On 5/21/2011 11:04 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 22:42:31 -0400,
wrote:

On 5/21/2011 9:29 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
(snip)
.......

"The wipers on my 68 Javelin stop working."

"Check the fuel pump."

"The car runs fine...I said the wipers don't work."

"Check the fuel pump. There's a vacuum booster pump bolted to the top
of the fuel pump that powers the wipers. They can leak."


Okay, so Javelins were really 1959 Ramblers under the skin. But you
gotta admit, that first year Javelin sure was pretty. I did a real
double take going through a 73? or so Hornet hatch at a dealership- the
load floor cover over the spare tire was painted plywood- the company
was so broke by then they couldn't even afford tooling for a simple
almost-flat ridged metal panel.


And that plywood deck did NOT rattle, and was very stout - you never
saw one dented or damaged. Why use steel???? It was protected from the
elements and was not required to be air-tight like floor-boards, or to
stand up to exhaust heat etc.

And the Javelin was MUCH different than a '57 Rambler. It was a '68,
more or less. The 232 and 258 sixes were pretty good little engines -
and the 290, 304,360 engines were better than the 287, 290, and 327
Nash engines of previous generations -- and they were not BAD engines.

No argument there- my family owned several of the AMC straight sixes
with the seven main bearings- it was about the only part on the car that
held up well, aside from the perennial leaky valve cover. I think Jeep
only recently stopped using a descendant of the same engine. Wiki sez 64
through 06. That is a production lifespan up there with the ford and gm
small-block v8s.

But vacuum-operated wipers by the late 60's? Almost Made a Car, indeed.
--
aem sends...

On May 21, 10:57*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:29:48 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03









wrote:
On May 21, 8:53*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 19:00:43 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"

wrote:
My 1974 Dodge Dart was the first year of electronic
ignition. Won't run when wet, or when ballast resistor blows
for no reason.

*Mine always ran when wet - I'd hose it down with the carwash to show
people that a slant six mopar COULD run when wet.

Always had a spare resistor in the glove-box untill I "got smart" and
mounted a spare on the fire-wall.

Don't even let me get started about the finicky nature of AMC models
and their cobbeled together parts from any and all manufacturers. The
things they would do when it rained/got hot/got cold/dried out/you
name it!

.......

"I need a starter for a 66 Ambassador."

"What month was it built?"

"What *month*? *I don't know..."

"Go take the starter off and we'll see if we can match the bolt
pattern. They used 3 different starters that year."

Hey, it was NOT that bad. They either used prestolite or delco - and
they were extremely reliable........

"The wipers on my 68 Javelin stop working."

"Check the fuel pump."

"The car runs fine...I said the wipers don't work."

"Check the fuel pump. There's a vacuum booster pump bolted to the top
of the fuel pump that powers the wipers. They can leak."

.

.... *And that was a heck of a lot better than general motors' use of
manifold vacuum only up untill 1957. If it was raining and you were
pulling a long uphill grade --- Good Luck!!!!


BTDT

Actually, when the vacuum assist pump started leaking, the common
"fix" was to simply bypass the pump and hook the two hoses together.

As long as you didn't accelerate onto the highway *too* fast, the
wipers would just hesitate, but never actually stop. :-)

On May 21, 11:04*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 22:42:31 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:









On 5/21/2011 9:29 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
(snip)
.......

"The wipers on my 68 Javelin stop working."

"Check the fuel pump."

"The car runs fine...I said the wipers don't work."

"Check the fuel pump. There's a vacuum booster pump bolted to the top
of the fuel pump that powers the wipers. They can leak."

Okay, so Javelins were really 1959 Ramblers under the skin. But you
gotta admit, that first year Javelin sure was pretty. I did a real
double take going through a 73? or so Hornet hatch at a dealership- the
load floor cover over the spare tire was painted plywood- the company
was so broke by then they couldn't even afford tooling for a simple
almost-flat ridged metal panel.

And that plywood deck did NOT rattle, and was very stout - you never
saw one dented or damaged. Why use steel???? It was protected from the
elements and was not required to be air-tight like floor-boards, or to
stand up to exhaust heat etc.

And the Javelin was MUCH different than a '57 Rambler. It was a '68,
more or less. The 232 and 258 sixes were pretty good little engines -
and the *290, 304,360 engines were better than the 287, 290, and 327
Nash engines of previous generations -- and they were not BAD engines.

Alright, I'll admit it, my ringtone is based on the '66 Ambassador I
owned up until 1980.

Pull the front seat forward, recline both sides of the split front
seat until they were level with the back seat and the whole inside of
the car was a bed.

If you call me I'll hear the Blues Brothers...

Next I caught a ride with a gambler's wife
She had a brand new lay down Rambler
She parked inside of town, layed the Rambler down
She said she sure could dig if I'd knew her

On May 21, 10:42*pm, aemeijers wrote:
On 5/21/2011 9:29 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
(snip)

.......

"The wipers on my 68 Javelin stop working."

"Check the fuel pump."

"The car runs fine...I said the wipers don't work."

"Check the fuel pump. There's a vacuum booster pump bolted to the top
of the fuel pump that powers the wipers. They can leak."

Okay, so Javelins were really 1959 Ramblers under the skin. But you
gotta admit, that first year Javelin sure was pretty. I did a real
double take going through a 73? or so Hornet hatch at a dealership- the
load floor cover over the spare tire was painted plywood- the company
was so broke by then they couldn't even afford tooling for a simple
almost-flat ridged metal panel.

--
aem sends....

Back in the 70's, a friend and I drove a beat up Javelin from
Cleveland to NYC. It was pouring rain and halfway home the wipers
stopped working. They would go up when you slid the lever to On, but
wouldn't come back down unless you slid the lever to Off.

I was riding shotgun and had to keep turning the wipers on and off
with the lever. This went on for hours until the lever came off in my
hand. Luckily, they stopped in the up position and when we pulled over
we found that if we manually pulled the wipers down, they would go
back up by themselves.

We rummaged through the trunk and found a length of wire just long
enough reach the wiper from the passenger window. It was pouring and
cold and we ended up putting our socks on our hand so it didn't freeze
as we operated the wiper with the wire.

By the time we pulled into NYC, we were wet and dirty and had a memory
that we still laugh about to this day. That friend turned out to be my
best man many years later.

