Another car questions + opinions

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

Burning oil is bad when you get too much oil burned or leaked.

Yes, it is bad. Burning it will foul spark plugs, leave carbon on the valves, and cause piston rings to stick - causing more oil burning and loss of compression. Leaking is another problem - when oil leaks, it tends to leak only the thinnest part of the oil, leaving the thickest part of the oil behind. If the oil is not changed regularly, the engine could suffer damage.

British cars are notorious for leaking oil. And electrical problems. And carburetor problems. And reliability in general. lol. Actually that reputation is likely from the '70s, god they were awful in the '70s. Anyhow, it would probably be easy for you to find a British car. And half the fun of owning an old car is fixing it.

[Telecolor 3007]

I know British cars from that period are awfloul. I've seen documentaries, read opinions.
Electric problems... "Lucas":
1) "Lucas" - prince of darkeness;
2) What is the slogan of "Lucas"? "Get me home before dark;
3) "Lucas" haves 3 light positions: dim, flicker, lights outs.
In a way, British motor industry was quite like the Romanian one. But I think Romanian automobiles from the '80's and '90's had better electric equypment.

Well, my dream is older...'30's-'40's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x00aXHI2tTY&t=137s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EvFEcbalCk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7dgRTmIUz8

[Sandy G]

Italian cars also had reputations in America as being not very good. spotty electrics, rustaholics, unreliable, terrible parts availability, few qualified mechanics, & the ones I've been associated with, seemed like everything seemed too small, cheaply made, & fragile.. But Americans tend-I think-to be rather hard on things, we never check oil levels, or transmission oil levels, brake fluid levels, etc, & then RAISE HELL when the vehicle konks out...And I'm as guilty of it as anyone, I'll be the 1st to admit as much..

[init4fun]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Italian cars also had reputations in America as being not very good. spotty electrics, rustaholics, unreliable, terrible parts availability, few qualified mechanics, & the ones I've been associated with, seemed like everything seemed too small, cheaply made, & fragile.. But Americans tend-I think-to be rather hard on things, we never check oil levels, or transmission oil levels, brake fluid levels, etc, & then RAISE HELL when the vehicle konks out...And I'm as guilty of it as anyone, I'll be the 1st to admit as much..

At one time it was so bad with Italian cars that people used to joke FIAT was an acronym for "Fix It Again Tony"

[fixmeplease]

Originally Posted by bgadow

I have a '51 Ford; it doesn't have the famous V8 but a flathead straight 6; actually a better engine than the flathead 8 in some respects. I don't know the full history of this engine, only that the car has around 86k. (I have to wonder if it was rebuilt at some point). I change the oil every 2,000 miles and it uses about a quart in that time which I find outstanding for something that age. Most of the older vehicles I've owned either burned or leaked oil, or both. The first couple vehicles I owned, as a teenager, were a 67 Impala with a 283 V8 & a 78 Ford F100 with a 302 V8. Both needed at least a quart of oil per week.

Most oil until at least the 60s was non-detergent. A large percentage of cars didn't have oil filters. The dirt in the oil (and there was plenty, thanks to the air filters in use back then) would gradually sink to the bottom of the oil pan. If you changed the oil regularly you might keep it fairly clean. My '51 had some deep black oil in it when I got it, which I promptly changed. At first it used about a quart every 150 miles or so but quickly improved. After a couple oil changes the dipstick looks so clean you can barely see the oil, even after a couple thousand miles. I still use non-detergent oil out of concern that there could still be some sludge inside that modern oil could stir up. There are stories of this causing the engine to suffer a "stroke" as the oil pump screen stops up.

My old car gets used quite a bit; I use it for errands, going to church, day-trips. I've taken it on some weekend trips, maybe 3 hours one-way. Stuff does wear out faster than on modern cars but they're so simple that, really, only so much bad can happen. The only time this Ford was Found On Road Dead with me as the owner? Vapor lock, the first summer I had it. I added an electric fuel pump as a backup and when it acts up I just flip the switch.

Old British cars have a reputation for poor reliability (especially electrical parts) but some of them are very easy to get parts for and should be simple to work on. That's what I'd look for, something basic, not loaded up with tons of options. It's nice to have power this and power that but on a car that age, all of that stuff is very failure prone.

those straight sixes were better as far as longevity and I dont think they had problems with cracking like some of the V8's (trucks were better).

Im not so sure about using non-detergent in it. That causes a lot more wear on the pistons/rings for one. Some mechanics used to use non-detergent after a rebuild for the 1st 100 to 1000 miles to wear them in quicker, the rings. But I can understand your logic too, worrying about junk coming loose in the engine. Ive just never heard of doing that. Interesting.

the only close thing Ive had happen was a 1985 Bronco with 351w I bought 9 years ago. Of all the cars and trucks Ive owned i never saw any oil half that dirty. It was trailered home as it wasnt licensed. I changed the oil and filter (cheapest oil I could buy) and ran it 10 minutes, changed oil and filter again and ran it an hour. Even after 2 oil changes it was quite dirty from cleaning the engine. i changed it the 3rd time and all was good. Anyway, if you ever go the detergent oil route, keep this in mind, what I did.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

3) "Lucas" haves 3 light positions: dim, flicker, lights outs.

lol I'll have to remember that one! But yeah, I think in the 30s and 40s the Brits still had some self respect. Those old Daimlers are nice too. Come to think of it... I'll bet you could get a Ford Model A with little effort, as well. Pretty sure lots were sent overseas. I know they're still common in the UK. The advantage to something like that is parts are still available. Even in a worst case, you could order a part from US, there's still plenty here. And they are, apparently, still very drive-able cars, from a modern point of view.

