Honest Engines

[potownrob]

dis is excite. eye yam hope. eye hope they put one of the new engines in models other than the tree, like the cx-tree and cx-fife. my hopes of them putting awd in the tree and sicks are running lo.

[tankinbeans]

I'm very interested in the Skyactiv-X engine. I might take one for a spin when my lease is closer to expiring. Still planning to buyout, but shinies interest me.

Not interested in being an early adopter though.

[Rope-Pusher]

I dunno. Seams tummy early adopting is preferable to late adopting.

[Rope-Pusher]

Amid EV hype, the internal combustion engine keeps improving
... and it's still what most people actually buy

Despite the hype generated by Tesla, even the most bullish forecasts call for full EVs to account for only around 8 percent of the U.S. market by 2025. They represent less than 2 percent today.
http://www.autonews.com/article/2018111 ... technology

[Rope-Pusher]

New RAM 3500 to Offer Many Torques....Amish Need Not Get In Line.

https://www.autonews.com/detroit-auto-s ... -ft-torque

[ClutchFork]

New RAM 3500 to Offer Many Torques....Amish Need Not Get In Line.

Tool of the Devil, I say. Push it off a cliff and good riddance!

[Rope-Pusher]

New RAM 3500 to Offer Many Torques....Amish Need Not Get In Line.

Tool of the Devil, I say. Push it off a cliff and good riddance!

Hay Cee Eff,
You seem to have adopted a style of replying to certain posts that is very ambiguous. It's when you are responding about a car that is trying to take away or diminish your responsibilities as a driver. Could you possibly consider that some of us aren't on the same wavelength as you and be more direct in your replies?

[potownrob]

New RAM 3500 to Offer Many Torques....Amish Need Not Get In Line.

Tool of the Devil, I say. Push it off a cliff and good riddance!

[ClutchFork]

New RAM 3500 to Offer Many Torques....Amish Need Not Get In Line.

Tool of the Devil, I say. Push it off a cliff and good riddance!

Hay Cee Eff,
You seem to have adopted a style of replying to certain posts that is very ambiguous. It's when you are responding about a car that is trying to take away or diminish your responsibilities as a driver. Could you possibly consider that some of us aren't on the same wavelength as you and be more direct in your replies?

I an trying to speak for the Amish. Me, I say tool of laziness to the general public, tool of frustration for me trying to drive the thing. I suppose I should seek if there is an Amish conversion kit for it.

Also, are there any kits to convert those pesky hydraulic clutch setups back to good old Amish cable linkage?

[Rope-Pusher]

Tool of the Devil, I say. Push it off a cliff and good riddance!

Hay Cee Eff,
You seem to have adopted a style of replying to certain posts that is very ambiguous. It's when you are responding about a car that is trying to take away or diminish your responsibilities as a driver. Could you possibly consider that some of us aren't on the same wavelength as you and be more direct in your replies?

I an trying to speak for the Amish. Me, I say tool of laziness to the general public, tool of frustration for me trying to drive the thing. I suppose I should seek if there is an Amish conversion kit for it.

Also, are there any kits to convert those pesky hydraulic clutch setups back to good old Amish cable linkage?

Cable?...Schmable! Go back to Amish clutch linkage:

This is what Dog intended we use,...along with our three-on-the-tree shift linkage:

[ClutchFork]

^ Yes! I love it! That looks like my '77 F150 which had the rod and pivots linkage. I never ever had a cable until the Mustang. I remember on the F150 (which was a find-em-or-grind-em three-on-the-tree) I blew an engine mount and then every time I torqued it too hard the pivot shaft would fall off and my clutch linkage was gone until I bolted it back in place. I was a student intern with the Dept. of Natural Resources in Roscommon County MI so I replaced the engine mount in the parking lot of the parts store using a piece of firewood (my parking brake as you may recall) between the scissor jack and a solid part of the engine to lift the engine enough to get the new mount in.

I had a co-worker a few years before who did the same thing but used a metal rod instead of a piece of firewood for the extension. The rod slipped out, and smacked him just above the eye making it look like someone had punched him. In my opinion, the firewood has much more friction against metal than does metal against metal, and the firewood has a larger surface and allows any metal edge on the engine to sort of dig in enough that it is not likely to slip out.

