01-21-2019, 02:02 PM | #21 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 139
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
I can see this one a few different ways. I agree that really original cars should not be cut up and should be left alone. BUT. Sometimes being hot rodded means the car is being used and driven instead of rusting away. I don't have anything LS powered that didn't come factory that way but I have done fuel injected swaps in a number of cars-but kept it in the same engine family. It is amazing the improvement in drivability and mileage from a fuel injected swap. Almost all of it could be undone with very little trace. I have never been stranded in one of those cars. To me it makes them more fun to drive. Car guys go from purist to custom and mod everything. I think I have ruffled a few feathers at tractor shows with my 2N with a flathead that is very period correct. I try not to get too upset at people even if what they do makes no sense to me-I can at least appreciate the effort. |
|
01-21-2019, 02:10 PM | #22 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: The sleepy San Fernando Valley
Posts: 394
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
I'm not interested in seeing cars that cost more than a modern navy vessel..
__________________
WALT "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm". "Old enough for the experience & too young to know better" |
|
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) |
|
01-21-2019, 10:02 PM | #23 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Mn
Posts: 2,409
|
Re: Old cars
Reliability of Older car engines compared to newer car engines is the reason
there used to be 10 times more gas stations in my little town back in the early 60's, and 90 % of them had a mechanic on duty. Today the few gas stations in town have a pizza chef on duty. .
__________________
If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. But if daddy ain't happy...RUN |
01-22-2019, 07:50 AM | #24 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Dighton, Mass
Posts: 1,230
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
and why - at my age no way in hell I can finance a $50,000 F250. they figure I won't live long enough ta pay for it period. my super deluxe does everything i wish for. Only one thing maybe someday a South Wind heater mine is wimpy, other than that, the car rules its got more power than a Judge and I ain't got no so called modern junk on it either. These people think that putting transistors in a toaster makes it that dreaded 'modern' word. sick puppies |
|
01-22-2019, 08:50 AM | #25 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Lyman,ME.
Posts: 2,623
|
Re: Old cars
I agree with Mike.....you can’t judge a “car guy” by his age alone....Mark
__________________
I'm thinkin' about crankin' My ragged ol' truck up and haulin' myself into town. Billy Joe Shaver |
01-23-2019, 03:27 PM | #26 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: North Pole, Alaska
Posts: 2,651
|
Re: Old cars
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
I only got stranded once, about 150 miles from El Paso I stripped the camshaft gear. |
01-23-2019, 04:04 PM | #27 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Fort dodge, Iowa
Posts: 821
|
Re: Old cars
I just had a conversation with a fellow that made a trip to California after graduating high school in 1969--He drove his 1950 Ford with a 6 cylinder engine--He said he bought a case of 40 wt oil for the journey--On the return he had to restock and used a total of 42 quarts for the trip--This guy keeps records of everything he has ever spent money on so I am sure of the count--
|
01-23-2019, 04:54 PM | #28 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,373
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
|
|
01-23-2019, 07:04 PM | #29 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Pa.
Posts: 2,163
|
Re: Old cars
Gotta say the older vehicles R fun. Most of us who have and play with them don't consider it anything but fun. Truth be known Flatty's require more TLC than the dreaded small block. I had a stock 1957 Chev Nomad when I was 16. 283 Power Glide with 80,000 when I bought it. If it wasn't for the brain dead friend, not a mechanic nor was I at the time, telling me the way to make it lay rubber and go really fast was to rev it up in neutral and pull into low. Well it limped home and down the steep hill that was our driveway on what ever was left of the tranny. My Dad was very unhappy to say the least reminded me we were moving in two weeks and said, "IF THAT DAMN CAR DOESN'T MAKE IT UP THAT DRIVE ON IT'S OWN POWER IT GOES WITH THE HOUSE". Well long story short it was the beginning of me becoming a mechanic and eventually a mechanical Engineer. Changed the Power Glide to a 3 speed after befriending & started becoming a motor head myself. Great guys all chipped in junked 3 speed, bell housing, clutch set up all free and helped get it running and up the drive in two weeks to the old mans amazement.
