We had a '64 of that color, for a while. Ran fine, but was so rusty that Dad finally yanked the engine (last year of the 196 in '64, IIRC) and transmission and put them into another Rambler...
Regards,
Gordon.
What was your first car?
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We had a '64 of that color, for a while. Ran fine, but was so rusty that Dad finally yanked the engine (last year of the 196 in '64, IIRC) and transmission and put them into another Rambler...
Regards,
Gordon.
Yep, that was a Slant 6, all right. You played hell GETTING it running, but once it was, you couldn't STOP it from running, pretty much forever.
Regards,
Gordon.
I almost bought one of those, but the girl who had it before, trashed the transmission, and I had no idea where to find another one in South Georgia in the early 1980s.
But, I then found an Opel GT, and never looked back. We had all the Opel parts anyone could ask for (we regularly fixed up Opel Kadetts and Mantas, which had the same exact drivetrain), so that was a much more practical deal...
Regards,
Gordon.
Those things would last forever. My dad would get the take-offs of those from tire stores- and, I really think, he would get more mileage out of the USED XZXs, than whoever replaced them, got out of whatever other brand NEW tires they put on.
They would get hard as a rock after a while (rain grip wasn't so good, naturally), but they would run for astonishingly high mileage.
Regards,
Gordon.
Hawkgt
Active Member
First car was a 1972 Spitfire MK IV.I was 20 when I got that along with my Driver's license.I was always looking for rides in the winter as all I had was a motorcycle.Learned a lot about cars driving this one though it was generally pretty reliable.Drove it from Toronto to Vancouver and back around 1975.I remember coming back and stopped in traffic just North of North Bay as a man hunt was going on.The OPP officer came over had a quick look in the car and laughed as there was just enough room for my brother and I.That was when Cloud II was shot and killed by Kelly.
Car met it's demise wrapped around a Hydro pole.My brother driving.He was fine and the car was sold for salvage
Not my car,but looked like this
Car met it's demise wrapped around a Hydro pole.My brother driving.He was fine and the car was sold for salvage
Not my car,but looked like this
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moermusic2
Active Member
learning car was a 57 Meteor, 3 on the tree. first purchased vehicle was a 65 Galaxie 500 LTD, 4 door hardtop, 390CID color Twighlight Turquoise
But don’t ever try to change the tires like a normal car. Reverse threads. I broke 3 stubs off trying to fix a flat.
Hard lesson to learn.
Just on ONE side. Left hand threads on one side, right hand threads on the other!
From an engineering standpoint, it made perfect sense. In theory, by putting left hand threads on one side and right hand on the other- when the wheel rolled down the road, the nuts would be somewhat "self tightening", on both sides. They should not loosen and come off by themselves, even if they weren't torqued properly.
From a logistical standpoint, for the average person, they were a complete nightmare, as described above. Unless EVERYONE adopted them, so the entire public was used to them being the standard, there would always be people wringing the left-hand threaded nuts off, thinking they unscrewed in the same direction as the right-hand nuts...
Regards,
Gordon.
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noogies
My Favorite Woofers.
My memory may fail me on this, but weren't the reverse threads only on one side of the car? Also the case on the '63 and prior full-sized Olds.
quiet
Addicted Member
No no no, that's not it. It was so the massive torque of the slant six didn't spin them off when accelerating. The 440 didn't have the problem, but they got it too.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
When I turned 16 I paid a farmer $60 for this 36 Chevy. It was parked in a chicken coop and I first thought it was white but once I got the poop off it was black. Could never gets its dull paint to shine so I'd rub it down with kerosene. When I drove to school folks complained that they could smell me coming. 
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
'67 TR4A IRS
Turned out to be a five car.
Paid 500 for it, had it for 5 years, sold it for 5 grand.
Turned out to be a five car.
Paid 500 for it, had it for 5 years, sold it for 5 grand.
Very nice first car! Did you learn to drive a manual, on that car?
I learned on my old '67 VW Bug. My Dad showed me the gear shift positions, gave me the keys, and told me "Good Luck!" One of the best cars to learn a stick. Of course, I did have 5 years of dirt bike racing experience.
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
Sort of.
It was the first manual i'd driven on pavement, legally.
I actually learned my basic manual skills on my neighbor's dad's three on the tree '65 Econoline pickup(The Puddlejumper), in their backyard and adjoining local baseball field when we were 12 or 13. It was easier than learning the 5 + 4 in a Mack a few years later.
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
I actually learned manual clutching on a Hondamatic, go figure.Of course, I did have 5 years of dirt bike racing experience.
For those not familiar with the early Hondamatics, they actually have a manual clutch set in them that's actuated by the shifting mechanism, holding the shifter partway up or down from it's center position disengages the manual clutch pack thus allowing redline holeshots, and redline power shifts.
I actually learned manual clutching on a Hondamatic, go figure.
For those not familiar with the early Hondamatics, they actually have a manual clutch set in them that's actuated by the shifting mechanism, holding the shifter partway up or down from it's center position disengages the manual clutch pack thus allowing redline holeshots, and redline power shifts.
Was this a Honda Trail 70? I remember a friend and I broke the spine of the frame, doing jumps in a construction site --- on his older brother's Trail 70. I haven't thought about that in decades. My first "racer" was a souped-up, old beaten Hodaka. I must have seized that engine a hundred times. I just went to the dealer and bought pistons, six at a time. Castor bean oil made power but lubrication-wise, it wasn't synthetic. Smell of exhaust was awesome!