On 5/21/2011 7:53 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 19:00:43 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

My 1974 Dodge Dart was the first year of electronic
ignition. Won't run when wet, or when ballast resistor blows
for no reason.
Mine always ran when wet - I'd hose it down with the carwash to show
people that a slant six mopar COULD run when wet.

Always had a spare resistor in the glove-box untill I "got smart" and
mounted a spare on the fire-wall.

The trick was to get the high quality aftermarket resister that was
sealed. The resistors I had trouble with were open in the back exposing
the resistor elements to the air. The open units would corrode and burn
out. I never had a problem with one of the sealed resistors.

TDD

On Sat, 21 May 2011 22:54:44 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:24:47 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:


Message-ID:
Concrete blocks are "dicey" and cinder blocks a no-no. If using
concrete blocks, put a board on top so no edge of the frame or
suspension nicks the blosk.
A cinder block can disintegrate with little provocation and no
warning.

Thanks.

I also had a cast metal jack stand cave in. It was rated at 3000
pounds I think, and the whole car weighed only 3000 pounds. No one
was under it when it collapsed. I told the store I bought it at, but
I doubt they cared.

Robert Green wrote:
"Steve B" wrote in message
...
On May 21, 3:05 am, mm wrote:
OT Watching a Patty Duke epiode from 1966, another teenager keeps
working under his car with nothing holding it up afaict but bumper
jack. There scenes like that.
Dude, where do you live that you get such good TV programming? Or what is
the name of the company. I'd buy.

This stuff they got on today sucks bigtime.

Steve

In the Maryland area, ION TV has Patty Duke, the Original Outer Limits,
Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt and loads of old stuff. It's free, off-the-air HD
TV. They also show all sorts of old movies from the 60's and 70's that
aren't available from Netflix (never made it to DVD). Better looking HD
than Comcast's hyper-compressed cable service.

--
Bobby G.



I dropped satellite about a year ago. Online streaming and over the
air is the way to go for me. If you have broadband ya might try
justin.tv Also delicast.com and justtvnuts.com is good for news. If
your ISP has capped ur Gig/month use networx to monitor ur bandwidth
use. Ya know it isn't that hard to connect a computer to the TV now
days and with a remote keyboard and mouse you can watch a lot of
streaming on the big screen... I use 4 to 10 gigs bandwidth a day.
Mostly market stuff, but also news and entertainment. One thing I would
not do is install any software from any site for online streaming and
no need to ever pay for software or monthly fee to watch streaming.
There are plenty of free sites that work just fine.

On May 22, 3:41*am, Fat-Dumb and Happy
wrote:
Robert Green wrote:
"Steve B" wrote in message
. ..
On May 21, 3:05 am, mm wrote:
OT Watching a Patty Duke epiode from 1966, another teenager keeps
working under his car with nothing holding it up afaict but bumper
jack. There scenes like that.
Dude, where do you live that you get such good TV programming? *Or what is
the name of the company. *I'd buy.

This stuff they got on today sucks bigtime.

Steve

In the Maryland area, ION TV has Patty Duke, the Original Outer Limits,
Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt and loads of old stuff. *It's free, off-the-air HD
TV. *They also show all sorts of old movies from the 60's and 70's that
aren't available from Netflix (never made it to DVD). *Better looking HD
than Comcast's hyper-compressed cable service.

--
Bobby G.

* I dropped satellite about a year ago. *Online streaming and over the
air is the way to go for me. *If you have broadband ya might try
justin.tv * *Also delicast.com and justtvnuts.com is good for news. If
your ISP has capped ur Gig/month use networx to monitor ur bandwidth
use. * Ya know it isn't that hard to connect a computer to the TV now
days and with a remote keyboard and mouse you can watch a lot of
streaming on the big screen... I use 4 to 10 gigs bandwidth a day.
Mostly market stuff, but also news and entertainment. *One thing I would
not do is install any software from any site for online streaming and
no need to ever pay for software or monthly fee to watch streaming.
There are plenty of free sites that work just fine.

YOU'RE ONLY KIDDING YOURSELF, TROLL.
TGITM

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:24:47 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:


Message-ID:

Concrete blocks are "dicey" and cinder blocks a no-no. If using
concrete blocks, put a board on top so no edge of the frame or
suspension nicks the blosk.
A cinder block can disintegrate with little provocation and no
warning.

Excellent point. They can crumble pretty easily if they have an internal
flaw and you've positioned the block precisely the wrong way. I'd never put
a car up on cinder blocks, especially *stacked* blocks.

I've had sheet metal stands buckle on me, leaving me pinned under a 2 ton
Jaguar Mark X. My mother, who noticed I was no longer making noise, came
out to the garage, saw me pinned under the car and lifted it off me. She
was 4'10" and under 100 pounds. Amazing what adrenaline can do. (Of
course, the full weight of the car wasn't on me since only one of the 4
stands had failed, but it was enough weight across my chest that I couldn't
free myself). Working on cars was never quite the same for me after that
even though I went out and bought a hydraulic jack and expensive, well-made
jack stands. Two minutes of thinking "I am going to DIE here under this
lousy car" while struggling to breathe seems like an eternity.

--
Bobby G.

In article ,
mm wrote:

The advantage of the scissors jack is the hole that mades with the
"bump" under the frame. Do bottle jacks have anything like that?

Or is it even an advantage? Soetimes it's a pain trying to get the
two parts to match up, and I'm not really sure what good that does.

If I understand your question correctly, the jack locating feature is
provided to prevent you from jacking the car elsewhere, where it doesn't
have the structure necessary to support the car. IOW, move the jack a
few inches and the jack will crumple the sheet metal instead of lifting
the car. AIUI, of course.

On Sun, 22 May 2011 08:25:29 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:24:47 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:


Message-ID:

Concrete blocks are "dicey" and cinder blocks a no-no. If using
concrete blocks, put a board on top so no edge of the frame or
suspension nicks the blosk.
A cinder block can disintegrate with little provocation and no
warning.

Excellent point. They can crumble pretty easily if they have an internal
flaw and you've positioned the block precisely the wrong way. I'd never put
a car up on cinder blocks, especially *stacked* blocks.

