Your reminding me of a couple winters ago when we got a big snow that wasn't plowed especially in an empty lot of a mostly vacant stripper mall (given the neighborhood/customers that name ain't far off the mark) on the way home from work. I got to do 4WD doughnuts and skids on snow taller than my running boards....A solid 10 minutes of fun till I decided leave before you get stuck, find a light post, or the police have enough time to have more than no change in hell of showing up.

I used to drive my 93 LeBaron in the winter. Drove it down Lake Shore Drive every day to college. Parked on residential streets because parking permits were expensive. The only thing crappy about driving a convertible in the winter is when you have one without heat. Well, for some reason, many 90s Chryslers have piss poor heat. Most of the time, it wouldn't blow warm air until I got off of Lake Shore Drive, and of course by that time, I was about one minute from school. I eventually rectified the heat situation by installing an auxiliary water pump from a Mercedes inline with the heater hose. I tell you, that works wonders. It's still not great, but getting even a bit of heat after maybe 5-10 minutes of driving is a hell of a lot better than not having even a whisper of warm air for 40 minutes in below freezing temps.

Still, it was my car and I knew it well, and I'm a very competent driver. One time, in probably about 2 or 3 feet of snow, I plowed straight into a parallel parking spot, and this guy was standing outside of his house and he was yelling at me about how crazy I was (I'll take this time to remind you of my user name), and that I'd never be able to get out of that snow. I told him to come back at 3pm and watch me. He didn't, but I had no trouble getting out.

My old envoy had shit heat the first winter I got it. The engine wasn't really getting up to temp in winter either so I replaced the thermostat (I lucked upon a freak 50s weekend in winter) I learned the one oriley stocked was just as open in closed state as the one I pulled out. After confirming the one they gave me wasn't an anomaly I grabbed one from IIRC advanced and that one was actually closed in it's closed state (instead of ever so slightly restrictive like the one the thing came with).

I had a '96 Dakota that, after a number of years, got so it just would not warm up in the winter. The oil would get full of water since it never heated up enough to boil off the condensation. Tried a couple thermostats, no change. A sheet of cardboard in front of he radiator sorta helped, a little. Then one day I decided to try flushing the heater core. Bad looking stuff came out...and that was it. After that the engine came up to temperature just like it should and I had no problems with heat. I just thought it strange that a blockage there could throw the whole system off.

I think they did a better job designing cars back when my Lincoln was built-I remember the day I was trundling around in that big snow, I had the windows up, heater on full blast, & it really wasn't bad at all Now I wasn't in the back seat, but up front it was pretty comfortable. Beautiful sunny day, too. And the snow was goin' "Bye-Bye" pretty quickly, too, but it was still BIG fun..

Some cars require flow through the heater core for proper engine cooling... Not sure why it would cool the engine TOO well...

I did go a kick tires on a "beater" a couple weeks back, an '88 Dodge D-100. Yes, they still made the 100, the el Cheapo package, my Dad had one. This one ran but with a high idle (likely either a vacuum leak or an idle motor issue) and was just your typical, well, beater. Rusty in the usual places, torn seat, peeling paint, plenty of big dents. I think $800 cash would have brought it home, maybe a little less. But...dear Mrs. made it very clear...NO. I was not parking that piece of JUNK in her driveway! Well. She did say that if I bought her a new(er) vehicle I could use our "old" pickup as a beater. I think, sometimes, that she understands men about as well as I understand women :)

My daily:


shoulda had it 10 years ago tho...getting too old to go tear-assing around. I find more value in the wifes new highlander right now

Up to 5 cars now:

2010 Subaru Forester XT (EJ257/4EAT)
1990 Dodge W250 (318/NP435)
1985 Peugeot 505 (XN6/BA7/5)
2001 Mazda Miata 5mt base
1959 Ford Custom 300 (223/3 speed manual)

The Subaru I got in March to replace the ailing Miata, it's also a much more comfortable DD. And the Ford was free so I couldn't resist. It's pretty rusty (for a New Mexico car) first gear doesn't work, and the interior is shot, but the engine runs well and it drives ok.....manual drum brakes are manual drum brakes so don't skip leg day!

The Miata and Peugeot are for sale because I don't need 5 cars!

Manual drum brakes on a 2010 car? Maybe your booster is busted.

Reread the paragraph he's talking about the 59 Ford...

