The Car Thread

[Captain Goddammit]

I know a mechanic that uses a 12 cylinder as a daily driver.

That kind of says it all...

[MikeGyver]

Yiggy - late 60's would have likely been the series II - with some differences in the look of the front end between that and the series I. I think they had to redesign to meet crash standards so the bumper and headlights are different. Mine is a '66 and was close to the last of the series I. There are though a lot of good reasons there aren't many of them around, no roll bars, no air bags, no power anything - they are beasts to drive and horrendously high maintenance. That said, they are still one of the most beautiful body designs ever.

A friend of mine has a Jag 120 that I drool over.

I wonder what would be the one car the gear heads in this thread would have if money were no object? Mine would probably be one of the new Morgans or a Bugatti Veyron.

I've wanted one of the new Morgan Aero Supersport coupes since they were announced. They just look so nice. I've always wanted to find a early 60's S-type sedan that's been pre-ruined and throw a 350 in it.

That's why I guy most of my cars in project condition. I don't feel bad at that point for doing blasphemous stuff to them. I've seen people buy a completely restored car and modify the hell out of it and it doesn't make any sense to me, they could have just as easily pulled one out of a field/barn/whatever and left the restored one for someone who wanted an original.

I want to put a 90's Nissan turbo motor into my TR7 300+ stock (to motor) horsepower in a car that weighs less than a ton sounds amazingly fun.

[Captain Goddammit]

I've heard it said so many times that the E-type Jaguar, especially the earlier ones with the covered headlights, are the most beautiful cars ever minted. I'll go as far as to say they are "up there", but not the best ever. Number one styling screw-up on that car, and it's a big one, is the wheels sit way too far inboard. Sure you can fix that but to the purists, changing it ruins it. And of course, even the rarest and nicest ones need a Chevy V8 swap so they run, are as fast as they look, and don't sound like a sewing machine

I happen to be lucky enough to own my dream ride, I bought it long ago before it was valuable ('55 Chevy Bel Air hardtop) but for "most beautiful" I nominate the 1966 Pontiac GTO... Or any of the '67 to '70 Shelby or Boss Mustangs.
For overall bad-assness I nominate the '65-'66 427 Cobra.

In general I don't think auto styling was ever better than in Detroit in the mid to late '60s. Hell, they're trying to look like that again now with all the retro cars, but they usually fuck it up when they try. When the retro-'Stang came out in '05 it was pretty good looking but they mucked it up soon enough. The retro Camaro has messed up proportions... but I gotta say the Challenger is pretty damn good looking, and not overdone either. Still, most retro attempts are better than the half-used bar of soap look of modern cars, or the ridiculous and ugly Japanese trend of looking like an anime (must come from 'enima'?) robot monster.

[gyre]

I love the E type.

How about this then?

[AntiM]

A car love story, and I don't have Larry here to provide details.... he had a Roadrunner when he was in the Great Lakes, long before I met him, when he was 19. Fast bugger, and he'd done all sorts of stuff to it, but ended up selling it when he was assigned to a ship out of Norfolk. This was in the late 70s. He always talked about that car, and how he'd probably saved his life by selling it.

Fast forward to present day. We get a phone call from a man named Tom. Apparently Tom had bought a car to restore... he had found Larry's old registration and a photo under the back seat, and got in touch through Larry's parents. Wanted to know if Larry had any more pictures of the car in original condition. Sadly, no.
Turns out over the years the car had been gutted of all the original goodies, and crap put in, but Tom was upgrading everything back. He did a beautiful job.

So if I had the money, I'd buy Larry's Roadrunner back for him:

Original photo of Larry, found under the backseat:

Great Lakes 1978 original paint - Copy.jpg

Tom's 72 Plymouth Roadrunner GTX (Pic 5) - Copy.jpg

[Elorrum]

Meep meep!

[Captain Goddammit]

Love the Mopar!!!!!
Even if its not his anymore its cool that someone restored it.

[ygmir]

so cool!! remembering the old Mopars........the sound of a 440 with a six pack and glass packs......nothing like it!