I had that old Nomad till I was 35 and never did another thing to it except change the oil, lube it & flush the coolant for 19 yrs. I thought it got too valuable to keep and needed the money for young family stuff and thought I did great selling it in 1985 for $7500. If u know anything about a stock Nomad's value today ur probably laughing. So I have a soft spot for the old 265, 283 and 327 SB Chevy engines and never criticize them. Love my Flatty but she did't come into my life until I was 63. Having said that IMO Barret-Jackson bidder have more money than brains with the prices they give! https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/album....ictureid=31213
__________________
Nomad Last edited by AnthonyG; 01-23-2019 at 07:15 PM. |
01-23-2019, 07:13 PM | #30 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,302
|
Re: Old cars
I think the problem is that, unless you do a complete "nut and bolt" restoration on a car, there are still going to be a lot of marginal parts in an old car that, while they look good, can fail. Face it, most of these cars we have have been used and abused for hundreds of thousands of mile. My '51, on the other hand was a one owner car with 61,000 well maintained original miles. It was purchased new by two batchelor brothers who farmed in western Minnesota and used it as their "Sunday go to church car". All the folks I have talked to (including several relatives of the original owners and the grandson of the guy who sold them the car) confirmed the fact that the guys brought the car back to the dealership for service on the Ford defined schedule. When I went through the car when I got it, I replaced the usual maintenance items (including the brakes and wheel bearings), but that was it. That was in 1987, and the car never failed me in 30 years and 30,000 miles (including a trip from the twin cities to Chicago without missing a beat. I replaced the engine a couple of years ago, but it was still running well, but down on power. I believe that if in top condition overall, these cars can be very reliable.
As an aside, in the sixties, I had a '52 Ford of unknown heritage that was constantly breaking down. It was completely worn out when I got it and it showed. |
01-23-2019, 08:39 PM | #31 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MN
Posts: 7,053
|
Re: Old cars
Not sure if restoring vehicles are on the decline? What makes it so? I don't know... maybe so.
Old cars came from the factory with a tool kit, because they knew eventually you would be working on it. It was just nuts and bolts then too, no computers. New cars don't even come with spare tires now. The thought process has changed. A 10yr old car is a heap today. Made to be replaced. In the 30-40s it was considered a major investment and you fixed it and ran it for many years. It's still a major investment, but we don't fix it. Guess maybe it's just not worth it to figure out things. Or people can't handle trying to work on something and maybe failing the first time. It's not that hard. Don't know.... In the 1910s most cars had drivers who were also a "engineer" that oiled things while they were in a meetings. I listen to sports announcers and I marvel at how they can keep talking for 3hrs and actually say anything worth while. Might be the same... filling space. . Last edited by Tinker; 01-23-2019 at 09:18 PM. |
01-24-2019, 12:10 AM | #32 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Manawatu, New Zealand
Posts: 1,416
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
Karl
__________________
Such a fine sight to see-Its a Girl, My Lord, in a Flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me. |
|
01-24-2019, 12:20 AM | #33 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Manawatu, New Zealand
Posts: 1,416
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
I too drive my cars as much as I can. I have driven my 34 Ford 1500 miles to a rally and back. In 2 weeks time I will drive it 200 miles to an Art Deco event .People are amazed that I drive it such distances., But I have also spent a lot of time (and money) ensuring that mechanically it is up to speed
__________________
Such a fine sight to see-Its a Girl, My Lord, in a Flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me. |
|
01-24-2019, 08:40 PM | #34 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MN
Posts: 7,053
|
Re: Old cars
Quote:
That is an opinion. Hard to say for me, since I've never had to announce. I tend to be a bit more quiet, most of the time.... Last edited by Tinker; 01-24-2019 at 08:46 PM. |
|
01-25-2019, 04:36 PM | #35 |
Senior Member
|
Re: Old cars
I watch that Black 32, 3 window coupe that went for 110,000. It was not stock. Those people sure are loose with there money. Wish I live next to one. I would sell him a few cars everyday or so.
|
01-25-2019, 07:36 PM | #36 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Lower Hutt , New Zealand
Posts: 2,126
|
Re: Old cars
We are only "caretakers" of our stock vehicles and when we are gone these vehicles we own are likely to be over 100 years old or getting close to it. If they survive, the flathead engines are likely to be about as foreign to their future owners as Curved Dash Olds motors are to us and future owners who want to drive them will update them with modern running gear to make them more practicable for the times they will will be living in. Those that keep them stock will be the "buffs" that dabble in "Brass era" stuff today and other stockers will just languish in museums as "static" objects of art. So I suppose in a way it is better than the car dying like we will, but this will not happen to my car on my "watch".
GB
__________________
"you can't make honey out of dog sh*t" "You're a long time looking at the lid" |
01-25-2019, 09:44 PM | #37 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MN
Posts: 7,053
|
Re: Old cars
Just saw a 8ba flathead with a blower and beer can stacks... Culture is changing, Not in the right direction.
I agree I'm just a caretaker. When I'm out of this world, I don't car so much. It's for the next generation to f' it up. and my vehicles are not that nice... . |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) |
|