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Maybe mechanics didn't do a very good job on British cars, but I can assure you the OLD Lucas components were pretty much awful.
Actually, I eliminated almost 100% of the electrical problems on an MGB by replacing the battery cables, replacing all the fuses and cleaning the fuse holders, and installing an alternator. Abut a $150 investment.
The Lucas generators were very very bad. Curse them!
http://www.lucas.co.uk/home/main/1,,,00.html
Ever since then, my friends and I used to call any shoddy work on a car as "Lucas"...as in "Hey, look at that Lucas-ed up paint job!", or "Look at the Lucas-job they did on that exhaust system!" I guess we didn't know how close to home we were hitting ;-)
-Andre
I got banged around a bit, but nothing major. I think part of the reason that I didn't get hurt was BECAUSE I was driving an older car, though. My Dart tore that pole off its base, whereas a more modern car designed to crumple might have just wrapped around it and been damaged more.
I also know what you mean about people swerving to look at your car, wnating to race, etc. That GT was sporty and muscular looking, but only had a slant six. Of course, the average person wouldn't know that, so I had Camaros and Mustangs and plenty of lesser cars trying to race me all the time.
On Friday night, I took my '67 Catalina convertible out for a spin, and I swear, at every single traffic light, somebody wanted to race! EVERYBODY! 4-cyl compacts, a 240SX that tried to beat me before his lane ended (he didn't), and a '75 or so Cutlass Supreme that came out of nowhere. His engine sounded as loud as mine, so maybe it was like a mating call that attracted it or something ;-)
-Andre
The best example I could think of, and this is a bit extreme, but a fully loaded tractor trailer crashing into a tree versus an empty one. While I wouldn't want to be in either, I think my chances of survival would be greater in the empty one, because there isn't as much mass forcing me into the tree.
-Andre
I've seen a few results of what happens when a big vehicle hits a small one. A friend of mine used to own a '78 Newport, and he t-boned an early 90's Accord. Popped it right between the wheel centers, and must've penetrated about 2 feet into the passenger cabin. The Newport got totaled mainly because it had no book value, but I'm sure it could've been fixed for around $1,000 or so. In fact, I think the worst thing that happened to it was it bent a rear axle when it hopped the curb!
-Andre
Part of the violence in a collision is that your body decelerates so rapidly....say from 60 mph to 0 miles per hour JUST LIKE THAT (hey, pick up your eyeballs on the way out). So a collapsing car alleviates this violence somewhat, and of course that pillowly air bag will hurt far less than the old cars little nifty, pointy, rigid switches and mirrors and dials and horn ring.
My friend was driving his little 1938 MG, a flimsy little toy car two seater, and T-boned a Ford Pickup that turned in front of him. He lived but was pretty banged up...I think what saved him was only that the little car collapsed like a cardboard box, but not far enough to crush the driver's compartment.
Once the driver's compartment is penetrated in an old car, you are pretty much history. Modern cars crunch up very nicely, but the passenger compartment is pretty strong on modern cars. You can often see this on videos of test crashes.
Bill
Their catalog has doubled in size since last year. If I had the money [well; if I could ignore my bills......] , have 20 or 30 pages with corners folded down as a wish list.
Haven't got any pictures of the Valiant yet. It was in for surgery, but no paint yet, so it looks like a real beater. Will get a scanner soon and have before and after.Sorry it took so long to answer.
As to daily driver, my plan was to get the car it's rebuilt engine and drive it well into this current century. Did that,but something happened along the way; parts started drying up for awhile, a new engine didn't transform it into a new car, while 3 speeds on a manual is really all you need in Hell-Ay,it really is like driving a truck from the 30's [my stress level went WAY down when I bought a car with automatic]and the shifter is not reliable[though reapair parts are now available,[bushings,etc.],the weakest link in a great little car.Other stuff goes wrong and even though it's inexpensive to repair, it's constant.
Safety - well;that's all relative. I've driven it for 20 years and never felt my life was in danger, perhaps because I learned to drive in cars from the 60's that were far less capable in the handling department. Hey; the new ones will absorb my rigid structured mini tank any way!!!*)
It's a time machine-when I'm in it, everyone I've ever cared about rides with me, it's a moving reminder of every adventure, mishap,good time I ever experienced in it. Besides I've always driven carefully,[torturing machinery to show off has never impressed me anyway]and you don't beat members of your own family!!!Wringing my hands over "what if" tends to suck all the pleasure out of everything these days and I can't live that way.As a practical way to commute inexpensively, my theory was great on paper, but not so in actual practice.Maybe I've gotten soft, maybe my priorities changed,but I haven't been able to make it work out so well, though I could do it in a pinch.
What makes me uncomfortable is knowing that my steering wheel can explode in my face and possibly break my nose or arm or even kill me! [I'm not that tall]Or I could buy a new vehicle with tires that separate and blow out right from the factory!
The Valiant has seat belts, and I've never driven anything without wearing them since I got my driver's permit at 14 [Iowa...].
I am not so sure that we haven't become more informed consumers as much as we have become more paranoid people.Many of the most self serving organizations such the Center For Science In the Public Interest will run to the press with horror stories about movie popcorn that kills, death in your dish rag and on and on, because it gets them publicity and helps when it comes to funding their organizations [hello,can we say Ralph Nader anyone?].
It just makes me wonder how we ever evolved over millions of years without all the alphabet soup organizations that attempt to foster fear and paranoia in order to increase their authority in deciding public policy.How'd we EVER survive without the nag-ocracy we enjoy today?
Shifty; you're always good at seeing a side of things I miss-- what say you?
Certainly there is ample evidence to show that injuries and fatalities have dropped markedly since the 1950s. Whether this is all due to safety equipment, or rather better car design (brakes, steering), better drivers (doubt it!), lower speed limits, or a combination of the above, who can say for sure? Statistics can be manipulated to serve the manipulator.
As for myself, I'm content enough with 3-point belts and a safe dashboard. If that's good enough for a racecar (well, okay, they have 4-point belts) that works for me.
I think though, that if my Valiant's manual shifter were an automatic, I'd be taking it to work more often [12-15 miles one way,depending on the route I take].As it is I generally keep it on this side of the hill, run errands with it on the weekend, go for Sunday drives etc.It's a blast under those circumstances, while it can be like driving a truck on a daily basis:no power ANYTHING [steering, brakes] and a manual trans.that is delicate to put it kindly,it can just add to the commute stress.
I always thought my Dart had good road feel too, but maybe that was because the power steering was broken! I did finally get it fixed. Turns out I let it go for so long that it destroyed the pump and the box. I think it cost me something like $300.00 to get them both replaced (but with used parts)
I never really thought too much about safety when I drove my Dart, but things have changed over the years. I bought my first Dart in 1989, and at the time, I'd say the chances were that I'd hit something that was flimsier than me. But since then, cars have put on weight, and there are many more trucks and SUVs out there than 1989 (or 1992, when I bought the 270). I think my 270 weighs just under 3000 lb. That puts it in about the same class as cars like the Accord, Camry, Altima, and maybe a bit lighter than the Sebring/Stratus and Malibu. Cars like the Intrepid, Impala, and Taurus outweigh it by 400-500 lb or more. And its not hard to find SUVs that are nearly double its weight.
I still don't feel unsafe in it, though, because I know its limitations, and don't push it beyond them. I run 205/70/14's on the front, and 225/70/14's on the back, which probably push its threshold well beyond whatever its original equipment bias ply tires would've been. However, when I get behind the wheel, I know that it's not going to handle as well as my Intrepid, and I try to respect that.
I forget what year the collapsible steering column became standard (1967?), but know mine has it, and the dashboard has more padding than most modern cars. Plus, the seating position is far enough back and there's enough crush space that I'm not really worried. And the car is unitized, so they're somewhat designed to crumple. I've spent plenty of time in junkyards scrounging for parts, and have never seen an A-body smashed badly enough to distort the passenger cabin.
In fact, if you ever want to see just how tough the A-bodies were, check out Steven Speilberg's "Duel". There's also an episode of the "Incredible Hulk" that robbed most of the footage from it, so you can see it there, too. Anyway, at one point, they run a '70 or so Valiant sedan into the side of a cliff. I don't know at what speed, but rest assured that most modern cars would've suffered much more serious damage. Then, it gets run head-on into a semi (I still say it's an AutoCar but have read it's a 1958 Peterbilt) and still, doesn't get THAT smashed up. My only fault with that movie is that the Valiant only tops out at 90-95 mph. My '69 Dart had a slant six, and had no trouble topping 100. Oh well, maybe Dennis Weaver was just to chicken to go any faster ;-)
And once I could no longer find bias plies the radials I was forced to use have improved the handling even more.
I have a metal dash board, and that DOES give pause, but feel like I've got more contol with the manual steering and shift than in the modern car I drive to work.[and even that one stays within my desire to keep things as simple as possible- a 1999 Cavalier- a highly evolved 1975 car you can buy brand new!It's as uncomplicated as you can find these days. LOL]
As soon as I get Mothra [the Valiant--it told ME what it's name was]painted and re-upholstered I'd like to register it with SAG for the movies.But only for background-NOT the sequel to "Duel" !
I'm not into the old Mustangs, but I love the '60s/'70s big boat convertibles such as the Lincolns, Caddies etc. I don't care about speed, just want a cruiser. And bigger is better. So is cheaper, as long as I get something decent for my money.
Any recommendations?
I have radial tires on it (215/75/R14) and it handles pretty well, not that much worse than some more modern cars (well, maybe about on par with a '96 Roadmaster!) It can seat 6 in relative comfort. Normally, convertibles give up a lot of room in the back seat and trunk, but this one gives up very little.
Back then, stock Pontiacs mated a big engine (389 in the earlier years, a 400 from '67 on) to tall gearing (mine has a 2.56 rear), which would give good acceleration and good highway mileage. Somewhere along the line, someone tried to hot-rod mine though, so mileage suffers a bit. I only get around 10-11 in the city, and about 17-18 on the highway. But on the plus side, when you floor it, it'll chirp the rear tires on the 1-2 upshift!
As for insurance, I have classic car insurance through Hagerty (www.hagerty.com) and it's $133 a year for two cars, full coverage (My Catalina and my DeSoto).
I don't know what they're going for nowadays, but I paid $3775 for mine back in 1994. It's a good looker, but does have a few problems. The power top doesn't work, and the heater/ac control needs to be replaced. It also needed new ball joints, which I hear were a common Pontiac problem. Supposedly they were under-sized.
But still, I'm sure an Impala 'vert would demand more money than a Catalina or Bonneville, and most of them would only have 283's or 327's, and 2-speed automatics. Most Pontiacs would have 389s or 400's, and a 3-speed auto.
Well, good luck in your search...let us know what you end up getting!
Still...I do like them.
I had a '60 T-Bird convertible.... An original California Desert car that had been restored. Except the plastic wire coating in the original wire harness was brittle and cracking.
You wanna talk short-out and blown-fuse and blown-relay nightmares.
Cost me $3K in electrics to get that car right
Bill
I really like the look of the Catalina though, especially from the back.
Whatever I get will be a garaged weekend driver, and I have a good mechanic friend who can help me out with it. Electrical work I could do myself, but I'd rather not.
I can sympathize with Bill's wiring problems. I once had to rewire a motherboard to a mini-computer because my boss at the time replaced a fuse with foil from a candy bar and the thing went up in flames later that night. That was about 2000 separate wires. All had to be labeled, removed, and rewired to the new board by hand. Never again...