1. Home
  2. Home Repair
  3. What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?
  4. Page 13

What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

They are still out there and new versions seem to pop up now and then. They can be handy in the rust belt if you're out on the road.

Reply to
Steve W.
Loading thread data ...

Chains are hardly ideal. Chains wear. The wear changes the pitch between the links and the links no longer quite fit on the sprockets. It turns into a self reinforcing cycle. More wear = worse fit, worse fit = accelerated wear. Eventually the poorly fitting chain will jump one or more teeth on the crank gear or start breaking the teeth on the cam gear.

The other effect of chain wear is retarded cam timing. The more worn links between the crank and cam, the more the camshaft timing gets retarded. I changed timing sets on conventional OHV engines and that usually advanced the ignition timing from 5 to 10 degrees, suggesting that chain wear had retarded the timing by that amount.

It wasn't only the changes in point gap that was changing the ignition timing on these old cars.

It's no surprise that fiberglass/rubber timing belts ended up being used on most OHC engines.

Could be modern chains are better engineered than the old ones. I can't say.

But I still prefer belts. Even on a tight package like a Dodge Neon with the 4 speed auto, the replacement isn't too bad, once you know the routine.

I love front wheel drive, especially in the snow.

Reply to
Frank

Alot of the old motors used to have hot spots, such as exhaust ports and the manifold heat riser on V type engines, which would coke up the oil quickly. This coked up oil would plug up oil passages and an old motor could be partially starved for oil even if it was full of clean, clear oil.

The heat riser could be designed out of EFI engines.

10W 40 would coke up faster than 10W 30, for what it's worth.
Reply to
Frank

Give the leaded gas ban credit for longer lasting exhaust systems, too. Leaded gas contained some nasty stuff to eat away lead and lead oxide deposits and that nasty stuff would also chew away at exhaust systems, spark plugs and engine components.

Reply to
Frank

Sometimes things like power lock actuators and some electrical connections

Reply to
clare

Correct

Reply to
clare

The biggest advantage is the fuel is injected after initial compression, just before the spark - so the fuel is not "dwelling" in the combustion chamber under high heat and pressure, dissassociating and causing detonation. Can run much higher compression ratio on regular gas.

Reply to
clare

Might happen - but not by design. A properly running injected engine hardly builds any deposits at all under normal operation.

Reply to
clare

60K plus
Reply to
clare

They do brakes and suspension and tires now.

Reply to
clare

You paid $10 to twist the bolt and $90 to know how far to turn what bolt in what direction!!

Reply to
clare

Caster and camber are pretty well inter-related - changing one changes the other on most non-strut suspensions. Struts are a whole lot simpler.

Reply to
clare

There is more to it than that. FWD is more efficient than spinning a drive shaft and rear differential. Bending power 90 degrees costs. FWD also allows as much if not more passenger space in the cabin. If you ever dealt with the transmission hump from hell you know what I mean. Admittedly it's a moot point for me since I go for two bucket seats and a center console but I don't haul a family around. FWD designs tend to be lighter.

When you're chasing the EPA fleet mileage, FWD looks good.

Reply to
rbowman

Shim over buckets? Yamaha had a tool that would hold the bucket down for some of their engines so you could get the shims out. Shims under the bucket means you pull the cams.

Reply to
rbowman

Both drilling and grooving INCREASE surface area exposed to air.

Mass just delays the inevitable. Mass does NOT cool. Mass absorbs (and holds) heat. Airflow and convection cool.

Enough mass prevents the brake from overheating as quickly as a lower mass rotor - but also takes longer to cool. In racing applications RECOVERY is the aim - so they drill and groove the rotors to both let the outgassing from overheated pads escape, and the rotors to shed heat more quickly. Then they use carbon fibre - which absorbs LESS heat, and weighs less than steel, but can operate hotter and still stop.

There is more than just mass involved with rotor thickness. There is also the fact a thicker rotor has more strength and wont - get this - WARP when it gets hot.

Reply to
clare

My best value was a '51 Chevy business coupe for $35. That's not to say it didn't come with aggravations. I think the factory bolted the master cylinder to the frame and then dropped the body in place. It was a bear to get out. Then there was the kingpin reamer... There's a blast from the past.

Reply to
rbowman

The theory with the '51 Chevy was you placed the base of the bumper jack on the bead and jacked away. The car went up, the bead didn't budge.

Reply to
rbowman

Well, I'll half agree with both of you.

Front drive is LIGHTER - which is the main arguement for front drive. It is more compact packaging - taking up less interior space - no driveshaft hump, no transmission hump, and no space taken up by the rear diff (and rear axles) With transverse engine mounting hypoid gears are eliminated, increasing the efficiency of the drivetrain. It MIGHT be less expensive to build - but that's a byproduct of the rest of it.

As for handling - that depends what you want. Rallying competitively for 3 years with a front wheel drive Renault 12, and having owned and driven a "classic" mini as my first car, and driving a 204 Peugeot estate during my time in Africa - I LIKE front wheel drive handling. It's definitely DIFFERENT than rear drive - but the low powered Renault beat out a LOT of bigger and more powerful rear drive cars - Datsuns, Celicas, BMWs, MGs, "Yank Tanks", Beetles, and Porsches.

Reply to
clare

Not as "in your face" but readilly available from local auto supply companies. They took manual changers in on trade on new power units and sold the old manual units pretty cheaply. The demand was so low lots ended up going to scrap.

Reply to
clare

Better design, better metalurgy

Actually a LOT of science involved in the base metalurgy, the torsion design, the surface finish - moly filled, chromed, etc, as well as the thickness and tension of the rings.

The ring used in a dragster engine, truck engine, and standard street engine will all be significantly different.

You just do not understand the complexity of ring sealing - how they must twist - and bend to seal as both the rings and cyls change size and shape as they heat and cool.

A simple cast iron flat-land ring with no taper or notches doesn't seal or last worth a crap. It can't twist (has no torsion)

Oil ring design is every bit as complex.

No way a 1855 Chevy ring would ever go 200,000 miles if installed in today's engines - just like it didn't back then - even WITH today's oils.

Reply to
clare

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.