4x4 Photos

[Bird]

Scruffy, I think they were pretty good cars all along, it's just that the early ones didn't "feel" right to me. Hard to explain, but they just felt light and cheap to me; didn't care for the handling, but the later models feel very comfortable. Of course, that's just my personal preference. When the Pontiac Grand Am first came out, I thought that was really a good looking little car. Then one of my daughters bought one, and I had to drive it a couple of times; one of the most uncomfortable cars I ever got into. I wouldn't have bought one at half the price, but she seemed to like it all right. I guess that's why they make so many different ones./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[scruffy]

I test drove a 71, and it was a pure dog. Underpowered, hard to steer, but many years later drove my father in laws, and was amazed, that thing was peppy, easy driving, and an all around decent vehicle! I think it had 90,000 + miles on it then! It was light in the rear, and 'heavy' (comparatively) in the front. Didn't match up to my 76 Capri w/2.8 V6 in it, but not a bad little car. I borrowed that Pinto when I got run off the road in the Capri, and had to do some body (minor) work on it, straighten the macpherson strut towers out, and replace a bent rear axle housing.

 

[Jeff396]

I don't think anyone is accusing the early Escorts or other 80's small cars of breaking down after 20K miles. I think Birds comment that they felt light and cheap was more the problem. When I'm looking at a car, how long it will run trouble free is very important but there are a lot of other items high on my list also. For instance, a smooth rattle and squeak free ride, interior and exterior fit and finish, the comfort of the interior and the layout of the interior stuff as well as mechanical engineering. IMHO the early Escorts had a harsh ride compared to the Mazda Escorts. Somehow the Japanese were able to put a larger car ride into their compacts. Interiors of our cars in the early 80's tended to look very cheap and plastic. I know all had plastic but the textures we used looked cheap. Fit and finish was bad and in some cases now still is. I've also had the opertunity to perform my own maintenance on a bunch of new Toyota's and their attention to detail is very good. Some examples...Cast aluminum valve covers with a reusable rubber groove gasket as opposed to stamped steel with cork gaskets, Bolt adjusted alternator as opposed to pulling out a crow bar and trying to find somewhere to pry on, Winshield wipers that don't feel or sound like they're gonna slap heck out of themselves, Why just the sound the doors would make when being shut hard was drastically different. I really don't think there is any comparison between the newer and older Escorts. To some people they are just a mode of transportation but to me a car is much much more. I have sold cars for having the slightest noise that can't be found and taken care of. I think that's why I drive trucks now. I don't expect the same thing out of them. A few rattles are normal as is their harsher ride. It's just a way of keeping me sane.

Jeff

 

[Jeff396]

By the way, my wife recently bought a new car and I would like to share one of the cars we looked at. We looked at a mid life crisis car, it was a Chevy Camaro SS convertible. This car stickered for over 35k and as far as how it drove and was mechanically it seemed to be a pretty nice car. On the down side the door didn't fit properly. The interior fit and finish was so bad that I would have had to partially disassemble the interior to make it right. A lot of the plastic parts used still had that bit of stuff attached where the seams of the molds are. It just looked really bad. To the design problems, I can't believe a car in that price range wouldn;t have an antenna that wouldn't go down. Also, when is GM going to give up this crappy combination turn signal, cruise control stalk. First of all it feels like you're gonna break it off when you pull it and unless you are REALLY familar with the car it's hard to put the cruise on without looking at the lever to figure out what to push. I don't think there's another car maker that hasn't figured out how to put the cruise buttons on the steering wheel. Lastly was the convertable top boot. It was a hard plastic type that came in three pieces. This thing took up the entire trunk which wasn't that big to begin with what with it being a convertable and all. It's like it was an afterthought or something. Of course the final nail was when the salesman was trying to run down my F350 diesel trade telling me that they are prone to overheating....Right! Anyway, we ended up with a Chrysler LHS, a brand I have never purchased before but would make efforts to rent whenever I could. I'm still not sold on their quality with trouble free driving but I think they are at the front in styling and fit and finish. Time will tell.

Jeff

I got the extended warranty just in case!

 

[Bird]

Neil, try this link http://www.portaransas.org/FishBoat.asp. That's where I plan to be Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. We'll launch the boat in the Port Aransas Harbor (everyone down there just refers to it as "the small boat harbor") and do a little fishing along the ship channel. You can see a little map if you go to the home page for the link.

 

[njrqs]

Bird
Nice looking harbour.

I kept clicking on the "Birdwatching" button but didn't see you or your tractor. What am I doing wrong ?????

Cheers

<font color=blue>Neil from OZ.</font color=blue>

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>kept clicking on the "Birdwatching" button </font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gifVery good, Neil./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I sure don't want to take me tractor down there. The breeze is continually coming in off the sea, and as one fellow said, "It'd rust a brick." Everything down there rusts, so when I go down there, when I get ready to leave, I immediately wash my vehicle thoroughly.

 

[njrqs]

Like over here where something like 90+ % of out population lives within 20km of the ocean or something like that.

We look for "country" vehicles that should be Ok for rust.

Most 4x4's here end up on the beach so they rust good too !!

Much beach 4x4 action over there??

<font color=blue>Neil from OZ.</font color=blue>

 

[JohnMiller3]

Bareco Hydraulic Toplink Cat II

Bareco P/N-B8111 CAT 2 (1" DIA) BALL BOTH ENDS
INCLUDES ANTI-CREEP VALVE
ADJUSTMENT RANGE 620mm TO 890mm
CYL BORE DIA 63mm
PISTON ROD DIA 35mm

Neil,
Can you contact Bareco down there and find out the price on this for me...

"You are what you eat, drink, think, say and do..."

 

[JohnMiller3]

Quick Toplink CatII End

TOP LINK
QUICK HITCH END
B594
CAT 2 CLAW "A" = 50.8mm
1 1/4" R.H. THREAD (UNC)
SUITS BARE-CO B1 TOP LINK AND
FORDJDCHAMBERLAIN 1 1/4" UNC TOP LINKS

Neil, Can you also find the price for this as well...
Thank you.

"You are what you eat, drink, think, say and do..."