Large Scale Central

HJ!

General Discussion
#21
TonyWalsham said:
Hey Dave, Lay off the Subaru's. I remember that not that long ago 94% of all Subaru's sold in the USA were still operational. They are tough critters.
[b]S[/b] adly [b]U[/b] nderpowered [b]B[/b] ut [b]A[/b] re [b]R[/b] eally [b]U[/b] seful!

Peter, Paul & Mary did a song about them back in '64
"Sue, sue, Subaru,
Outback, bush-track & a creek or two,
I think I’ve really made a blue,
Should have bought a Toyota!

Here I sit at the bottom of the hill,
Who could blame me, cry my fill,
If only tears could turn a wheel,
Should have bought a Toyota.

Oh, my baby, oh my love,
If only someone would give us a shove,
My diff has gone to heaven above,
Should have bought a Toyota!"

Words: P A Creer ©1978
Tune: Shularoo, PP&M, ©1964

#22

Back in '78 I would not have given you a dime for all the Jap crap on wheels around. But today they are a different breed.

But…being an old codger I feel the best cars ever built were the American cars of the 50’s.

#23
Warren Mumpower said:
Back in '78 I would not have given you a dime for all the Jap crap on wheels around. But today they are a different breed.

But…being an old codger I feel the best cars ever built were the American cars of the 50’s.


Sad comparison Warren, mine is exactly the opposite opinion, I grew up (car wise) mostly in the 70’s to the 80’s when every American made car was literally a big turd POS, (Pinto, Vega, Futura, Gremlin, Pacer to name the worst) the only cars that had any real quality and ran reliably were the Japanese cars like Toyota, Datsun, Mitsubishi, Suburu, etc… to this day I have never bought a Big 3 car, of course it hasnt helped that no Big 3 car company has made a car I actually wanted to buy…but the PT Cruiser came close.

PS my Honda Civic, and my Nissan Frontier were both US made :wink:

#24

In the 70’s I was still driving cars from the 60’s. I think I only had 3 cars from the 70’s and they were early 70’s. They were bordering on POS. I’ve had a couple early 80’s cars and they leave me feeling about the same as the early 70’s. Once past the middle 80’s cars improved. I had a decent '86 Sable and also fairly good '86 and '88 Caravans. Of course my outlook on cars changed too. By then I was looking at them as reliable transportation rather than expressions of the male hormones. :smiley: One of the worst cars I’ve ever owned was an '04 Kia minivan. It was so bad I made them buy it back under the state’s lemon law. I’ve got an F-150 and a Caravan and I’ll stick with those. At least I can get in and out of them. Sexmobiles are out. I can’t get in or out of them…at least not without a shoe horn and a crane…:frowning:

#25

…try and find a GOOD bicycle today…even the good old Canadian made CCM is a pile of offshore crap.
(Canadian Cycle Manufacturing)
Today; in order to find a half descent bicycle, you have to have one custom made, or/and pay more than $1000 for one.

I still have a CCM “Coaster wagon” that my Father gave me back in the early 40’s. Try and find anything of that quality today…what you get is a couple of pieces of plastic that is only good for an ad in the local sale flyer.
As far as “Toy Stores” are concerned…just look in a TRU* store to see more crap under one roof than you could ever believe…no wonder children today are not interested in hobbies, of any value.

*Toys R Us

#26

I still have my Schwinn 15-speed Super Continental.
45 or so years old.

Tony- depends on what you mean by “operational”.
If you mean pour enough oil in, and wear earplugs so you can’t hear it knocking, and run old garden hose off the valve cover vents to keep the blowby from plugging the air filter in 5 miles of running, then yes, probably.

However, my 50 Fords keep running.

I used to work on a LOT on Barus, not impressed.

I also recall when they were spelled the same but pronounced differently…two-strokers, I think, capable of 55 MPH downhill IF they were being pushed by something bigger.
Yanked them off the market, re-introduced as water-cooled Volkswagen flat-4’s later.
SUbaru is how they pronounce it over here now, used to be suBARu.

Then, later, they went to overhead cammers, with the water pump driven off the LH timing belt…and guess which belt broke…and after working on many, found out the lifter clatter was oil pump related.
They were okay if you knew every 40K you yanked the engine, tore it down and re-sealed it (new gaskets, and anaerobic sealer on the case halves) to keep folks from thinking you parked an old Harley in your driveway.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a car make go through CV joints faster.
And that emergency (park) brakes built into the front calipers was a real stroke of genius.

Placing the spare tyre above the engine helped with noise reduction, though.

Don’t see but one or two a year pre-1976 Barus around here anymore.
About as often as you see a Vega.

#27
Fred Mills said:
...try and find a GOOD bicycle today.....even the good old Canadian made CCM is a pile of offshore crap. (Canadian Cycle Manufacturing) Today; in order to find a half descent bicycle, you have to have one custom made, or/and pay more than $1000 for one.

I still have a CCM “Coaster wagon” that my Father gave me back in the early 40’s. Try and find anything of that quality today…what you get is a couple of pieces of plastic that is only good for an ad in the local sale flyer.
As far as “Toy Stores” are concerned…just look in a TRU* store to see more crap under one roof than you could ever believe…no wonder children today are not interested in hobbies, of any value.

*Toys R Us


Gotta go to a REAL bike shop, not Toys R Us or Target or Wallmart or any big box, they sell shit. Look for Trek, Gary Fisher, Cannondale, Kona, etc. Be prepared to pay $300-400 for a decent mountain bike or city bike. When it comes to bikes you really get what you pay for, I have had 2 Gary Fishers, they are excellent bikes.

I still have my high school transportation device, namely a classic Schwinn cruiser, it was originally built frame up custom by me when I was 15, today it has inherited cast off mountain bikes over the years, now has front suspension, cantilever brakes, motorcycle handlebars, Brooks leather seat, its a thing of beauty!

I also have, for you old school Mtn Bike junkies out there, another cruiser thats a dam close replica of one of Gary Fishers old Marin fireroad bikes they affectionetly called “klunkers” that they raced down Repack hill. IOWs, drum brakes, motorcyle levers, steel rims, and bike cruiser tires…all 50lbs of it…Its a world of education to ride successfully offroad.

PS if anyone has ever tried to figure out my rather odd email address, well, I’ve been riding klunker bikes for alot longer than I’ve been modeling here.