[FIGJAM]

.... with illegel dumps on the headers!

[gyre]

They now make them with servo motors, so they can be opened a little at a time.

[Captain Goddammit]

Ha! When I was a kid I had a grey primered '70 GTO (they were CHEAP then!) and I'd made my own adjustable exhaust dumps by cutting the pipes ahead of the mufflers and slicing the rear piece of pipe so it could slide in and out of the forward part. I made the slices pretty wide, and had a turnbuckle bolted to exhaust pipe clamps, so by turning the turnbuckle I could adjust how loud it was.
Sure you had to crawl under the car to adjust it, and opened up it sounded raspy and shitty... but I was 19...

[ygmir]

on a couple of the cars I had, I put an adjustable throttle, locking cable (think airplane throttle) on my distributor, and left it loose. By using the installed vacuum gauge, I could adjust timing for altitude and conditions "on the fly"........got better performance/ mileage, but not really sure it was worth it, other than as a novelty.

[unjonharley]

Had a early brit ford that you could dial advance/retard.. Great mileage.. Same with the 29 model A and 39 Indian. Both of them would kick your ass starting if the spark was off.. I set all three of them by ear..

[gyre]

on a couple of the cars I had, I put an adjustable throttle, locking cable (think airplane throttle) on my distributor, and left it loose. By using the installed vacuum gauge, I could adjust timing for altitude and conditions "on the fly"........got better performance/ mileage, but not really sure it was worth it, other than as a novelty.

Worth it?
Absolutely, if set right.

Jacobs and msd built dash knobs for this that altered the setting electronically.
I've used them.
Only obsoleted by formattable computer software.
Usually set by ear.

The used ones are desirable, and I want one myself.
Jacobs had a two stage for load v unloaded tune.

[gyre]

The adjustable timing retard controls are on sale again.
I checked specifically with some companies and they were not, but the demand must be there.
I found one from crane and msd.
It still may be cheaper to add a computer mapping module though.


On one car we set the distributor by hand and it made a huge difference.
It was so close that I could not run some brands of premium.
I was getting 45 mpg at 80 mph in the mountains with it.

The adjuster was the final touch on a well tuned Mustang I drove once.
It had that knife edge response to the throttle most don't think can come from a carb.
Worth it for mileage alone, I think.

[Captain Goddammit]

45 MPG @ 80 MPH in the mountains. That's a pretty outrageous claim!
In what! A VW Jetta diesel can't do that. Nor can a Prius or a Civic.
A claim like that needs some sort of substance to back it up, if it was anything with more than two wheels and doesn't have a sail.

[atomicray]

I'm hoping this will by my next military vehicle acquisition:

Honestly, for me, this is the most interesting vehicle on the thread.

Brings back youthful dreams of GI Joe and adult fun memories from driving Gama Goats in the USMC

[fernley1]

My offroad race car.

20130511_144148-1.jpg

[gyre]

Nothing unusual.
Just good design.
1.3 litre Fiat tuned to hit peak efficiency at high rpm, fine tuned with the distributor advance, 9.5 compression down from normal due to smog years, and milder cam.
Better mileage if I had changed to a stock euro cam.
Typical mileage was 35-40 mpg on premium on the highway, days of real leaded premium, without the ethanol gas tax which loses about 35% for most cars.
20-25 mpg in town if I was hammering it.

I get 25 mpg with the 408ci, but so do many other people.
12.5 compression, mild cam, 3.25 rear end, extremely aero daytona body.
Mileage probably doesn't vary between 55 and 100 mph.

Check out the hypermiler forums for the really shocking claims.
I got 26 mpg with a full size van once in the mountains, four speed manual overdrive, 318.
That probably depends a lot on wind, but it always did well.

Mileage runs in the fifties used to routinely break 50 mpg using all the tricks.

I can't beat 25 mpg in my volvo or ranger.
My ranger should get 36, but with ethanol and age, may not be possible.
The volvo is compression limited in those years and high drag.

[gyre]

Nice, Fernley1.

I am really enjoying seeing all these cars!