I've had sheet metal stands buckle on me, leaving me pinned under a 2 ton
Jaguar Mark X. My mother, who noticed I was no longer making noise, came
out to the garage, saw me pinned under the car and lifted it off me. She
was 4'10" and under 100 pounds. Amazing what adrenaline can do. (Of
course, the full weight of the car wasn't on me since only one of the 4
stands had failed, but it was enough weight across my chest that I couldn't
free myself). Working on cars was never quite the same for me after that
even though I went out and bought a hydraulic jack and expensive, well-made
jack stands. Two minutes of thinking "I am going to DIE here under this
lousy car" while struggling to breathe seems like an eternity.

That's what my former boss said about his Jaguar, too. ...except he was only
pinned under the repair bills.

On Sun, 22 May 2011 08:08:32 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

The advantage of the scissors jack is the hole that mades with the
"bump" under the frame. Do bottle jacks have anything like that?

Or is it even an advantage? Soetimes it's a pain trying to get the
two parts to match up, and I'm not really sure what good that does.

If I understand your question correctly, the jack locating feature is
provided to prevent you from jacking the car elsewhere, where it doesn't
have the structure necessary to support the car. IOW, move the jack a
few inches and the jack will crumple the sheet metal instead of lifting
the car. AIUI, of course.

The tripod screw jacks with fit-to-bumper hook up were the best bumper
jacks I've used. But they're big.
Scissors jacks are way too flexible. Used them because they make a
small package.
The old Bugs had a ratcheting jack that plugged into a square hole on
the side, so you lifted the entire left or right side.
But the steel that made that hole rusted out after not too many years.
Used a scissors jack on it after that.
I think the 2 car I have now have scissors jacks in the trunk.
Can't remember the last time I had a flat.
That's why I don't bother to keep a small floor jack in the trunk like
I used to.
Think those little 2 1/2 ton floor jacks became available for less
than a hundred in the late '70's.
I trust the heavy duty jack stands, but nothing gives me more comfort
under a car than levelly stacked 18" 6x6's.
They are foolproof, but bulky and hard to place so they don't get in
the way..

--Vic

On Sun, 22 May 2011 00:11:15 -0500, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 5/21/2011 7:53 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 19:00:43 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

My 1974 Dodge Dart was the first year of electronic
ignition. Won't run when wet, or when ballast resistor blows
for no reason.
Mine always ran when wet - I'd hose it down with the carwash to show
people that a slant six mopar COULD run when wet.

Always had a spare resistor in the glove-box untill I "got smart" and
mounted a spare on the fire-wall.

The trick was to get the high quality aftermarket resister that was
sealed. The resistors I had trouble with were open in the back exposing
the resistor elements to the air. The open units would corrode and burn
out. I never had a problem with one of the sealed resistors.

TDD
Corosion wasn't the problem - thermal cycling was - and they NEVER
made the vehicle quit - as it was the "start" prtion that failed. I
had quite a few sealed or "monolithic" resistors fail too - not just
the open-backed ones. Not just on my own Mopars - but on a lot of
customer's cars. There WERE brands that lasted longer than others -
can't remember what the good ones or bad ones were, but I Think
Neihoff was one of the good ones, and Blue Streak (standard) one of
the poor ones.

The good ones carried the heat away better than the poor ones, and
supported the resistor better so they didn't fracture.

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 May 2011 08:25:29 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:24:47 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:


Message-ID:

Concrete blocks are "dicey" and cinder blocks a no-no. If using
concrete blocks, put a board on top so no edge of the frame or
suspension nicks the blosk.
A cinder block can disintegrate with little provocation and no
warning.

Excellent point. They can crumble pretty easily if they have an internal
flaw and you've positioned the block precisely the wrong way. I'd never
put
a car up on cinder blocks, especially *stacked* blocks.

I've had sheet metal stands buckle on me, leaving me pinned under a 2 ton
Jaguar Mark X. My mother, who noticed I was no longer making noise, came
out to the garage, saw me pinned under the car and lifted it off me. She
was 4'10" and under 100 pounds. Amazing what adrenaline can do. (Of
course, the full weight of the car wasn't on me since only one of the 4
stands had failed, but it was enough weight across my chest that I
couldn't
free myself). Working on cars was never quite the same for me after that
even though I went out and bought a hydraulic jack and expensive,
well-made
jack stands. Two minutes of thinking "I am going to DIE here under this
lousy car" while struggling to breathe seems like an eternity.

That's what my former boss said about his Jaguar, too. ...except he was
only
pinned under the repair bills.

Yeah, Britannia may have ruled the waves, but her cars can't navigate a
puddle without the engine dying. Learned all the Lucas jokes, too. "Why do
Brits like warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators."

Jags are fun if you do your own work and like to do it, but as a primary
car, not so reliable. I hear they've gotten better but I can't see it. I
rented one the last time I was in CA and it had water in the headlight lens
assembly. Enough to put goldfish in. Didn't matter much after I hit a deer
on the Coast highway near Big Sur. Cops said I was lucky - deer crashes
send some cars off the road and into the ocean. Fortunately, it was one of
the few times I bought extra collision insurance. Signed two pieces of
paper and that was that.

I wouldn't mine having an XKE in the garage, though. One of the sweetest
looking cars ever made.

--
Bobby G.

On May 22, 1:02*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 22 May 2011 00:11:15 -0500, The Daring Dufas









wrote:
On 5/21/2011 7:53 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 19:00:43 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
*wrote:

My 1974 Dodge Dart was the first year of electronic
ignition. Won't run when wet, or when ballast resistor blows
for no reason.
* Mine always ran when wet - I'd hose it down with the carwash to show
people that a slant six mopar COULD run when wet.

Always had a spare resistor in the glove-box untill I "got smart" and
mounted a spare on the fire-wall.

The trick was to get the high quality aftermarket resister that was
sealed. The resistors I had trouble with were open in the back exposing
the resistor elements to the air. The open units would corrode and burn
out. I never had a problem with one of the sealed resistors.

TDD

Corosion wasn't the problem - thermal cycling was - and they NEVER
made the vehicle quit - as it was the "start" prtion that failed. I
had quite a few sealed or "monolithic" resistors fail too - not just
the open-backed ones. Not just on my own Mopars - but on a lot of
customer's cars. There WERE brands that lasted longer than others -
can't remember what the good ones or bad ones were, but I Think
Neihoff was one of the good ones, and Blue Streak (standard) one of
the poor ones.

The good ones carried the heat away better than the poor ones, and
supported the resistor better so they didn't fracture.

