First Car ?

[RobertN]

My Road Runner did that for a while. My Dad worked for Mopar,, and we had other Mopars in the family. So, we had spare parts ect. I tried rotor, cap, coil, ignition module to no affect. Still died now and then out of the blue, but would start right back up after 5-10 minutes.

Turned out to be a cracked resistor leading to the coil. Those things are resistive material inside a ceramic casing. The engine and underhood area would get warm, causing the ceramic to expand. It would loose electrical connectivity inside, and the car would die. Then it would cool down and contract, again making electrical connection. She'd fire right up!

I like those cheap simple fixes, but when they are hard to find...

 

[JerryG]

Those resistors were bad about that. I had a friend that had a rig that he raced a lot that would crap out a higher rpm. He had taken it to 4 dealerships and 3 independent garages and they couldn't find out what was wrong with it. I found the problem in about an hour. I really don't think that the others wanted to work on anything for racing.

 

[JDgreen227]

"I'd be driving along just fine, and the engine would just quit".

I have a computer that does that all the time, we have really made progress over the years, huh? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[chim]

Back in 1965, it was a 1959 Buick coupe. Fire engine red. Grandparents generously provided it. My Grandma chose it because she thought the mag wheels were so spiffy. I don't think we ever got a picture of it. Kinda resembled a red Batmobile.................chim

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Turned out to be a cracked resistor )</font>

Was that the one they called a "ballast resistor"? I never had a Mopar quit while running, but we spent a weekend at Toledo Bend Lake once when I was pulling a little travel trailer with a '72 Chrysler Town & Country wagon and when we got ready to leave, it wouldn't start; no Chrysler dealer in the nearest town, but the Chevrolet dealer advertised repair service for all makes in the yellow pages. They towed it in and 3 guys spent a day and a half trying to get it started before I suggested that they call I Chrysler dealer (I told them I'd pay for the phone call) and the Chrysler dealer promptly told them to replace the ballast resistor which fixed it (5 minute job and $2 part). So when one of my daughters was driving my '77 Dodge pickup and called one night when she was getting off work and it wouldn't start, I went and got a ballast resistor and changed it; that's all it took. But my '68 Roadrunner never failed to go. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GaryM]

A 1959 Pontiac Catalina in black with a red interior. Bought used in 1965 for about $300. Needed a little work. Had a bad waterleak somewhere in the back. When parked facing up a hill in a hard rain, water would collect under the rear seat. Drive up the hill to a level spot and hit the brakes and a wave would sweep under the front seats and get your feet wet.

Punched a few holes in the floor to let the water out.

 

[fivestring]

"1960 Rambler Ambassador I paid a 100 bucks for, what a piece of junk!"

That was the first vehicle I rode in with the vacuum-operated wipers. The slower the engine speed - the slower the wipers! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Dozernut]

Those vacuum wipers were a real gem. That Rambler also had a window washer. It consisted of a large squeeze bulb on the floor by the dimmer switch. To wash your windows you just stepped on the squeeze bulb to squirt fluid. The only neat thing about that old Rambler was that the seats would lay flat and you could make a bed out on them. Great for camping but not as much fun when its in up on blocks in your yard!

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Gary, I recall the way they worked a little differently. 50MPH down the higway, step on the gas wipers stop, downshift on hill and the go like a bat outta heck. Idle or cruise they run somewhere in between.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

If the British can do nothing else then can put a paint job on a car.

When I got home from the service January of 69 I had some savings, a job at GTE waiting for me, and three years of catching up to do.

I was twenty going on sixteen--forty. I narrowed my choices down to three. 67 Corvette with a 427 and a four speed, a little rough. 67 Datsun 2000 with the hundred and fifty horse motor, Minlites, Michelins, and a five speed. New 68 TR4A IRS, black, not just black black either, black as seeing yourself coming or going in it black.

My heart loved the Datsun. Puppy would get it and sing while doing so. But I got the Triumph.

It came with 5:90 fifteen nylons. Volkswagens came with 5:60 fifteens if I remember correctly. They lasted three thousand miles. All four were no treads even. That was important to me. I'd heard that Jim Clark wore his tires that way. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It was a toot and just perfect for me. It didn't take me long to develop a gift for gab out of self preservation. If I couldn't get away with murder with the cops I skated with the judge. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

One morning I walked the mile or so to traffic court. I was facing a ninety five in a sixty five and I figured I was dead meat so I might as well not risk having the car towed because I no longer would have a license. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

But as usual I got lucky. Right after the judge sat down for business a pregnant woman carrying a baby came in. I elbowed the guy next to me as he tried to get up. She got my seat and I stood in the back of the room real polite like.

When he called my case he pointed out that my minimum sentence was two hundred dollars and ten days in jail. I definately remember him saying "and ten days in jail". Or I could go to traffic school.

I'd been raised with honesty being the best policy. So I ducked my head and informed the good old judge that I had graduated from traffic school just the night before for three other tickets.

He asked me if I wanted the two hundred dollar fine and the ten days in jail or traffic school. Even in my youth I was a quick thinker. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif And even a faster talker. I think I skipped all the way home. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It was a fun car and we had many adventures. I imagine she's owned by some collector now. I doubt if they've removed her memories though. Like the time the the two fighter pilots from Norton AFB let us have the ugly gal while they took the two pretty ones in their XKE convertibles. I passed them in the curves going up old Waterman Canyon on our way to Crestline. They were not happy campers. They weren't real comfortable with the tires squealing much less all four loose in a drift. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They found out there is a difference between looking fast and being fast.

I paid twenty nine hundred dollars for her tax, license, etc in January 69. She had leather seats, neat wood dash, and we had fun. She'd only do a hundred and fifteen but she did it often. North of Phoenix we caught a swarm of honey bees at that speed. I had the top down and all of a sudden the windshield turned yellow. It had a pump winshield washer. I had that little kicker doing double time getting to see once again. I didn't know it was bees I'd hit until I got where I was going and found some not totally yellow globs that were obviously bees.

Just thinking about her brings a smile. We had a bond. The ladies loved her. And gawd knows I loved the ladies. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif