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Forum: General Talk
11-11-2015, 05:24 PM
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I learned the hard way not to try popping the clutch in my parents' 1973 Dart (also Slant Six) while they were shopping. Something snapped and the pedal stuck up.
Later on my younger brother inherited this car and changed it from a column shifter to floor shifter. The column shift mechanism was worn so sometimes it would hang in first gear. He got that kit from JC Whitney too. Someone told him the Slant Six had solid lifters and he could adjust the valves. We spent an afternoon on that and it was a totally different car afterwards. But it still used oil. We drove it from Connecticut to St. Louis and had to add oil every couple of hundred miles. There was a film of oil on the bumper.
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Forum: General Talk
11-07-2015, 10:30 PM
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My grandfather and great-uncle both had 1961 Comets. My grandfather traded his for a 1971 Buick Skylark - every time I see one of those rare GSX Skylark, I think of my grandfather, not a powerful fast car. My great-uncle kept his Comet until someone hit him in 1976 and it was totaled. He unfortunately bought a new 1976 Comet, but drove that for another 16 years, and his wife drove it for another decade.
On cars that should have been handed down. this is my brother's story about the Mustang that my dad won and he didn't quite inherit. I suppose I missed out too but I was 12 and driving seemed a long way off. I do remember my parents having to pay sales tax on the car and being annoyed.
Archive: A Mustang story - Hartford Courant |
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Forum: General Talk
11-06-2015, 02:49 PM
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A 1978 Chevy Nova two-door, 305 V8, automatic. I bought it used in 1984 with 78,000 miles on it after a long search - most cars were undesirable somehow in the late 70s/early 80s. The Nova was on its way out, so the car had nothing new or exciting. It was a product of its era. Chevy tried to make highway fuel economy look great by using a very high axle ratio, so it would shift from first to second at 50mph, into 3rd at 80. It had a 21 gallon tank because car makers used to advertise "range" - highway MPG times fuel capacity. The speedometer only read up to 80; Congress was just discussing rules about limiting speedos to 85mph because the National Maximum Speed Limit was 55mph. The paint was terrible because the EPA or OSHA had cracked down on automotive paint contents and practices. Big bumpers were because of the 5 mph bumper rule.
Despite its era and basic nature, it was a great car for me. I got 22mpg on the highway. It always started except once when the K-mart battery exploded, but that was in a garage - just ten minutes and a new battery, good to go. Parts were dirt cheap and available anywhere. I replaced the water pump all by myself in an apartment parking lot with basic tools. I did brakes, alternator, rust repair, plus stereo, wheels and tires. I really wanted new seats - I could go 400 miles on a highway trip but the seats would kill me.
The transmission started to have trouble and I got it fixed once, but when it looked like it was going again, I sold for $250 to someone my brother knew. The car lived on for several more years after that. I sometimes dream I still have it.
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