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.

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

"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

Didn't even really need to remove the bolt -- just pop the
wires on the new resistor, and let it hang there. Of course,
the bolt was ideal for a good change out.

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


"The Daring Dufas" wrote
in message ...

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

notbob wrote:

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.


Bet that was a hazard. Watched a lot of bumpers did you?

nb

--

There is never a situation where having more rounds is a disadvantage

Rob Leatham

"The Daring Dufas" wrote:

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.

The real secret is not to get involved with a Chrysler POS.

Lew

Jules writes:
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.

Friend of mine had a 750IL (yeah, the james bond one). The interior
pretty much disintegrated; many of the leds on the dash died, to the
point where you could no longer read the odometer. The passenger side
front door window broke every time the door was closed hard. He went
through at least three radios. 12 cylinders to service. Never again,
he said.

scott

notbob wrote:
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.


As long as we're bragging, my 1970 Ford Custom got 9mph.

'Course it had a police interceptor engine, a calibrated speedometer up to
140, an 8-quart crankcase, and, believe it or not, a DELCO alternator.

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:33:47 -0600, HeyBub wrote:
As long as we're bragging, my 1970 Ford Custom got 9mph.

'Course it had a police interceptor engine, a calibrated speedometer up to
140, an 8-quart crankcase, and, believe it or not, a DELCO alternator.

What good's a speedo up to 140 if it won't go beyond 10mph?

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:25:17 -0600, Jules
wrote:

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 ;-)

Mine sure doesn't. There is a big change in the shower handle
position between summer and winter. When I lived in VT we were lucky
it came out liquid in the winter. ;-) The frost line often went down
7' and not all water lines did. Since we had a domestic hot water
coil in the boiler, the hot water temperature varied quite a lot too.

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:28:35 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

No new text?
I used to wash my slant sixes in the carwash -engiine running or
engine off, and just hose the entire engine down, and they would
ALWAYS either stay running or restart without problems.

I used good wires (Silver Beauty MSW) and premium caps.

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:32:50 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:


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.

The ones that burned ballast resistors were the early electronics -
dual ballast units.

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

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:31:35 GMT, 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
Quaker state and Pennzoil are still made from parrafin base stock I
believe. Perhaps not exclusively, but Pensylvania crude is parrafin.

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:10:36 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

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
My spare was always bolted to the firewall. Just move the plugs from
one to the other and away you go - to the parts store to replace the
"spare"

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:51:18 -0800, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


"The Daring Dufas" wrote:

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.

The real secret is not to get involved with a Chrysler POS.

Lew


Some of the best cars I ever owned were early Mopars. I've owned 53,
57, 63, 69, 74, 76, 85, 88, and now a 2002.

The 69 was likely the best.

The 63 was a 170 slant six automatic Valiant done to the nines - went
like stink, idled poorly, and liked it's gas. The 69 was a 225
automatic, not as highly tuned. Not as fast, and not as thirsty.

The '74 was also a 225 automatic, basically stock - a 25mpg highway
car.

The 76 was a 318 Ramcharger - need I say more?? The 85 was a 2.6 Mitsu
that I rebuilt - engine was still running 8 years later (in another
car).

The 88 was a 3.0 Mitsu - it had 3 sets of heads over it's 240,000km
lifespan before I sold it - still running and looking fantastic at 18
years of age.

The 2002 is a PT Cruiser.

The 57 was a 261 Flathead 6 in a Fargo Pickup. The 53 was a 241 Red
Ram Hemi in a Coronet Sierra 2 door wagon - sure wish I still had that
one!!!!!