It’s been a while since I’ve turned the Friday news slot over to you. And by a while I mean a month. Sometimes there’s just not much car stuff to talk about while the whole world shits itself all around us. But we’re a fairly active bunch so I know there’s something we can at least talk to each other about. Start a conversation, ask for advice, show off something you broke and then fixed and then broke again, maybe recommend some new jack stands, or just check in on each other in the comments. Have a good weekend.
What’s your automotive news for the week?
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80 responses to “What’s your automotive news for the week?”
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No progress on the Spirit, but I did put a lift on our Crosstrek. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/366924b9c9f0082f635c7af4c2c435941b6aebaeb6965fc6102e54fcece9107c.jpg
2 inch lift, and the biggest BFG All Terrains I could squeeze on it.
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I want to not like that Subaru lift and tires. Another poser cute-ute that lives at the shopping center parking lot, never seeing off road. But then I look at the red rock gravel driveway, Colorado (I think?) plates, log-style construction garage, obvious rugged wilderness in the background and… wait a minute, this might be legitimately used!
It just looks so right. Do adventure-y things proudly, fellow Hoon.
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I want to not like that Subaru lift and tires. Another poser cute-ute that lives at the shopping center parking lot, never seeing off road. But then I look at the red rock gravel driveway, Colorado (I think?) plates, log-style construction garage, obvious rugged wilderness in the background and… wait a minute, this might be legitimately used!
It just looks so right. Do adventure-y things proudly, fellow Hoon.
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I want to not like that Subaru lift and tires. Another poser cute-ute that lives at the shopping center parking lot, never seeing off road. But then I look at the red rock gravel driveway, Colorado (I think?) plates, log-style construction garage, obvious rugged wilderness in the background and… wait a minute, this might be legitimately used!
It just looks so right. Do adventure-y things proudly, fellow Hoon.
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Do you feel a big drop in power or MPG with the lift and tires?
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Minimal drop in power- I feel like I have to hold on to any given gear just a touch longer that I would have before.
Mileage, on the other hand, went from 33ish to 29ish so far. That was a bigger drop than I was expecting. Probably a similar percentage drop as to when I’ve lifted big SUVs in the past, but when you start at 14mpg and move to 12mpg it just seems like it sucks all the time anyways and I never really noticed it as much as this time.
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Looks great.
I could feel the weight difference when I switched to BFG’s on my old F150. Those things are serious tires.
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Looks great.
I could feel the weight difference when I switched to BFG’s on my old F150. Those things are serious tires.
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I think it looks great. Definite upgrade in the appearance factor.
I lost almost 2 mpg when I put KO2s on my Sedona minivan. Like you said, acceleration doesn’t seem to be noticeably affected, but my car requires a longer time in each gear. What I notice the most– as neight428 mentions– is the weight. I think I could improve things considerably by finding struts with greater compression valving, but I haven’t looked into it yet.
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Probably as much down to the rolling resitance of those tyres as anything else.
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On my van, the overall diameter is the same (so no speedo inaccuracy or torque reduction), but each tire weighs about 45% more than stock. The suspension is definitely not tuned for the additional unsprung mass.
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I want to not like that Subaru lift and tires. Another poser cute-ute that lives at the shopping center parking lot, never seeing off road. But then I look at the red rock gravel driveway, Colorado (I think?) plates, log-style construction garage, obvious rugged wilderness in the background and… wait a minute, this might be legitimately used!
It just looks so right. Do adventure-y things proudly, fellow Hoon.
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It gets used. Yes Colorado plates, pre lift I’ve found its limits on some rutted out minimally maintained dirt roads. I’m not going rock crawling with it, but I figure this will let me get a little further out there.
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Glad to read this!
Do they still have low range? I know with my ute I wanted a lower gear when the going got steep and bumpy. Actually an old-fashioned crawler gear would probably do in my case.
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No low range. I haven’t been in a position to need it, but as low on power as these are it would be nice to have the option.
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I was thinking more in terms of being able to crawl over tricky terrain. I’ve done a couple of hill climbs with 1000 rpm on the clock, or a lot less. Good to have a long stroke six at times.
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Did you reprogram after the lift and tires?
I noticed a considerable change with my pickup after reprogramming – shift points were back to “normal” and the sluggishness completely gone (although the mileage drop still sucked)-
Manual transmission, so there’s less to reprogram there, other than my own anticipations of shift points. I’m not sure a reprogram would do much more than get the speedometer’s accuracy back, but as it is I’m only about 2% off, so I’m not too worried about the small discrepancy.
