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Federal Environmental “Laws” wouldn’t allow it. 
 

“Laws” is in quotation marks because they are regs, not laws, but they are treated as law. 

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You guys must have lived in a different world than me. I remember working on cars all the time, new plugs every 10,000 miles, new wires, plugs, condenser, points and cap every 20, 000, exhaust systems that fell off every 2 years, carburetors out of adjustment all the time, new battery every 2-3 years. I remember as a kid going out to start the car for my mom in the winter, you could hear cars all up and down the street cranking trying to start, I never hear that now. This is one part of the "good old days" you can keep, give me a new car any time. Oh and don't forget 8-10 MPG.

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4 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

With the shortage of computer chips, Detroit could manufacture a fleet of …….

<wait for it>


retro computerless cars. The retooling and retraining would be too expensive.


If I can do it in my shop in a matter of hours, the big manufacturers could change over in a matter of days and make production in a matter hours!!

 

10 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Federal Environmental “Laws” wouldn’t allow it. 
 

“Laws” is in quotation marks because they are regs, not laws, but they are treated as law. 
 

Those regulations were put in place instead of regulations requiring owners to maintain their vehicles!!

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28 minutes ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

You guys must have lived in a different world than me. I remember working on cars all the time, new plugs every 10,000 miles, new wires, plugs, condenser, points and cap every 20, 000, exhaust systems that fell off every 2 years, carburetors out of adjustment all the time, new battery every 2-3 years. I remember as a kid going out to start the car for my mom in the winter, you could hear cars all up and down the street cranking trying to start, I never hear that now. This is one part of the "good old days" you can keep, give me a new car any time. Oh and don't forget 8-10 MPG.

But gas was 25 cents a gallon or less....And service stations provided service....

 

Texas Lizard

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31 minutes ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

You guys must have lived in a different world than me. I remember working on cars all the time, new plugs every 10,000 miles, new wires, plugs, condenser, points and cap every 20, 000, exhaust systems that fell off every 2 years, carburetors out of adjustment all the time, new battery every 2-3 years. I remember as a kid going out to start the car for my mom in the winter, you could hear cars all up and down the street cranking trying to start, I never hear that now. This is one part of the "good old days" you can keep, give me a new car any time. Oh and don't forget 8-10 MPG.

I was 22 yrs old.

Daddy had taught me how to change tire, attend battery posts...and even changed my own brakes.

I was driving to Durango,CO when my car just stopped.

I knew I had filled up, so was not out of gas...popped the hood, and smelled gas.

So, a bit of prodding found the new gas hose that had been replaced was too long and had a small hole where it had melted on the manifold.

I had not a single tool in my car.

I walked over to a nearby 'farm house' and asked the man on the porch if I might borrow a pocket knife and screwdriver.

He asked what I planned on usinging them on...and he almost chuckled whe I explained I was going to cut and replace my gas line.

I walked back to the car...plenty of hose to reattach after cutting off the melted area...and, this time had plenty of room where the hose would not rub or lay on anything.

The man had a huge smile on his face, as I droove up his drive 30 min later.

Thank you daddy, for teaching me well.

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Boy the hair on the back of my neck stood on end when I first read the topic line.  I thought it read - Too bad there aren’t enough lawyers

 

 

Then I put on my reading glasses.  What a relief.

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2 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

We wouldn't need as many mechanics, we could go back to fixing them ourselves!

I’ve done work on old cars back when I was young like an oil change, change plugs, brakes etc. but I wouldn’t want to do it now! No thanks ! 

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2 hours ago, Singin&#x27; Sue 71615 said:

I was 22 yrs old.

Daddy had taught me how to change tire, attend battery posts...and even changed my own brakes.

I was driving to Durango,CO when my car just stopped.

I knew I had filled up, so was not out of gas...popped the hood, and smelled gas.

So, a bit of prodding found the new gas hose that had been replaced was too long and had a small hole where it had melted on the manifold.

I had not a single tool in my car.

I walked over to a nearby 'farm house' and asked the man on the porch if I might borrow a pocket knife and screwdriver.

He asked what I planned on usinging them on...and he almost chuckled whe I explained I was going to cut and replace my gas line.

I walked back to the car...plenty of hose to reattach after cutting off the melted area...and, this time had plenty of room where the hose would not rub or lay on anything.

The man had a huge smile on his face, as I droove up his drive 30 min later.

Thank you daddy, for teaching me well.

Ellie's Dad wouldn't let her get a license until she could tune-up, change oil and tires on a '64 Impala. After we were married she got home a tad late from work in her '68 6 cyl. Camaro stick shift. She tied her panty hose around the crank pulley and water pump to get home after losing the fan belt! Don't know how she knew not to put it around the alternator as well which wouldn't of held up to that load. Your rig stops for any reason now, you better have some sort of road service.

