First Cars Thread
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@masonwheeler Because if I start fixing the things that are inconveniences--that LED strip was only like $10--first off, it's $100/hr labor at a lot of garages, and second but more importantly, there's nearly no end to the things I'd wind up wanting to fix. Eventually I'll get around to replacing this one instead.
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@masonwheeler said in First Cars Thread:
@FrostCat Why not just take it in to the dealer for maintenance?
Because the job would probably end up costing more than the car is worth?
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@TimeBandit said in First Cars Thread:
No piston, no valves, no problems. Rotary power
Overheat it or run it slightly low on oil? BIG problems.
I have always lusted after the late 90's RX-7's. Damn, Mazda can design a sexy car when they want to.
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@FrostCat said in First Cars Thread:
I have one of those, too! Stupid Kia electrical problems--dash lights work except when the exterior lights are on. Go figure.
A bunch of googling suggested it's a particular ground fault in the dimmer, but nobody wants to describe how to replace it, I can't fit my head that far under the dash, and I don't want to pry too hard from the front for fear of breaking something.Have you tried YouTube? It is pretty amazing just how many repair procedures people have documented on there. Whenever I run in to an automotive issue that stumps me, I look there. If you can get past the usually shitty camera work and all of the "Uhmmmm"s and "Ahhhhhhhh"s in the videos, you can usually find your answer on how to disassemble something there.
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@Polygeekery I always wanted to take one of those and then insert a jump scare at like the 6 minute mark.
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@blakeyrat It would be very fitting. They all seem like creepy found footage films that could easily have a mysterious monster lurking around in the background.
Just make sure you cut the primary soundtrack volume by 75% so that they have their speakers turned way up.
Bonus points if they have their head under the hood when it happens and then they bash their head.
Extra super special bonus points if hitting their head knocks the prop rod loose (do any cars even have those anymore?), knocking the hood loose and pinning their face against the hot exhaust manifold.
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@Polygeekery You are a bad person. I salute you sir.
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My first was this:
1986 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport. It was the family car beforehand. Chevy was just starting to provide fuel injection as an option when my 'rents got this car, so they did the carbed V-6 rather than risk brand-new engine tech. It had power nothing (except brakes and steering).
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@Polygeekery I actually did, but couldn't find anything. Kia's weird for what you can and can't find videos of--and it doesn't help that the car's been around for like 11 years but has had, I think, 3 completely different generations. A video for an '07 might as well be for an entirely different car.
There's actually a Kia forum I could ask on and probably get help but then I'd have to make an account and everything, and, as I said above, just buying a $10 light strip worked.
And of course the rest of the problems with the car would require me to buy a shitload of tools I can't afford and don't have a place to keep--like replacing the catalytic converters. Step one, buy a lift. Step two, buy welding equipment. Step three, learn how to weld.
(I don't know if that's typical or not, but the cats on the exhaust headers were brillantly designed with dissimilar metals. The instructions for replacement literally start off with "cut off the bolts because they'll be welded to the nuts."
oh, and of course, it's a modern car, so getting to the cats basically requires pulling the engine.)
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
Overheat it or run it slightly low on oil? BIG problems.
That's true for pretty much any engine.
I have always lusted after the late 90's RX-7's. Damn, Mazda can design a sexy car when they want to.
This car is soooo sexy. It will probably be my next car.
In the mean time, my girlfriend just bought this one
2007 RX-8 with only 47,000 km on it (29204 miles)
I'm so jealous
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@FrostCat said in First Cars Thread:
There's actually a Kia forum I could ask on and probably get help but then I'd have to make an account and everything, and, as I said above, just buying a $10 light strip worked.
You have an acceptable workaround in place, roll with it. A car is just transportation.
@FrostCat said in First Cars Thread:
And of course the rest of the problems with the car would require me to buy a shitload of tools I can't afford and don't have a place to keep--like replacing the catalytic converters. Step one, buy a lift. Step two, buy welding equipment. Step three, learn how to weld.
Depending on where the cat is, it may not be that difficult. If it is on a straight piece of pipe, you could likely get a universal replacement cat that slip fits in place and gets done up with exhaust clamps.
It is it on a curved piece of pipe, no such luck.
Funny story about catalytic converters and rusted bolts: One night my wife calls me as she is leaving work and says that her vehicle is really loud. I tell her no worries, probably just the exhaust rusted through or something. Just drive home sounding like a ghetto blaster and she can have my vehicle the next day and I will get it fixed.
She comes in the driveway and it is LOUD. Open exhaust 4.7l V8 loud. I crawl under it (great thing about SUVs) and 3 of the four bolts that hold the catalytic converter on are missing and the fourth is all fucked up. Someone tried to steal her catalytic converter (apparently they have salvage value? Presumably for the platinum?) but could not get the last bolt out because it was rusted solid. I cut the last bolt with an angle grinder, went in the garage and found suitable replacements which I tightened down and then peened the hell out of the threads with a hammer to make sure they would never come off without being cut.
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
the prop rod ... (do any cars even have those anymore?)
That's the rod that's attached to the frame at one end by a hinge and has a little hook at the other end that goes into the underside of the hood and holds it up, right?
Mine does (2013 model year) so they're by no means obsolete. The only other method I've seen for holding the hood up is to put some sort of spring-loaded jointed bar on the side of the hood that folds up when you close it, and that always seemed like a weird way to do it. What other ways are there of holding the hood up?
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@masonwheeler said in First Cars Thread:
What other ways are there of holding the hood up?
Gas shocks
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@masonwheeler Our daily driver vehicles have gas struts that lift the hood up. My truck has a torsion spring arrangement and I have no fucking clue what sort of assist arrangement is on the Corvette but it actively locks open where you have to disengage it.
The last vehicle we owned that had a prop rod was a 2000 Jeep Cherokee. I have not seen one with a prop rod for a long time. What vehicle do you have that has a prop rod on a 2013 model?
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@Polygeekery Ford Focus. It's a good car and was one of the top sellers for its year, so it's hardly a niche market item.
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@masonwheeler The 05 Impala uses some sort of pressure thing like youd find on a screen door.
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
You have an acceptable workaround in place, roll with it.
I see what you did there.
@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
Depending on where the cat is, it may not be that difficult. If it is on a straight piece of pipe, you could likely get a universal replacement cat that slip fits in place and gets done up with exhaust clamps.
On this model, IIRC it bolts right onto the exhaust manifold. There are universal models that fit my car, but my mechanic says they never fit and the money you save on the part is spent on time and materials making a one-off fitting. I've talked to other foreign garages and they all say they don't recommend the third-party ones, either.
@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
apparently they have salvage value? Presumably for the platinum?)
Yes.
On mine, one of the front cats puked its guts out, and the wreckage jammed the rear one. It made an annoying squeal that at first I thought was a loose serpentine belt, but it also killed the engine's power (as in, the car simply wouldn't go over 55, and took ages to get there.) Swapped the back cat out and it runs a lot better.
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@masonwheeler said in First Cars Thread:
@Polygeekery Ford Focus. It's a good car and was one of the top sellers for its year, so it's hardly a niche market item.
Fair enough. I just have not seen under the hood of a Focus. It makes sense, as it is one of the more inexpensive cars and the hood is super light so it does not need any sort of assist to raise.
On the wife's Jeep Cherokee that she had, to close the hood I would just drop it the last 4-6" and it would close very soundly. It could have used some sort of lifting assist as that hood was heavy for its size.
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@Polygeekery OK, I guess that makes sense for a really big SUV. But yeah, my hood's just a thin plate of aerodynamically shaped sheet metal with a nice paint job. You can lift it up with one hand, stick the rod in place, and then slam it shut when you're done. (And really, since I only ever open it up once every few months to add washer fluid anyway, convenience in opening it isn't something I pay a huge amount of attention to.)
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@TimeBandit said in First Cars Thread:
That's true for pretty much any engine.
I had always heard it was especially true for rotaries due to the large rotors with tight tolerances. As they will expand more on heating, they are more likely to seize.
I am not a rotary mechanic though, and that is all anecdotal.
@TimeBandit said in First Cars Thread:
This car is soooo sexy. It will probably be my next car.
They are, but they also remind me of when a friend got one and one of our redneck friends was there when he brought it over. I was amazed how sleek they were and how fluid everything looked. Redneck friend squats down, looks at the opening in the front bumper, spits on the ground and says, "It looks like a carp".
And...they kind of do...
But they are still gorgeous cars. :)
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
I had always heard it was especially true for rotaries due to the large rotors with tight tolerances. As they will expand more on heating, they are more likely to seize.
Or leak like a sieve, which is why they've never been able to get competitive fuel economy figured from their rotaties.
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@blakeyrat said in First Cars Thread:
they've never been able to get competitive fuel economy figured from their rotaties.
Rotary is about performance, not fuel economy.
There is a reason why it is banned from almost every racing field.
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@TimeBandit said in First Cars Thread:
@blakeyrat said in First Cars Thread:
they've never been able to get competitive fuel economy figured from their rotaties.
Rotary is about performance, not fuel economy.
There is a reason why it is banned from almost every racing field.Yeah. Around here it is mostly noise regulations...
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@Polygeekery Thinking about it a little more, it occurs to me that weight might not actually be the important factor here, but rather height.
The hood of a car is knee-high to me, but on a truck or heavy SUV it's chest-high. That's a big difference when you're lifting something several feet up!
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@Jaloopa said in First Cars Thread:
Look at all the rich gits whose parents gave them a car.
No car, just an old paddock-bashing farm bike that didn't even run. Dad paid $150 for it, I put in way more than that of my own money in parts and hundreds of hours to get it on the road. Other than the purchase price, I paid for everything: Registration and insurance, fuel, helmet, etc. My parents haven't paid for any of my motor vehicle expenses since then either.
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@Luhmann said in First Cars Thread:
Normal people use the backseat of their car for that
What's wrong with the back seat of a motorcycle? It's no less comfortable and way more exciting!
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
I certainly hope I can figure out how to give my sons those same teachable moments.
I have two daughters, no sons, but will be doing my best to do the same.
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
do any cars even have [prop rods] anymore?
Mine does and it's only three years old. They're not common but they still exist.
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
A car is just transportation.
For some people perhaps. Some of us get a bit more invested in our cars, sometimes when they're not even all that special. My first actual car, not bike, was one of these:
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Mine was a very girly powder-puff blue.
Despite the stunning mediocrity of the vehicle I loved it like it was my child. I always wanted to put a V6 in it (the engine bay was ENORMOUS and I have no idea why because the tiny 1.3L didn't need much space) and create a sleeper but I was stone broke and could never afford it. The car was well past its used-by date when I replaced it and it was only a few years later that I could have possibly afforded to do what I really wanted with it.
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@TimeBandit said in First Cars Thread:
In the mean time, my girlfriend just bought this one
Hey! Get your nice cars out of my thread! If it's not a first car, take a hike!
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@another_sam said in First Cars Thread:
For some people perhaps.
Well, I was speaking for most people. I am kind of split on the issue. I love cars, but some are just utilitarian. I do not romanticize my pickup truck. It is meant to be used. If it gets the shit beat out of it in the process, oh well.
But I also have a Corvette that I love, even though it is not one of the more sought after models. It is just a 1986 Corvette, which basically anyone could afford. But it has a good story behind it, and it was the first car I paid cash for (while drunk at a poker game).
