sick and tired of new scrap appliances.

[LizzieMaine]

If there's one thing modern culture produces more than its share of, it's compost. All we need to do is get it into one big pile.

 

[jamespowers]

No rebuilds?

No doubt that regular maintenance is necessary to long life. A religiously maintained fleet Crown Vic -- a taxicab, say -- might well clock a half million miles or more before it's put out of its pain, whereas your typical civilian (as we used to call 'em) version gets melted down and turned into new Hyundais with fewer than half that many miles on its odometer. Original owners, who pay big bucks, generally take reasonably good care of them. Second owners generally less so, third owners even less, etc., until it ends up with someone who got it for grand and drives it into the dirt. But even the best cars wear out. Sure, a person can continue replacing parts (even entire bodies for early MGBs and Ford Mustangs and Model Ts and As can be had these days), but it can get to be like the guy who is still using his grandfather's axe -- the one that's had its handle replaced four times and its head twice. But it's still a good axe.

No rebuilds but I have had the 57 chevy engine replaced---mainly because it wasn't the original engine. Some got a decent 327 Corvette engine for nothing. It was fast but wrong.
Original owners are thge best to get a vehicle from. They know the car from day one. All of mine except one came from original owners. That might explain part of the long life.
I'll continue replacing parts. I haven't replaced major parts of any body yet but I know I could if I had to.

 

[jamespowers]

If there's one thing modern culture produces more than its share of, it's compost. All we need to do is get it into one big pile.

Ten Miles high and wide.

 

[sheeplady]

If there's one thing modern culture produces more than its share of, it's compost. All we need to do is get it into one big pile.

Aww... that's kind of insulting to compost.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I have little doubt that our "smart" technologies actually dumb us down in many ways. No need to memorize phone numbers if your regular contacts are a quick touch or two on your phone's screen away. No need to memorize addresses and hundred blocks and all that if your GPS will guide you to your destination. So what? some might ask, to which I'd respond that exercising those parts of the brain beats letting them go flabby.

I agree 100%.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Well, you know, it's a funny thing -- the more time I spend online, the more I find myself asking *why?* As you said, it really is an epic time waster. I keep the Lounge open at work to help alleviate the boredom of working in a tiny office with no windows, but, really what's the *point* of it? When I first came here six years ago, it was primarily a gathering place for people with a deep interest in the culture of the Era, but more and more it's revolving around subjects that really don't interest me at all. This is the only Internet forum I participate in, sort of an experiment to see if social-media is worth my time, and increasingly the answer is that, well, it really isn't.

I'm sorry you feel that way because I enjoy reading your posts.

I'm on facebook and have a blog, but this is also the only forum I participate in. I, too, used to find more of a connection here. The past couple of years I've not felt a connection...I've even felt too old-fashioned. When I stopped posting for a long while no one asked for me. I asked myself what I was getting from posting. I had to readjust my expectations. I post here and there when I feel moved to do so, but I no longer invest the way I used to and I expect very little.

 

[tonyb]

I just wish we all would be a bit more observant of that "political topics banned" policy. Yes, it can be difficult (nearly impossible, it seems) to avoid politics entirely, seeing how humans are political creatures, and how it permeates almost every aspect of our lives to one degree or another, but some of us make little apparent effort to keep it at arm's length.

I've been trying (and believe me, it's an effort, what with my being a male who was raised in a household full of loudmouths) to keep in mind that "winning" an argument is rarely a worthy end in and of itself, and certainly not if it leaves others with ill feelings. I mean really, just what has a person "won"? And what has the "winner" proven, other than that he's so taken with himself and his own absolutist point of view that he uses it as a bludgeon against those who differ with him? Besides being obnoxious, such tactics are ineffective, as they rarely persuade anyone of anything other than the arguer's poor manners and overall unpleasantness.

 

[tonyb]

As to stand mixers, sheeplady ... I am now the proud owner of a KitchenAid, built sometime between 1978 and 1985, as best my research to date indicates. (It's a model update that was introduced in 1978, but it's a Hobart, and Hobart sold the KitchenAid brand to Whirlpool in '85. At least that's what I remember, right off the top of my head, so don't take that to the bank.) Got mine at a ValueVillage for $49.99 plus sales tax, so 54 dollars and some odd cents out the door. I'm far happier to have bought a used, American made, upwards of 34-year-old KitchenAid than a new-in-the-box whatever brand mixer I might have gotten at the Target store for two or three or four times as much. Indeed, I'd rather have it than even a brand-new KitchenAid, seeing how this used but still perfectly serviceable unit is more in keeping with my sensibilities. I suspect it'll continue chugging on for longer than I will.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I've got a good example of new vs. old. When I was 16, I bought one of those Holmes desk fans that looks like it's from the fifties (kinda.) My dad didn't want any old ones plugged in, as he thinks they're a fire hazard. Well, it started giving problems almost 2 years ago, 3 years after I bought it. It finally gave out completely last year.