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My son has just acquired a 96 Suburban for $400 with a non working right front window and no AC. I expect several driveway wrenching sessions this summer. We also have a distinct generational split with his two white GM vehicles juxtaposed with our red Ford and Mazda.
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For $400, can’t go wrong there.
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“Famous last words….” But it will be a hell of a lot of fun. The best way to learn about cars is to have one where you don’t have to feel bad if you screw something up the first time.
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Good luck and I am really honestly jealous. I can teach my son IT stuff but I am still learning how to wrench myself. What I have been teaching my two drivers is how to keep their cars good. Like how to check their oil, anitfreeze, and AT fluid. They are just as nuts as I am about keeping their tires inflated because of what I taught them. I may not be able to tear an engine down but at least I can make them aware of what to listen for.
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fortunately I worked as a mechanic before I went into IT so I could advise him on setting up a firewall and help swap a cylinder head. It helps that he went into mechanical engineering so he can bot program an Arduino and run a manual lathe.
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I sold cars, homes, billiard tables, computers in stores and even door to door for a day before I did IT. So I can teach my kids how to lead a horse without legs to water to get a drink. Which isn’t really useful. Although it helps in getting a date.
Arduino knowledge is helpful. I know you can use one to tell how many times the toilet has been flushed if you want to see if it has a leak. That and use it to set off your sprinklers for watering your lawn.
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Window motor should be straightforward, and a compressor kit with hoses, accumulator, o-rings, r-134a, and condenser might be under $400 online. What kind of condition is the interior?
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The good news is the window miraculously healed, but the interior needs serious cleaning since there’s mold in the third row.
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Which means that most likely it is the switch that is going bad. Depending on the switch you may be able to disassemble it, clean the contacts and be good to go. On the other hand most of the GM switches are available new in the aftermarket for a reasonable price.
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I’ve been having fun with gear ratio calculations again, like we all do from time to time, I’m sure.
Did you know that a TKO 5 speed manual and a 3.23 rear would have the same effective first gear ratio as a TH400 auto and 3.73 rear? Also final ratio in top gear would be equivalent to having a 2.65 rear with the TH400. I’m still trying to talk myself into a manual swap into the T/A, but that would mean I’m keeping it and by extension not potentially get something new/swoopy/modern/fast/cool in a couple of years. Such the dilemma. As far as drivable classics (hard to think of a ’79 anything as classic, but I guess it counts these days) my T/A is in really good shape finally, so of course I’m looking at selling it or taking it off the road for months.
This is a dumb hobby.
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I can’t wait to get my T5 in my Spirit. It is going to be such a different car than when I had the 904 in it. 3 speed auto to 5 speed manual- I’m really excited. Also going from 2.50ish to 3.55:1.
With how that project scope has grown, I’ve accepted that it will be next year until that car sees the road.
A 79 T/A is definitely a classic now. Hard to believe it, but that’s older now than a 65 Mustang was when I was getting old enough to get into cars. And there was no question that they were classics then.
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It’s a personal mental block, 1979 was within my lifetime and I haven’t figured out that I am old.
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How long do you need to keep it in order to make the manual swap worthwhile? How much do you budget for the transmission, bellhousing, pedals, clutch, etc?
Find another car with a stick shift already, buy it, and then “forget” to sell the one you have now.
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You know, you might be on to something.
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Oh, you should see the spreadsheets I made for my F150 plans… it’s not a dumb hobby at all, but it can get deep.
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I should say, my application of the hobby is dumb. Or more pithily, I am dumb.
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People are restoring ’99s as classics now, so a 79 definitely qualifies
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The Smashing Pumpkins made the song 1979, 16 years after 1979 and it’s now 25 years after that song. I am not sure how any of this happened, apparently I have a seventh grader myself. So odd.
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I know what you mean. So far I don’t think I’ve told my nephew I have shirts older than him, but it might happen…
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If our cat had lived another year, I could have told the new employee at work I had a cat older than him. (We had to put the cat down at age 22. The new employee that joined us a year later was 22 when he joined).
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https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/60dab474f37eef14dcf1bce359898e413f1d672b5c16a4a0fac613d80f966b73.jpg
My news is something simple. Something that feels like normal given what’s going on. Took the Corvair out for the first time this season. Drove it seventy miles just cruising around with my wife. It was so nice to have it out on the road. It started right up after adding some oil it lost over the winter.
I got asked if I had restored it while getting gas. That was a nice feeling since my wife and I are making a todo list for it. We also got a thumbs up for a Harley and a classic truck while were out. For a car with such a high production run there just aren’t that many out there.
