Reasons to drive an old car

[ND Mike]

Chef my brother has a first generation Cummins. I think it is a 91. He is taking the drive train out and putting it in a 1985 Dodge Crew Cab that he has. The body on his Cummins truck was a ranchers so it is a little beat up. That Cummins just keeps going and gets fantastic mileage and will pull like nobody’s business!

[Chef]

ND Mike I remember my first car. A 1965 Dodge Dart with a Hemi slant 6. That thing was amazing. I rebuilt the engine at 197000 miles. and last time I heard, my cousin had 420,000 miles on it.

[ND Mike]

Chef those slant 6s were great motors. My first car was a 1973 Plymouth Duster but that had a 318 with a 3 speed on the floor. Got into lots of trouble with that car…especially when I put a 340 in it!!!

[kyle]

Jonathon
No electronic crap on my '36. I’m a Ford guy, but I made an exception when my buddy passed away. This was his father-in-laws and sat in a barn for a long time. My buddy started to restore it, but passed away before he got it done

[Ken1261]

I have a 95 jeep yj. Bought it for hunting season. Save some paint on my 07 Duramax.

[twilliams]

kyle I’ve been a GM guy from the start of driving. With that said I am ordering in July a Ford F-250 with the 7.3L Godzilla motor. I hope I don’t regret it but I just don’t care for the new GM products anymore.

[johnsbrewhouse]

Ken1261 My hunting rig, it been everywhere in the mountains. The wife cringes when I take it through the brush. It’s a 2012 Duramax, I haul my 5th wheel with as well to our property. Has only 139,000 miles on it.

[bocephus]

PapaSop I agree, although I like older cars or trucks (first was a 1969 Chevy C10, still miss it) I like the convenience of a new one.

[kyle]

twilliams I dont know much about the new 7.3. But I have a 19 f250 with the 6.2 gas and love it. Pulls my 11,000 pound 5th wheel great.

[twilliams]

kyle you got the 3.73 gears? What’s your MPG in normal driving conditions and pulling your 5th wheel? The 7.3 comes with 3.55 or 4.30 rear axle. I will stick with 3.55

[YooperDog]

alanburkholder does that one have the push button transmission? It has been awhile since I have seen one.

[YooperDog]

bocephus PapaSop I like a newer vehicle and doing my own wrenching on my vehicles. The newer ones a bit more PITA to work on because of space and electronics. We were required as kids to do our own maintenance and repairs on our stuff and we have relatives who had garages. I even went to a tech and trade school, not the State sponsored kind, but a city HS. I still enjoy working on my stuff to a certain point, but then I have a couple of good mechanics with shops that I can rely on.

[YooperDog]

twilliams I am in similar thought. I grew up leaning toward GM products and MOPAR with Ford coming last. Wouldn’t even think of a foreign manufacturer. My trucks have all been Ford’s after my last Chev and our cars have been mainly Toyota and Suburu pushing out Ford. I just never had much luck with MOPARs as the years moved along.

[kyle]

twilliams I think 3.55 gears. Plus mine is a 6 speed auto, I think the new ones are 10. Freeway driving I get around 17 empty. My everyday driving around 13-14, pulling my camper or my bulldozer around 11mpg. I pretty much only use it when I need a truck, otherwise I drive a car back and forth to work. Rather put miles on something that dont cost 60,000 to replace

[Ken1261]

johnsbrewhouse My 07 Duramax does all my heavy pulling. Have a 33 ft RV she pulls and occasionally a 21 ft equipment trailer. She has around 140000 miles.

[zbigjeff]

Jonathon Your post along with many others makes this site way diff than other “social media” sites. I very seldom see “failures” on the other sites because people see that as weakness. When the total opposite is true. Only confident/grounded people will allow failures to surface because they know each “NO” brings that person closer to “YES”. Your logic on the steering wheel appears to be solid (aka: loose connection)

[zbigjeff]

ND Mike I stop at the exhaust system. Just not worth the rust in the eyes any longer. Plus, lost the torches to a flood about 15 years ago.

[Jonathon]

zbigjeff That was pretty profound statement to read at 6:45 am on meat processing community site! You guys are all the best, collectively. Tex_77 He keeps cancelling my orders when he sees the charge on my CC!

[processhead]

Jonathon said in Reasons to drive an old car:

So I a 2002 Toyota Tundra, I got a great deal on it and I refuse to give it up now, I will drive it until the wheels fall off! So, one thing with it is it has some issue with a battery. It drains them very slowly. In the 3 years I have had it I have replaced the battery 3 times. I JUST did it last week and I went out to start it this morning and it wouldn’t start. Out of annoyance I punched the steering wheel (because I am a mature adult) and the light for the open door and the battery light came right on. I went to start it and it almost started, so I punched it again, this time while laughing and I got it to start no problem.

Anyway, it must have an issue with some wiring in the steering column so I will look at it tonight. Anyway, it made me laugh.

Ask any technician and they will tell you some of the toughest problems to diagnose are intermittent electrical problems.
If you can reproduce or eliminate the problem by moving or tapping on things, that can help to isolate the actual source of the problem.

One challenge can be disassembly of the steering column covers to allow you get to the wiring harness inside. Sometimes the original assembly methods are not obvious and a shop manual and Youtube videos can really help.

Once you are inside the column, you are going to want to locate the wire harness and inspect all the plug in connections to the ignition switch or other components.
Also, gently moving/twisting/tapping on the exposed plugs, connectors or switches while trying to operate the ignition can help further isolate the exact location of the intermittent connection location.

Probable failure points are plugs/connectors and switches like the ignition switch assembly. Sometimes switches wear out, but often they just get dirty and develop high resistance.

Aerosol contact cleaner is your friend and sometimes can restore dirty switches and connectors back to working condition with a minimum of effort. If a connector is worn or loose, you may have to replace it although sometimes they can be carefully re-tensioned with tools so they make good electrical contact.

As with practicing medicine, the first rule is to do no harm. Work slowly and methodically. Know your limitations and when to back out.
Good luck.

[alanburkholder]

YooperDog

nope the spyder only came with a manual transmission - most were 4 speed, but occasionally there would be a 3 speed.

I’ve had several corvairs over the years with the 2 speed powerglide (aka powerslide) transmission usually with a gear selector (forward, neutral, reverse), but one with the push buttons.