Also, back in those days I don't think parts stores were so uptight about people doing car repairs in their parking lot. Logically, it is about the best place to repair you car, so long as it is a nice day, because whatever parts you might need are just a few steps away. Surprised parts stores don't offer hourly pay repair bay rentals. It could help them sell a lot more parts, and they could have a master mechanic on staff in case anyone gets in over their head, of course for a hefty hourly fee that the desperate DYIer will be glad to pay after screwing up his own work.

[Rope-Pusher]

^ Yes! I love it! That looks like my '77 F150 which had the rod and pivots linkage. I never ever had a cable until the Mustang. I remember on the F150 (which was a find-em-or-grind-em three-on-the-tree) I blew an engine mount and then every time I torqued it too hard the pivot shaft would fall off and my clutch linkage was gone until I bolted it back in place. I was a student intern with the Dept. of Natural Resources in Roscommon County MI so I replaced the engine mount in the parking lot of the parts store using a piece of firewood (my parking brake as you may recall) between the scissor jack and a solid part of the engine to lift the engine enough to get the new mount in.

I had a co-worker a few years before who did the same thing but used a metal rod instead of a piece of firewood for the extension. The rod slipped out, and smacked him just above the eye making it look like someone had punched him. In my opinion, the firewood has much more friction against metal than does metal against metal, and the firewood has a larger surface and allows any metal edge on the engine to sort of dig in enough that it is not likely to slip out.

Also, back in those days I don't think parts stores were so uptight about people doing car repairs in their parking lot. Logically, it is about the best place to repair you car, so long as it is a nice day, because whatever parts you might need are just a few steps away. Surprised parts stores don't offer hourly pay repair bay rentals. It could help them sell a lot more parts, and they could have a master mechanic on staff in case anyone gets in over their head, of course for a hefty hourly fee that the desperate DYIer will be glad to pay after screwing up his own work.

Seems tummy that Click-n-Clack, The Tappet Brothers, were running a service where they rented out garage stall space and offered sage advice to the folks who were repairing their own vehicles. I think that eventually, it morphed into a garage where you paid for a mechanic to do the work and somewhere along the way they sat in on a radio show and people called in for repair advice and that was so well received that they eventually got their own weekly show.

There was a place nearby to me that in the 1970's rented out garage stall space...I think the trick is how to fix the car in a reasonable amount of hours so you can get it out of there and stop paying rent....and how do you get it over there if it's not running and how do you get it out of there is it's still not running but you've run out of time to work on it or have decided to cut your losses and not repair it. At some point in time, paying for a tow went from paying the tow operators wage to (CHA-CHING!) paying for the monthly payment on his power boat.

[ClutchFork]

Seems tummy that Click-n-Clack, The Tappet Brothers, were running a service where they rented out garage stall space and offered sage advice to the folks who were repairing their own vehicles. I think that eventually, it morphed into a garage where you paid for a mechanic to do the work and somewhere along the way they sat in on a radio show and people called in for repair advice and that was so well received that they eventually got their own weekly show.

There was a place nearby to me that in the 1970's rented out garage stall space...I think the trick is how to fix the car in a reasonable amount of hours so you can get it out of there and stop paying rent....and how do you get it over there if it's not running and how do you get it out of there is it's still not running but you've run out of time to work on it or have decided to cut your losses and not repair it. At some point in time, paying for a tow went from paying the tow operators wage to (CHA-CHING!) paying for the monthly payment on his power boat.

Yes, Click and Clack were a blast. They always threw a lot of humor into their evaluations and answers to call-in car issues.

Back in the day we would have a friend hook a rope or chain to his bumper and tow the disabled car (assuming it was not a blown ball joint with the wheel at some skewed angle. That was risky and I think now a ticket-able offence. Last time I was the towee was in the Ranger with a blown slave that locked up the pedal. I had shut the engine off and could not restart because of the stupid clutch interlock safety switch that I was no knowledgeable enough to quickly disable (assuming that is possible) in the turn lane over I-96 during rush traffic in a rain storm. Bad enough I had to hook a guy's tow strap underneath. Anyway, not having my power brakes and a short tow strap to go the last half mile to the shop (lousy red light and rush traffic or I would have made it with clutchless shifting but for the stop), i did not have a good feel for braking power so basically did overkill and broke the guys strap, so we tied it on this time and go there with a bit less brake effort, but those brake pads got hot enough to smell.

