Dave@Moon
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Posts posted by Dave@Moon
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Is anyone really reading these things before they've formulated a rebuttal?
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Somebody named MARTINSR changed the color of his car???? Shocking!
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Is there anyone out there restoring cars that are already mint condition? <P>Are there any cars on the show field at Hershey that were preordained not to go to the crusher?<P>Have all the NOS, reproduction parts and upholstery suppliers gone bankrupt?<P>Have all the machine tools for rebuilding 6 cylinder motors been lost?<P>The simple fact is that every street rod you see (except the fiberglass repro's) was a potential AACA Senior restoration before work began on it. It is a conscious decision to permanently alter a car for one's purposes or rebuild it to its original specs. It is virtually never a "no other chioce" situation. If people can restore one-off dream cars from 50 years ago and 1906 steam cars in their garage, your 1948 whatever can be brought back too.<P>That's not to say that it has to or should be restored. Or that it makes financial sense to (or not to). But never use the poor condition of a car as the excuse to modify it. It was just what <I> you </I> wanted, period. And that should be good enough.<P>The fact that everyone has a different aesthetic on this issue can be seen in the semantics used by both the hot rod and restorer community. As long as we both use the term <I> "unmolested" </I> to describe an unmodified car, the perception of a hot rod as somehow diminished from its past in the eyes of others not involved with the project should be clear.<P>And that, I believe, is the source of all the defensiveness surrounding this subject.<P>As for the things that (as Martin says) are "just wrong", I'm probably more liberal on the subject than he is. Mickey's Mouse (that's the name of the pornographic Chevelle) is wrong. Illegal modifications are wrong. Unsafe modifications are wrong (why do people tint their windows so dark that noone can see whose to blame/credit for the car?).<P>Billet steering wheels are ugly, and almost certainly of limited temporal appeal (anybody out there still using their 6" chrome chain steering wheel?). But wrong?..... <P>What I find truly wrong is the idea that there is no automotive heritage, and that we do whatever we want to our cars <I> without consequence to us, the car or the hobby. </I> In the last few years I've seen several extremely rare cars chopped to fit the interest of one guy. It's bad enough to lose another 1957 Plymouth to a custom, but why do people think they can improve on the looks of true classics? You haven't lived until you've seen a candy-apple blue XK120 raked 6" with a set of Crager's. (And yes, don't forget the sbc!)
<P>TNN (The Nashville Network) seems to make a crusade out of this "modify at all costs, it must PERFORM" attitude. Their Saturday shows contain a wealth of information on old cars, but they amount to 4-5 hours of infomercials for aftermarket pieces which are sometimes of questionable taste and utility and almost never cost effective. In the last 2 years I've seen a 1937 Terraplane coupe and a 1933 International flatbed chopped there (yeah, I know, there's 8 of those on my block too!). They even recently featured a bored and stroked Whizzer! <P>For God's sake, why???<P>And that's the point, that you have to be prepared to answer the question "Why?", at least for yourself. If you can do that, you're not going to be bothered by what I think, or what Mickey thinks. You should expect tolerance for your decisions in what to do with your car, but agreement?... -
Did you ever check the tranny fluid in a TR6? First you pull the driver's seat..... After the center section of the floor is unbolted and removed, then you can get to the fluid port to check the level.<P>I love British cars!
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Brings to mind my dad's '74 Ford van. We eventually filled a small coffee mug with the loose/lost nuts/bolts/washers/fuses/etc. we found in it after a few years. They don't loose 'em like they used to!
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By the way, Martin, one of the guys here in town did exactly the same thing to his truck (including the 401), a 1957 Cameo! His saving grace, he did it in 1968. <P>You've never seen so much sparkle vinyl in your life!
I often wonder how ridiculous today's neon lit monochromes are going to look in 10 or 15 years. -
I've often wondered how guys like my Chevelle and your '34 get girls with an attitude like that. Now I know, they don't and that's why they have the attitude!
<P>Maybe we should start a movement--"Get a Geek a Date, Save a Classic Car!" -
Blueick, that was probably the Vice-Chariman of your local Chevy club. "Put a big block in it" is the highest complement they can usually think of!
