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OLD CARS -The truth .Owners tales.How they really were.

309 messages,  Last post on Jul 08, 2008 at 7:21 PM

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What is this discussion about? Coupe, Convertible, Sedan

Messages Page 30 of 31

#290 of 309 Re: Ouch... [lemko] by bhill2

Jun 09, 2008 (1:12 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Jun 09, 2008 7:49 am)
OK, I think this would be an interesting aspect to get some opinions on. Assuming your classic car didn't have any actual issues, how much would you trust it? Would you take it on a 1000 mile trip without being nervous? Would you be comfortable having it as your only car? You get the idea. Any thoughts?

#291 of 309 Re: Ouch... [bhill2] by lemko

Jun 09, 2008 (1:30 pm)

Replying to: bhill2 (Jun 09, 2008 1:12 pm)
I pretty much do have an old car that I rely on every day - a 1988 Buick Park Avenue with the 3.8 V-6. It is extremely reliable and fuel efficient to boot! I have driven it from Philadelphia to Canada and back without a hitch 2 years ago. With today's psychopathic pump prices, it is my daily driver by default while my new Cadillac DTS Performance is only driven occasionally.
 
Heck, the thought of having it as my only car has crossed my mind with this tanking economy. I see things getting much worse before they get better. Even if I am doing well, it might be in bad taste for me to be driving around in a new Cadillac while others are suffering.

#292 of 309 Re: Ouch... [bhill2] by lemko

Jun 09, 2008 (1:30 pm)

Replying to: bhill2 (Jun 09, 2008 1:12 pm)
I pretty much do have an old car that I rely on every day - a 1988 Buick Park Avenue with the 3.8 V-6. It is extremely reliable and fuel efficient to boot! I have driven it from Philadelphia to Canada and back without a hitch 2 years ago. With today's psychopathic pump prices, it is my daily driver by default while my new Cadillac DTS Performance is only driven occasionally.
 
Heck, the thought of having it as my only car has crossed my mind with this tanking economy. I see things getting much worse before they get better. Even if I am doing well, it might be in bad taste for me to be driving around in a new Cadillac while others are suffering.

#293 of 309 Re: Ouch... [lemko] (bhill2) by hpmctorque

Jun 09, 2008 (1:40 pm)

Yeah, good topic, bhill2.
 
Let's not kid ourselves; there's more risk of a break down in driving a classic car, or just an old, miled up car, a long distance, compared with a late model one. And, of course, break downs can be annoying and aggravating, at the very least, and expensive if it means you miss an important function or appointment, or have to stay over in a motel. Speaking for my '87 BMW 325 with 119,000 miles, and my '88 Nissan 300 ZX with 176,000 miles, both of which are extra cars, I'd be willing to take some added risk if my newer car weren't available. I think the chances are good that I wouldn't have a problem going 1,000 miles in either car, but I know I'd be assuming some risk.

#294 of 309 Re: Ouch... [bhill2] by fintail

Jun 09, 2008 (2:14 pm)

Replying to: bhill2 (Jun 09, 2008 1:12 pm)
My fintail has small issues, but it relatively sound. I believe it could make a 1000 mile trip, but I would be concerned the whole time, and I wouldn't want it to be a 90mph trip. But if I was able to go 60-70 the whole way...I am optimistic the car would survive. There'd be stops to check under the hood and add some oil, but I think the car could make it.
 
The old thing was my only car for several years, and I took it on a few trips then with little incident.

#295 of 309 I have to admit... by andre1969

Jun 09, 2008 (3:01 pm)

I was a bit nervous when I first bought my '76 LeMans. It was out in the outskirts of Cincinnati, about 500 miles away. Honestly, I didn't give it any thought at first...until I signed the paperwork and it was officially mine, and the seller and I parted ways; and it suddenly hit me that here I was, 500 miles away from home, with a car that came out the same time as "Logan's Run", and whose prior history I really had no knowledge of.
 
Fortunately, it made the trip home with no issues at all.
 
I think if I had some old car I had been using as a daily driver for years, where I really knew the ins and outs and all its quirks, I might be willing to trust it to more heavy-duty driving. For instance, with my '79 5th Ave, I've had it for 6 1/2 years now, driven it the 100+ miles to Carlisle multiple times, and pretty much know its quirks.
 
This other New Yorker I bought, though, sat around for several years after the original owner died. His son, who inherited the car, rarely drove it. In the year before I bought it, it only went about 10 miles...to the gas station for its annual inspection and back home! Oh, and then, back to the station the following year, which is where it was when Grbeck saw it, and told me about it.
 