"...and they NEVER made the vehicle quit"

In my case it was the computer module of my 1980 Mustang. I went
through 3 of them in about 2 years and they did indeed make the
vehicle quit.

I'd be driving down the highway at 65 MPH and the car would just shut
off. I'd be sailing along and suddenly all of the gauges would drop to
zero and I'd just be coasting down the highway.

I'd slip her into neutral, start her back up, and continue on down the
road.

On Sun, 22 May 2011 17:58:57 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 22 May 2011 08:25:29 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:24:47 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:


Message-ID:

Concrete blocks are "dicey" and cinder blocks a no-no. If using
concrete blocks, put a board on top so no edge of the frame or
suspension nicks the blosk.
A cinder block can disintegrate with little provocation and no
warning.

Excellent point. They can crumble pretty easily if they have an internal
flaw and you've positioned the block precisely the wrong way. I'd never
put
a car up on cinder blocks, especially *stacked* blocks.

I've had sheet metal stands buckle on me, leaving me pinned under a 2 ton
Jaguar Mark X. My mother, who noticed I was no longer making noise, came
out to the garage, saw me pinned under the car and lifted it off me. She
was 4'10" and under 100 pounds. Amazing what adrenaline can do. (Of
course, the full weight of the car wasn't on me since only one of the 4
stands had failed, but it was enough weight across my chest that I
couldn't
free myself). Working on cars was never quite the same for me after that
even though I went out and bought a hydraulic jack and expensive,
well-made
jack stands. Two minutes of thinking "I am going to DIE here under this
lousy car" while struggling to breathe seems like an eternity.

That's what my former boss said about his Jaguar, too. ...except he was
only
pinned under the repair bills.

Yeah, Britannia may have ruled the waves, but her cars can't navigate a
puddle without the engine dying. Learned all the Lucas jokes, too. "Why do
Brits like warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators."

Jags are fun if you do your own work and like to do it, but as a primary
car, not so reliable. I hear they've gotten better but I can't see it. I
rented one the last time I was in CA and it had water in the headlight lens
assembly. Enough to put goldfish in. Didn't matter much after I hit a deer
on the Coast highway near Big Sur. Cops said I was lucky - deer crashes
send some cars off the road and into the ocean. Fortunately, it was one of
the few times I bought extra collision insurance. Signed two pieces of
paper and that was that.

He did his own work. He had well into five figures in parts (and never could
seem to get the right ones).

I wouldn't mine having an XKE in the garage, though. One of the sweetest
looking cars ever made.

Great place for one. ...and it's only possible function. They certainly
aren't worthy of the road.

On 5/22/2011 5:03 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On May 22, 1:02 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 22 May 2011 00:11:15 -0500, The Daring Dufas









wrote:
On 5/21/2011 7:53 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 21 May 2011 19:00:43 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

My 1974 Dodge Dart was the first year of electronic
ignition. Won't run when wet, or when ballast resistor blows
for no reason.
Mine always ran when wet - I'd hose it down with the carwash to show
people that a slant six mopar COULD run when wet.

Always had a spare resistor in the glove-box untill I "got smart" and
mounted a spare on the fire-wall.

The trick was to get the high quality aftermarket resister that was
sealed. The resistors I had trouble with were open in the back exposing
the resistor elements to the air. The open units would corrode and burn
out. I never had a problem with one of the sealed resistors.

TDD

Corosion wasn't the problem - thermal cycling was - and they NEVER
made the vehicle quit - as it was the "start" prtion that failed. I
had quite a few sealed or "monolithic" resistors fail too - not just
the open-backed ones. Not just on my own Mopars - but on a lot of
customer's cars. There WERE brands that lasted longer than others -
can't remember what the good ones or bad ones were, but I Think
Neihoff was one of the good ones, and Blue Streak (standard) one of
the poor ones.

The good ones carried the heat away better than the poor ones, and
supported the resistor better so they didn't fracture.

"...and they NEVER made the vehicle quit"

In my case it was the computer module of my 1980 Mustang. I went
through 3 of them in about 2 years and they did indeed make the
vehicle quit.

I'd be driving down the highway at 65 MPH and the car would just shut
off. I'd be sailing along and suddenly all of the gauges would drop to
zero and I'd just be coasting down the highway.

I'd slip her into neutral, start her back up, and continue on down the
road.

My 89 B100 van with a 318 V8 would just quit running. After fiddling
around with it for a while it would run again. I thought is was the
computer but no, the computer indicated a loss of timing signal and
it turned out to be a narrow range thermal intermittent malfunction
of the Hall Effect sensor in the distributor. I've seen the same sort
of problem with solid state components in communication and control
equipment before so I wasn't surprised.

TDD

On Sat, 21 May 2011 04:05:03 -0400, mm wrote:


Was this sort of standard in 1956, for teenagers, amateurs, even pros?

We did brakes with just the bumper jack. To go under the car, we used
cement blocks and 2x4's under the axle/control arms.

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 May 2011 17:58:57 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 22 May 2011 08:25:29 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 21 May 2011 18:24:47 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314

wrote:


Message-ID:

Concrete blocks are "dicey" and cinder blocks a no-no. If using
concrete blocks, put a board on top so no edge of the frame or
suspension nicks the blosk.
A cinder block can disintegrate with little provocation and no
warning.

Excellent point. They can crumble pretty easily if they have an
internal
flaw and you've positioned the block precisely the wrong way. I'd
never
put
a car up on cinder blocks, especially *stacked* blocks.

I've had sheet metal stands buckle on me, leaving me pinned under a 2
ton
Jaguar Mark X. My mother, who noticed I was no longer making noise,
came
out to the garage, saw me pinned under the car and lifted it off me.
She
was 4'10" and under 100 pounds. Amazing what adrenaline can do. (Of
course, the full weight of the car wasn't on me since only one of the
4
stands had failed, but it was enough weight across my chest that I
couldn't
free myself). Working on cars was never quite the same for me after
that
even though I went out and bought a hydraulic jack and expensive,
well-made
jack stands. Two minutes of thinking "I am going to DIE here under
this
lousy car" while struggling to breathe seems like an eternity.

That's what my former boss said about his Jaguar, too. ...except he
was
only
pinned under the repair bills.

Yeah, Britannia may have ruled the waves, but her cars can't navigate a
puddle without the engine dying. Learned all the Lucas jokes, too. "Why
do
Brits like warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators."