[Captain Goddammit]

So you're saying the Fiat got 45 MPG at 80 MPH in the mountains... just on the downhill parts.
Have you got photos of you with any of these cars?
I'm calling BS! Pics or none of it is real.

[gyre]

I can't find any photos at the moment.
Not even sure what survived moving.
Frustrating.

45 mpg average trying to maintain 85-90 actually, freeway through the smokies.
Not as bad as some mountains.
Really not that spectacular.
The model the year before was a 1.1 litre single barrel.
Best gas mileage rating for its size in europe and the usa.
Much slower than mine though.
That was rated at 32 mpg in town.
Remember that was fine tuned and on premium.

I'll find some photos.
I still have the Lola intake.
I have great photos of a meeting at Factory Five.
The Roush came out superb.
Need some photos of the ford for an article Racecar Eng wants me to do.
I took few because I planned changes.

[unjonharley]

The smokies are not mountains..

[Captain Goddammit]

Every car guy has pictures of his cars. Especially tech savvy car guys.
You could go out and take a self portrait of yourself in your car or cars with your cell phone right now.
I could walk out to the garage and do that.
I can even link a YouTube video of me and my brother in law taking the Chevy for a spin around the neighborhood.
No pics. I guess none of it happened!
If you can afford the car you're talking about you certainly have a phone that takes pictures.

It would buy you a ton of instant credibility!

[maryanimal]

I've been looking for a cargo van up here but not having much luck in finding one with low miles, in good shape, etc. However I found a great minivan in excellent shape! I want to be able to sleep in it on the playa, when traveling etc. Although I'm not ready to buy one yet, my thoughts are swaying towards a minivan. I owned a Dodge Grand Caravan and it had great mileage, and was comfortable to sleep in! If a cargo van shows up with all the things I want in one, I'll be happy too!

[gyre]

I don't trust the dodges, though the mileage would be good.
I'd lean to a small engine full size van for mileage.
The explorer seems reliable though.

Don't really care about photos of my cars.
I rarely take photos of my own cars.
I'm a real perfectionist when I do, which is too much like work.
Never miss it until I've sold one.
I've taken thousands of pictures of other people's cars.
That's what interests me.

I'll take a picture of the Lola snorkel when I have time to bother.
That's the only unusual one to most people.
My italian cars got stolen last year, just as they were going up in value.
i still have the euro only inline weber intake that was on the Abarths. Rare here.
Sold my last spider With Abarth hardtop a few years ago to go to the burn.
Lost count of how many Spiders I had.
That intake is my last italian car thing.
I grew up with a friend that had an Abarth 850 in high school.
Twice the heartrate of a hummingbird, they used to say.

Anyway, anyone can take a photo.
Only proves they have a camera.
Silly.

I have the ranger exhaust welded back together.
Turns out the whole damn thing is stainless.
No wonder it seems rugged.
Goddamn cat.
Only theories on why it tore in half, crack like a puzzle piece.
After this, I'll be bringing my 351 van back on the road.
Everything I own is in storage and I have to work on the new place and move things, so trucks first.
I'll take a picture of the van.
Looks like crap, runs great.
Have to fix a fuel leak.
Clean it up.
Some asshole broke the rear window on the side and I'll never find another one.
Short wheelbase van.

Back under the truck now.
Cars are such fun!

[Gonzo Frothwood]

Must speak up for my 1990 jeep.(body parts about to fall off at 280 thousand). Last winter I had to pull two full size Big Ass Trucks(Tundra and Ford) out of ditches with this little Rubicon babe.

[Captain Goddammit]

HAHAHAHAHA...
Oh you're a riot Gyre.

[Captain Goddammit]

Not a single photo of you even on the playa... can't go take a quick pic of yourself in your car... not a pic of a car part, or a pic of a car, just a quick cell phone shot of yourself in your car... I think everyone knows what that means.

Bluff called.

[MikeGyver]

98 ram 1500 with over 275k miles on the original 318. Second trans though. Got me to the burn with 0 issues. 25-30 mpg the whole way.

Trans went out at around 230k