CAR THREAD ( ..wheeee) :)

[CANicoll]

On 6/13/2024 at 1:12 PM, Martinnfb said:

It was time to refresh the shifter feel and switch to polyurethane and bronze. 

I bet that feels A LOT better shifting...

[CANicoll]

A guy I know put the sound deadening in his car, another Subaru but a Forrester - a big square metal box.  Even just on the doors it made a HUGE difference.  Then the floor pan.  I may have to do mine now...

[BlrwestSiR]

Just think, in our misspent youth we had heat guns and scrapers in hand trying to get rid of all the sound deadening and save some weight on our rides. Now we're putting it in to quieten down the cars.  

Full circle. 

[Martinnfb]

Ha ha ha, so true. The fox body was completely bare. 

[Martinnfb]

Aluminium driveshaft from Ford Racing arrived today. 

…this is the way how it should come out from the assembly line  ….

[ScottsGT]

Sweet!  Thinking about one for my ‘15 when the U joints and center bearing starts to go. 

[Martinnfb]

Scott you won’t believe the difference. Took it for a quick test drive and what a change.  No more jolts or clunky noises. Despite the lousy exchange rate and shipping charges, it was worth it. 
there was a pretty red car on the parking lot beside me so I snapped a photo. Self proclaimed Chevy guy was able to identify it as a 1966 Galaxie. I’m going to keep his name anonymous, but it’s needless to add that Jeff has some gnarly knowledge.
 

 

[Jeff]

😎

[ScottsGT]

Had a friend years ago that had that same Galaxy with a factory 428 Cobra Jet and a top loader 4 speed. Now that was a rare find. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Minor milestone on a road trip today in our Honda Element. 

Had to get my son to grab the pic as I was driving. 

On a slightly more annoying note, the power steering developed a leak on the way back so I'll have to sort that out now. 

[ScottsGT]

Fingers crossed it’s either a pump or lines.  Those racks aren’t cheap. 

[BlrwestSiR]

27 minutes ago, ScottsGT said:

Fingers crossed it’s either a pump or lines.  Those racks aren’t cheap. 

Hope so. Need to make some time to take a look under the hood. At least it's not our main car anymore. More the dog/tool transport. 

The car was fine a couple days ago but today on the drive back the steering got harder and harder to turn, plus a bit of howling/squealing when I did. 

[ScottsGT]

Those Honda pumps are funny.  We did a timing belt job on our old Odyssey many years back. A week later, the pump started acting just like you described.  I asked the service manager if it could have been related to them working on it. (LOL, like they would admit they screwed up) 

But as he told me, they go bad like someone flipped a switch.  

[Jeff]

12 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Minor milestone on a road trip today in our Honda Element. 

Had to get my son to grab the pic as I was driving. 

On a slightly more annoying note, the power steering developed a leak on the way back so I'll have to sort that out now. 

I don’t have the mileage Carl has but I’m getting good fuel economy

[Martinnfb]

[BlrwestSiR]

Jeff, on a really good day we can get 10L/100km with the Element. It's a pig on gas due to the complete lack of aerodynamics and the short gearing for 5th. At 100km/h, the engine is at 3000rpm in 5th. The last tank was 12.5 L/100km. 

Our RAV4 uses half that and that's in mixed driving. The Beat is even less but isn't exactly a family car. 

[Jeff]

23 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Jeff, on a really good day we can get 10L/100km with the Element. It's a pig on gas due to the complete lack of aerodynamics and the short gearing for 5th. At 100km/h, the engine is at 3000rpm in 5th. The last tank was 12.5 L/100km. 

Our RAV4 uses half that and that's in mixed driving. The Beat is even less but isn't exactly a family car. 

And folks have the BALLS to call my truck a gas guzzler................ ( a term I abhor )  Carl, I'm sorry the Element isn't a bit more fuel  efficient but I totally get why it isn't, don't see many of them around these days, used to be lots around here........ I also get the application of that little unit, you can buzz all over and find easy parking... and zip in and out.... I guess my luck with fuel efficiency, is my years of heavy truckin, we old guys were always taught to find the peak torque, correct gear, and speed ( known as a 'Match Point' )... once you mastered that, then you had to include  the load on the truck, and highway conditions, and hills etc..... I was really into it, and still am, so I took it to heart to learn all the details and how to save as much fuel, and be as efficient, with out holding up traffic, keeping a steady foot on the throttle, and knowing exactly when to shift gears and when to back out of the throttle. Because I was well interested in this , my fuel consumption was way down  compared to some of the other guys on the job. It was a fun practice, and one I still adhere to today . I let the engine do the work, and tie in the transmission as needed, I also ( even in my Tahoe AND Corvette) ALWAYS shift down to slow, rather than get on the brakes, it is a much smoother transition for slowing and then accelerating . Don't get me wrong, there were days when I had to go real slow up some hills and the same coming down due to heavy loads, but gear selection and peak torque was paramount. I know most can't put this into practice, mostly due to their environment, freeways, city driving etc, but if you get out on the highway, give it a try... you will be surprised....

[Martinnfb]

I believe you are enjoining the perks of the  dynamic fuel management and variable valve timing Jeff. You’re not using true eight cylinders if you don’t need them. 
My buddy just traded his Gladiator for  F-150 Tremor and it’s a similar story, technology is unstoppable. 

 

[Jeff]

13 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

I believe you are enjoining the perks of the  dynamic fuel management and variable valve timing Jeff. You’re not using true eight cylinders if you don’t need them. 
My buddy just traded his Gladiator for  F-150 Tremor and it’s a similar story, technology is unstoppable. 

 

yes, AFM< BUT if you don't use it correctly it doesn't work, you still have or should be gentle with the throttle.... also there was no AFM in the big trucks, that was ALL skill and learning to do it correctly....

[Martinnfb]

Yeah, but what about us mere mortals with lead feet ? 😂 

[Jeff]

6 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

Yeah, but what about us mere mortals with lead feet ? 😂 

I feel that pain too….. with two Corvettes in the stables 🤣🤣

[BlrwestSiR]

52 minutes ago, Jeff said:

I feel that pain too….. with two Corvettes in the stables 🤣🤣

The engine in my Beat has less displacement than a single cylinder in either of your 'Vettes. 

1 hour ago, Martinnfb said:

Yeah, but what about us mere mortals with lead feet ? 😂 

I think I can step on all three pedals in the Beat with one foot. Makes heel and toe easy since they can be on the gas and brake at the same time without moving. 

 

[PanzerWomble]

I'm heading the other way ...following on from the 1979 motorbike, have now bought a 1982 W123 230E for a daily driver. No tax , no testing , no sensors or modules or ECM or EGR etc ...etc . Only sensors on board are my four paws and the seat of my pants, plus the exhaust smells ...proper. 

Not looking like I'll be doing much scale work for a while ..feel I may be watching a bit too much Vice Grip Garage ....

 

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Nice Benz there PW! W123s are supposedly indestructible.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

On 6/22/2024 at 10:23 PM, ScottsGT said:

Those Honda pumps are funny.  We did a timing belt job on our old Odyssey many years back. A week later, the pump started acting just like you described.  I asked the service manager if it could have been related to them working on it. (LOL, like they would admit they screwed up) 

But as he told me, they go bad like someone flipped a switch.  

Good news I think. I finally took a look under the hood of the Element and it looks like the return hose is the culprit. The lower half of it is covered in power steering fluid while everything else looks dry. So I've ordered the required part and just need to wait for it to arrive. 

I'm hoping it won't be too hard to get it swapped out. This generation of Honda's has the steering rack mounted halfway up the firewall behind the engine so we'll see.