Jags are fun if you do your own work and like to do it, but as a primary
car, not so reliable. I hear they've gotten better but I can't see it.
I
rented one the last time I was in CA and it had water in the headlight
lens
assembly. Enough to put goldfish in. Didn't matter much after I hit a
deer
on the Coast highway near Big Sur. Cops said I was lucky - deer crashes
send some cars off the road and into the ocean. Fortunately, it was one
of
the few times I bought extra collision insurance. Signed two pieces of
paper and that was that.

He did his own work. He had well into five figures in parts (and never
could
seem to get the right ones).

It's part of the fun. I learned about JC Whitney and ordering direct from
England long before anyone even dreamed of the Internet. Then I learned
about Whitworth, metric and US threads. Very educational and fun for the
whole family. Aside from pulling me out from under it, Mom helped with the
walnut refinishing. Back then, before Nannystate, you could choose to have
an all wood dashboard. Real door handles and hood ornaments, too. Having a
Jag early in life taught me the value of solid, reliable transportation.
I've driven Hondas ever since then. (-"

I wouldn't mine having an XKE in the garage, though. One of the sweetest
looking cars ever made.

Great place for one. ...and it's only possible function. They certainly
aren't worthy of the road.

Not at all true. I recall standing next to a new V-12. I couldn't figure
out why my leg was warm. Then I realized the engine was idling, but there
wasn't any noise or even perceptible vibration. I ran my Mark X over 120mph
on several occasions without catastrophe. Had giant disc brakes when most
American cars were still drum-bound. When it ran, it was remarkable. But
it was not a mass-produced item like the Chevy Nova so it suffered from the
smaller production volume on a number of fronts. It's worst aspect, as you
suggest, is that every few months it could just die for no apparent reason
and recover just as mysteriously. Or after the infusion of cash, parts,
labor and prayer.

Eventually sold it to a pediatrician specializing in mostly terminal cancer
cases because he wanted something that time and money could fix. Bought it
for $750, sold it for $5K, bought a new Honda. A twenty year old Jag was
just what the doctor ordered to keep his mind off his very grim work.
Everything has a place in the world.

--
Bobby G.

On Sun, 22 May 2011 17:58:57 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
Yeah, Britannia may have ruled the waves, but her cars can't navigate a
puddle without the engine dying. Learned all the Lucas jokes, too.
"Why do Brits like warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators."

As a Brit, I grew up with British cars (obviously and never found
them *that* bad - the Lucas stuff wasn't any worse than anything that
anybody else was making. The big problem was rust - poor quality steel
and little thought to where water would end up and how it would get out
again once it had.

I wouldn't mine having an XKE in the garage, though. One of the
sweetest looking cars ever made.

Yeah, nice looks for sure... but then I think that most Jags were until
the most recent models of the last decade or so. In terms of curvy
goodness, I wouldn't mind an XJ13, but they only ever built one of those
and then wrecked it ;-)

cheers

Jules

On Sat, 21 May 2011 04:54:26 -0700, Bob Villa wrote:
I had a '66 Chev Impala...I used ramps (and still do). That was before
"spin-on" oil filters. There was a filter "cartridge" inside a heavy
gauge steel cylinder with a big MF'n bolt thru it. (No, I don't have the
Chev anymore...I have an "old man's" Buick)

My Triumphs had those cartridges, too. It was a right PITA to get to the
cartridge bolt (this was on their V8s) and forget about getting it to
seal well afterwards (not that it really mattered, because they leaked
oil from pretty much everywhere, even when new ;-)

I normally used a floor jack and axle stands, but I seem to remember
borrowing ramps from a friend to try once - there was too much overhang
in front of the front wheels and the car sat too low to the ground for
them to really work, though.

cheers

Jules

"Jules Richardson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 May 2011 17:58:57 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
Yeah, Britannia may have ruled the waves, but her cars can't navigate a
puddle without the engine dying. Learned all the Lucas jokes, too.
"Why do Brits like warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators."

As a Brit, I grew up with British cars (obviously and never found
them *that* bad - the Lucas stuff wasn't any worse than anything that
anybody else was making. The big problem was rust - poor quality steel
and little thought to where water would end up and how it would get out
again once it had.

My big problems were when water got under the hood, when the transmission
(Borg-Warnet) blew up, when the power steering pump blew up spraying the hot
exhaust manifold with enough PS fluid to create a small cumulo-nimbus cloud
outside the gates of the Naval Academy during June Week (now I would be shot
as a terrorist bomber), the sudden loss of spark to three of the six
cylinders (it did managed to limp thirty miles home in that condition) a
failed A/C compressor, which apparently was held in mid-air while the rest
of the car was built around it (it was SO hard to remove), a fender full of
tree-nuts that apparently only grow in Spain, plenty of the body rust you
allude to, an engine that ran hot enough to alligator the paint on the hood,
a failed "anti-creep" system that kept pressure on the brakes during idling
until the vacuum gave out, releasing the car to roll into the one ahead of
it or downhill if you were in an unfortunate spot when it occurred, a horn
ring made of white metal with so little support that the first time you hit
it hard, it broke off (and no spares existed in any Jaguar junk yard I knew
of), a rear brake assembly that was half disk, half drum and all trouble, a
push button starter that meant anyone who didn't know Jags who serviced it
routinely broke the key off in the switch assuming that it must start that
way rather than the big "START" button on the dash and last but not least,
three Solex carbs that had to be tuned by a combination of praying, cursing
and magic.

I wouldn't mind having an XKE in the garage, though. One of the
sweetest looking cars ever made.

Yeah, nice looks for sure... but then I think that most Jags were until
the most recent models of the last decade or so. In terms of curvy
goodness, I wouldn't mind an XJ13, but they only ever built one of those
and then wrecked it ;-)

The Mark X was the four door predecessor to the XJ series. Walnut fold-down
picnic tables behind the front seats, all walnut dash, twin 13 gallon fuel
tanks with separate electric pumps, gauges for everything (no idiot lights),
leather power seats, power windows, a big boot, a well-fitted tool kit and a
top speed of 160 mph. I liked it an awful lot until I decided I really
needed to get from point A to point B more than I needed to drive a fancy
car. Saved me from making a $80K mistake later in life, I think.

What's Lucas Electrics motto? "Get home before dark!"

http://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html

(See the fuse panel equivalency diagram!)

http://www.mez.co.uk/fusereplacement.jpg

--
Bobby G.

