March 1 Weekly Open Thread

As always, this is the place for the conversation that doesn't belong anywhere else.

In keeping with our seemingly collective New Year's resolution to take better care of our cars, I spent some serious quality time with my '86 Audi Coupe GT this weekend. On Saturday, my Dad and I enjoyed wrenching together and replaced the valve cover gasket and tightened up the sunroof a bit. Then on Sunday I washed and waxed it, worked on all the black exterior trim, and conditioned the interior. I'll elaborate on all of this more later, but for now I'm just basically sore and tired, which doesn't say great things about my level of fitness.

Has anybody else been working on their cars lately?

--Chris H.

Comments

[Chris Hafner on March 01, 2010 at 08:56 AM]

Hard to believe, but this may be just too ugly and weird even for me:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-FORD-RANGER-SALEEN-RARER-THEN-A-MUSTANG-COBRA-R_W0QQitemZ330404491074QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item4ceda46f42

[Anthony Cagle on March 01, 2010 at 09:32 AM]

I spent a couple of hours laying bricks, clearing plants and putting in edging yesterday, so I am similarly worn out. And I pump iron every morning!

I'm going to start the laborious process of detailed cleaning all the various bits of my Mustang II, notably taking off the "chrome" trim and getting all of the spruce needles out, shining them up, etc. Damn things get everywhere.

[That Car Guy on March 01, 2010 at 09:35 AM]

I can't wait for the weather to break here so I can clean and spruce up the rides for Spring. We've had an awful, long winter here in Nashville, maybe only two warm days since November 1st. It's been too cold to even wash them, much less wax on/wax off them.

Yes Chris, that Ranger is hideous. A prime example of putting way too much time and cash into a vehicle. I hope that they get their money back when it sells.

[Bill T. on March 01, 2010 at 09:47 AM]

I just re-installed the front bumper on my '94 Jeep Grand
Cherokee, and I can't believe how cheaply it was put on to begin with. My wife was in a parking lot a while back when someone ran into the front end, pushing the bumper back a bit. It would then gradually move back until almost hitting the tire on a turn. Then I skidded slightly on ice and hit a snow bank. The bumper came off. There are just a few mounting points, which are not very substantial. A repair shop wanted a lot to replace the unit and the guy said that there is just a simple padding behind the bumper, probably for the federally mandated crash regs. I just put two wooden blocks in place and it appears OK.
On the car scene, here are some I remember from 'way back. The Kaiser, Kaiser-Frazer, and the short-lived Kaiser Darrin, with the doors that slid into the front fenders. Has anyone ever heard of an American Bantam? The only one I saw looked a lot like an early MG TC or TD

[CJinSD on March 01, 2010 at 10:04 AM]

That Car Guy,

Seems like it is already in the hands of a dealer, so whoever bought it for too much money and maintained it fastidiously has most likely already taken their loss. Still, how much could Saleen have really asked for this thing? I think the truck it was based on was probably about $14,000 from Ford. If anyone paid Saleen much more than $22K for it new, then they really lost their money 22 years ago. I don't know if it will bring anything like $10,950. Seems to me that it is the most expensive '88 Ranger if it does. We bought a new BMW 325 for something like $24K in 1988 and sold it in 2007 for $3,200. I was perfectly happy with the resale value, as it performed well in every way I asked for almost two decades. The owner of this Ranger apparently thought of it as an investment, considering it has as many miles as my '88 had in '90. Hopefully, they enjoyed it when they did drive it, because that money was spent rather than invested all those years ago.

[Anthony Cagle on March 01, 2010 at 10:16 AM]

I quite that Saleen. I've always fancied the special ops pickups (e.g., Lightning) but they were built on the full-size trucks which is too big for me. I've been thinking for a while how cool a little extended cab Ranger (do they make that?) with a hot engine and other stuff would be.

[tigerstrypes on March 01, 2010 at 01:32 PM]

The Ranger's pretty odd, in a good way. My favorite part of it is the interior. But it really needs bigger rubber to fill out the wheel-wells. The biggest let-down was the stock engine. WTF, Saleen?

[Rob the Audi Guy on March 01, 2010 at 04:57 PM]

I just picked up a set of 17" BBS wheels for the S6, and I'm shopping around for control arms, ball joints, and other maintenance bits. This spring I'm going to redo the suspension with bilstein HDs, and H&R race springs, and new everything that moves. I'm also going to purchase another console to hack apart and rebuild to accept a double DIN stereo that has navigation. Basically, it's too cold/wet to work on cars, so I use this time of the year for planning. :)

[Steaming Pile on March 02, 2010 at 07:21 AM]

Given the amount of snow that has yet to melt in Upstate NY, I doubt many people around here have been doing much with their rides that wasn't absolutely essential. I'm just happy that my car isn't absolutely filthy like it was a couple of weeks ago.

[...m... on March 02, 2010 at 10:45 AM]

...last weekend adjusted the front suspension on my lotus for just a hint of negative camber, which has made a profound difference toward handling more neutral...

...it's amazing what a significant impact something as seemingly trivial as 1/8" adjustment in the hubs can make, transforming the car from a decisive understeer bias to an easily-accessible spectrum between under and oversteer through mid-turn throttle modulation...kind of mind-boggling, really, to think that tolerances of tiny fractions of an inch in something as large-scale as a suspension system are all that keeps our cars under control....

[Chris Meirose on March 02, 2010 at 02:50 PM]

Anthony - your best bet is to put a small block chevy motor in an S-10 and you'll have what you want. Jags That Run produce kits that make the swap pretty simple.

[Tommy's Dad on March 04, 2010 at 12:49 AM]

Our car search came to a mildly anti-climactic end this week, with us purchasing a 2001 Outback for $4600. It's a bit high in miles (181k) but in excellent physical condition and the mechanical and electrical stuff all seem sound as well. It's an automatic, which is mehh, but it's also a Limited trim with just about all the goodies they had, which combined with everything working is nice. I doubt I'll be able to write anything lusty about it (Car Satisfaction, maybe? Car Acceptable?), but when you suddenly realize that you're 200+ miles over your lease agreement, at 15 cents per mile over and another month to go on your lease, well, it's amazing what sort of motivation that is to find something and go with it!

[Care for Cars on March 04, 2010 at 03:30 AM]

I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it is about the individual but it can be with everyone.
**********

[John Bono on March 04, 2010 at 12:53 PM]

Well, I'm jumping in with both $$ and labor on my midlife crisis car:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-928_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4ced12395fQQitemZ330394909023QQptZUSQ5fCarsQ5fTrucks

I bought the car in AL and drove it home to CT through Snowmageddon(thank heaven for the limited slip diff). I've done my first repair, and had my first repair bill(replaced the turn signal relay, and had the mechanic rebuild the TB tensioner and windshield washer). I pick up the car this Saturday, and I can't wait to romp on it. I did a bit on the way home, from AL, but I had to baby it until I knew everything was fine.

Next up is new stereo, fix the fuel sending unit(reads 1/4 low), and replace the old sealed beam lights with DOT compliant sealed beam HID replacements(and a bunch of other little things), and finally 18" takeoff wheels from a late model 911/boxster.

Amazingly enough, it's pretty easy and cheap to get takeoffs for a Porsche(typically you can find a set under $1K). The only problem is that a 928 is a bit of an oddball when it comes to offsets so occasionally you need a spacer.

I'm still amazed at how gadawful cheap these cars are to buy in comparison to what they were new, and how they drive. You don't feel like you are driving a 25 year old car when in a 928.

[...m... on March 04, 2010 at 03:27 PM]

...that is a gorgeous 928, john - congratulations!..

...i hope you bought it to keep it, because affordable used sportscars are a commitment, but completely worthwhile in my opinion...

...i went through the same exercise a couple of years ago and haven't looked back - it'll change your life, for the better, if you're up to it...

[Cookie the Dog's Owner on March 05, 2010 at 06:35 AM]

John, you're making me want to go out and have a midlife crisis just so I can get one of my own.