<p>[This message has been edited by Dave@Moon (edited 08-20-2000).] -
By the way, it was a <I> very </I> good thing I saved the tranny. The newly rebuilt tranny in my TR6 (from the most reputable rebuilder in the U.S.) was installed just before I bought it. Only problem, the guy I bought it from thought it was filled with gear lube by his assistant, the assistant thought the reverse
. Six months of driving left me with a tranny full of brand new burnt bearings. <P>Oh well, live & learn! -
I dissagree. It depends on how much the second engine costs and whether you have the space and ability to properly store it. If you can get a decent motor and tranny for a good price, they can be stored for a rainy day and for whatever spare parts can be had with them. <P>I have a spare everything for my TR6 from an old parts car I canniblized which I intend to use for restoration pieces and spares. The engine has been coated inside the cylinders with fogging oil and is manually rotated every few months to keep it from freezing up. A small price to pay compared to the cost of TR6 parts!
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I think the problem that a lot of hot rodders run into is that they are blamed by antique restorers for a lot of the wasteful and narcissistic behavior that they see in years of exposure to that realm of the car hobby. The vast majority of hot rods I've seen are carefully done recreations or well maintained origionals of individualized performance cars of the 1950-1965 era. But you say "hot rod" to me, and I immediately recall the <I> very </I> well indowed masturbating mouse I once saw 20 years ago emblazoned on the hood of a Chevelle, or the myriad of truly valuable and irreplacable antiques (including several full-Classics) that were "hot-rodded" with a Chevy small block and J.C. Whitney accouterments.<P>I think the problem that a lot of antique restorers run into is that they are blamed by hot rodders for taking the preservationist view of the car hobby to extremes (which, admittedly, some do). Not every 1960 LeSabre is or should be an AACA Senior restoration, but it is nice that some are. Not every 1936 Cord is an AACA Senior restoration, but I don't think it's extreme to think that doing anything else with one is wasteful. <P>That line is not firmly drawn and will always be point of friction. Some people see any car or engine with no available speed equipment in the Summit catalog as a useless object ripe for exploitation or disposal. Some people see the same thing as the only part of our automotive heritage that needs preservation. I've actually heard inexperienced hot-rodders discusing the disposal of cars so that their bodies could be used in a project, when said cars' value in the Old Car Value Guide as restored a vehicle exceeded 6 figures! (Usually this was an inherited car or one obtained in a trade from another uninformed person.)<P>The wide and varied interests of the different people involved in our hobby is a strength, not a hinderence. The important point to consider is that everyone approaches this hobby with their own aesthetics and knowledge. Other's perceptions of your actions will be shaped by knowledge and aesthetics you don't have and cannot appreciate. A Marvel updraft carburator is a worthless piece of crap to half the people reading this, and an indispensible piece of history to the rest. Same goes for the tunnel-ram intake and Chevy rat motor crammed into the next cliche '32 deuce coupe you see. <P>I try to never 'dis anyone's car or interests. I always try to share my admittedly more preservationist (but decidedly driving oriented) aesthetic and knowledge. Other's will insist that getting that extra 0.3 sec in the quarter mile out of their '65 Riviera made it worth eliminating a few bits and pieces here and there. Still other's will be convinced that they've improved upon the stock '48 Roadmaster's looks with that chop job and flames enough to negate the financial and historical loss. <P>We're not all wrong, just different. Everybody just deal with it!
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O.K. It's been about 8 months, time enough for a whole new batch of potential problem solvers to find this site. So noone has to go look up the 65 carter posting, I'll summarize the problem here one more time.<P>I have a 1960 LeSabre with the low-compression/regular gas engine option. It has a tiny Stromberg WW2 series carburator sitting on top of a 364 cubic inch big block. About 1997 I began to notice a serious problem, only at shutoff there would be copious quantiies of gasoline leaking out of the carb. It was running down the throat of the carb and oozing out of every available vent or gasket. This would last about about 10 minutes, until the carb and fuel pump were boiled dry. The dripping of gas off of the throttle linkage was truly impressive (and alarming!
).<P>I corrected the problem by using an electric fuel pump and relocating the fuel line away from the motor as much as possible. However, I haven't noticed a lot of cars with this problem even with today's gas. Is there something with the (origional) fuel pump that could've caused this? Did I miss something else? Has anyone else run into this yet? -
Is this that "Automobiles" series that they've been running for the last 4-5 years now?