I run several 50's and 60's desk fans here at my place and they all work without missing a beat. All they ask for is a little oil now and then.

 

[tonyb]

I recall from my Wisconsin youth seeing dehumidifiers in pretty much every home. (Out here people don't even know what they are.) So I suspect that used ones can be had cheap. Is that so, Tom? And if so, how does the quality of the old ones compare to the newer ones? Do the good ones keep on keeping on for decades and decades?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Let me tell you, there hasn't been a finer car built in the past 15 years than the Panther Platform Cars (Crown Victoria, Town Car, Grand Marquis). A solid, body-on-frame, V8, rear-drive car like God intended lol They are built like tanks and built to last. The only car that has come close in the past 20 years was the B-Body GM's (Caprice, Fleetwood, Roadmaster)

I have had two P71 Crown Victorias (Police Interceptor) which are the best for reliability, they are built heavier duty, because they're expected to work harder. I traded my last one, because I needed a 4x4, and wish I had it back. I currently have a 1990 Grand Marquis Colony Park wagon and that car is rock solid. You just have to maintain them and they'll be good to you.

No doubt that regular maintenance is necessary to long life. A religiously maintained fleet Crown Vic -- a taxicab, say -- might well clock a half million miles or more before it's put out of its pain, whereas your typical civilian (as we used to call 'em) version gets melted down and turned into new Hyundais with fewer than half that many miles on its odometer. Original owners, who pay big bucks, generally take reasonably good care of them. Second owners generally less so, third owners even less, etc., until it ends up with someone who got it for grand and drives it into the dirt. But even the best cars wear out. Sure, a person can continue replacing parts (even entire bodies for early MGBs and Ford Mustangs and Model Ts and As can be had these days), but it can get to be like the guy who is still using his grandfather's axe -- the one that's had its handle replaced four times and its head twice. But it's still a good axe.

Dealing with plenty of fifties and sixties cars, I never left home without the stuff you have listed here. I seldom needed, it though. Maybe some extra fluid here or there. I just think it's smart, I did that with my newer cars, too. It's just important to have that little 'insurance' policy, in my opinion. Older cars, say pre-fuel-injection seem like more work, true. However, if you get a well-maintained example, or re-do it right away before taking it on the road, the work will be much less. It also seems like more work, because you can typically do the work yourself. It's much easier to pay the man at the filling station to fix your car than to be a shade tree mechanic. I think it's worth it, even though I hate working on cars. It's still fulfilling and keeps the pocket book a bit more full, too. The parts are usually cheaper, which is also a bonus!

Back when I was a youngster and was getting around in '50s and '60s cars, I was doing valve jobs and ring jobs and such on cars with well under a hundred thousand miles on them. And I never went anywhere without a box of tools and a set of points and a length of wire and a fan belt and a light bulb or three. A quart or two of oil and a jug of antifreeze was a good idea, too, seeing how those cars tended to drip and/or burn a lot more of their precious fluids than newer cars do.

Both of our "regular" cars here -- a Chevy Astro and a Ford Windstar -- have more than 150,000 miles on them and both are still running strong on their original engines and trannys. And neither has ever stranded me. I expect to get at least another 100,000 miles out of each.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I've got a handfull of dehumidifiers in the basement. All of them about 70's vintage (tin-printed-woodgrain) that still work like new. The new ones I don't even bother with, I know they're gonna give out quickly.

I recall from my Wisconsin youth seeing dehumidifiers in pretty much every home. (Out here people don't even know what they are.) So I suspect that used ones can be had cheap. Is that so, Tom? And if so, how does the quality of the old ones compare to the newer ones? Do the good ones keep on keeping on for decades and decades?

 

[jamespowers]

I've got a good example of new vs. old. When I was 16, I bought one of those Holmes desk fans that looks like it's from the fifties (kinda.) My dad didn't want any old ones plugged in, as he thinks they're a fire hazard. Well, it started giving problems almost 2 years ago, 3 years after I bought it. It finally gave out completely last year.

I run several 50's and 60's desk fans here at my place and they all work without missing a beat. All they ask for is a little oil now and then.

The same thing goes for old electric heaters. I have a small circular one that works better than a much larger modern Holmes heater.:eusa_doh:

 

[jamespowers]

Dealing with plenty of fifties and sixties cars, I never left home without the stuff you have listed here. I seldom needed, it though. Maybe some extra fluid here or there. I just think it's smart, I did that with my newer cars, too. It's just important to have that little 'insurance' policy, in my opinion. Older cars, say pre-fuel-injection seem like more work, true. However, if you get a well-maintained example, or re-do it right away before taking it on the road, the work will be much less. It also seems like more work, because you can typically do the work yourself. It's much easier to pay the man at the filling station to fix your car than to be a shade tree mechanic. I think it's worth it, even though I hate working on cars. It's still fulfilling and keeps the pocket book a bit more full, too. The parts are usually cheaper, which is also a bonus!

