The first thing you did with the Vette Mag pulse unit was to find another point type tack drive dist. and take the Mag pulse one out change a little wiring so you could use the point type dist.
The first thing you did with the Vette Mag pulse unit was to find another point type tack drive dist. and take the Mag pulse one out change a little wiring so you could use the point type dist.
I have no doubts at all that the 80's, and 90's Asian cars kicked American car's butt. The 90's was all about American trucks. 80's American vehicles sucked all around. I don't think there is such a difference anymore, but I haven't worked on that many post 2015ish vehicles.
European cars though? No way. I liked Saab, but that was about it. I hate working on a Mercedes, even bolting a tire on one is a two man job. I'm sure glad the Italians stuck with the high end markets, I hate Italian engineering.
A wise man will try to learn as much from a fool as he will from a master, for all have something to teach- Uncle Iroh
MS Army Guard 2016-2021
Any ford.
Me and fords just don't get along.
My Father in-law had a new Mercedes in the early 90's. I was driving a 90 Nissan hardbody at the time. 5 speed. 4 cylinder. 28 might and would haul 1000 pounds.
He took the Mercedes in for brakes and an oil change and it cost about 1 1/2 times my monthly truck payment. Later the battery in the Mercedes died. You don't pop into the local parts store for a new battery. The dealer replaced the battery for enough to make a dent in the national debt. Here's the kicker. With a dead battery the radio was no longer programed. The solution. Replace the radio of course. The other option was to send the old radio to Germany to be reprogrammed. It was cheaper to put in a new one.
Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.
My wife has a 1997 Wrangler. It is pretty easy to work on. My 2014 Wrangler is not too bad. We make enough money to take it to a mechanic. Our problem is finding a decent shop.
The one that I am currently working on
Part of the problems are driven by "stylists" demanding shapes and spaces in vehicles that look neat but are a beast to maintain.
Part of the problem is engineers rarely consider what will need to be done to maintain the vehicle.
Part of the problem is so few modern (classroom trained) engineers have much - if any - personal experience working on anything.
Most anything built in the last 15 years will have something that is a royal pain to work on. Unbolting and raising the body to gain access, removal of the front end to change a thermostat, etc. Most all have something that's a bear to do.
Basically I think its from jamming way too much stuff in a small space and emissions crap. That's 90% of it IMHO.
Easy to work on.... PT Cruiser.. Fortunate because there is a lot of stuff that will need fixing. But seriously all the vehicles I have had didn't become hard to work on until we got them past the 100,000 to 150,000 mile point. Then is when all the engineered in problems come to light. We have a KiA Soul that just hit 150,000 miles and so far we have replaced tires, brakes, timing belt and water pump, accessory belts , wind shield wipers, head lights, transmission fluid, Oil every 3to4 thousand miles. And had the wheels aligned twice. Most recently , at the last alignment ,the place i took it to said we might want to replace struts and shocks for a cost of about $1200. I think it is okay for now so we will hold off on that.
Quis Quis Quis, Quis Liberat Canes
/////////BREAKING NEWS////////////
Millions and millions of American shooters and sportsmen got up, went to work, contributed to society in useful and meaningful ways all over the nation and shot no one today! How do they controll themselves?? Experts Baffled....
I LIKE IKE
Before being allowed to work as an engineer, students should spend at least five years as a mechanic working on the sorts of systems they will be designing. Then another five years as a machinist. And weekly flogging sounds like a good idea to me, just to remind them that someone has to work on this crap they design!
Also, at no time should an engineer be allowed out without a keeper.
Another fun one...
