TS Circuit -- Part 2

[J. Clarke]

So what repair do you believe to be needed for ironblocks to achieve 300,000 miles?

[Ed Pawlowski]

If it was a 1950 Chevy, rings and bearings about 3 or 4 times. Oh, at least one or 2 valve jobs too.

I do know of two Toyota Celica that reached that mark. Engine ran great but the body was pretty well rusted out. See through fenders for good ventilation.

Then there was the Vega. I drove my brother's to California when he moved cross country. It was never the same after that.

[Leon]

Never mind. This is going nowhere.

[Leon]

It's like the career that I was fortunate to retire from at 40 was a dream. I did not really witness all the problems the these GM engines had. Chevroley big block engines, in the 60's and early 70's, did not really have an inherent cylinder, that was every ones imagination. Fords recent V8 is not really blowing the spark plugs out of the heads, that is the owners imagination. GM's v6 and v8 diesel engines did not have lifter problems, they are supposed to run like that. I stocked 2~3 complete engines at all times. It was very common to replace complete engines. I recall the 3.8 V6 crate engine was less than $1000 so it was less expensive to replace than to overhaul. I could get a new engine from GM in less than 3 days but kept them in stock for our shop.

It's like the career that I was fortunate to retire from at 40 was a dream. I did not really witness all the problems the these GM engines had.

[J. Clarke]

A '50 Chevy would have had an oil-trough spray lube system, not fully pressurized, so one would expect the bearings to die young. The engine was basically a '20s design.

I'm thinking more of the many American cars sold in the past 20 years that have gone over

300,000. I suspect that the real change there is the lubricants--modern lubricants, especially synthetics, are much much better than what was available in the '50s.

[J. Clarke]

What is an "inherent cylinder"?

Aluminum heads.

You mean the ones that were designed to be gas engines and then modified into diesels?

[Bill]

Was it that horrible (that you wanted to retire at 40)? Or did you aspire to do woodworking instead? I have my own reasons for asking, and just like I am choosing not to "put them out there", I understand if you would rather not go into this here.

Bill

[Leon]

I worked in almost every aspect of the automotive business. I managed my first tire store/service center when I was 21. Later I loved working for the dealership, I was hired to manage the parts department of a new yet to exist Oldsmobile dealership on my 23rd birthday. I moved up to Service Sales Manager and later Parts Director of the both dealerships that we had until I left to fill the GM position of an AC'Delco wholesale distributor 10 years later. I stayed with that until I was 40. It was that last position that I retired from. I hated working for the owners but put up with it the nonsense for about 5 of the 7 years. It was a father and son business that was quite successful on a small scale. After I joined we expanded sales greatly but the volume of business was apparently too much for the father as he was unable to make the changes to keep up. The son, the one that hired me, had never really worked for any one other than his father except for some dealership work when he was in school. They did not understand diversifying or expanding product lines to include Ford or MoPar. When I joined they had little to no competition. As competition came in they were unwilling to change their business plan to adapt. I stayed with them because of the fantastic retirement plan. They closed the doors about 18 months after I left.

I was into woodworking at around age 8. Serious woodworking at around

1. And became a sole proprietorship wood working business to satisfy the government about 20 years ago. Not a living by any stretch of the imagination but plenty of gravy. ;~)

I would be happy to provide you with any other details privately that you might be interested in.

[Leon]

A lot of that has to do with dealer stock. I always get pricing by building online. I only see about 10% difference when comparing that way. I was looking at Ford and GMC/Chevrolet in 07 and was thoroughly discussed and ready to wait another year. We decided to check Toyota at the end of the day and the test drive was what put me back in the mood an we bought that day.

[krw]

Nope. It didn't matter. The book prices were that much different, as close to equivalent options as possible. Acutally, the out-the-door price difference was even bigger (special deals with the manufacturers

- "X-Plan").