Now it’s time for GM to make another air cooled rear drive coupe. I’m sure they will.
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Can’t see them changing back to air cooling for EV’s, but you never know.
My news is I had to change a flat tyre for the first time in quite a few years. I suspect the screw had been there for over a week, but a trip down a gravel road and over a couple of cattle grids must have dislodged it and it went down overnight.
Full-size spares for the win though, it happened on a long weekend a couple of hundred miles from home.
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I’ve had issues where the tires were put on with air guns. So taking them off on the road has become a heck of a lot harder. You didn’t have that issue?
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They were fairly stiff actually, but just used my foot on the lug wrench. The scissor jack was hard work though, much more than the others I’ve come across. My mother wouldn’t have been able to use it. Maybe it just needed greasing.
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You just added an item to my “To Do List” for today. It has been literally forever since I checked the air in the 98 BMW. In fact, I bet that spare is the original….maybe I should get a new one? I have taught my wife how to fix a flat though. She has the AAA membership number programmed into her phone.
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The easiest thing would be keep one of the old tires when you next get a new set, a reasonable compromise I think. At least the spare is stored away from UV, but they still age.
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I have never really seen a definitive answer on that one. My tire guy thinks that the Camry’s 2002 spare is good to go because of the lack of UV. It’s been through a lot of quite violent heat cycles though…
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Violent heat cycles?
I wouldn’t be too worried about that as a short range spare, but again I’d replace it with a younger tyre when the opportunity arose. Or better still include the spare in tyre rotation so it doesn’t go to waste. When I get tyres for my ute next one of the current ones (2004 I think, it’s been off the road for years) will go to replace the original 1997 spare.
Being unused is not good for a tyre either, rubber dries out when it doesn’t flex and circulate oil within it.
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Most cars will go up to 65°C inside on a sunny day, at least here in Norway, probably more in down under. Then they cool off again overnight. We have winters that get quite cold, too, -20°C is not unheard of even in our coastal area.
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Ok, understood. Remember doing an in-car ‘sauna’ for as long as we could stand as a teenager, too bad we had no way to measure how hot it got.
Just saw a tv car show segment where a gguy talked about tyres ageing out due to the rubber going hard and losing grip by 10 years; have had that experience and replaced a set of tyres that weren’t worn out but would squeal and start to slide early – the real concern of course is emergency braking.
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Yikes. My comfort temperature is 15-20°C, just driving home in my pre-heated car now is torture enough. 😛
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I’m not a convertible fan, but damn that’s a pretty car. I’d love to have a Monza coupe of that vintage. Such classic body lines.
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Thank you. It’s a 110 Monza convertible.
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It’s a beauty!
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Is it black or dark blue? Either way, the combo is fantastic with that light interior. That’s a keeper.
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Blue with a white interior.
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We’re about 1800 miles into the road trip, drove from Shreveport to almost Indiana yesterday. Wagon has been generally good, though I’m getting an SES light indicating that one of the camshaft position sensors I replaced in the spring is having issues. So, we’ll be swapping that out among with the other items on the ticket this week. Hopefully that solves the issue. I’ve owned a number of BMWs over the years, and this is the first one that keeps breaking, continuously.
In other news, my friend in Shreveport has a 2008 Shelby Mustang convertible. I got about 70 miles of time behind the wheel on a meat pie run to Natchitoches a couple days back. The power was phenomenal, but, oh boy, that solid axle on the rural roads was a handful. I’m spoiled by the BMW handling….still, awesome car though!
A later model, but I think Jeff would appreciate one of my recent 1/64 diecast acquisitions https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32cc8624347912486fd9fee2d6e42a593aad1d48b4f99209dc81a7d1006651b8.jpg
I’m STILL trying to find a contractor who can do my garage floor, no-ones interested, you’d never think there was a massive recession looming.
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HELL YES
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I know this is completely off topic, but this was the last post I saw from you. I just got an email from Motortrend advertising a new show that starts tomorrow- Shift Talkers with Jeff Glucker!
Congrats! Seems like a cool opportunity. I look forward to watching it tomorrow.
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Took the 71 Alfa Spider for it’s annual mandatory-in-Texas safety inspection yesterday. I keep it on regular plates (which require an inspection) even though it obviously qualifies for Antique plates. I do it to keep me honest and make me fix the little things. I see so many guys on Antique plates who just let things slide, because they don’t have to fix them.
So, the inspector failed the car. Worn-out windshield blades….. I thanked him because that was exactly the kind of thing I’d never notice… I didn’t even mutter under my breath or anything.
