genejockey 

Every time I think about owning an old car - because I'm 66 and prone to nostalgia - what stops me doing anything, apart from 1) lack of money, 2) lack of space, 3) lack of time, and 4) the desire to remain married, is the realization of just how OLD any car I'd want is. AND the fact that, honestly, they didn't run all that well in the first place. They weren't designed or engineered to last for 50 or 60 years. BITD, getting 10 years and 100K miles out of them was a major feat! So, yeah - all the perishable bits would have perished.

I had a friend after high school whose family was pretty well off for that area. They bought him a car when he turned 16 - not a NEW car, but he could choose his own USED car. His choice? a 1938 Chevy 5-window coupe. It was in good shape! No rust, mechanically sound, ran great. He got the interior redone. It was a nice, very individual ride. He was out driving it on US Rt. 30 with his brother, just driving along on a nice straight stretch, when suddenly he realized that the steering wheel was not connected to the front wheels anymore. Luckily, it drifted to the right instead of the left, and he ended up in a ditch, rather than in oncoming traffic. What had happened was a cotter pin had broken and allowed some part of the steering rack to come apart. The damage to the car was minimal and easily fixed, but he never trusted that car again.

That's something I think about with old cars.

terrymorse 

And the reduced visibility that comes with that bluish haze. I guess it's all that humidity.

As long as the onshore winds are blowing, and there are no nearby wildfires, our sky stays blue with high visibility all summer.

Excluding the fog, of course.


Calaveras Road

LesterOfPuppets

Some rubber is only good for 10 years in AZ. Mom's car is only 9 years old and her sway bar end links are cracked and well on their way to crumbling. Gonna try to get under there tomorrow morning and replace all the steering/suspension rubbers. Hopefully traction control nonsense doesn't create too much difficulty - maybe a couple extra wires to unplug/plug back in?

Velo Vol 

Gross.

DangerousDanR

<Rant>
Old cars. I've had a few. A 66 series Land Rover, a P1800 Volvo. A couple of old Volvos. So I really get pi... irritated with the people who post some of the old car misinformation on BF.

Four cylinder engines are a tool of the devil. And front wheel drive is why they are now under square. I didn't know that. But what do I know about engine design? Oh, feces... I used to design engin control software.

Couldn't have anything to do with the inherent tendency of over square engine to create higher levels of NOx. Surface to volume ratios, thermal transfer and crap like that. Nah, can't be that.

And by the way, we drive a RWD and live in the lesser white north. Could it possibly be that winter tires make more of a difference than anything else?

Nah can't possibly be that. I mean, the traction control and antilock brakes on a Jaguar couldn't make a RWD car handle great on ice.

And my fellow control engineers couldn't possibly overcome the torque steering in FWD cars by modulating power. Like they have tamed the rear end twitch on a 911?

<End of rant>

seedsbelize2

Greek^^^^

Velo Vol 

It's in English format, though the meaning is indecipherable. I got lost at "old cars."

DangerousDanR

Right, so I have seen that you don't post<expletive> about a subject you don't know anything about...

seedsbelize2

There are very few subjects that I know much about in this day and age, and what you posted is not among them. Auto mechanics I used to be pretty good at, and then points and condensers went out of fashion. And that can be said for almost everything I was once pretty good at. Or knew anything about.

DangerousDanR

I have a soft spot for old cars. Really, I do. But they aren't even close to as good as modern cars. I've gone on long road trips with a tool box in the trunk so I could re torque the head bolts and set the valve clearance, along with setting the dwell.

I miss that like I miss having whooping cough.

DougRNS

Camila says goodbye. Back to the shelter for spaying next week. The Mrs. is going to FLA for a few days next week so it will be back to me and Roscoe. Cammy, as we called her, was a little hyper and didn't know boundaries but was very loving and liked to snuggle. She will make a good addition to anyone who adopts her.

DougRNS

Cycling is a cruel mistress. How many times do I have to tell you.

LAJ

Maybe it was also your choice of old cars.

I am with you, though. Old cars are snot. Old Euro-cars are Euro-snot.

Mojo31

I get it.

LAJ

Just needs a lower temp thermostat. Engine is running too hot....

TMonk

3 hrs on the hamster wheel this morning. They took down the fence at 5 km for a little cheeky mini race at the end:

1) I attack and start building time at VO2 pace
2) Solo rider bridges to me and the games begin
3) Sprint at the end.

I feel like the story is told pretty well by the power graph in the second screenshot:

Velo Vol 

I don't know who needs to hear this, but

LesterOfPuppets

I expected something more like this from you.

MoAlpha

Sticky pistons. Clean ‘em.

TMonk

I have Di2 Ultegra 12sp on my TCR and etap 11 speed on my TT bike, and they have both performed flawlessly, minus when I forget to charge em

Trsnrtr

I had an MG Midget and I carried a large screw driver to pry disc brake calipers apart, smaller screw driver and small wrench to adjust the twin carbs, WD40 to spray ignition parts, emery paper to polish lighting wiring and a few other small tools. Never drove anywhere without them and I mean anywhere.

My dad said that he could replace a clutch in a '39 Ford on the shoulder of the road. Before my time but if he said that he did, I believe him.

Trsnrtr

"Euro-snot," I like that and am going to remember that. A riding friend calls Italian bikes, "Euro-trash." I rode my Euro-trash, Colnago today and I refer to it that way most of the time even though my V3's frame is Taiwanese.

Trsnrtr

Velo Vol I saw a car today on my ride that had a specialty Tennessee Vols license plate. I stopped and was going to take a pic but when I pulled my phone out, a guy in the yard that I hadn't noticed, asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was just checking my phone for a sec and then put it away.

In my defense, he was younger than me and could have been a linebacker for all I know.

genejockey 

I jury rigged a broken throttle cable on my MGB with a Tygon tubing clamp, well enough to get home. The next day I walked the 2.5 miles to the one place in Ithaca that had parts for British cars, and then walked the 2.5 miles back. I don't remember why I had that clamp with me.

Another time I jury rigged a pair of radiator hose clamps into an exhaust hanger when the rear hanger broke while I was in a tunnel on the Northeast Extension of the PA turnpike. I don't remember why I had those clamps with me, either.

I used to carry a crescent wrench, in case the starter drive jammed, until a former MGB owner saw me with the hood open and a crescent wrench in hand and said, "Starter drive, right?" and showed me the trick of putting it in 3rd and rocking it to get it to release.

I bought a whole quart of ATF to fill the dashpots on the twin SU carbs. Then I had almost a whole quart of ATF.

rjones28 

I still want to have an old LWS (lightweight sports) in the collection again, but that's fairly low on the priority list.