What you did today

[kgambit]

 

Steel engine blocks,

 

Not entirely.  The Hemi 426 introduced in 1964 was a cast-iron block and the Chevy 427 ZL1 had an aluminum block.     Modern day versions of Mopar 426 Hemi now sport Aluminum blocks which are 100 pounds lighter than their cast iron predecessors.

http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/general/musclecars-engines.shtml

 

Cars from the ’60s and ’70s were especially susceptible to rust and corrosion — many literally fell apart before their engines and transmission wore out.  But advances in corrosion protection, some propelled by government requirements for anticorrosion warranties, have greatly reduced that problem.  Estimates of the lifetimes of the mid 60's to mid 70's muscle cars typically vary from 50K to 100K miles - half of  today's standards of 100K - 200K miles.  Most of the mechanical problems on the 60's era cars were simply due to erosion on the piston rings causing early oil leaks and that ever so unsightly blue cloud of smoke from the exhaust.     

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/automobiles/as-cars-are-kept-longer-200000-is-new-100000.html?_r=3&ref=business&pagewanted=all&

[Raithe]

Been reading through a few papers, trying to understand things a bit better. Poked at some work, and then my brain just shut down at some point this afternoon. I've been all "okay, I know what I should be doing, but suddenly none of it's making sense and I have no clue where to start."

 

Now it's barely half eight and I'm already yawning for the Olympics. Need a cup of tea and find out where my va-va-voom went.

[Enoch]

I'd also suggest that a present-day perception of 35+ year old vehicles is pretty heavily influenced by survivorship bias.  The cars that are still around today are the good ones, but the manufacturing standards in Detroit in those years were notoriously inconsistent-- there was a very high "lemon" rate.  The ones that didn't roll off the line on a good day have long since been scrapped. 

Edited January 29, 2014 by Enoch

[Calax]

Beware the Pinto!

[Woldan]

True, not all were all-steel, but most were. But I heard those wern't reliable because aluminum forging was still very inconsistent at that time.

 

Cars from the ’60s and ’70s were especially susceptible to rust and corrosion — many literally fell apart before their engines and transmission wore out.

And thats still a huge problem with modern cars. You know what Mercedes does in their works repair shops when they get a car to repair? (forgot the exact model) They automatically change all doors and some parts of the body without telling the owner because they're literally rusting away from the inside out.

Opel and Vauxhall have the same problems.

Quality.

I'd also suggest that a present-day perception of 35+ year old vehicles is pretty heavily influenced by survivorship bias.  The cars that are still around today are the good ones, but the manufacturing standards in Detroit in those years were notoriously inconsistent-- there was a very high "lemon" rate.

Not much has changed though, car manufacturers are still producing cars that don't make 50 kilometers without running into gearbox and axle assembly problems. Edited January 29, 2014 by Woldan

[Malcador]

Wait, so you're saying to not buy winter tires ?  I keep hearing otherwise.

[Woldan]

Wait, so you're saying to not buy winter tires ?  I keep hearing otherwise.

 

Not to buy cheap Chinese no name brand winter tires. 

Edited January 29, 2014 by Woldan

[kgambit]

True, not all were all-steel, but most were. But I heard those wern't reliable because aluminum forging was still very inconsistent at that time.

 

I'm more familiar with the piston ring wear and tear that caused premature oil leaks in Camaros.  You had to do a complete ring replacement to fix the problem. 

 

 

And thats still a huge problem with modern cars. You know what Mercedes does in their works repair shops when they get a car to repair? (forgot the exact model) They automatically change all doors and some parts of the body without telling the owner because they're literally rusting away from the inside out.

Opel and Vauxhall have the same problems.

Quality.

 

 

 

With respect to the Mercedes issue I'm skeptical.  That sounds totally anecdotal and needs to be put into the proper context.  What vintage models are we talking about?  What type of repairs are we discussing?  I'm a bit doubtful that any repair shop is going to swap out doors unless the door itself is damaged.   No biggie.  I'm just curious about this actually.

