[X] My Assistant

Since this thread was segueing into car talk, here's a thread for it.

Weather reports said there wasn't going to be rain tonight, so I washed my car today (it had that dirty/dusty rain pattern on it, if you know what I mean). Guess what just happened.


This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 17 2020, 04:25

Fuck, I hate it when I wash my car and then it always rains. I can't remember where I stored my car cover.

I watched some car restoration videos from serpentza and laowhy, it's nice.

There was a song in one video that i really want to know the title of so i can download it, i'll see if i can post the video later if i search for it.


EDIT : this is their car channel https://www.youtube.com/c/WorthlessWhips/videos
man, there's too many videos and the song appeared in one of them...

This post has been edited by Pillowgirl: Oct 17 2020, 17:56

Drove a 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer (270 Cu. In. V8 "hemi") hard-top today.

It was cool, but also was terrible, because automatic two-speed transmission (the R-N-D-L lever kind; not the pushbutton kind), really grabby disc brakes (not the original drums; ones that make you think you might go through the windshield), and slight leaded gasoline fumes.

It's a little rough around the edges but in most ways is in pretty great shape. It was in the american southwest for most of its life.



Odometer reads 80,000 miles; I'm assuming it hasn't rolled over yet. The odometer still works, too. I helped change the oil/oil filter and diagnose an electrical failure on it (the voltage regulator for charging the 6V battery was dead and actually draining power from the battery when turned off).

The 60's-era volvos I've driven all felt much, much more "modern" than this thing, even though they didn't have power steering, automatic transmissions, or built-in radios (this had all that except power steering).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 18 2020, 11:28

I watched some car restoration videos from serpentza and laowhy, it's nice.

There was a song in one video that i really want to know the title of so i can download it, i'll see if i can post the video later if i search for it.
EDIT : this is their car channel https://www.youtube.com/c/WorthlessWhips/videos
man, there's too many videos and the song appeared in one of them...

Didn't know they had a new channel.




Not sure which song, but they get most of their music from this channel.

Wow lol, China is paying foreigners in China to post anti-Serpentza / laowhy86 videos. The two aren't even that big anymore, but when they escaped China and posted a few controversial videos.

Nah it wasn't that song, that's their theme song.

Here, find out what song this is at 24:15




Serpentza's camera skills and footage are top notch.

This post has been edited by Pillowgirl: Oct 18 2020, 16:43

I have a friend who just sold their red '86 MR2.

I saw an MGB for sale today, but they wanted $2800. It was missing the driver mirror, column trim, shifter boot and trim, and speedometer, and had an obviously aftermarket panel of switches to operate it's electrics. Body was rather clean though.

I saw an MGB for sale today, but they wanted $2800. It was missing the driver mirror, column trim, shifter boot and trim, and speedometer, and had an obviously aftermarket panel of switches to operate it's electrics. Body was rather clean though.

Unfortunately people are paying to buy them and restore them. A good condition car is going for 20-30k here, or 40-50k for a minty example.


I sold one of my shitbox old cars that was not road legal for $2k because someone wanted to do it up. That was also after I stripped it of anything of value.

Sold in three days at that price. They were a bit annoyed it did not have the stock wheels, so I lowered the price from 2.2k to 2k. *whelp* I sold the stock wheels for $300 anyways. they were in fairly shit condition too.

The car also had three panels that were more bog than metal. I did disclose that, but they were looking to strip everything back to the frame and do the car up anyway.

A good condition sample of that car is now going for 40-50k. For my car, the body was shit but the interior was good and the engine had low miles. Needed extensive repairs after a sideways accident.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Oct 20 2020, 01:26

I saw an MGB for sale today, but they wanted $2800. It was missing the driver mirror, column trim, shifter boot and trim, and speedometer, and had an obviously aftermarket panel of switches to operate it's electrics. Body was rather clean though.

If you just want one to drive, replaced electrics are probably actually a good thing for old british cars.

Drove my '93 volvo wagon about 220 miles today without incident, with four people (total) in it, in the rain. We went to a nice international market. Ran with zero issues. People worry about me driving long distance in that car, but I've never been stranded in it. It has at least 290K miles on it; the odometer was seized up from a stripped small plastic gear and also from cracked solder joints on the PCB that controls the stepper motor when I got it (but it's working again now), so it could be higher.

Gas mileage was… Well, it's better not to think about that.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 20 2020, 09:41

Hmmm I liked retro cars because I could fix them but my modern car is cool.


I am getting closer to the song.



not bhed.

I'd love an MGA coupe. The MGB was a roadster that came as soft top, and now had a (different chassis's) hard top fitted to it. It also had the weird US spec rubber bumper.

I daily a 1990 Ranger and a 1999 528i (I hop in whichever one).

