[Shotimes] Part 1...You've never owned a car before.....was: Re: Hold it a minute

[George Fourchy]

Worked on this for an hour......and it didn't make the list when I sent it the first
time, at midnight local time....we'll see what happens THIS time....

Nothing.....

Guess I have to divide it into two halves....is there a limit of sized messages sent
to the list?  Originally this one was 12 mb.


On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 01:05:23 -0400, James F. Ryan III wrote:

>Nicely put, but consider the following:

I'll do it.....one by one.  

Part One....

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the brake rotors warp from normal driving and braking (no racing).

No argument here....the brakes are too small.  We all know that.  I've put Wilwoods
on every running Taurus I have, even the wagon.  I could get an Audi A-6 wagon, or a
Volvo C70, but I like my '91 SLO better.  It's a better utilization of my money.  
That's the way things are.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the rear brake lines rusted SHUT and pretty much incapacitated the rear
>brakes.

I've heard about that, but never had it happen.  I have had it happen in my now
departed '65 Mustang...the front brakes worked OK one stop, then not at all the next
one.  New lines fixed it.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the rear springs sagged so badly after so few miles of normal driving (no
>towing or unecessary heavy loads in the trunk).

Well....I once put new ones in the Lowrider after 155,000 miles....it was sagging
pretty badly by that time.  I guess that's a few miles compared to what it has now.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the alignment is so difficult to have performed properly.
>
>I've never owned a car before where,
>in order to achieve proper front alignment the FACTORY recommneded fix is to
>drill out spot welds in the body.

Never had those problems.  I HAVE had to have the rear realigned every time there is
traumatic damage to the rear end...the factory specs will cause cupping for this
car...30 minutes spent at the local Michelin dealer fixes that until the next hit. 
(This time the body shop got it right the first time....it's being very friendly to
the Sport A/S's.)  In all their miles, I've never had to align any FWD Ford car.  I
just ajust the toe.  No problem..!

>I've never owned a car before where,
>in order to acheive proper rear alignment you swap in superior parts from
>another major auto manufacturer.

Haven't had to do that.....I can't say I know what the alignment guys have done to
the rear, but it doesn't have any GM parts on it.  I have some Zach Leahy arms for
the black car....they may or may not go on it.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the entire HVAC system was so problematic.

After nine years of use, the original R-12 system in the Lowrider finally got low in
Freon....it got an R-134 conversion for the same cost as rejuvenating the original
system.  Three years later, it needed its first compressor cycle switch.  I'm not
complaining.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the A/C lines were destroyed by battery acid because they were routed
>underneath the battery tray.

A little periodic maintenance will prevent this and other corrosion problems due to
battery spillage.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the A/C compressor clutch gap went out of a adjustment.

Never had this problem, with any Ford compressor, or any other one.  The Tbird NEVER
NEEDED ANY A/C WORK, in its entire 12 year lifetime (other than a cycle switch that
went out after about the first 6 months of ownership).

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the HVAC blend door motor........need I say more.

Never had that problem.
>
>I've never owned a car before where,
>the HVAC blower control relay........need I say more.

After 245,000 or so, I changed the one in Lowrider.....that's a suitable lifespan, I
think.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the HVAC control unit buttons crack from normal use (gee, that's on par with
>the brakes).

Yes it is.....poor engineering.  This I agree with....concession #2.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the headlight circuit is so poorly designed and one wire (the brown wire)
>overheats, melts, and almost causes a fire.

Never had this problem.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the factory stereo head unit is so poorly designed that its capacitors leak
>and render the unit inoperable after a few years of service.

I've never owned a car that had a suitable factory stereo system, period....except
for the wife's RX300.  That's a good system....better than the 2 year newer GS. 
It'll take $550 worth of extremely discounted good extra speakers and an additional
amp (and my labor) to get it up to speed.  That's in an '03 Lexus, folks....!

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the antenna breaks so frequently from normal up/down operation.

Never happened to me.....I've broken mine twice....both times my fault.  Wagon is
original.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the sunshade of the moonroof uses a water soluble adhesive that loses its
>ability to hold the material if it gets wet, ONCE.

Concession #3.....I agree with this.  But it didn't happen until the car was 6 years
old, and left open all winter for the rains to drown.

>I've never owned a car before where,
>the front subframe can disconnect from the unibody because of a poorly
>designed mounting system/bolts.

Never happened to me.....I check the tightness once in a while.  One of the Delrin
bushings is cracked.  I watch it.  23,000 more miles of easy freeway driving and
it's done.  Watching it is good enough.

Part Two follows.....