On Thu, 26 May 2011 06:12:37 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
My big problems were when water got under the hood, when the
transmission (Borg-Warnet) blew up, when the power steering pump blew up
spraying the hot exhaust manifold with enough PS fluid to create a small
cumulo-nimbus cloud outside the gates of the Naval Academy during June
Week (now I would be shot as a terrorist bomber), the sudden loss of
spark to three of the six cylinders (it did managed to limp thirty miles
home in that condition) a failed A/C compressor, which apparently was
held in mid-air while the rest of the car was built around it (it was SO
hard to remove), a fender full of tree-nuts that apparently only grow in
Spain, plenty of the body rust you allude to, an engine that ran hot
enough to alligator the paint on the hood, ...

Ha ha! I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. It all
sounds familiar - I've had the tree-nut problem, and exhaust manifold
bolts that require a team of trained squirrels to reach, and loss of
spark (passing folk at 90mph or so on a country road when the supply to
the coil gave out) and, of course, engine heat - Triumph were famous for
poor QC and their V8s left the factory with a small beach of casting sand
still inside, which of course just loved to block engine cooling passages.


The Mark X was the four door predecessor to the XJ series. Walnut
fold-down picnic tables behind the front seats, all walnut dash, twin 13
gallon fuel tanks with separate electric pumps, gauges for everything
(no idiot lights), leather power seats, power windows, a big boot, a
well-fitted tool kit and a top speed of 160 mph.

Ahh yeah, I remember a friend had a Mark X... very sleek car. The XJs
were nice, too, and I think they sold quite a few of those in the US - I
keep thinking I should try and get one someday. My uncle had a Mark IX at
one point - I'm not sure if those ever made it to the US market, did they?

The XJ13 was Jaguar's Le Mans racer attempt - http://www.netcarshow.com/
jaguar/1966-xj13/800x600/wallpaper_02.htm - very nice lines, I think.
Shame they never made it a production body like they did with the E type.

What's Lucas Electrics motto? "Get home before dark!"

Ha I've been in so many European cars of the same era though, and they
really weren't any better when it came to electrics. Quite why they
couldn't figure it out, I don't know. I've got a '60s Ford F100 these
days though and that's really not any different - maybe the US climate
(and roads) were just generally kinder on vehicles, so they didn't get
the same bad rep?

cheers

Jules

On Thu, 26 May 2011 13:26:44 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
wrote:

On Thu, 26 May 2011 06:12:37 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
My big problems were when water got under the hood, when the
transmission (Borg-Warnet) blew up, when the power steering pump blew up
spraying the hot exhaust manifold with enough PS fluid to create a small
cumulo-nimbus cloud outside the gates of the Naval Academy during June
Week (now I would be shot as a terrorist bomber), the sudden loss of
spark to three of the six cylinders (it did managed to limp thirty miles
home in that condition) a failed A/C compressor, which apparently was
held in mid-air while the rest of the car was built around it (it was SO
hard to remove), a fender full of tree-nuts that apparently only grow in
Spain, plenty of the body rust you allude to, an engine that ran hot
enough to alligator the paint on the hood, ...

Ha ha! I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. It all
sounds familiar - I've had the tree-nut problem, and exhaust manifold
bolts that require a team of trained squirrels to reach, and loss of
spark (passing folk at 90mph or so on a country road when the supply to
the coil gave out) and, of course, engine heat - Triumph were famous for
poor QC and their V8s left the factory with a small beach of casting sand
still inside, which of course just loved to block engine cooling passages.


The Mark X was the four door predecessor to the XJ series. Walnut
fold-down picnic tables behind the front seats, all walnut dash, twin 13
gallon fuel tanks with separate electric pumps, gauges for everything
(no idiot lights), leather power seats, power windows, a big boot, a
well-fitted tool kit and a top speed of 160 mph.

Ahh yeah, I remember a friend had a Mark X... very sleek car. The XJs
were nice, too, and I think they sold quite a few of those in the US - I
keep thinking I should try and get one someday. My uncle had a Mark IX at
one point - I'm not sure if those ever made it to the US market, did they?

The XJ13 was Jaguar's Le Mans racer attempt - http://www.netcarshow.com/
jaguar/1966-xj13/800x600/wallpaper_02.htm - very nice lines, I think.
Shame they never made it a production body like they did with the E type.

What's Lucas Electrics motto? "Get home before dark!"

Ha I've been in so many European cars of the same era though, and they
really weren't any better when it came to electrics. Quite why they
couldn't figure it out, I don't know. I've got a '60s Ford F100 these
days though and that's really not any different - maybe the US climate
(and roads) were just generally kinder on vehicles, so they didn't get
the same bad rep?

cheers

Jules
Paris Rhone and Ducellier were every bit as bad, electrically, as
Lucas - and 2 or 3 times as expensive to fix.

Euro electrics do not seam to stand up well over here in the Americas.
The "Euro style" connectors used in the American built "Mondeo clones"
- Mercury Mystique/Ford Contour are the largest cause of problems on
those cars. Other than the encroaching body rust, virtually every
problem I've had on my wife's '96 has been an electrical connector.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 May 2011 13:26:44 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
wrote:

On Thu, 26 May 2011 06:12:37 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
My big problems were when water got under the hood, when the
transmission (Borg-Warnet) blew up, when the power steering pump blew
up
spraying the hot exhaust manifold with enough PS fluid to create a
small
cumulo-nimbus cloud outside the gates of the Naval Academy during June
Week (now I would be shot as a terrorist bomber), the sudden loss of
spark to three of the six cylinders (it did managed to limp thirty
miles
home in that condition) a failed A/C compressor, which apparently was
held in mid-air while the rest of the car was built around it (it was
SO
hard to remove), a fender full of tree-nuts that apparently only grow
in
Spain, plenty of the body rust you allude to, an engine that ran hot
enough to alligator the paint on the hood, ...

Ha ha! I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. It all
sounds familiar - I've had the tree-nut problem, and exhaust manifold
bolts that require a team of trained squirrels to reach, and loss of
spark (passing folk at 90mph or so on a country road when the supply to
the coil gave out) and, of course, engine heat - Triumph were famous for
poor QC and their V8s left the factory with a small beach of casting sand
still inside, which of course just loved to block engine cooling
passages.


The Mark X was the four door predecessor to the XJ series. Walnut
fold-down picnic tables behind the front seats, all walnut dash, twin
13
gallon fuel tanks with separate electric pumps, gauges for everything
(no idiot lights), leather power seats, power windows, a big boot, a
well-fitted tool kit and a top speed of 160 mph.

Ahh yeah, I remember a friend had a Mark X... very sleek car. The XJs
were nice, too, and I think they sold quite a few of those in the US - I
keep thinking I should try and get one someday. My uncle had a Mark IX at
one point - I'm not sure if those ever made it to the US market, did
they?

The XJ13 was Jaguar's Le Mans racer attempt - http://www.netcarshow.com/
jaguar/1966-xj13/800x600/wallpaper_02.htm - very nice lines, I think.
Shame they never made it a production body like they did with the E type.

What's Lucas Electrics motto? "Get home before dark!"

Ha I've been in so many European cars of the same era though, and they
really weren't any better when it came to electrics. Quite why they
couldn't figure it out, I don't know. I've got a '60s Ford F100 these
days though and that's really not any different - maybe the US climate
(and roads) were just generally kinder on vehicles, so they didn't get
the same bad rep?

cheers

Jules
Paris Rhone and Ducellier were every bit as bad, electrically, as
Lucas - and 2 or 3 times as expensive to fix.

French cars never, ever impressed me. My boss had one of those variable
suspension Citroens and once had an accident because he was trying to warn
someone backing up into us with the horn, which the French decided should be
on the end of the turnsignal stalk. Apparently the French automakers were
unfamiliar with the basic concepts of human factors engineering. Another
friend bought the Renault Alliance which literally dissolved out from under
him. Things were always falling off that junkmobile. C&D's "Car of the
Year" - must have been 1911.

Euro electrics do not seam to stand up well over here in the Americas.
The "Euro style" connectors used in the American built "Mondeo clones"
- Mercury Mystique/Ford Contour are the largest cause of problems on
those cars. Other than the encroaching body rust, virtually every
problem I've had on my wife's '96 has been an electrical connector.

I agree. It got so that I didn't bother to drive the Jag if I knew heavy
rains were coming. If I were doing it all over again, I would have used
adhesive lined heat shrink tubing to cover the most vulnerable connectors
since they're rarely disconnected for routine maintenance. It would have
been a simple matter to slice them open with a razor if need be. I've seen
people do the same with connectors for marine electronics and sal****er is
far more troublesome, electrically speaking, than rainwater.

I had an overheating problem I was never able to solve. It meant that on
really hot days I had to run with the A/C off, all the windows open and the
heat on full blast. The Jag had a little popup ventilator scoop on the hood
and when up, provided just enough additional cooling so that the engine
thermostat wouldn't blow. Even with all the problems I learned how to be a
Bondo master and an automotive electrical trouble shooter. I remember when
the tranny started slipping, I took it to an alleged Jag expert who told me
I needed a $1200 rebuild. Turned out it was just low on fluid. Fortunately
the manual was very well done and had fold out schematics and more. Some
things never got fixed.

The passenger power window used a scissors mechanism with a long center
screw to raise and lower the window. Apparently the previous owner had an
accident and the door was not properly straightened so that the lifting nut
and the threaded rod both lost threads in critical areas. You would start
to lower the window and it would move slowly until the stripped threads and
then drop like a guillotine. I ended up disconnecting the motor and drilling
a hole through the scissors assembly, permanently bolting it in the closed
position after the window just fell open one rainy day with predictable
results.

Got into a nearly homicidal grudge match with my neighbor because I came out
of the house one day to find this (expletive deleted) bitch sitting on the
porch watching her delinquent little boy trying to pry the Jaguar hood
ornament off the car. "Shucks, he's just playing!" was her response. The
little rugrat was eventually busted for breaking into ten different houses
in the neighborhood. My first encounter with the little ******* was when I
was moving in and he and his brothers were inspecting the boxes on my porch.
I heard the little six year old fokker say to his older brother "What can we
steal?" I assume he's been shived to death in prison by now, he was such a
likeable little cuss. NOT!

--
Bobby G.

"Jules Richardson" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 May 2011 06:12:37 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
My big problems were when water got under the hood, when the
transmission (Borg-Warner) blew up, when the power steering pump blew up
spraying the hot exhaust manifold with enough PS fluid to create a small
cumulo-nimbus cloud outside the gates of the Naval Academy during June
Week (now I would be shot as a terrorist bomber), the sudden loss of
spark to three of the six cylinders (it did managed to limp thirty miles
home in that condition) a failed A/C compressor, which apparently was
held in mid-air while the rest of the car was built around it (it was SO
hard to remove), a fender full of tree-nuts that apparently only grow in
Spain, plenty of the body rust you allude to, an engine that ran hot
enough to alligator the paint on the hood, ...

Ha ha! I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. It all
sounds familiar - I've had the tree-nut problem, and exhaust manifold
bolts that require a team of trained squirrels to reach,

My squirrel team was killed in the power steering pump explosion. (-:

and loss of
spark (passing folk at 90mph or so on a country road when the supply to
the coil gave out) and, of course, engine heat - Triumph were famous for
poor QC and their V8s left the factory with a small beach of casting sand
still inside, which of course just loved to block engine cooling passages.

I had a TR6. Sold that to a kid that damn near killed himself in it by
hitting a stalled tractor-trailer. Very lucky to be alive. Almost no
protection for the occupants and it was even MORE trouble for the short time
that I had it than the Triumph. Awful to work on, very crowded under the
hood, unlike my Volvo 142 that had a cavernous engine compartment with this
teeny little engine held in place by massive struts. The easiest car ever
to do engine work, however when the wiper motors failed, it required
disassembly of the whole dashboard to replace. By that time it had 300K
miles, an old street sign for the rear floor boards and the fender from a
144. So I took my jig saw and cut through the dash to where I knew the
motor was and removed it that way.

The Mark X was the four door predecessor to the XJ series. Walnut
fold-down picnic tables behind the front seats, all walnut dash, twin 13
gallon fuel tanks with separate electric pumps, gauges for everything
(no idiot lights), leather power seats, power windows, a big boot, a
well-fitted tool kit and a top speed of 160 mph.

Ahh yeah, I remember a friend had a Mark X... very sleek car.

Once I picked up a female hitchhiker who proudly proclaimed: "I know what
kind of car this is - it's a hearse!"

