Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

qbrozen

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

stickguy said:

huge diameter steering wheel and about 10 turns lock to lock, no need for power assist!

I had a bunch of manual steering cars. The only one that actually was hard to drive? My grandmothers VW 412 wagon. Light, engine in the back, and you still have to be a body builder to parallel park that thing, or go around a tight curve.

Can’t say I know why, but the Coronet is REALLY hard to turn. My ‘79 Zephyr with manual rack and pinion was quite easy.

Have you inspected it to ensure that the gear box is not intended for hydraulic assist? A manual steering car should be easy to steer as long as the vehicle is moving, so if it is not, there is likely an issue in play.

well, sure, when moving, it is OK. Crawling? No, not easy in the least. And sitting still? Forget it!

xwesx

qbrozen said:

well, sure, when moving, it is OK. Crawling? No, not easy in the least. And sitting still? Forget it!

Okay, that sounds like "working as intended" then!

I ran my plow truck for about a decade without the PS working.... Not nearly the same experience.

bhill2

My memory is that for almost any (front-engine) non-PS car the wheel will be almost impossible to turn when the car is not moving at least a little. I'm talking yanking on the wheel with both hands.

kyfdx

I agree.. my '82 Accord hatch, which was very light, was still almost impossible to maneuver in a parking lot with one hand. To make it worse, the steering wheel was non-adjustable, and very far from the driver, decreasing leverage.

Thank goodness we didn't have cell phones. Between parking, shifting, and holding my beer, it was a tough life! (no cupholders).

bhill2

Especially since you had to hold the beer below window level in case a police car snuck up on you unseen.

omarman

Cupholders were better in the old days.

fintail

Beautiful brisk fall day here, making up for a dreary week before. The old dear started right up and ran fine, although turn signals were maybe 50/50 at best - gotta find out what's behind that. Car got some looks, and I noticed a younger guy reach for his camera and snap pics as I drove by. Pic doesn't capture it, but we have the best fall colors here in years:

fintail

Time to check the local menagerie:

Seems cheap, I wonder what might be amiss, I bet I know

Could be wonderful

GREAT opportunity

Private import flipper seeking windfall

Messed with, odd hatch piece

20 footer

Great color combo

At one time I would have laughed at the price, now I don't blink

Nix those pipes

Parts must be easy to find

Wrong venue buddy

The invasion continues

Sense of humor

Seldom seen these days

Interior = 70s

Local provenance

Nova by another name

Mags

Recoup that investment

Scarce

I'm tellin ya, they are all still here

Needs elbow grease

Odd stretch

Button tufted

kyfdx

I love E21s! I might be the only one.

ab348

Funny on how so many older cars there is such opportunity for addition by subtraction. IOW there is no accounting for (bad) taste. The '90 Cadillac is like that with the continental kit, as is the '67 Newport.
I rather like that '83 Mark VI, forgot they came in a 2-door version. The '59 Imperial is cool, but that price!

fintail

Facebook Marketplace "suggests" cars for me based on what it sees as my interests. Here are a few:

Drysdale special

Optimistic but cool

Brocade

Tinted

These final run 212s depreciate fiercely, probably a fair used car deal

I don't know about that color

The only way to travel

Period color

Hardtop

You'd have to be brave

Love the color combo, but basic car at a steep price, seller (who has a decent rep)adds in a lot of negotiating room I think

I like these, but not for the risk-averse

tjc78

I like the 76 Continental. Special order car there ... Town Car interior but no opera window. Throw some turbines on and it would be perfect

What’s up with the Caddy ad? Pretty sure neither of those is an 87... and who would want a hacked up ‘vert like that?

ab348

That '72 Lincoln has maybe the worst-looking upholstery I've ever seen. The '76 is nice though.

The orange Benz is interesting mostly because of the matching interior. What were they thinking?

kyfdx

The ‘72 and ‘76 Lincolns aren’t Town Cars. Just sedans. That’s why no opera window.

We had a ‘72 and two ‘76s like those, only in Coupe form. White leather in all three. I definitely don’t remember that style leather in our ‘76 models, though. (maybe, because Coupe?).

460 V-8 in all three.

omarman

I like the Corvair best out of the lot.
I like the '72 Lincoln better than the '76 - even with the ginger brocade interior!
'67 Thunderbird with 24k miles...the bumpers tell a longer sadder story.

stickguy

I would not mind a nice, upgraded, 66 Corvair coupe.

tjc78

The 76 has the town car option based off the interior. Check the badge on the fender. You could order it that way as I’ve seen a few others.