This post has been edited by Wayward_Vagabond: Oct 20 2020, 13:20

Gas mileage was… Well, it's better not to think about that.

You want shitty mileage try driving the XJS we have in the shed.

It is the 3.6 with the 5 speed getrag though.

Also whoever did the wiring in those cars needs to die.

You want shitty mileage try driving the XJS we have in the shed.

It is the 3.6 with the 5 speed getrag though.

Also whoever did the wiring in those cars needs to die.

I have a friend with a 1990's V12 Jag. I remember getting phoned at 2 A.M. to bring him a lug wrench because he got a flat and didn't have one. Apparently those things chew through tyres.

Other than that it's a pretty neat car and has a smooth ride. Fuel economy is an absolute joke, though.

This guy mostly does his own car work, but only when things break. He doesn't really believe in preventative maintenance.

To amend my ptrevious statement, my car actually drove around 360-400 miles the other day (Round trip).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 21 2020, 10:32

How are emissions laws where you are? I heard some places in the US it was hectic to get power out of cars.

My car drops in and out of legality, the reason I went turbo was for better emissions control for testing and higher boost for racing.

How are emissions laws where you are? I heard some places in the US it was hectic to get power out of cars.

My car drops in and out of legality, the reason I went turbo was for better emissions control for testing and higher boost for racing.

There are no inspections; removing things like the cat is technically illegal but I know people who do remove them. I've seen those aluminum flex-pipes used to replace the mufflers on cars where they fell off.

I am about 70% sure my car would pass an emissions test, but I would rather not have to find out.

I did replace everything south of the exhaust manifold a year or two ago on it, and it's still running the stock fuel system (Bosch LH 2.4), so I'm not super worried at the moment. i want to replace the slushbox before I even worry about engine power. And if I use the stock Volvo manual 5-speed transmission, I might not want to boost it too much; the automatics are a lot more sturdy at high power. The earlier 4-speeds with overdrive are also more dependable with the higher power engines.

Or I could try to put a Borg-Warner T-5 or something in it, but I'll probably just do the volvo transmission (M47) and save myself some headaches.

Some people also put M90's (from the late-model european 940's) in them, but I don't think I will, even though those are a lot more durable. They're basically a rear-wheel-drive version of the design in the Volvo 850's manual gearbox. I'd have to get one from Europe though (they never sold them here in the States), and I'd have to figure out how to mount it up. Bleh.

Also I tend to get a little aggressive in fast cars, so it's probably for the best that I don't go too powerful with it since the brakes aren't too big on it (I have 14" alloy wheels).

Also, why are wheels so fucking big now? I mean, I get needing more room for bigger brake pads bumping cars up to maybe 15-16", but 19" or 20" still looks ridiculous to my eye outside of off-roaders. And the wheels weigh a shit-ton more, too.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 22 2020, 07:23

I have a friend with a 1990's V12 Jag. I remember getting phoned at 2 A.M. to bring him a lug wrench

He's a good candidate for AAA membership. Consumerism issues aside, it's a low price for peace of mind. And it's better to use AAA than to get it added as a rider to auto insurance coverage. That's because many insurance companies treat usage of even lost cost items as a chargeable incident (reason to raise rates).

How are emissions laws where you are?

It's a two-part thing for some people because they might not have emissions laws applicable to modern cars, but biannual inspection might still be required and at that time, an emissions check might be performed or a missing catalytic converter is noticed.

For example, in the wikipedia article at [en.wikipedia.org] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspe...e_United_States which lists inspection/no_inspection states, some of the states listed as having no_inspection actually do have inspection if the registered vehicle is older (from the 1980's and 1990's). Otherwise, newer cars probably have no inspections of any kind in those states.

He's a good candidate for AAA membership. Consumerism issues aside, it's a low price for peace of mind. And it's better to use AAA than to get it added as a rider to auto insurance coverage. That's because many insurance companies treat usage of even lost cost items as a chargeable incident (reason to raise rates).

He's the kind that would rather die than do that.
He takes great pride in doing car work himself. And I respect him for it. He has cars ranging from two 1946 jeeps (in rough shape but still kicking) up through that Jag, and literally _everything_ in between (he has a Citröen DS as well, for instance, and a VW microbus). And he traded my parents their dodge (the one I posted earlier in the thread, re-linking here) for a 1963 CJ-5 of theirs when they left New Mexico.


Incidentally, that car is about as old as he is.
I envy him in a lot of ways. He's also one of the nicest people I've ever met.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 24 2020, 10:15

I miss my Willys Jeep. Good outback car apart from the millage.

I miss my Willys Jeep. Good outback car apart from the millage.

I miss the short and narrow wheelbases, too. Great for mountain switchbacks.
Post-early-AMC Jeeps hardly even deserve their titles, particularly wranglers (although I also dislike the CJ-7 because, again, wheelbase).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 26 2020, 02:03