I am so glad to be rid of that cursed Ranger and it made me absolutely hate hydraulic clutch linkage. However, I tolerate it for the S10 which works beautifully, so not sure why the Ranger was so bad but that the master in the s10 is dead level, where in the Ranger it is more vertical than horizontal and I have heard of people practically standing the stupid truck on end to get it level to bleed it. But mine had other issues and I don't know what because we put brand new slave, line and master. Complete replacement with genuine blue-stripe Ford (not just Motorcraft) parts and it was still no good. After wasting about $1500 I gave up. Sold it for $1100 to some sucker who may or may not have gotten a good deal. I remember he was a kid who played hockey a lot and when he noted the hardball shift knob, I said, hey, we can put a hockey puck on there, but he decided the hardball was sufficient.

Oh yeah, towing fees are outrageous! I think they charge about $100 just to come out even if you decline the tow. Worse than appliance repairmen. I could see the exorbitant fee for roadside towing in dangerous situations such as on the freeway where it would legitimately be considered hazard pay. My shop is cool though, our van died on the I96 freeway about 5 miles from their shop and they towed me in for a mere $60. Great shop, they brought me a can of gas one time and didn't even charge me. Guy pulled up in his car smoking a cigarette and handed me the can of gas. I think he was happy to get a smoke break and away from the shop for a few minutes.

[theholycow]

At some point in time, paying for a tow went from paying the tow operators wage to (CHA-CHING!) paying for the monthly payment on his power boat.

I'm not quite so sure about that. There are certainly some who are raking it in, especially crooked ones running rackets in cahoots with politicians. I'm willing to bet that the modern near-universal disconnect between the consumer and the payer inflates that industry's costs and demand (similar to how doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions cost so ridiculously much). Another contributor (also like in health care) would be the authoritarian nanny state constantly clamping down with ever-growing, excessive regulations.

I did some snow plowing as a contractor for the state for a few years. When you look at the rates they're paying it looks like "holy crap I'm gonna be rich", but in reality everything is super expensive...business you can't do because your truck is busy, of course the truck purchase itself, equipment (plow, spreader, lighting), insurance, fuel, maintenance, parts, repairs, keeping yourself awake with hot coffee and food from whatever place is open, and god forbid you have to pay a relief driver's wage...ad nauseum. You don't rake it in the way it looks like you do. Much more of the $72/hr for my dumptruck disappeared than I expected. That was a long time ago and I could do better now with my improved ability to repair stuff and source parts but I still wouldn't by buying any power boats.

Now imagine instead of being blamed for broken mailboxes you get blamed for dragged torn bumpers...and imagine the cost of workers comp insurance when you have hired drivers recovering vehicles roadside in all conditions.

(Hey, I could make $50/hr with my half ton pickup and small plow. Nah, forget about that...I could make $150/hr if I get a helper and we throw a snowblower in the truck...nah.)

[theholycow]

↑The links in my previous post make it look like spam. Anyway...

I think the trick is how to fix the car in a reasonable amount of hours so you can get it out of there and stop paying rent....and how do you get it over there if it's not running and how do you get it out of there is it's still not running but you've run out of time to work on it or have decided to cut your losses and not repair it.

Don't forget having to pack up all your tools (as well as supplies/scrap/whatever) and haul them there, and then hope you won't need stuff you failed to bring.

Seems like a great idea but I can't imagine me ever having any success working like that. Better have great WiFi there, too. I take a LOT of time looking up manuals, searching the internet for hacks, messing around with things, finding surprise that need more work, doing dangerous stuff that should not be done near other people or things, abandoning the project for a week or ten, etc...

I guess I could use such a place for a familiar job on a familiar car when the weather is just too nasty (or if I couldn't work in my yard because HOA/apartment/whatever).

There is one such place that I've seen:
http://www.gearheadri.com

Rental for a fully-equipped bay with a lift
Basic rate includes the use of all tools, specialty tools, diagnostic equipment and shop machinery, with the exception of vehicle software downloads and welding equipment/supplies & tire machine, which carry additional charges.

Lift Rental
1 Hour Rental $20
4 Hour Rental (Half Day) $80
8 Hour Rental (Full Day) $150

Mechanical Coach: $35/ Hour

...actually, maybe it could be useful for me on occasion (if I didn't have family in the business whose stuff I can occasionally use), depending on exactly what tools/equipment they have. Interesting.