CAR THREAD ( ..wheeee) :)

[CANicoll]

Hoping this will be the case this year!  THIS hood scoop works, however!!  Several years ago I was driving back from a model show in Chattanooga, in a bad winter storm.  Fortunately, I had swapped out the stock 'all season' factory tires for a new set of Firestone winter tires on new rims.  Right outside of Chattanooga, there were three jack-knifed semi's including one on its side, and several destroyed cars.  Snow tires really makes a huge difference, as does all-wheel drive and not being an idiot.  AWD helps you go.  The snow tires are only so good at stopping...

[BlrwestSiR]

20 minutes ago, CANicoll said:

AWD helps you go.  The snow tires are only so good at stopping

The last bit is the one that so many folks forget. 

Of course there's always this classic from Road & Track:

The caption read:

"Good tires," Bob mused, casually lighting a cigarette, "but certainly not great tires."

[ScottsGT]

I’m posted pics of my sons work on Corvettes here already, but take some time to check out one of his first videos.  
Long story I’ll try to make short, he builds these for an old car guy that’s always dabbled in building and selling cars.  The guy is extremely wealthy and he drops $200,000 into these builds without blinking an eye.  My son tries his best to direct his creativity to the current market, but the boss gets final say.  
I told him this guy is pushing 80 and he won’t be around forever. If he wants to continue with this after he’s gone, he’s going to need working capital.   Lots of it. Best thing he could do is start making YouTube videos of his work and start publishing them now not only as a resume if you’re job hunting next week, but hopefully it will go somewhere and get monetized. 
Since there are being built to go to the Mecum auctions, they will also build hype for the sale. 
If you don’t mind, give him a like and subscribe!  
 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

53 minutes ago, ScottsGT said:

I’m posted pics of my sons work on Corvettes here already, but take some time to check out one of his first videos.  
Long story I’ll try to make short, he builds these for an old car guy that’s always dabbled in building and selling cars.  The guy is extremely wealthy and he drops $200,000 into these builds without blinking an eye.  My son tries his best to direct his creativity to the current market, but the boss gets final say.  
I told him this guy is pushing 80 and he won’t be around forever. If he wants to continue with this after he’s gone, he’s going to need working capital.   Lots of it. Best thing he could do is start making YouTube videos of his work and start publishing them now not only as a resume if you’re job hunting next week, but hopefully it will go somewhere and get monetized. 
Since there are being built to go to the Mecum auctions, they will also build hype for the sale. 
If you don’t mind, give him a like and subscribe!  
 

 

Liked and subscribed! Nice job on the Corvette. I know where he gets his painting skills from.

[ScottsGT]

Funny you say that because he didn’t paint this car, but he is a wizard with a rattle can!  I kid you not, he orders 2k clear in a rattle can that requires breaking an internal bulb to catalyze it. 
About the only reason he hasn’t ventured into the painting is because they don’t have a paint booth. In the video he mentions one being delivered.   It’s a small 10’ X 10’ inflatable with filters so he can do his rattle can work in Bob’s fancy garage.  His home is about a $3 Million mansion in an exclusive gated community.  The front of the garage looks like just part of the house and you enter from the back yard.  Driveway wraps around the house. 
 

I just got him into airbrushing back in the fall.  He builds 1/10 RC rock crawlers as his hobby and he was trying to rattle can everything.  Hooked him up with a Grex with the fan attachment like I use for larger projects.  

[BlrwestSiR]

42 minutes ago, ScottsGT said:

I just got him into airbrushing back in the fall.  He builds 1/10 RC rock crawlers

Oh, rock crawlers. I love building/modding those. I'm on Clodbuster #5. Or is it #6? 

The craziest was I took a Tamiya TLT -1 and basically only kept the drive axles. Everything else I swapped out and gave it a 6" chassis stretch. The axles had just under 180° of articulation. I wish i still had it hit some collector wanted it and I sold it.  

I missed grabbing an RC4WD Killer Krawler when I had the chance. Nothing else has come out that big since. 

[ScottsGT]

One of his small builds

cannot remember if he built all these. But middle one is the one above.

[Martinnfb]

Wow, so much talent. A kid to be proud of. 👍

[DocRob]

Couldn´t look into the car thread for month, because our Jeep had a problem with the automatic gear. It couldn´t be solved by the largest Jeep dealer in half a year, because they lacked spare parts. It would rot there for further years, had we not taken the initiative and try to solve the problem together with a friend, who is a car mechanic. After numerous iterations, I spare you the details, we finally found, the problem is a tiny control unit, which normally can be bought for 200$ and the prob could have been solved in two hours. Instead, it took nine month, now that´s a price for globalization.

Lets forget about that, I´m a happy man , Jacky rolls again.

Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

Oh boy , what a messy situation. Rob if you ever need any parts for your Jeep send me a message, I can help. 

[DocRob]

Thank you Martin, I hope we are trouble free for a while, but If need arises, I will remember your generous offer. Trouble was, we could locate cheap parts in the US, but they were all sent back for one reason or another and in Europe these parts like control units are not available because of supply shortages. The prices for used parts are rediciolous and they are unbelievable rare. We found some in Poland, after searching in whole Europe. Of course, these parts would not be sent to the Canary Islands, so we had to pick them up in Berlin, phew.

Cheers Rob

[ScottsGT]

Rob, yes please.  Reach out anytime to one of us if you need parts like this.  As long as there are no export regulations I’ll gladly help out.   I know sometimes chipped devices can be sketchy.  
I remember a story of a guy in the US that got in hot water for selling a Sony PlayStation out of the US on eBay of all places.  Apparently it has a chip set that the military decided they needed in guided missiles and that model of the PS could only be sold in the states.   

[DocRob]

15 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Rob, yes please.  Reach out anytime to one of us if you need parts like this.  As long as there are no export regulations I’ll gladly help out.   I know sometimes chipped devices can be sketchy.  
I remember a story of a guy in the US that got in hot water for selling a Sony PlayStation out of the US on eBay of all places.  Apparently it has a chip set that the military decided they needed in guided missiles and that model of the PS could only be sold in the states.

Thank you Scott, you guys are so generous, it´s an honor to be among a bunch of great guys here.
The transmission control module we were looking for, is produced in Hungary or Germany and not only for European markets. The US parts with the same parts number are also produced in Europe. It´s weird, because the transmission is a product of a German company named ZF. These transmissions are not only used in Jeeps, but also in Mercedes Vans and other cars. The shortage of these parts must effect a lot of cars with the same problem.
Spanish and German Jeep branches, told us with hush hush voices, that these parts are not available right now and nobody knows, when they will be.
US vendors including Mopar only ship to US addresses. We tried Ebay´s worldwide service from the US, but first they said, they don´t ship to the Canary Islands, which is not unusual, but when we changed the shipping address to Berlin Germany, they said the same. So far for worldwide service .

Cheers Rob

[ScottsGT]

Yea, my 2015 Mustang has a ZF designed 6 speed manual but built in China. 

[TonyWills]

On 1/12/2023 at 9:30 PM, GazzaS said:

I used to have one of those!! We adopted an eight year old child, and he unfortunately had issues around being left alone, or left out - his parents were addicts who pretty much ignored him. The Fiat Multipla was perfect, as it has three seats in the front, so he could sit right between us whenever we went out. Take the rear seats out and it's basically a small van. Looks awful, yes, but was the most practical family car I ever owned.

[Martinnfb]

On 2/8/2024 at 1:45 AM, DocRob said:

Thank you Scott, you guys are so generous, it´s an honor to be among a bunch of great guys here.
The transmission control module we were looking for, is produced in Hungary or Germany and not only for European markets. The US parts with the same parts number are also produced in Europe. It´s weird, because the transmission is a product of a German company named ZF. These transmissions are not only used in Jeeps, but also in Mercedes Vans and other cars. The shortage of these parts must effect a lot of cars with the same problem.
Spanish and German Jeep branches, told us with hush hush voices, that these parts are not available right now and nobody knows, when they will be.
US vendors including Mopar only ship to US addresses. We tried Ebay´s worldwide service from the US, but first they said, they don´t ship to the Canary Islands, which is not unusual, but when we changed the shipping address to Berlin Germany, they said the same. So far for worldwide service .

Cheers Rob

Bunch of JK's are sitting on the wreckers here. That would be an option, probably cheaper than shipping. American automotive culture is a part of a lifestyle. Anyway, there's a reason why I choose North America for the rest of my days.