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back when i was in Texas, an inspection station near my work existed for no purpose besides to take your $7 and the further $20 or so that comes from the state out of your registration fee. Floyd would literally not even look at your car. he once asked if my Ford Fiesta was a truck.
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“ I do it to keep me honest and make me fix the little things. I see so many guys on Antique plates who just let things slide, because they don’t have to fix them.”
In my defense, it’s really just the turn signal relay and windshield wiper motor at the moment.
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The place in the neighborhood where I often take my stuff has never outright failed anything while I was there, but they do sometimes strongly suggest certain repairs that should not be delayed.
I replaced the driveshaft in my Volvo 66 GL this week. As suspected, one of its rubber bushings had failed in response to the failure of two of the four engine mounts. For anyone less familiar with the, ah, distinctive engineering of these vehicles, the driveshaft doesn’t have universal joints, as it runs between the front-mounted engine to the rear-mounted transmission, both of which are mounted firmly (in theory) to the car’s unibody. Each end is therefore set up to directly receive either the splined output shaft from the front clutch assembly or the splined input shaft from the rear transmission. This means that removing the driveshaft involves either pulling the engine or dropping the transmission to allow the driveshaft to be pulled free from the other end. Fun!
The photos below show the undamaged end of the driveshaft at top and the post-failure end at bottom:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50001893886_c92da3cf7e_c.jpg
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The lower image also seems to show some period-matching carpentry. Bonus points coming right at you.
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Thanks! Those are the steps leading down to the library (i.e. the former attached one-car garage), which has the same carpet throughout. A former owner converted the garage into living space decades ago, at the same time building a much larger garage in the back yard. Very little has changed since then.
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Thanks! Those are the steps leading down to the library (i.e. the former attached one-car garage), which has the same carpet throughout. A former owner converted the garage into living space decades ago, at the same time building a much larger garage in the back yard. Very little has changed since then.
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it’s time https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/cto/d/redondo-beach-1987-mercedes-benz-300d/7138740523.html
gonna use the money and space to buy back an old car of mine, a black 95 E320 coupe. it will cost me some money but i really regret selling it. the owner is willing, and i know I’ll regret it mightily if I don’t go for it. I’ve been thinking about that car for the whole two years since i sold it.
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Great, honest ad. The paint looks terrific on a small screen, for a 33 year old car. Good luck!
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Great, honest ad. The paint looks terrific on a small screen, for a 33 year old car. Good luck!
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unfortunately a good honest ad rarely seems to draw people in. which is fair, when I’m looking for an unusual car I’ll pretty much call any ad that appears. i guess I write the ads for myself. i had one rich sounding fella who called Thursday saying he’d like to see it this weekend, but is now, as always with Craigslist buyers, totally MIA.
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I can relate to that. More often than not, people have told me they fetch whatever car on a given day, then went awol. When I sometimes get to them anyway, they say they read the text after contacting me and found something they didn’t like. I never understood that…why call/text before you have even read everything? Meh.
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Nice car! Looks so much more modern than my black ’87 535i.
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“Previous owner claims he swapped the cluster when the old one showed 250k. I have no idea if this is true or not but he seemed pretty cool so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Tell hi you lied and you think it was really swapped at 500K. The ask for a discount because of the excess miles.
The Centennial is my first black car. I was prepared to always think it’s dirty, even literally just hours after cleaning it. Dust, pollen and whatnot are very clearly visible. What I wasn’t prepared for, is the insect cemetery it turns into on hot summer days. All sort of small critters seem to die on the sunshiny hot surface just by landing on it. Just strolled outside and found at least 40 dead insects on hood, roof and trunk lid.
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do you think it’s killing them, or is the mass grave just more visible on the black surface?
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There are no similar insects on the red and silver cars in our driveway…something’s different.
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Secret taekwondo skills?
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I remember that one, Ford denied it was them, but was it really?
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Well, after spending the week fighting rusted in spark plugs, adding a battery, replacing a bunch of rubber hoses, and cleaning out the carb, I got the Buick running again. Thankfully it didn’t need anything done with the timing (odd fire V6, so timing is a nightmare). It is even able to move in gear (after I filled the trans with fluid) and the brakes work well enough to hold it from moving in gear.
Next up will be cleaning out the old gas from the tank, new tires and belts, giving the brakes a good going through, and registering the car in my name (I tried to do so on Friday, but the DMV misread the title and thought the seller forgot to sign part of it. But meeting with the auction people confirmed the DMV was mistaken) and it should be back on the road.
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