My daily driver is a 2003 Lexus GX470. Also not a particularly extravagant vehicle, but goddamn if it will not go anywhere I have ever asked it to and does so in relative luxury. I love that vehicle as it has been rock solid reliable since I bought it. A battery and tires and routine maintenance items. Even today with it pushing 200K miles I would not hesitate to hop in it and drive across country if I needed to. It has brought both of my sons home from the hospital and it has driven through 16" deep snow to go out and get my family and our neighbors food when snow storms have hit. It has taken us on vacations, driven on sand dunes in the Outer Banks, up the side of mountains to vacation cabins, towed boats to go fishing and driven through deep mud to get to camping spots. I freaking love that vehicle so much that as I am looking for a new vehicle I am considering buying a car and picking up a 2003 4Runner (basically the same thing underneath, without the Lexus badge) off a friend to have for a winter vehicle and general beating about when I need 4WD.
I also loved the Mazda MX-3 that was the first car I bought with my own money (well, the banks money, but my name on the loan). It was a little hatchback that got great fuel mileage, had a sunroof and a 5-speed and was just insanely fun to drive. Like a little go kart. It also came with a 1.8l V6 (not a typo) that was dimensionally the same on the exterior as the 2.5l V6 that was in the Mazda MX-6 and Ford Probe GT of those years. I always wanted to swap one of those in, but at the time I was out of town working 99% of the time and had no time to do it. I did however make time to put in a Clarion head unit with external integrated equalizer, Polk Audio separates in the doors, 3-way speakers in the rear, three JBL 10" subs in the hatch and a Precision Power 5 channel amp with a Phoenix Gold subwoofer crossover and equalizer. It sounded insanely crisp and clear and was probably the best sounding car stereo in the region that I grew up in. I probably spent about as much on the stereo as I did on the car itself. I remember the head unit and all the accessories that went with it was well over $1000.
I also loved the '69 Camaro that was my first car. Damn that car was fast in a straight line. As I said before, I repainted it and had the interior redone in leather to fix the cracked vinyl. New stereo, etc. I had big plans for it and had even bought a 400 small block and a set of heads for it and was looking in to a 5-speed conversion when my mother took it away and sold it to my brother. I have never forgiven her for that...
Now that I am a bit older, and have more disposable income, I have started looking at Shelby Cobra replicas. You can pick them up used for relatively cheap here in the states. $30K will get you a very nice driver with a 302 Windsor engine.
Seems like it would be fun, if entirely impractical, for a married man with two young children.
Another car I have loved since my teenage years is the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4. I had a chance to buy one a year or two ago for a really good price, but passed on it because we just don't have the space for such hobbies where we live now. But damn, what a sexy piece of Japanese engineering.
But all of that will have to wait, because we need to move in the next year or two so we are socking away all the money we can for that. But the wife has agreed that wherever we move either has to have some outbuildings that I can use for shops, or needs to have enough space where I can build some.
TL;DR, some cars I see as just transportation and I realize that most people look at them that way. Others are meant to inspire passion. Some are just goddamn good cars that you respect because they have never let you down. Also, I think a Corolla sleeper in powder blue with a big V6 would be insanely cool.
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@TimeBandit said in First Cars Thread:
@masonwheeler said in First Cars Thread:
What other ways are there of holding the hood up?
Gas shocks
Weight
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@Mikael_Svahnberg Is that a Saab? If so, you are so Swedish that it has to be painful.
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@Mikael_Svahnberg
Nokia made tires?
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@aliceif Yep. They are known as "Nokian" now.
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@Luhmann said in First Cars Thread:
@Greybeard
I got the old Renault Clio from my mother as a graduation gift
It got me from point a to b ...
But then it would fail to get you from b to a. It was probably ok, you were stuck with a girl, you were waiting for someone to pick you up, there was nothing else to do but to make out?
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@Boner said in First Cars Thread:
This was my first. It was "gunmetal purple", or "lavender" if you asked my mrs. It was a terrible car. Because of a problem with the air intake "thing", in hot weather it'd idle at 3000-4000 revs. It was super fun though, not managed to get my subsequent (bigger engined) cars to go as fast.