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Let's play survivor! First person to log in gets to vote one car off the island:<P> 1. 1940 LaSalle coupe<BR> 2. 1936 Cord (Beverly sedan)<BR> 3. 1951 Jaguar XK120<BR> 4. 1971 Hemicuda convertible<BR> 5. 1938 American Bantam sedan delivey<BR> 6. 1953 Studebaker Starliner coupe<BR> 7. 1958 Alfa Romeo Guilletta coupe<BR> 8. 1911 Buick speedster<BR> 9. 1957 Thunderbird (factory supercharged)<BR>10. The @#%%* Hyundai the guy drove to work the day he developed the concept for "Survivor".<P>Please note--the deck is partially stacked. Also, no fair parachuting in stowaways!
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The rest of us started sucking wind beginning around 1971. Emissions limits were established on a per mile basis, so they were selectively brought on board as standards rose in larger cars first (generally). Therefore not all cars got all the same stuff each year. In fact as late as 1979 you could still get a small car that ran on leaded regular gas.
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Anybody out there still <I> NOT </I> convinced that the AACA is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the car restorer community?
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If you go down to your local parts store, they'll sell you a little device that hooks a 9V transistor radio battery into the cigarette lighter. Do this before you disconnect the old battery (& leave it in place until you're done w/ the new one) and you'll be able to save all your radio stations and clock settings.<P>At least in theory! I've tried to use mine 3 times and it has <I> never </I> worked!
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I've loaded several large threads in the last 5 minutes (about 6), then reloaded them. Twice on the second load I discovered the last posting had been left off of the first load. The posting could be several hours old or only minutes.<P>If I'd tried to post a message on the thread when it had failed to load the last posting, would it erase that previous posting by accident? Between the "Howard where are you" and "AACA Grandaddy.." threads it appears that something is dropping off the last post on a thread at times. <P>Peter, I think this one may be in you court.
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Maybe you did go to far afield. I can't find your posting anymore.
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No dynaflash8, you haven't gone too far afield. Check the old "Young People" threads. Same premise, same subjects, same progression of discussion, and same results. <P>And every week another 1933 Plymouth is introduced to it's new small-block and headers.
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On the subject of Halliburton, their web page is loaded with blurbs about a new project of there's to develope an MTBE replacement called "isooctane". It's some kind of joint project which they've helped engineer. The old MTBE facilities are to be converted over manufacturing this stuff, apparantly at least partially out of left over MTBE. <P>God forbid anything simple, cheap and easy to produce, and un-patented be used in fuel, like, oh lets say...ethanol.<P>Aside from the fact that they've learned to name fuel additives so that they sound like they belong in fuel, does anyone know what this stuff is and what wonderful things it has in store for us?
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I've heard of having taste in your @$$, but that's over the line!
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This is probably best sold as a parts car or a project car, depending on the body type. It's value will also vary greatly depending on body type. If we're talking about a sedan or wagon it's not going to even approach the value (and the rebuild potential) of a convertible or coupe. <P>If you can post more information, especially photos, you'll get a much better response.
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I'd love to know how she gets cigar smoke out!!!
Hobby or Lifestyle?
in General Discussion
Posted
Being "just a hobby" for too many people almost killed this hobby in the late '80's and early '90's. When people thought that buying and selling cars was little different than stamps or beanie babies we wound up with vehicles that were too valuable to be vehicles. I think the only winners out of that mess was the trailer manufacturers.
<P>Sometimes there can be a silver lining in a market crash! <P>I believe that, while this is a hobby by the strictest definition, on the whole it is more a uniting force among people who share a celibratory aspect in their lives revolving around personal freedom. That is why we seem to be such a cantankerous bunch so much of the time, we chafe at the limits of our freedom. <P>Our cars represent an ability and expression of freedom that, while taken for granted by most people today, is simply unprecidented among men (and women). I know what the Hamptons look like, and Deal, NJ, and the Petrified Forest, and redwoods, etc., all because of the cars of my past. That old cars mean so much to me is almost certainly rooted in that history.<P>The car isn't my god or my church, but it's at least an embodiment of one of the best aspects of the life I got from my god. And therefore I think it's appropriate to be in my car on Sunday, and I usually am. 