In general, I go to do one thing and 3 others break or have to be dealt with in some aggravating way.
DIY, shade tree mechanic that went south
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paying 600$ for a 94 Ranger with a bad clutch. 900$ in parts later, truck runs OK, but stiil is a rusty old Ford
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
1979 Chevrolet Chevette.
Virtually the entire brake system was replaced before I realized that it was the flexible firewall that caused the spongey brake pedal.
Some how other manufacturers get a pass on their 1979 models.
I don't know. It's the only '79 I had.
My later model Mustang 2.3 2bbl had the distributor in the same stupid place as the Chevette. I hated that. Maybe I do give the Ford a pass because while nothing works well on a Mustang "L" 2.3, everything except the A/C works better than a Chevette by a large measure.
I do know that I poured money and time into that piece of garbage Chevette. Pads, shoes, brake hardware, wheel cylinders, rotors, brake hoses, caliper kits, new calipers, master cylinder, booster....I took those brakes apart a ridiculous amount of times looking for this stupid problem that caused a scary mushy brake pedal that ended up being a badly designed firewall.
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
1979 Chevrolet Chevette.
Virtually the entire brake system was replaced before I realized that it was the flexible firewall that caused the spongey brake pedal.
Some how other manufacturers get a pass on their 1979 models.
I don't know. It's the only '79 I had.
My later model Mustang 2.3 2bbl had the distributor in the same stupid place as the Chevette. I hated that. Maybe I do give the Ford a pass because while nothing works well on a Mustang "L" 2.3, everything except the A/C works better than a Chevette by a large measure.
I do know that I poured money and time into that piece of garbage Chevette. Pads, shoes, brake hardware, wheel cylinders, rotors, brake hoses, caliper kits, new calipers, master cylinder, booster....I took those brakes apart a ridiculous amount of times looking for this stupid problem that caused a scary mushy brake pedal that ended up being a badly designed firewall.
Sorry, one more thing thinking of kkreit01's post. Buddies car. Installing the ground wire for his subwoofer, the plastic gas tank under the rear floor pan on his VW Golf took a hit from the drillbit.
Unfortunately it was low enough in the fuel tank/filler neck that a full tank of gas always guaranteed the car smelling like a truckstop and the tank dripping fuel on every corner.
We eventually cut the ground hole with a hole saw and epoxied the drill hole in the tank. Works great.
More MPG now, too...
Unfortunately it was low enough in the fuel tank/filler neck that a full tank of gas always guaranteed the car smelling like a truckstop and the tank dripping fuel on every corner.
We eventually cut the ground hole with a hole saw and epoxied the drill hole in the tank. Works great.
More MPG now, too...
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Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
1979 Chevrolet Chevette.
Virtually the entire brake system was replaced before I realized that it was the flexible firewall that caused the spongey brake pedal.
The kind of car that made GM the reputation it still has.
Agreed. My wife had one American made vehicle in the late 1980's. Pontiac Sunfire? and to this day refuses to purchase or consider a domestic branded vehicle.
She also owned a 1986 Hyundai and still thinks they are rolling garbage despite what we have rented.
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
1979 Chevrolet Chevette.
Virtually the entire brake system was replaced before I realized that it was the flexible firewall that caused the spongey brake pedal.
The kind of car that made GM the reputation it still has.
Agreed. My wife had one American made vehicle in the late 1980's. Pontiac Sunfire? and to this day refuses to purchase or consider a domestic branded vehicle.
She also owned a 1986 Hyundai and still thinks they are rolling garbage despite what we have rented.
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
1979 Chevrolet Chevette.
Virtually the entire brake system was replaced before I realized that it was the flexible firewall that caused the spongey brake pedal.
Some how other manufacturers get a pass on their 1979 models.
I don't know. It's the only '79 I had.
My later model Mustang 2.3 2bbl had the distributor in the same stupid place as the Chevette. I hated that. Maybe I do give the Ford a pass because while nothing works well on a Mustang "L" 2.3, everything except the A/C works better than a Chevette by a large measure.
I do know that I poured money and time into that piece of garbage Chevette. Pads, shoes, brake hardware, wheel cylinders, rotors, brake hoses, caliper kits, new calipers, master cylinder, booster....I took those brakes apart a ridiculous amount of times looking for this stupid problem that caused a scary mushy brake pedal that ended up being a badly designed firewall.
My friend had a Chevette...honestly, that never was a problem, even with his not having power brakes. (Honestly, I have never seen one WITH power brakes.) The brakes worked fine, though I do recall it needing a master cylinder when he bought it.
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
1979 Chevrolet Chevette.
Virtually the entire brake system was replaced before I realized that it was the flexible firewall that caused the spongey brake pedal.
Some how other manufacturers get a pass on their 1979 models.
I don't know. It's the only '79 I had.
My later model Mustang 2.3 2bbl had the distributor in the same stupid place as the Chevette. I hated that. Maybe I do give the Ford a pass because while nothing works well on a Mustang "L" 2.3, everything except the A/C works better than a Chevette by a large measure.
I do know that I poured money and time into that piece of garbage Chevette. Pads, shoes, brake hardware, wheel cylinders, rotors, brake hoses, caliper kits, new calipers, master cylinder, booster....I took those brakes apart a ridiculous amount of times looking for this stupid problem that caused a scary mushy brake pedal that ended up being a badly designed firewall.
My friend had a Chevette...honestly, that never was a problem, even with his not having power brakes. (Honestly, I have never seen one WITH power brakes.) The brakes worked fine, though I do recall it needing a master cylinder when he bought it.
I been fortunate that I haven't had any major issues to date with automobiles, however, I did have an incident when I built 4 cycle kart engines for WKA. I was dyno'ing the best engine I had ever built, which was also owned by my best customer. I would always run the engines about 20 minutes under a light load, change the oil and then begin a few hard runs. I forgot to put oil back in the engine and as I really laid into it on the 1st run, it began to tighten up. Luckily I caught it and didn't hurt anything but I had to tear down and start from scratch. Never did that again!
Back in high school, a friend was changing the oil in his otherwise neglected early '70s Impala.
He had sucessfully removed the drain plug and filter and re-installed the new filter. I was "helping", advising him that the gasket for his old filter was not with the old filter and stuff when he demanded that I, "...shut up and just let me do this."
I really was going to tell him that he neglected to reinstall the drain plug but he shouted, "SHUT UP!"
"Dude, seriously!, You forgot..."
"SHUT UP!!! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!"
Then there was some teenage boy threats about which part of my anatomy he was going to kick so I allowed him to proceed.
He poured 5 qts of Pennzoil (SAE30 IIRC) into the engine which came right back out and mixed into the old oil in the drain pan. I looked over at another friend who was practically hurting himself to not laugh.
He looked perplexed when he pulled the dipstick back out and it came back dry. Our friend who was trying not to laugh picked up the drain plug and handed it to him.
He had sucessfully removed the drain plug and filter and re-installed the new filter. I was "helping", advising him that the gasket for his old filter was not with the old filter and stuff when he demanded that I, "...shut up and just let me do this."
I really was going to tell him that he neglected to reinstall the drain plug but he shouted, "SHUT UP!"
"Dude, seriously!, You forgot..."
"SHUT UP!!! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!"
Then there was some teenage boy threats about which part of my anatomy he was going to kick so I allowed him to proceed.
He poured 5 qts of Pennzoil (SAE30 IIRC) into the engine which came right back out and mixed into the old oil in the drain pan. I looked over at another friend who was practically hurting himself to not laugh.
He looked perplexed when he pulled the dipstick back out and it came back dry. Our friend who was trying not to laugh picked up the drain plug and handed it to him.
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