When I went up to buy it and pick it up, I brought jumper cables, antifreeze, oil, transmission fluid, and an extra battery! I couldn't find any starting fluid, but did bring a can of carb cleaner. It said "highly flammable" on it, so I figured it would do the trick. Luckily I didn't need any of those things...well other than the carb cleaner, when it did get a little cranky up there.
 
Once I get the belts and hoses changed, tranny serviced, coolant flushed, etc, and as long as I know its hot-start issues are behind me, I think I'd trust the car. Now I would't try something like running it from here to Texas in a day, like I did a couple times with my Intrepid. And if I did take a trip, I'd make sure to bring along extra coolant, oil, etc.
 
Heck, I relied on my '68 Dart as my primary transportation from April 3, 1992 (I remember the date because it was the day after my 22nd birthday) until late April, 2007. It had 252,000 miles on it when I bought it, and probably around 335-336K by that time, which was when I got my '79 Newport on the road. I had taken that car out to Oklahoma and back on one trip, Ohio and back on another, been up to PA multiple times, and spent about a year delivering pizzas with it.
 
It would probably still be running, if I hadn't let it sit around so long. Sometime in late 2001, it refused to start. It was probably something minor like the fuel pump. Only thing is, I didn't have the time or money to mess with it at the time. So I let it sit. And sit. It sat in my grandmother's yard for awhile, and then when I got the place across the street, I dragged it over there with my truck. And then moved it around in the yard a few times. At one point it would start up if you poured gas down the carb, and then die once that burned off. Then it wouldn't do that anymore. And then it lost its brake pressure. And rust, like cancer, never sleeps, and just got worse over the years.
 
I'm convinced that, if I had fixed whatever was wrong with that Dart at the time, it would still be running today. Heck, the engine does still turn over. But after having the thing since 1992, and having had another in 1989, I'm sorta Darted out.
 
I sat in it the other day though, just to reminisce. And I swear, for my body at least, that thing is more comfy and roomier in the driver's seat than most modern cars!
 
Now that I think back on it, that Dart died a couple months after I bought the 5th Ave. Maybe it got jealous?

#296 of 309 Cars in my past by farout

Jun 09, 2008 (6:18 pm)

I can honestly say cars are made much better today than the cars of the fifties or sixties and up until maybe 1996. My how I remember having shoe brakes on all 4 wheels. The front ends seemed like it always needed something. Paint often had runs right from the factory. Fit on the outside was uneven, and air leaks from the windows were bad. No seat belts until about 1961, no powre steering in the early fifties, Poured babbit barings in the early fifties. Engine were ready for an overhaul by 60,000 miles with a valve job somewhere along the line.
   Thge safety features were almost nonexistant except for safety glass. Heck turn signals did not come standard until 1953.
   The automobiles of today are worlds apart form even the 1990's, so much better!
   THE WORST CAR MADE TODAY IS BETTER THAN MOST ALL THE CARS OF THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES.
 
farout

#297 of 309 Re: Cars in my past [farout] by burdawg

Jun 10, 2008 (7:16 am)

Replying to: farout (Jun 09, 2008 6:18 pm)
I have to agree with you. There's a lot of nostalgia for the "good old days" but we tend to remember the good stuff, not the bad.

#298 of 309 Re: Cars in my past [burdawg] by texases

Jun 10, 2008 (7:25 am)

Replying to: burdawg (Jun 10, 2008 7:16 am)
"but we tend to remember the good stuff, not the bad. "
 
Like having a piece of manilla folder cardboard and a small screwdriver in the glove box so you could set the points just in case?

#299 of 309 Re: Cars in my past [texases] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jun 10, 2008 (8:08 am)

Replying to: texases (Jun 10, 2008 7:25 am)
No reason at all you can't drive an old car every day if you really keep after it, and by the late 1970s cars were pretty reliable with their electronic ignitions, radial tires and at least front disc brakes. The only real problem with driving a late 70s domestic car around is that they handle and brake badly compared to modern automobiles, have lousy lighting and instrumentation, and are sometimes nasty to work on--- so you have to make adjustments in your driving--if you've stepped out of a modern automobile I mean. But on a well-maintained vehicle, reliability should not be an issue, assuming of course you don't pick a "known turkey"--that is, a car that was hopeless the day it left the factory.

Messages Page 30 of 31

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