The XJs
were nice, too, and I think they sold quite a few of those in the US - I
keep thinking I should try and get one someday. My uncle had a Mark IX at
one point - I'm not sure if those ever made it to the US market, did they?

I've seen one or two IX's on the street and more at vintage car shows. They
were an older, Rolls-Royce-ish sort of design.

The XJ13 was Jaguar's Le Mans racer attempt - http://www.netcarshow.com/
jaguar/1966-xj13/800x600/wallpaper_02.htm - very nice lines, I think.
Shame they never made it a production body like they did with the E type.

They did make one of their racers into a production car. Steven McQueen
owned one:

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

I'm not enamored of the style - it looks bulbous. But I'll bet they're
worth a fortune because productions was so limited.

What's Lucas Electrics motto? "Get home before dark!"

Ha I've been in so many European cars of the same era though, and they
really weren't any better when it came to electrics. Quite why they
couldn't figure it out, I don't know. I've got a '60s Ford F100 these
days though and that's really not any different - maybe the US climate
(and roads) were just generally kinder on vehicles, so they didn't get
the same bad rep?

I know it took a while for the Japanese to build cars that would work in the
wide range of weather found in the US. I assume the Europeans had similar
issues, tending to design cars for their local environment. Brits, of
course, drive on the wrong side of the road so that introduces a number of
left/right hand issues because the cars usually are built to accommodate
both types of steering. My Mark X was left-hand drive but there were
obvious "vestigial" right hand drive connectors, fittings, etc.

It was a great experience, and I learned more about cars than I ever could
from one that ran well, but now I drive a Honda that starts every time and
gets me where I am going without incident.

Did you see the bit about "Lucas Wiring Harness Replacement Magic Smoke?" I
never fried the wiring harness on the Jag, but I did smoke a 1967 Buick
Riviera with the drum speedometer, the fastback and the flip up (mostly)
headlights. Had that up to 110 mph when I was a police reporter for the
Washington Star when I responding to a Signal 13 (officer down) call. I
knew from what my journo prof said that when cops are "running on code" they
will NEVER stop to issue speeding tickets so I got in line with all the
cruisers heading up US Route One, leaving the ground when I hit a big enough
dip. I'd recently wrote an article about doing a stint at the Bondurant
Racing School which gave me a very false sense of confidence about
high-speed driving. Very false and life-threatening, too! (-:

The woman with me, whom I was giving a ride to her dorm when the call came
in, wet her pants and I finally has to slow down when an older police
cruiser, doing about 130 mph passed me. Obviously the piston rings were
just about shot because he laid down a trail of blue smoke so thick I
couldn't see anymore. When I finally got to the scene I was so loaded with
adrenaline that my knees just buckled as I stepped out of the car. It took
a few seconds to get my footing back. Poor Leslie was shaking like a leaf
while trying to tie her sweater around her waist to conceal her indelicate
condition.

I did one other high speed chase before I made a deal with God and gave up
chasing cop cars. I was going 100 mph on a four lane city thoroughfare,
following a line of police cars responding to a bank robbery. One thing
they drill into you at Bondurant is that braking at those speeds isn't a
practical way to avoid disaster, even though it's a reflex response.

I remember (and will remember until the day I die) trying to brake for a car
nudging out from a stop sign way, far ahead and realizing I had covered an
enormous distance without appreciably slowing down. Fortunately he had seen
the long line of patrol cars ahead of me and stopped, half way into the
intersection. I remember whizzing by so close the car shuddered as it
passed within a foot of the other car the way it feels when a huge truck
passes at high speed. In those few seconds (which seemed like an hour) I
made my deal with God. Don't kill me tonight and I'll find safer work!
That (and getting shot at during a 7-11 robbery) did the trick and I went
back to school to study CompSci.

At 100mph late at night, by the time you see it, it's already too late to
brake for it. There's the difference between many American sedans and Brit
sedan/sports cars. 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.

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.



Chuckle. For a couple years, as a young immortal kid, I had a 71 ford
full-size wagon, but it only had the 400, not the cop 429. I think it
got maybe 14mpg driven gently on the interstate. But it was still pretty
fast in a straight line. Never did manage to peg the speedo during the
middle-of-the-night interstate banzai runs, but I know I had it north of
110 a couple times. With more road, it might have made it, but even with
stiff shocks and performance tires, it was scary-twitchy by then.

With all the stupid stuff I did with cars back then, it is amazing that
I am still alive, have all my appendages, and never got arrested. Some
of the crowd I ran with back them were not so lucky. I'm a pretty
boring driver now, and drive less in a year than I used to drive in a
month. Of course, with current gas prices, aimless cruising is no
longer a viable option, even in little 4-banger Honda. The only way to
get that thing over 100 would be to drive it off a tall cliff. But for
25mpg in town and 32 on highway, I can live with it.

--
aem sends...

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.

Chuckle. For a couple years, as a young immortal kid, I had a 71 ford
full-size wagon, but it only had the 400, not the cop 429. I think it
got maybe 14mpg driven gently on the interstate. But it was still pretty
fast in a straight line. Never did manage to peg the speedo during the
middle-of-the-night interstate banzai runs, but I know I had it north of
110 a couple times. With more road, it might have made it, but even with
stiff shocks and performance tires, it was scary-twitchy by then.

With all the stupid stuff I did with cars back then, it is amazing that
I am still alive, have all my appendages, and never got arrested. Some
of the crowd I ran with back them were not so lucky. I'm a pretty
boring driver now, and drive less in a year than I used to drive in a
month. Of course, with current gas prices, aimless cruising is no
longer a viable option, even in little 4-banger Honda. The only way to
get that thing over 100 would be to drive it off a tall cliff. But for
25mpg in town and 32 on highway, I can live with it.

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.

On Fri, 27 May 2011 14:37:17 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

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.

The little suckers really FLY though!!!!
Mine will LITERALLY fly, as it is converted to an aircraft engine and
is going into a french Canadian designed bush-plane called a Pegazair.

I wonder, have they finally got things computerized enough so that engines
now shut themselves down when there's catastrophic coolant or oil leakage?

Some do. Some don't. A Caddy Northstar will shut off cyls in rotation
to keep from overheating with coolant loss, allowing you to "limp
home". Many GM cars ( and others) shut off the fuel pump when the oil
pressure drops.
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.