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I REALLY don’t like the crap that they sell today!  I build my own, but can’t seem to keep ‘em long!!

 

My latest work in progress!!

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9FF995E7-52DF-4FC7-9BA5-94ACB37342C5.jpeg

15ED59A3-BCE9-4E85-8CEB-15EECB85225B.jpeg

68E41E73-4568-47A5-9DB3-6798E9F4D6B6.jpeg

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We should take a clue from the big rig truck industry and start building "gliders".  Take an engine out of an old truck and drop it into a new truck.  Regulations wise, it was still an old truck.

 

https://www.fitzgeraldgliderkits.com/what-is-a-glider-kit/

 

When I was interested in such things, there was a company (I'm thinking in Denver) that bought up muscle car era GM hardtops and rebuilt them into SS, GTO, 442, GS, etc.  They rebadged standard models and installed new 350 Chevy engines.  All the amenities such as AC, power windows, imporoved suspension and brakes,  etc.

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17 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Federal Environmental “Laws” wouldn’t allow it. 
 

“Laws” is in quotation marks because they are regs, not laws, but they are treated as law. 

Pat for the win. 
 

Non-chip cars are not as fuel efficient. Period. Environmental refs would not allow what we’re talking about, in spite of the other obvious advantages. 

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I was told by my friend at the dealership that they have cars sitting and waiting for the chips to arrive! It's a small dealership and they have about 25 cars and trucks in the back that can't be sold.:o

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48 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I was told by my friend at the dealership that they have cars sitting and waiting for the chips to arrive! It's a small dealership and they have about 25 cars and trucks in the back that can't be sold.:o

maybe if the chip manufacturers would actually fill the bags with chips instead of air we wouldn't have this problem B)...  

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2 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

Pat for the win. 
 

Non-chip cars are not as fuel efficient. Period. Environmental refs would not allow what we’re talking about, in spite of the other obvious advantages. 


ACTUALLY, non chip cars CAN BE as fuel efficient!  It requires better/closer tolerances in the manufacturing process and better maintenance/tuning and more diligent operation by the driver.

 

The computerized (chip controlled) management systems are used to compensate for sloppy (by comparison) manufacturing procedures and lackadaisical/indifferent maintenance by owners/drivers.

 

We built and drove cars in the late seventies with high performance, normally aspirated, carbureted V8 engines that had all the amenities including air conditioning, cruise control, automatic transmission, and power everything that produced MPGs in the high twenties and met emission standards comparable to current California requirements. And that was WITHOUT catalytic converters!!

 

It did require regular periodic maintenance and the one I drove needed 93 octane gas to meet the emission specs for running “idle”.  Things like maintaining tire pressures and regular filter changes were essential and a set of plugs and points were necessary every 30,000 miles, but I drove the car around 100 miles a day in mixed driving conditions for three years without any failures.  
 

My boss did the same with a Volkswagen station wagon and got nearly 40 MPG in mostly city driving and stop and go traffic.

 

In each case, the vehicles were basically “blueprinted”  and strict maintenance schedules were adhered to.  My car was a 1977 Monza Spyder with a 302cid Chevrolet V8, high compression engine, a 700R4 transmission, a 2.56:1 open differential, and 15” radial tires.  The carburetor was a modified GM QuadraJet and it used a Delco dual point distributor with vacuum advance and modified weights and breaker plate!! We also used an electric cooling fan and underdriven pulleys on the engine!

 

Under normal driving conditions, the car got 27 MPG.  With the overdrive transmission and the tall gear and big tires it would run over 160 mph at full throttle, but fuel mileage WOULD suffer considerably at those speeds.:lol:

 

As I said, EVERYTHING was built to meet or exceed factory specs and everything from the radiator cap to the exhaust tips was optimized, but it CAN BE DONE!!

 

 

That car was fun to drive!  My little brother totaled it and I pirated the engine for another hotrod that I wasn’t interested in getting gas mileage!

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We purchased a 2020 Ford Explorer for our daughter. As usual sales was trying the extended warranty, under seal, ceramic finish, etc. Then they hit us with an extended warranty for the wiring and electronics. He showed me a picture of all wire looms, boards and dohickey things in your typical new vehicle. What a pile of problems. 

Of course he said this is now where most problems occur.  

i passed on all of it. But it did make me think.

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44 minutes ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

As I said, EVERYTHING was built to meet or exceed factory specs and everything from the radiator cap to the exhaust tips was optimized, but it CAN BE DONE!!

Your average driver has no clue how to do all of that.

Also with fuel injection and oxygen sensors you can drive from sea level to Mt. Everest and the engine runs perfect. Not so with carburetors.

A 750 hp Corvette gets 28 mpg at 70 mph because the computer shuts down cylinders.  Turns it into a 6 or 4 cylinder!