 

As for rust and corrosion in modern cars, I disagree.  Without getting too detailed, I've seen pictures of '60s era vehicles that had floor panels which were totally rusted out and door panels which had serious corrosion issues after only 6 years of use.     

 

 

Not much has changed though, car manufacturers are still producing cars that don't make 50 kilometers without running into gearbox and axle assembly problems.

 

 

You mean 50K km right?    Even at 10,000 miles a year, 50K km is only 3 years of use.   With the exception of perhaps some of the newer entrants into the industry, I would think that any manufacturer that can't produce a vehicle that gets more than 3 years of use is not going to be in business for very long.   Any particular cars you had in mind?  

 

Beware the Pinto!

 

I would have voted for the Corvair or better still, the Yugo. 

 

 

 

Not to buy cheap Chinese no name brand winter tires. 

 

 

LOL  I avoid anything Chinese (except take out) whenever possible.

 

Edited January 29, 2014 by kgambit

[Woldan]

With respect to the Mercedes issue I'm skeptical.  That sounds totally anecdotal and needs to be put into the proper context.

I've talked with one of the mechanics, its common practice among car manufacturers to recommend people regular checks at that manufacturers works repair shops so they can change parts with manufacturing errors without telling the owner of the car and without damaging the reputation of the manufacturer. Its quite scary. 

 

What vintage models are we talking about?

Modern production cars! I saw new Opel cars doors rusting away in two years from the inside out. I can't remember the details but it had to do with the scrap steel they used in the furnace. I think there were air bubbles in the steel itself, and oxygene + moisture = rust. 

 

You mean 50K km right?

Nope, a friends bought a new car and the cars axle differential went haywire in less than 50km. He got all kind of odd vibrations and noise. They couldn't fix it so he got a replacement.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2014 by Woldan

[Malcador]

 

Wait, so you're saying to not buy winter tires ?  I keep hearing otherwise.

 

Not to buy cheap Chinese no name brand winter tires. 

 

 

Oh, well buying cheap no name anything isn't that good.

 

Today I got a new headset as the amount of dead skin and other crud on my current ones finally did it.  Got a PC 310, nothing amazing but will hold me over until I get some fancy G35 or some other $200 beast.

[Woldan]

Oh, well buying cheap no name anything isn't that good.

You'd be surprised how many buy those cheap tires due to the economy crisis even though they are well aware of the tires flaws. But 50% cheaper is saving a lot of money. I heard those tires have 30% more stopping distance and don't last very long due to the awful rubber compound.

[Hurlshort]

I buy my tires used and pay about a quarter of the price.  I've never noticed a difference.  

 

But I'm also not driving in the snow.

[Azdeus]

 

With respect to the Mercedes issue I'm skeptical.  That sounds totally anecdotal and needs to be put into the proper context.

I've talked with one of the mechanics, its common practice among car manufacturers to recommend people regular checks at that manufacturers works repair shops so they can change parts with manufacturing errors without telling the owner of the car and without damaging the reputation of the manufacturer. Its quite scary. 

 

What vintage models are we talking about?

Modern production cars! I saw new Opel cars doors rusting away in two years from the inside out. I can't remember the details but it had to do with the scrap steel they used in the furnace. I think there were air bubbles in the steel itself, and oxygene + moisture = rust.

 

My mothers 04/05 Nissan Micra has a brand new generator that she has'nt paid or asked to be changed, they've changed the steering rack aswell. Not to mention that it's been called in twice for emergency service, apparently the steering wheel could come loose and I don't remember what else they called it in for. Her x's Nissan pickup trucks entire engine was shot all to hell... and it was'nt unheard of either.

 

And that's not speaking of all the rust that is cropping up on it.

 

Alot of people I know that spends alot of time around cars say similar things about other brands of newer cars, even Ferrari's and such.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Azdeus

[LadyCrimson]

Not really related, but I'm glad I don't live in snowy areas where they salt the roads a lot or something. Or right on the coast with all the salty sea air/fog. Terrible for cars/too much work (for me) to keep them clean.

 

 

Today I got a new headset as the amount of dead skin and other crud on my current ones finally did it.

Skin oil from the ears ruining headphone covers is one reason I wish they'd stop using that super thin pleather over the foam. That stuff heats up the ears even more, starts to crack, peel off and stick to you. Also why I wipe the ears with tissues constantly if I'm wearing headphones a lot, especially in summer. I should wrap some cotton cloth around the earpieces with rubber bands or something.

 

Speaking of headsets/headphones, I could use some half-way decent but not expensive wireless ones for when I want to lie down instead of sit in a chair. Time to browse Amazon or something.

[Azdeus]

Not really related, but I'm glad I don't live in snowy areas where they salt the roads a lot or something. Or right on the coast with all the salty sea air/fog. Terrible for cars/too much work (for me) to keep them clean.

 

It's very much related actually, that roadsalt is awful for cars, and the government should ****ing well pay carowners for rust repairs or allow proper winter tyres again so that the salt is'nt needed.

 

If it was'nt for my friends living in the southern parts of Sweden, I'd be very much tempted to move up north where roadsalt is'nt used.

[LadyCrimson]

Hubby: "Feeling any better?"

Me: "No."

Hubby: "Maybe you have that bug that's going around killing people!"

Me:   "...thanks, I feel so much better now."

Hubby: "I live to serve!"

 

[AGX-17]

Calculated the sum of the set of all real numbers.

[Walsingham]

Calculated the sum of the set of all real numbers.

 

How do you feel?

 

EDIT:

 

Agreed to store a huge bunch of crap for a bloke I barely know. I really think this may have been an error. But he does need the help. Hence can't sleep.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Walsingham

[Calax]

Mind still in "overstressed not that great" territories..

[Walsingham]

Phew. Bloke has sorted himself out. I'm just off to buy him lunch and a beer to say thanks for saving me the trouble.

[Raithe]

Woke up with a headache. Pretty much stayed in bed most of the morning.

 

Dragged myself out for a cup of tea and some aspirin times. Going to see what my brain kicks over as I try to sort out what I should spend the afternoon doing.

[Malcador]

Teaching a coworker why you never leave a box of cookies on your desk unguarded.  Well that and he said we could have them

[mkreku]

I was going to write proper reply to all the car bs in this thread, but.. "My friend", "my other friend", "a relative", "someone on the internet" kind of makes this discussion meaningless.

 

One dude managed to use Google and immediately found out how much better cars have become in the last 50 years.

 

You're fans of old muscle cars, I can appreciate that. But to pretend they were somehow better than modern cars.. it's just idiotic.

[Woldan]

I was going to write proper reply to all the car bs in this thread, but.. "My friend", "my other friend", "a relative", "someone on the internet" kind of makes this discussion meaningless.

 

One dude managed to use Google and immediately found out how much better cars have become in the last 50 years.

 

You're fans of old muscle cars, I can appreciate that. But to pretend they were somehow better than modern cars.. it's just idiotic.

 

And that comes from the person who started this discussion while having neither personal experience about this subject nor can name sources that formed his opinion nor used any facts and logics to explain why he thinks that muscle cars are 'better' (reliability & longevity) than modern cars. And he mocks those who have sources, first hand experience and properly explained their opinions. The arrogance is strong in this one.      

 

Oh, and I could google how much better muscles cars are. Your point? 

 

I have first hand experience with the subject though, as does Azedus. So go on, make a thread and write your proper reply, I'm sure you have the time for that. 

Edited January 30, 2014 by Woldan

[Hurlshort]

Muscle cars are cool and all, but I do love my heated seats.

 

Plus, safety features.