The base sedan has a much different interior and usually a solid bench.

sda

kyfdx said:

The ‘72 and ‘76 Lincolns aren’t Town Cars. Just sedans. That’s why no opera window.

We had a ‘72 and two ‘76s like those, only in Coupe form. White leather in all three. I definitely don’t remember that style leather in our ‘76 models, though. (maybe, because Coupe?).

460 V-8 in all three.

I liked the dash better in those. 1977-79 the dash looked cheaper, less special, and fewer engine gauges, just gas and speed. Dad had a 77 Grand Marquis with the 460. The only time it felt even the least bit perky was if you floored it. Gas mileage, ha. 10 mpg in town. When I drove it I loved to crank on Emmy Lou Harris, Luxury Liner..40 tons of steel..on 8 track, of course.

tjc78

The 78-79 used the same dash as the Grand Marquis. Signs of the cost cutting to come.

I loved driving my 79. It was the 400 (351M). I had nice duals put on, changed the carb and advanced the timing as far as I could before it pinged.

I’d say it felt like a stock 460 I had driven. Still slow but a little more bearable.

ab348

I always heard that the smog-era 460 was underwhelming for its size and that it wasn't much different from a 400 in terms of performance.

tjc78

ab348 said:

I always heard that the smog-era 460 was underwhelming for its size and that it wasn't much different from a 400 in terms of performance.

It wasn’t. Total boat anchor! The tall rear end ratios didn’t help anything either.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

I always heard that the smog-era 460 was underwhelming for its size and that it wasn't much different from a 400 in terms of performance.

The ‘72 was okay. ‘76 was pretty doggy

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

The 76 has the town car option based off the interior. Check the badge on the fender. You could order it that way as I’ve seen a few others.

The base sedan has a much different interior and usually a solid bench.

I don’t see the Town Car badge. Front fender? Can’t make that one out.

All of our base models had the split bench, but not that interior.

tjc78

Highlighted in red.





Yes, I've seen base models with both split and full benches.

Base model interior:

stickguy

I always hated that ford corporate steering wheel. And on the AT cars, the floor mounted cruise o matic shift lever

kyfdx

@tjc78 Thanks!

tjc78

kyfdx said:

@tjc78 Thanks!

Just my useless knowledge of Full size Fords coming in handy!!

fintail

I'll always remember the rocker-type cruise control buttons on the steering wheel spokes of my mom's T-Bird. I think they used that general steering wheel style in everything from Pinto to large trucks.

qbrozen

Funny, I just noticed last night that my Equinox has a rocker switch to turn the cruise on and off. I've never had one like that before. I prefer it just because you can leave it on all the time. I always felt that an extra step of turning on the system before setting it was silly.

ab348

stickguy said:

I always hated that ford corporate steering wheel. And on the AT cars, the floor mounted cruise o matic shift lever

I thought the bent-spoke design at least was better than the style Ford used in just about every car regardless of price point earlier in the decade.



Regardless of spoke style, both had a very thin rim that wasn't very pleasing.

tjc78

The rim was very thin, about 1/3 of what most cars are today.

stickguy

Oh yeah, I don’t like that one either!

tjc78

fintail said:

I'll always remember the rocker-type cruise control buttons on the steering wheel spokes of my mom's T-Bird. I think they used that general steering wheel style in everything from Pinto to large trucks.

No different than GM with this wheel



And Chrysler with this one




They all get their money's worth out of the mold, that's for sure!

tjc78

I always hated this style from Ford too:

It was like a brick in the middle of the wheel

fintail

Come to think of it, corporate steering wheels are a common thing, Ford was just an early adopter.

MB used this in everything during the 70s:



Around 1980 it switched to this (some with airbag hub) for virtually every car



1986 saw this in everything:



Around 1992 every model got this:



Then in the late 90s wheels finally started becoming linked to models, although there was still some sharing, and I think still is.

Those early 90s Ford wheels (I recall it in my mom's 93 Taurus) always amuse me as they were also used in Aston Martin of the era - talk about parts bin:

ab348

After the bent-spoke Ford wheel, they got a lot of mileage out of variations on these in the pre-airbag era of the'80s:



and it's cousin:



Early airbags tended to make steering wheel hubs bigger and more similar, something that persists even now although the hubs are a bit smaller.

tjc78

The wheel in the Crown Vic is actually a nice design and comfortable. I had that one in my 89 LTC and GM

tjc78

Ha Ha on the Aston Martin... the Qvale Mangusta got the successor to the brick wheel

kyfdx

Our ‘72 Lincoln had a rubber strip all the way around the inner rim of the steering wheel. That was the horn “button”. Just press with either thumb (or both), no matter what your hand position.

I liked it. Of course, I learned to drive on that car, so it wasn’t a change from normal.

fintail

TGIF zoo:

Recoup that investment and then some

Big project squarebody, but great spec and colors

The invasion continues

Seen before I think, but unusual and honest, so here it is again

For the certifiable

Early cars do it best

Turbo

Last of the V8 Interceptors, kind of

Murkan Ute

Very cool Gladiator, probably worth it

Uncommon these days

Not quite there yet

Ride the bubble

They are all here

Amusingly optimistic seller, boring but somehow very pleasing colors

JDM by way of eastern Canada perhaps

Uncommon engine, with ample needs

texases

That Bavaria - should be looking for some BMW nut to adopt that disaster of a project for free
The Camry - how'd it drive so few miles? I'd worry about it having sat for long periods, but seems nice otherwise.

qbrozen

The Caballero and Torino could maybe be good buys. The Gladiator strikes me as maybe a tad high. I could be wrong. Haven't kept an eye on prices for a long time.

ab348

The Ranchero is crazy money. So is the Ambassador, though in a different category. And a turbo LUV with a blow-through Weber carb... think I'll pass.

The '70 Torino GT seems like a relative bargain though I like those less now than I did when they were new - the interior in them is generally pretty awful, and the body design looks bloated. The Caballero and the Gladiator are reasonable buys I think. I love the Delta 88, but the price seems optimistic to me.

stickguy

Gladiator must have sold. I do like the GMC. Ranchero looks nice, but gotta ditch the huge tach. Bavaria, part that sucker out and crush the rest.

omarman

Torino GT could be a nice cruiser if all checks out. More pics would be nice too but might point to reasons why the seller's price is so nice.

stickguy

Torino sounds like a nice survivor, but those often have surprises hiding under the skin.

Plus, that is not a very popular car anyway I don’t think. And looks like mostly a stripes package. Pretty low rent interior.

andres3

Going to try a TCU tune for the first time in my DSG life. The tune on the TTS works so well on the ECU that I think it activates a torque limiting cutoff that causes the car to hesitate for no good reason occasionally/rarely under certain circumstances.

Going to add an intake to assist with about 10 extra HP that's been proven on several dynos apparently. Also makes the turbo sound a little more pronounced, and carbon fiber looks good under the hood.

Got Sport Cup 2's on order. Got Discount to claim warranty for mileage at $129 per tire for 3 of the four Pilot Sport 4S tires from Michelin.

Thinking new tires Tuesday at noon, new brake fluid at the dealer (they owe me for taking out my Motul 600) Thursday, and the TCU tune, APR intake install, and aggressive re-alignment alignment the following Tuesday at San Diego's premier Audi indy shop.

With the new rear shocks and these fixes, 7.6 1/8th mile times should be doable.

Buttonwillow Nov. 20-22 (3 days of fun!).

explorerx4

My grandfather had the exact same Ambassador.
Like the Torino GT, but many missing details.
Samba puts the magic seats in a Fit to shame.

qbrozen

andres3 said:

Going to try a TCU tune for the first time in my DSG life. The tune on the TTS works so well on the ECU that I think it activates a torque limiting cutoff that causes the car to hesitate for no good reason occasionally/rarely under certain circumstances.

Going to add an intake to assist with about 10 extra HP that's been proven on several dynos apparently. Also makes the turbo sound a little more pronounced, and carbon fiber looks good under the hood.

Got Sport Cup 2's on order. Got Discount to claim warranty for mileage at $129 per tire for 3 of the four Pilot Sport 4S tires from Michelin.

Thinking new tires Tuesday at noon, new brake fluid at the dealer (they owe me for taking out my Motul 600) Thursday, and the TCU tune, APR intake install, and aggressive re-alignment alignment the following Tuesday at San Diego's premier Audi indy shop.

With the new rear shocks and these fixes, 7.6 1/8th mile times should be doable.

Buttonwillow Nov. 20-22 (3 days of fun!).

3 days? So did you make an appt immediately following for new tires and brakes?

sda

I offered to buy a fairly basic 66 Ambassador from a friend when I was in high school. His dad said he would but couldn’t as the column shifter often jammed when shifting from 2-3. The replacement part wasn’t available. This was in 77. Though extremely nice overall the car was sent to the crusher.