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When I took delivery of my 2021 I maxed out on all their maintenance programs.  I told the finance officer that I just wanted to put gas in the car, everything else is up to them.  I paid quite a bit for that, but all parts replacements and labor cost are covered.  At my age I like to lie down on a bed not on the ground.

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23 minutes ago, Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 said:

When I took delivery of my 2021 I maxed out on all their maintenance programs.  I told the finance officer that I just wanted to put gas in the car, everything else is up to them.  I paid quite a bit for that, but all parts replacements and labor cost are covered.  At my age I like to lie down on a bed not on the ground.

I’ll go out on a limb and say “that’s what they told you” but when something does go wrong they will point out the fine print.

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On 9/19/2021 at 12:13 PM, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

You guys must have lived in a different world than me. I remember working on cars all the time, new plugs every 10,000 miles, new wires, plugs, condenser, points and cap every 20, 000, exhaust systems that fell off every 2 years, carburetors out of adjustment all the time, new battery every 2-3 years. I remember as a kid going out to start the car for my mom in the winter, you could hear cars all up and down the street cranking trying to start, I never hear that now. This is one part of the "good old days" you can keep, give me a new car any time. Oh and don't forget 8-10 MPG.

 

Don't forget the cars that would try to kill you on a cold morning when they waited until you were two miles down the street before they let the carburetor ice up. Or else they'd stall at the next busy intersection as soon as the choke opened. My first car tried to kill me on a number of occasions in exactly this fashion.

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33 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

Don't forget the cars that would try to kill you on a cold morning when they waited until you were two miles down the street before they let the carburetor ice up. Or else they'd stall at the next busy intersection as soon as the choke opened. My first car tried to kill me on a number of occasions in exactly this fashion.

Can't tell you how many times I stood in the middle of an intersection, in a down pour, spraying WD40 on a cap and wires too get my car running. Soon learned to start with that if it was, or had been raining.

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The Ford Explorer had came out and for a year or two were hard to get. Sawmill Mary wanted on bad.  We went and traided for one. They asked if we wanted the extended warranty.   I said yes, it's a Ford.  About 3,000 miles the manual transmission lost a couple of gears.  Went out again in about 40,000 miles.  Driving home from work and rods started knocking.   Got it towed to Ford dealer. (Head gasket sprung a leak and coolant blocked the oil pickup screen.) Needed a new short block.  Fortunately,  the mechanic looked in the glove box and found the 90,000 mile warranty.  It had 88,000 on it.  Cost only new sparkplugs and fan belt.  The transmission went out again out of warranty.   Independent garage repaired the transmission the third time and put gear oil in it.  Said Ford uses ATF and it was thin.  We put another 100,000 miles on it and gave it to oldest son who put another 100,000. 

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9 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:


ACTUALLY, non chip cars CAN BE as fuel efficient!  It requires better/closer tolerances in the manufacturing process and better maintenance/tuning and more diligent operation by the driver.

 

The computerized (chip controlled) management systems are used to compensate for sloppy (by comparison) manufacturing procedures and lackadaisical/indifferent maintenance by owners/drivers.

 

We built and drove cars in the late seventies with high performance, normally aspirated, carbureted V8 engines that had all the amenities including air conditioning, cruise control, automatic transmission, and power everything that produced MPGs in the high twenties and met emission standards comparable to current California requirements. And that was WITHOUT catalytic converters!!

 

It did require regular periodic maintenance and the one I drove needed 93 octane gas to meet the emission specs for running “idle”.  Things like maintaining tire pressures and regular filter changes were essential and a set of plugs and points were necessary every 30,000 miles, but I drove the car around 100 miles a day in mixed driving conditions for three years without any failures.  
 

My boss did the same with a Volkswagen station wagon and got nearly 40 MPG in mostly city driving and stop and go traffic.

 

In each case, the vehicles were basically “blueprinted”  and strict maintenance schedules were adhered to.  My car was a 1977 Monza Spyder with a 302cid Chevrolet V8, high compression engine, a 700R4 transmission, a 2.56:1 open differential, and 15” radial tires.  The carburetor was a modified GM QuadraJet and it used a Delco dual point distributor with vacuum advance and modified weights and breaker plate!! We also used an electric cooling fan and underdriven pulleys on the engine!

 

Under normal driving conditions, the car got 27 MPG.  With the overdrive transmission and the tall gear and big tires it would run over 160 mph at full throttle, but fuel mileage WOULD suffer considerably at those speeds.:lol:

 

As I said, EVERYTHING was built to meet or exceed factory specs and everything from the radiator cap to the exhaust tips was optimized, but it CAN BE DONE!!

 

 

That car was fun to drive!  My little brother totaled it and I pirated the engine for another hotrod that I wasn’t interested in getting gas mileage!

My 69 Camaro could get anywhere from 3 to 22 mpg with a bored out 350 and two speed Powerglide trans. It was all up to my foot. Man, I miss that transmission. 

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