1970 Mustang Mach One wit a 428CJ and headers... plugs were impossible for anyone with big hands. I have long skinny hands and could *just* barely get the plugs in. No modding the body to make it easier, this was a concourse level restoration except for the headers, they were aftermarket. Car was worth $125k back in the early 80's... we spent 4,000 hours on just the body, panel fit was way better than factory when we were finished. No filler other than a skim coat! Probably 1500 hours just sanding it to make sure it was perfect. He went on to restore 5 more Mustangs in the following 20 years. Takes almost 4 years to do one... lot of that is spent finding factory date code parts and getting them rebuilt... numbers MUST match!
i remember when you could crawl into the engine space with engine and go to sleep. my first car(used) was a 1973 buick century with a 350 in it. i had thro a quart of oil into it every week and it ate the bottom of a spark plug(i went from 12mpg to 2mpg and boy, does it miss!!!). i was 16yo and $200 in my pocket when i bought her. i did everything you weren't supposed to do in my car, like go 4 wheelin, burn tire.... she was a good car, other than the oil and spark plug. then i bought God's desecration, a 84 ford escort. i broke the motor mount bolts so much i got a box of them on hand. the timing belt broke, so i deceded to replace it. after burning a hole in my frame and air impact wrench the bolt of the crankshaft, i finally put it on. but wait there more!!! i found out, much later, that a timing light was no good. my uncle and i spent about a week to get it right. the alternator broke as well as the other things that need fixin(brakes, oil, air filter...), stuff i had do. the last time i ever drove it, it had a inner and outer bearing go out about 30 minutes before my place. i was so mad at the escort, that i drove it till it went completely out. the 30 minute drive turned into 2 1/2 hours because i broke it. and broke it, i did. i would driving driving down the road, never mind the squealing, until the escort dragged me to berm. we sit there for about 20 minutes and driving would commence until the the next it dragged me to the berm. when i got home, i had a smile upon my face. i could either sell it or take it to the junk yard.(i sold it for $400)
i was never so glad to get rid of it.
Ad Reipublicae his Civitatum Foederatarum Americae, ego sum fortis et libero. Ego autem non exieris ad impios communistarum socialismi. Ora imagines in vestri demented mentem, quod vos mos have misericordia, quia non.
To the Republic of these United States of America, I am strong and free. I will never surrender to godless communist socialism. Pray to images in your demented mind, that you will have mercy, because i will not.
MOLON LABE
Last year we inherited my father-in-law's 300E, 4Matic, 2017 Mercedes with 12K miles on it. I had it for 6 months before I opened the hood just to see what was under there. Nope, nothing there for me. We were going to sell it but it is very comfortable, performs quite well and we can afford it, especially for what we paid for it. So, I just laugh at the service bills.....good grief....lol!! I never needed prestige that bad.
I made my living as a mechanic....back in the late 60's and early 70's, then worked on T-38's for dear Uncle and for a while after I got out of the Air Force. I have 3 MG's, a '55 TF, '56 A and a '74 B and a '67 Morris Minor 1000. I do everything to all of them. I worked on them for a living back in the early 70's so familiarity is there and if you can work on an 8N Ford you can work on any of the old BMC/British Leyland vehicles.
The most difficult to work on, anything Italian or anything German made since the early 80's. The Italian stuff can go back to the early 70's. I swear, before any Italian car is sent to production the first thing designers and engineers ask is, "how can we make this difficult to work on?"
Last edited by sharps4590; 05-20-2021 at 06:55 PM.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
NRA Benefactor 2008
Had a few, Some were beast's
57 Ford Fairlane 500 coupe 312/4 speed Bored out.
66 Mustang GT 289
66 Ford step-side SWB 6 banger 3 speed
72 Ford Ranger SWB, Dropped a 390 in this one
Couple of VW's 1 was a dune buggy
Dropped a VW engine in a mud boat, Does that count?
77 Maverick 6 banger, Probably the easiest to work on
Several more 240Z 300ZX,81 Vette
Couple of Dakota's weak transmissions in these.
Jeep Wrangler 05 Rocky MTN Edition Wish I had kept that one for weekends
Right now 2014 Maxima and F150 5.0 4x4 for pulling the tractor
Several more like a Toyota suv thingy and a Nissan suv thingy
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |