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Technical Large learning curve

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by porknbeaner, Mar 12, 2015.

  1. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Good thread. I'd say that remembering to give yourself more stopping room behind the rig in front of you and knowing what is going on around you going down the road or street is paramount in driving an older car. That has backfired a time or two on me when the hot shot in his little sporty sedan decided that three extra car lengths I had given myself was more than enough space for him to swing into and slow down quickly.

    I learned 50 something years ago that you always need to have an escape route in your mind when you are driving a rig that doesn't stop well among rigs that do. w I managed to miss the car in front of me and only leave a tad of green paint on a bumper bolt of the car parked at the curb when a wheel cylinder failed on me when I was 17. I made it the 20 miles home with the handbrake and some careful driving.

    The main thing for a guy or gal driving an older rig with drum brakes and a carb and a few quirks is to learn the car and how it reacts before you put yourself in heavy traffic or situations where you need every defensive driving skill your drivers ed instructor pounded in your head. Know how much room you need to stop from what ever speed. Learn it's start up quirks and how long it wants to warm up on a cool day so it accelerates away from a stop smoothly.

    On gauges, I drove my 51 Merc coupe From where I sit now to McGregor Texas pulling a little utility trailer in 1988. Not one working gauge in the car including oil pressure temp or speedometer. My dad went along but wouldn't drive because the car didn't have working gauges. Most of the trip was made at 80 mph even while towing the trailer. With a 16 gallon tank and 16 mpg I knew how many miles (reading mile posts) I could go on a tank and usually knew exactly how much gas It would take although I did run out of gas in Albuquerque on the way from Texas to Bonneville. I did make it to Bonneville and ran into a guy in another black 51 Merc with a Desoto grill who hit a cafe in Rock Springs Wyoming a half hour after I left a few days before. Funny thing was my high school friends razzed me to no end in 1963 when I bought that "old" as in ancient car and no one gave me a hard time about it being old in 1988 on the road trip. A couple did want to know what I had for an engine when I made gas stops and they pulled in with me after trying to keep up with me though. That little 350 Olds ran pretty good.
     
  2. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    Had a MODERN CRAP pickup with a bad trans. I told my buddy to limp it into our garage it was sitting in front of. He said "It won't move". I told him that it's burned up anyway, just floor it and let it slip. MODERN CRAP electronics wouldn't let him give it any throttle. DAMNED I HATE NEW CRAP! Had to push.
     
  3. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    I've had big rigs that wouldn't let you get higher than second gear because of an emission code. The computer puts you in LIMP MODE which FORCEs you to take it to the stealership to check the emission system. DAMNED I HATE NEW CRAP!
     
    Maverick Daddy likes this.
  4. I still want to pump the brakes to many old trucks and non power brake cars and I am always looking for a spot if the brakes dont work Lol and turning always turning to soon as my old truck isnt power and takes alot to turn on tight turns. on the F-100 starting on cold mornings like 15 min earley. then wonderfull wipers Lol
     
  5. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    I had an 88 Ford truck that said right in the manual that the environmentally friendly paint is prone to failure and if it failed that they would paint it one more time under warranty. DAMNED I HATE NEW CRAP!
     
  6. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    I can't tell you how many annoying seat belt dingers I have disabled. DAMNED I HATE NEW CRAP!
     
  7. My old Fairlane I love to drive rain shine snow dont matter I love driving her. but lets see she will change lines on her own, both hands on the wheel. she stops but more space is a plus. wipers 12 volt 2 speed slow and slower. heater works after 10 miles on a good day. on the freeway she loves and will let me know where every bump is,
    the plus my shit eating smile, the thumbs up, driving a classic in bad weather big plus. Can we fix these things YES but will we hell no its an ol car and we love them they way they are. well the defroster ok it works now Lol
     
  8. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    Went to drive a NEWCRAPOLA and it wouldn't come out of Park. Wife said "You have to step on the brake to put it in Drive". I told her "I'm trying to go, not stop"! DAMNED I HATE NEW CRAP!
     
    BobbyRay likes this.
  9. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    Got what I thought was a pretty simple old skool but new tractor. I stood up slightly to look at the pass I had just made and the engine died. You can't even scoot up on the seat because the SAFETY NAZI CRAP shuts the engine off. I disconnected that crap, but it leaves me liable if someone else operates it and gets hurt in a rollover. Did I mention that I HATE NEW CRAP!!!!! ?
     
  10. conormulroney
    Joined: Mar 30, 2006
    Posts: 293

    conormulroney
    Member

    As it's been said many times, drive like everyone is going to kill you. Because they are.

    Know the back road routes. It can be a lot more fun, even if it takes a bit longer.

    And know everything about the car so that it becomes second nature. I recently needed a total car guy friend of mine drive my OT vintage British car and he wanted to switch out to my '54 F100 after a couple of miles. Of course you need to pump the 7 inch drum breaks 3 times before they pretend to work. If the shifter falls over, just put it back where it is supposed to go. Reverse is over, at you and down. Somewhere. Yes, you are driving on the right side of the car, don't put your body next to the center line. And definitely don't turn on the wipers; the car may catch on fire.

    I love my car.
     
  11. desotot
    Joined: Jan 29, 2008
    Posts: 2,036

    desotot
    Member

    Great thread, full of flashback material.I would have to say I can identify with all you guys have talked about, except my wife doesn't have a chinese accsent.
     
  12. Clik
    Joined: Jul 1, 2009
    Posts: 1,965

    Clik
    Member

    This thread has me wondering what it would cost to have a car built using reproduction parts. Say a Jim Meyer chassis with all new tri-five Chevy sheet metal, a small block crate and a common aftermarket trans. I drive newer junk because I can't justify exposing my old cars to salt and idiots on a day to day basis. But if I spend $30,000 on new junk, that I hate, and I could drive a repro for the same price....get my drift?
     
  13. pontiac
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 771

    pontiac
    Member

    After having driven my 52 Poncho L8/Hydramatic for over 10 years now (80k+ miles), there have been times I've gotten into newer cars and went to shift into reverse, but dropped it into low/1 instead (or went to grab the shifter and it wasn't there!)... It's usually a split second thing, but it's happened to me a few times.

    I also still tend to pump the brake a few times in most cars, not really even thinking about it. It's something I've become used to doing. Also have found myself searching for the dimmer switch on the floor.
     
  14. Petejoe
    Joined: Nov 27, 2002
    Posts: 12,264

    Petejoe
    Member
    from Zoar, Ohio

    Now that's funny right there.. needlouvers.
     
    hendelec likes this.
  15. LAROKE
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,079

    LAROKE
    Member

    Sometimes, all my rides are broken and I have to rent a car for a few days. I always select the cheapest thing Mr Hertz has available and it usually turns out to be some Pacific rim scrubbing bubble that takes me ten minutes or more to figure out how to get it underway and out of the rental lot.
     
  16. My louver popping friend I do understand the late model thing. The wife owns a late model pickup. I hate it, I cant see out of it, and it does not like me to feather the brakes. As matter of fact when it got down around zero and icy last year I discovered that feathering the brakes would make the antilock non functional with a warning on the dash and a beeper and everything. I had to actually shut it down for half an hour so that they would reset themselves ( that was what the brake guy at the chevy dealer told me).

    A lot of our old cars are just gas powered pogo sticks, some of them the only real suspension is the tires. That is just the nature of a slammed or buggy sprung car. You have to always be ready to slow down. no shocks or weak shocks make slowing down in a hurry next to impossible.

    I have noticed one thing that a lot of new to the hobby guys do and that is over drive their cars. One thing to remember is that just because your car will run 100+ doesn't mean that it will drive 100+. reminds me of the first 128 mph pass I made @ MOKAN in the Pusher and it took me to the end of the shut down area to get her stopped. I adjusted the brakes in the pits made another pass and realized that just because the truck would go fast didn't mean it could go fast.

    When I got home she got new shoes, that I scored in a diamond pattern and drilled the drums. Yes the drums not the backing plates and if it is something that you don't know about don't do it. this brings up another problem, now it would stop and was really hard to make it fade, it would also dive hard when the brakes were applied, so out with the old shocks and in with a good set of gas shocks. When I was a young man we put helper springs on the shocks. Nope this is not a driving trick it is a making it drivable trick. Also it still didn't make it a 100 mph off ramp truck.

    There is more to these old cars than just driving them right. If you must have an old school car there are a multitude of old school tricks to learn to make them more drivable. They will still won't be your wife's lexus.
     
    Madness and Maverick Daddy like this.
  17. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Intermittent wipers, good thing. Having them cycle one more time when you turn them off, bad thing. I'm turning them off because the windshield is now dry, I don't need to hear them scraping the dry windshield one more time.

    Power window. Hit the down button for two seconds, window continues going all the way down. Then have to hit the up button to move it up two inches from the top where I wanted it. I am perfectly capable of holding the down button until the window goes down all the way if that is what I want.

    Radio search button. Stops on a station with good music. Reach down to stop the search, shoots off to different station.
     
  18. Maverick Daddy
    Joined: Nov 26, 2008
    Posts: 3,130

    Maverick Daddy
    Member

    kinda ot, But why does everything have gray interior now? what happened to color?
     
  19. You can't build a late model old looking car for 30K. Just a repop tri five body that is passable is 30K.
    The salt that is on your roads washes off. And you either drive your cars or you don't nothing wrong with either, it is you and there is nothing wrong with being you.

    I have a friend that is builder of high end street rods for high end street rod people. In the '90s he built a real steel '33 cabrio high boy for himself and to showcase his talents. Neat car, it was cutting edge street rod at the time all the way down to the repop halibrands. I was at his place just shooting the breeze one day and he says lets go for a ride so jumped in and we went. First stop Wally World here we parked right up front in the lot. I asked him why he didn't park way out and sideways in the stall and he just said, "well I built it once if it gets hit I'll build it again."
     
  20. Shaggy
    Joined: Mar 6, 2003
    Posts: 5,207

    Shaggy
    Member
    from Sultan, WA

    I was born in '85, the newest car/motorcycle i ever owned was a 81 el camino.... So how do i drive a modern car?
     
  21. Well shag my shovel head is a '78 and its late model, at least to me it is. :D

    In our house we consider anything built after '70 to be late model, but that is because that was late model when we were kids and we never really grew up. Hell my 23 year old granddaughter is more grown up then I am. Somehow I failed her. :eek:
     
    need louvers ? likes this.
  22. NashRodMan
    Joined: Jul 8, 2004
    Posts: 1,989

    NashRodMan
    Member

    I think its very important to keep a certain distance between me and the car in front of yme even in my late model. The problem is there are a lot of idiots that want to fill that space!!
     
    leadfootloon and Montana1 like this.
  23. You just have to be patient and back off some more when someone fills your safety margin. Those of us who survived the no seatbelts and crumple zone era had to learn to drive that way.

    ear plugs, if your car is so loud that you have to wear ear plugs put a muffler on it. One of the tricks that I learned way back when was to listen. Even when everyone in the car was bashing their head on a cloud and the stereo had to be at max volume in my old hoopties it would get turned off so that I could hear what was going on around me. If your car is too loud, putting ear plugs in just makes it worse when it comes to listening for screeching tires or other cars coming up on your blind spot or ambulances.
     
  24. joeycarpunk
    Joined: Jun 21, 2004
    Posts: 4,446

    joeycarpunk
    Member
    from MN,USA

    Doesn't matter how fast you drive people want to be in front of you. :eek: I know that with my non power steering, braked, cruise controlled, manually shifted shop truck daily driver that I actually drive the thing. Audible signal clicks inform me of intentioned lane or direction changes. Signs popular on my driving route inform you to "Concentrate on Driving". You have to, without creature comforts you have to physically DRIVE it. And as simple as it is to maintain for servicing and diagnostics its a plus in my book.
     
  25. Maverick Daddy
    Joined: Nov 26, 2008
    Posts: 3,130

    Maverick Daddy
    Member

    smart words from a smart man.
     
  26. Funny that we were discussing this subject yesterday, as I was driving to the shop not more than 20 minutes ago doing about 50 mph down a rural road when I saw a sweet blue haired lady in a mid 90s Crown Vic edging out on a side road. I took my foot off the gas and covered the brake just as she darted like a turtle out in fron off me. The four wheel non-power drum brakes on the Falcon did their job perfectly although sending me into a diving right hand swerve with a slight sent of rubber. I released the brake to regain control for a left turn recovery around the back of the big Ford and missing two garbage cans to the right of me.

    Lucky for me I wasn't in the comfort of a new car with air bags, crumple zones and an aray of electronic distractions or I may have simply t-boned the dear old soul, yet walked away without a scratch.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2015
    need louvers ? likes this.
  27. LOL everyone I know that has had an airbag go off in their face got hurt pretty bad by it. Of course everyone I know that had an airbag go off in there face is short. :D

    So someone that is more versed on driving then me chime in here. the new way to steer a car is to shuffle your hands on the wheel instead of crossing over like we learned when we were kids. is that just a front drive thing or?????
     
  28. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 17,098

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    Well I had an 87 year old woman t bone / side swipe me at 50+ Mph and the air bag didn't botjer me at all. To be honest it went off and deflated so fast that I didn't realize what had happened and why my glasses were knocked sideways until I looked down and saw the bag. And you know me! Lol

    I think the only learning curve I have is that one on 67th street that goes under thenold rail road overpass. You know the one, haha
     
  29. Hotrodmyk
    Joined: Jan 7, 2011
    Posts: 2,302

    Hotrodmyk
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. Northwest HAMBers

    Hey I've got one....I have a late model OT performance car with traction control. The first time I got on it real hard, as soon as it broke loose the engine shut down. I almost hit my head on the steering wheel.:eek:
     
    mctim64 likes this.

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