[mr_rye89]

Another acronym:

Loose Unprotected Corroded Always Shorted

[bgadow]

I've been tempted to get a Model A myself; I've seen a "driver" quality car for around $6500. There are quite a few hidden away-there are probably a half-dozen around our small town. Very simply built with good aftermarket support.

fixmeplease, I've read quite a bit on the non-detergent/detergent conversion and I'm still undecided. Some report making the switch caused oil pressure crash, or oil burning/leaking. Others had no trouble at all or even saw oil consumption decrease. I did have one car from the "fill up the oil and check the gas" school. I finally switched because non-detergent is so expensive; I think at NAPA it's higher than Mobil 1, per quart. I didn't really see any difference at all, good or bad, on that car. It's very tempting to make the switch to a decent 10w30 for my next change. I know that the mere mention of that to some "old-timers" makes them grumble.

For a couple years I was using Kendall 20w20 non-detergent. The stuff was crystal clear! That's what FoMoCo called for in the manual, but it's obsolete now. The only 20w I can find now is el Cheapo stuff for compressors & such, so back to NAPA 30w. I just want to do what's best for a great running engine. 60-70 lbs pressure on the highway.

[Telecolor 3007]

In one old brochure I've seen they recomended to wash the oil with parafin.
This is a good solution.
My cars of interest did have oil filter.

Originally Posted by MadMan

lol I'll have to remember that one! But yeah, I think in the 30s and 40s the Brits still had some self respect. Those old Daimlers are nice too. Come to think of it... I'll bet you could get a Ford Model A with little effort, as well. Pretty sure lots were sent overseas. I know they're still common in the UK. The advantage to something like that is parts are still available. Even in a worst case, you could order a part from US, there's still plenty here. And they are, apparently, still very drive-able cars, from a modern point of view.

"Ford" A it's intresting, but it haves one problem: clasicall manaul gearbox.
It's a manual gerabox? No. It's an automatic gerbox no? But then what it is? It's semiautomatic. It's a preselector gerabox. "Daimler" had that. It get close to the ideea of perfect gerabox for me, except for the fact that you can't skeep speeds (for eg going from 4th to 2nd directly) while the car is on the move without the risk of harming the gerabox. At least at classical preselector. Electropneumatic commanded like at the "Cord" 810/812 or post-war "Arsmtrong-Siddeley"... don't know.


Anyway, no matter the car, I must have a garage. Because parking is horrible in my are and there a lot of dumb people. This year 3 very young boys devasted a school because they went angry because of a toy. A week later, some very young girls devasted a few cars just for fun...

[Sandy G]

Yeah, an A model has a manual gearbox. Automatics really weren't available til right before the War, & in America, they weren't available in cheaper cars til the start of the Fifties. It was 1951 when you could finally get a 2 speed auto in Fords & Chevys-"Powerglide" in Chevy, & Ford-O-Matic in Fords. I think it was even later in Chryslers. My parents had a '51 Chevy w/Powerglide, my mom learned how to drive in it. My dad said you could NOT make that car slide, even on glare ice, the Powerglide had so much slip in it. But my Mom did manage to get arrested in it-for going 19 MPH thru the enlisted Men's barracks area, where the speed limit was 17 ! The Judge Advocate General & my dad were buds-Dad told him to REALLY give my Mom "The Business"... They hauled her into this courtroom, the Judge was WAY above her, squinting down on her, & from what Henry told me, they REALLY read her the Riot Act... She figured she was gonna be stood up against the wall & SHOT or something... I think all that happened was they fussed at her, scared the Shit outta her, & fined her 3 dollars... I heard about it all a good 25 years later, & Mama was still pretty fuzzed up about it all, even if me, Henry & anyone else who was around were just laughing our butts off.. But, Mama , to the best of my knowledge, NEVER, EVER got pulled over again...On the Army base, or any time after that...

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

"Ford" A it's intresting, but it haves one problem: clasical manual gearbox.

The model A has a normal manual gearbox. Unlike the model T which you had to hold the pedal to apply first gear. I know you like the preselector gearboxes though :P

[Sandy G]

You guys oughta check out "Scions of Laughter", a site dedicated to us longsuffering wretches who own, love, cuss/discuss Vehicles British... BIG section devoted to Joseph Lucas & Sons, AKA "Lords of Darkness.."

[Telecolor 3007]

Oh, this: http://www.team.net/sol/humour/index.html

[Sandy G]

Well, there is ANOTHER thing about an A model that would give today's drivers pause-the "Mule Ears" right under the steering wheel. Its been a long time since I piloted an A-Bone, but one of 'em, I think was a throttle, & the other was a spark advance/retard control. It sounds all complicated & confusing, but in actuality, most of us could likely figure it out within a trip or 2 around the block of yr home street.. There is a moderately long, moderately high hill outside of town, & a couple "Old Timers" told me when I was a kid, that it had to be a STRONG Model A that could pull that hill in high, with both the "Ears" pulled back... That was the thing...Most of the motors in cars , prewar, & for awhile after, had plenty of power, but you had to know how to get it OUT of them. Hence, that was why, especially after the war, a huge industry grew & thrived about "Hopping up" cars. Fords were the prime beneficiaries, as they were popular, & maybe had the greatest amount of untapped potential, but there were quite a few tricks that could be done to & for Chevys, as well.

[Telecolor 3007]

Here is something intresting: http://www.andrewalston.co.uk/manual/p03.htm
I think only 1931 models still had such a big throttle lever: http://www.andrewalston.co.uk/instruct16-20/p02.jpg
Older ones had a smaller one.
Idiotic thing: I was Gooogled directly for manual for those cars (and "Lanchester" LD10)... nothing. Googled another things about those cars, found results.