It's also one of the ugliest cars ever made!
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@Polygeekery said in First Cars Thread:
@Mikael_Svahnberg Is that a Saab?
Yes. A Saab 99 to be precise. They had the same bonnet for the Saab 900's as well, but I could not find a picture of it.
If so, you are so Swedish that it has to be painful.
It's not that bad. It's like a mellow weed buzz; You see the world crumble around you, but you no longer care.
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@aliceif said in First Cars Thread:
@Mikael_Svahnberg
Nokia made tires?They made anything out of rubber :giggity.elc:. I've got a pair of Nokia rubber boots at home.
Side note: Their winter tires are named Hakkapelliitta. During the 30-year war, the swedish king, Gustav II, used to have a finnish cavalry regiment called the same. Apparently they got the name from their way of attacking the enemy and bang their heads while yelling "Hakka päälle" ("Bang on Head").
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@kt_ said in First Cars Thread:
It's also one of the ugliest cars ever made!
Nowhere near. That crown would be the Fiat Multipla or Nissan Juke IMO
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@another_sam said in First Cars Thread:
My first carmotor vehicle
Sure, the thing was two-stroke, 50cc, manual, and generally was faster when pushed than when ridden, but boy was it fun.
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@Maciejasjmj My first motorised transport
http://www.muamat.com/adpics/4c6385212e9a5edd5ca04227b.jpg
Pulling away up anything steep enough that you'd need to hold it against rolling backwards would generally be a lot faster if you used your feet as well. There was one traffic light where going full throttle when it turned green would sometimes end up with me running a red by the time I was going.
It also had a fuel gauge that went well past the full mark when filled, and read empty by half a tank. Since half a tank was less than the minimum amount petrol stations like you to dispense, I spent most of my time riding on empty. Combined with a broken odometer so I didn't know how far I'd gone since the last fill, I ran out of petrol several times
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@HardwareGeek said in First Cars Thread:
I can'twon't answer this, because it's a "security" question on at least one web site I use.
You give real answers to those questions? (I have to look up the answers in KeePass since I make up shit)
My first was a yellow Datsun F-10.
edit: Looked like this, except all yellow:
(I think mine was a '78)
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@dcon my first car actually was a 72auudYjiGKGvwYUwunH though
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@cartman82 said in First Cars Thread:
If we are counting "family car I got to drive":
If we go there, I started with a 1970 orange VW squareback. Once drove it when the clutch went out. Downshifting was a little trickier than upshifting.
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@dcon said in First Cars Thread:
You give real answers to those questions?
Some are random; some (especially ones I answered before I started using KeePass) are real.
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@dcon said in First Cars Thread:
@HardwareGeek said in First Cars Thread:
I can'twon't answer this, because it's a "security" question on at least one web site I use.
You give real answers to those questions?
He just doesn't want to say that his first car was a Ford Model A. Brand new.
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@Greybeard said in First Cars Thread:
Hey! Get your nice cars out of my thread! If it's not a first car, take a hike!
My first car was a nice, brand new 2013 Ford Focus. (I spent a lot of time saving money and riding the bus so I would be able to buy a good car without getting stuck in debt traps for years and years.)
@Mikael_Svahnberg said in First Cars Thread:
Side note: Their winter tires are named Hakkapelliitta. During the 30-year war, the swedish king, Gustav II, used to have a finnish cavalry regiment called the same. Apparently they got the name from their way of attacking the enemy and bang their heads while yelling "Hakka päälle" ("Bang on Head").
I read that the translation of that was "hack them to pieces!"
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@masonwheeler said in First Cars Thread:
I spent a lot of time saving money and riding the bus so I would be able to buy a good car without getting stuck in debt traps for years and years.
Good plan. Now pay yourself that car payment in to a savings account and forget about it until you need it and you will be way ahead of the game when it comes time to replace this car.
LLCVega
Chevrolet – Insider Car News
Used Shelby Cobra for Sale (with Photos) - CarGurus
