the design, or if the fault lies with the way they're put together.
I'm not sure if you can say that a "European car" is bad if the faults are
all on the assembly side, and that assembly is done locally to the country
where the car is sold.

I'm stunned to find how popular Buicks are. Talked to a Fifth Ave owner
who had 350K miles without a hiccup.

Wonder what the record currently is and who holds it? Back in the '80s I
think Mercedes had it for one of their diesels, but that was a loooong
time ago now.

cheers

Jules

On 2009-12-18, wrote:

Jeep made a cab-over pickup, which was pretty interesting.

Yes! In fact, there's one for sale jes a few blocks from that VW
bus/pickup I mentioned. The guy has had it up for sale since I moved
here 2 yrs ago. I'm becoming more and more curious as to why it has
never sold, this being major jeep country (CO Rockies @ 8K ft!).
Price too high? Mech problems? I'd even consider buying it, it being
so downright funky and rare. I should call him one of these days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Forward_Control

nb

notbob wrote:
On 2009-12-18, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Interesting idea. I've used heavier oils, or STP oil
treatment.

The old-timer's trick was to change to paraffin-based oil. It would
slow the leak and any smoking way down. This was always a last ditch
solution to an old tired engine needing rebuild cuz it would sludge up
an engine beyond belief and could never return to reg oils. I doubt
you can even find/buy paraffin-based oil, anymore.

nb

There is a common misconception about Paraffin-based oils and sludge
formation. Many crude oil based engine oils have Paraffin in them
and those oils do not cause sludge buildup in engines according to
some experts, others have a different opinion. I remember the oil
advertising for Pennsylvania grade crude oil which is high in paraffin.

Pro: http://www.yotarepair.com/sludge%20article.html

Con: http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html

TDD

notbob wrote:
On 2009-12-18, Stormin Mormon wrote:


318 was a pain, I may still have my 12 point distributor
wrench. 9/16 was it?

Depends on the vehicle. I had a 318 in a 74 van. When the weather
became very hot (100+), specially after they took the lead out of gas,
it would ping badly going up a grade. I timed it by removing the
engine shroud, loosening the distibutor clamp nut, and adjusting the
distributor until the pinging ceased. All this while driving up said
grade, the distributor being a within easy reach of my right hand.

I remember my Mopars being very moisture sensetive. Even
knowing the module ground and all, somtimes they just didn't
want to start if there was some humidity around. Or rain the
day before.

I had this happen once. I removed the distibutor cap and saw it was
literally dripping moisture. I liberally sprayed it and the points
with WD40 and reassembled. Fired right up. The WD stands for water
displacement.

nb

The secret was to carry an extra "dual ballast resistor" in the glove
box for all the Mopars with the electronic ignition. I had several
go out and it was a 10 minute or less repair job.

TDD

I've also done timing with the doghouse off. Wasn't that a
bit hot, with all the hot blast from the radiator coming
into the passenger compartment?

Yep, good old WD. I found the ground on the ignition module
troublesome.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"notbob" wrote in message
...
On 2009-12-18, Stormin Mormon
wrote:


318 was a pain, I may still have my 12 point distributor
wrench. 9/16 was it?

Depends on the vehicle. I had a 318 in a 74 van. When the
weather
became very hot (100+), specially after they took the lead
out of gas,
it would ping badly going up a grade. I timed it by
removing the
engine shroud, loosening the distibutor clamp nut, and
adjusting the
distributor until the pinging ceased. All this while
driving up said
grade, the distributor being a within easy reach of my right
hand.

I remember my Mopars being very moisture sensetive. Even
knowing the module ground and all, somtimes they just
didn't
want to start if there was some humidity around. Or rain
the
day before.

I had this happen once. I removed the distibutor cap and
saw it was
literally dripping moisture. I liberally sprayed it and the
points
with WD40 and reassembled. Fired right up. The WD stands
for water
displacement.

nb