[Martinnfb]

On 2/8/2024 at 7:16 AM, TonyWills said:

I used to have one of those!! We adopted an eight year old child, and he unfortunately had issues around being left alone, or left out - his parents were addicts who pretty much ignored him. The Fiat Multipla was perfect, as it has three seats in the front, so he could sit right between us whenever we went out. Take the rear seats out and it's basically a small van. Looks awful, yes, but was the most practical family car I ever owned.

There's definitely something about it Tony, the silliest looking cars are often the most practical.

[Clunkmeister]

At it again with old piles of junk. 
Offered a 58 Dodge Regal Lancer and 58 Plymouth Fury today by a long time customer, and I’m sorely tempted.  The price is really decent, and even though I haven’t seen it in public in years, I’ve spent many hours doing service work on it in the lady’s garage.  Her husband and her bought two cars together in 1958:  the 58 Regal Lancer, and a 58 Fury.  The Regal has a special order Chrysler 354 hemisherical V8, what they call an “Super D-500”, and the Fury has a 350 big block wedge V8, what was called a “Golden Commando”.  WTH with the goofy names.  The 58 Ford retractable has a “Police Interceptor” V8, which is a bit more normal sounding, although the only thing it intercepts real well are speeding tickets.  Both drink premium through 8 barrels of Carter WCFB, both have Torqueflite push button automatics, and both are rare as his teeth, almost showroom perfect but ugly as sin.

To give you an idea, Ford sold 12 times as many hardtop coupes as Dodge, and 10 times as many as Plymouth. They weren’t popular new, and just looking at them shows why.   They’re hideous to look at, and Joy immediately says she’ll never be seen in either one without a paper bag over her head. 
Because they’re in the lady’s garage, here are some stock pics.  The Dodge is black with a white roof, and the Fury is identical to that one:  eggshell white, gold anodized trim, and manure brown interior. 
Of the two, I much prefer the Dodge   The Fury just seems messed up.   Both run like scalded tail cats and each might get about 12 mpg at best when your foot’s on the floor.  And if I want one, I gotta take ‘em both  yikes   My Fords’ll revolt!

 

[ScottsGT]

[Clunkmeister]

I really want that Dodge.  That Plymouth can be quickly sold, but she wants them together. 
I’ve owned a few 57-58 Plymouth Furies, and I’ll tell you this:  they are GREAT road cars with a decent set od radials and disc brakes. They have that Chrysler torsion bar front suspension, and they are fast and corner better than any full size car from back then. Back then, you couldn’t GIVE these gas guzzlers away. Literally nobody wanted them, and time wasn’t friendly to them. 
The Dodge is the same underneath, but has the more crazy trim. And both cars only come up to my chin. They are low for a 50s car. 
What’s wild is if you park the Plymouth next to a 57 Chevy, suddenly that Chevy looks totally archaic. 
Plenty of misinformation out there about these.  With torsion bars, built low, big block Chrysler V8s with dual quad carbs, there’s nothing to hate. Plus, paint the Dodge red, and in a few years, Joy could be just like the “Little old Lady from Pasadena”.  😂
Out on a Saturday night after baking cookies, and shutting down Mustang GTs, Vettes, Jags, and Ferraris with her Super Stock Dodge. 

[Jeff]

You called Joy ‘old’ …… uummmm I’m telling !! 🤭😆😆😆😆😆😆

[Martinnfb]

Dodge all the way! The styling and colour combo wins.

[ScottsGT]

See, I’m thinking Christine.  I know, off by a year, but close enough. 
 

I’d love to rock one of these around town.  

[BlrwestSiR]

8 minutes ago, ScottsGT said:

See, I’m thinking Christine.  I know, off by a year, but close enough. 
 

I’d love to rock one of these around town.  

Ok glad I wasn't the only one thinking this. 

[HubertB]

1 hour ago, Clunkmeister said:

Plus, paint the Dodge red, and in a few years, Joy could be just like the “Little old Lady from Pasadena”.  😂
Out on a Saturday night after baking cookies, and shutting down Mustang GTs, Vettes, Jags, and Ferraris with her Super Stock Dodge. 

You’re sure she’d be allowed to do that with a paper bag on her head ?
 

Hubert