I see. I have experienced a 60s Ford with single-master non-power brakes. I'd rather ride a bicycle.

I'm in the process of resurrecting this little guy. It sat behind a garage for a decade before I got it. I plan to leave the exterior as is - it has lots of character.

Neat!

Thanks. I have a soft spot for '70s-era Japanese trucks, and finding this one was like hitting the jackpot. Very few of the first-gen Ford Couriers made it into the 21st century, and while mine is a bit rough, it still looks better than 80% of the ones still out there.

It needs a ton of work before it can be driven again, but the good news is it's structurally and mechanically sound. My only regret is that the bumper and turn signal got damaged while it was being moved - parts are nonexistent for these trucks.


-Tim

93 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S Had it for 10 years bought off my ex high school principal , this car wont die!

94 Buick Roadmaster Limited. LT1 engine , gran touring suspension , all the toys but leather and sunroof . Got this for my 50th , my wife said I could get a "special car" for myself:D. Needs some work, actually more than I thought but these aren't exactly getting anymore plentiful these days so it is definitely worth saving :thmbsp:

04 Toyota Sienna van. It's a Toyota what else can I say?! :D Its got lots of room for hauling consoles... Hmmmm I'm sure a Sony KV-3000R would fit in there with the seats out.....:)

93' Explorer Sport 5-speed mom bought new in 93' and became mine in 02' and still daily drive to this day. This thing is so solid I just never needed or wanted to replace it.

10' Corolla S - My wife's daily she bought when we were dating and paid off. It's holding up just like the Explorer has...but that's expected being a Toyota and all.

1999 Dodge Dakota, 4x4 with the 5.2 Magnum V8. It's rusty but trusty, but the 10mpg is really killing me lately.

I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota 4X4 with the 4.7 V8. First year for that engine.
It got upper teens on the hi-way. It's been in storage for a while, which is not good. The check engine light is on. I did a scan and showed a fault stating one cylinder is running lean.
I bought my 1st Dakota, a 1991 with 141K miles on it with a 318.
The 318 is practically bullet proof. I bought three used and one new. They all went well over 100K miles, without major issues.

I only drive my bike :)

Picked up an 05 Audi A4 Quattro wagon last week. 2.0/fsi/turbo. Something is goofy with the ABS/speedo/tach and the xenon headlights are about to expire but otherwise it’s sound

Change your oil every 3000 miles, no excuses. Just did timing chains, cylinder head, valves, and rod bearings on one of those. Guy owns an oil change shop, still too stingy to change the oil, it was like black mud. 60k miles. When I called for parts, the parts guy had a list ready to go - a good indicator that a lot of those motors fail in that way. Incidentally, it was a 40 hour job, something like $7000. And not something to entrust to any old joe schmoe.

Actually, your motor might be a bit different. But still. Come to think of it, I had a Passat with that motor that we did chains on, as well. Yes it has two chains and a belt.

Also, direct injection, so you'll need to clean the valves every, oh I don't know, maybe 10k miles. Buy a can of Seafoam, the aerosol kind for cleaning intake valves, and use that.

Very nice... and what a clean garage!

Yeah I'm pretty strict about 3k oil changes, for my forester they (Subaru) originally recommended 5k oil changes and it caused lots of dead turbos and spun bearings.....there's also a little screen in the oil feed for the turbo that likes to disintegrate and kill the turbo. The engine in the Audi has a belt for the cams/water pump and a little chain for the balance shaft/oil pump I think. This one I bought came with a shop manual lol. And I'll look into the valve cleaning, its probably due......

Check out FCP Euro for anything your Audi needs, I buy all my Mercedes parts from them. They have a lifetime replacement program for their entire inventory including wear items and oil... free oil is good motivation to keep up with oil changes.

Yeah I'll take a look, I may be due for pads/rotors/hardware soon. On the intake valve cleaning, everything I've read about the 2.0 tfsi engines involve pulling the intake manifold and cleaning the ports manually. Not much about the seafoam method.....

For daily use a Volvo V70 from 2002. For the summer months a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible with a V8 engine. Also two motorcycles, a 1983 Honda MTX and a 1986 MT. The Mustang came to the Netherlands in 1998, comes from Florida USA. I restored it in 1998/1999.

Nice Mustang! Be careful not to bump those so-called bumpers.

My first new car was a 66 Mustang coupe with a small V8, same red paint as yours, with "parchment" interior. It was made late in the model year, and a few of the parts under the hood were from the 1967 line. Of course, it didn't have such fancy wheels.

What color is your interior?

My Mustang has a white interior in the Pony version. I also have the air conditioning, but no longer installed. Photos taken during the drive in the cinema, is a meeting of the Dutch Mustang club. In the back seat a radio with FM for sound of the movie.

Beautiful!

Nice! I even spotted a couple fox bodies in that picture.

I shoulda took pictures of the ports on the Audi. It was nasty! I used a walnut blaster to clean em out. I also ended up changing the fuel feed from that weird banjo fitting to a hose/barb type because I couldn't get that banjo to seal. I also fixed a coolant leak and have the speedo working but I gotta send that ABS module out for rebuild. Next job is the timing chain on the back that links both camshafts, its making a lot of noise!

My Opel
 

Hi, this is my second car, and first on weekends.
It's a german made Opel Rekord Caravan 1971. My grandad bougth it brand new, and I inherited it.
Condition is far than perfect, but I love driving it.
Opel: on quiet nights you can hear it rusting...

https://imgur.com/a/VSykC0s

That car looks pretty nice to me! I think they stole the body lines
from the GM mid size cars. ( Olds, Buick, Pontiac, Chevy.).
At first glance I would guess "Olds Cutlass F85".
BTW what is the motor ? Our old mid-size cars came with in-line 6
or a selection of V8's up to 455 cid & over 400 hp. They could be
hard to control !

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Sure, being Opel a subsidiary of GM in those years.

The engine is fully designed in Detroit (named CIH, cam in head engine).

The body is german design, with that Coke shape (" Hüftschwung ") , was consider very sexy for european eyes at that time. There was a straigth line body project, fortunally didn't saw the ligth.

There was two series, the simple models, named Rekord with 4 cyl engines and the elegant series named Commodore with 6 cyl engines. Motors from 1500 cc to 2600 cc. Two and four doors sedans, coupes, stwagons, very few convertibles.

I don’t want to bore translating hp to CV, liters, etc, since the soul of a car is not in the cold numbers.
Yes, there were lights cars with an outdated steering and suspension system, but soft to drive, very reliable and economical. In the mid 60s, american cars become too big and expensive here.

"An even more sporty model than the GS, the Commodore GS/E, debuted in March 1970. It had a 2.5 L engine equipped with Bosch D-jetronic fuel injection system developing 150 PS (110 kW), which gave the car a top speed of 197 km/h (122 mph)" (wiki).

After the end of production in Germany, it was made in Brazil, like the Chevrolet Opala ( Opel body - Impala 6 engines), there with others terminations, and more powerful but hungry engines.
In Brazil it was manufactured till early 90s, replacing most of chrome with black plastics.

Mine is an anemic 1700 cc 82 hp four cylinder, four gear manual. When you press the gas pedal, she says: what? Ha, you want go? hahaha. Ok, let's go to get more of your trash TVs and radios.

Yes, just googling "Caravan Chevrolet Brasil" shows the Brazilian cousin. Some equipped with 4100cc (4.1L) inline 6. Interesting the very close side design for both.
My grandfather had 17 of these Opala's (the sedan version), all with the 4.1L motor.

I drive daily a Chevrolet Omega (brother in England is the Chevrolet Carlton, for example); very robust car. From 1994 and surviving well! Excellent confortably for travels!
My wife have a '73 Beetle, and I also have a '82 Gol with the 1600cc Beetle motor (nicknamed "little kettle" in a direct translation).

What an amazing car is your first VW Gol, must be cool drive a car with the Beetle front engine, air cooled, and front wheel drive. Very noisy?
Here were sold all Gol generations, but starting with the water cooled engine.

Rekord and Opala actually were not cousins, We can say, they were father and sons, and I always thougth that loses some refinamentes crossing the Atlantic, like the tail ligths, rectangular headligths, cockpit, but gained with a stronger suspention system, a more versatile engine, due to lower compression, and thicker steel panels. Opels were horrible with rust.

And the Opel Omega is a "grand routier" an excellent rear wheel drive car, developed mainly for long relaxed trips and many brothers (sisters?) on the world. Sometimes I see an Omega Suprema, (station wagon) black with lowered suspention, and is really cool.
Obrigado.