The parts are indeed cheaper. A carb of a car back then won't cost you an arm and a leg but today's fuel delivery systems will cost you ten times more at least and then there is this labor you speak of on top of it because you sure can't install those in your garage.

 

[tonyb]

I undoubtedly spend more on cars than I did when I was a kid, even in inflation-adjusted dollars. Undoubtedly. And certainly a big part of that is the money I pay repair shops for work I might well have done myself at one time in my life. When I and my brothers and my friends, working-class kids all, needed to get our cars working again, we almost always had to do the work ourselves. If that were still the case today, I'd be doing more of my own car maintenance and repairs.

These days I don't even do my own oil changes on my "regular" cars. Toy cars are another matter, though. Fun is the point of owning my '67 Spitfire. (Well, fun and just having the thing for the sake of having the thing, which is about all the good it has done me in recent years. That's what makes it "collectible," I suppose.) And I have little fear I'll mess anything up on it, because I know what all its components do, as contrasted with the dark mysteries lurking under the hoods of the later-model vehicles.

 

[jamespowers]

I undoubtedly spend more on cars than I did when I was a kid, even in inflation-adjusted dollars. Undoubtedly. And certainly a big part of that is the money I pay repair shops for work I might well have done myself at one time in my life. When I and my brothers and my friends, working-class kids all, needed to get our cars working again, we almost always had to do the work ourselves. If that were still the case today, I'd be doing more of my own car maintenance and repairs.

These days I don't even do my own oil changes on my "regular" cars. Toy cars are another matter, though. Fun is the point of owning my '67 Spitfire. (Well, fun and just having the thing for the sake of having the thing, which is about all the good it has done me in recent years. That's what makes it "collectible," I suppose.) And I have little fear I'll mess anything up on it, because I know what all its components do, as contrasted with the dark mysteries lurking under the hoods of the later-model vehicles.

Those mysteries are what takes thousands of dollars of computer diagnostic equipment to figure out rather than a wrench and a screw driver.

 

[tonyb]

The big upside, though, is that these later-model cars of mine rarely require much other than routine maintenance. I can think of but one instance in recent years when a car of mine didn't get to the shop under its own power.

You're right about all that diagnostic equipment. These considerably more complicated modern cars leave the average owner ill-equipped to carry out his own repairs, although I am still acquainted with a guy (I've known him for more than 30 years now) who does repairs and maintenance on a come-to-you basis, and he is able to diagnose and repair most problems on most cars with nothing more than the equipment he carries with him. He has testing gizmos I don't understand at all, and a great deal of knowledge and experience, which I lack.

I recall from my days in the fleet business that when the mechanics disparaged one of their own they called him a "parts changer," meaning he knew how to turn a wrench, but didn't really understand why the parts might have failed in the first place. A good mechanic (or technician, as they're often called these days) really needs a great deal of training. I'm inclined to accord such a person a good deal of deference and respect.

 

[jamespowers]

The big upside, though, is that these later-model cars of mine rarely require much other than routine maintenance. I can think of but one instance in recent years when a car of mine didn't get to the shop under its own power.

You're right about all that diagnostic equipment. These considerably more complicated modern cars leave the average owner ill-equipped to carry out his own repairs, although I am still acquainted with a guy (I've known him for more than 30 years now) who does repairs and maintenance on a come-to-you basis, and he is able to diagnose and repair most problems on most cars with nothing more than the equipment he carries with him. He has testing gizmos I don't understand at all, and a great deal of knowledge and experience, which I lack.

I recall from my days in the fleet business that when the mechanics disparaged one of their own they called him a "parts changer," meaning he knew how to turn a wrench, but didn't really understand why the parts might have failed in the first place. A good mechanic (or technician, as they're often called these days) really needs a great deal of training. I'm inclined to accord such a person a good deal of deference and respect.

I am glad you have had better experiences than I have.

A car mechanic nowadays should get respect---they are more computer technician than a mechanic now.

I have heard my father use the term parts changer more than once, lol Being head of an automotive department probably had a lot to do with it.

 

[59Lark]

Atomic Tom; the plant that made those crown vics and marquis was in Talbotville, st thomas ont a hour from here, ford closed it in may, hope they rot in ................. . Not happy want to go to the south where they can pay low wages, top awards for quality mean nothing , many police departments ordered new cars and put them in storage. We couldnt order a new marquis for a year before they closed the plant, do you want to push a bad guy off the road in a taurus. Not exactly now the plant in brampton ont, is ramping up and selling a lot more rear drive hemis but not as good. way too go ford. 59LARK, ps I dont drive foreign cars unless southbed or maryland is foreign signed a northamerican Canadian who drives rear wheel drives only

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Believe you me, I'm none to happy, either. I was a born and bred GM man. The Panthers turned me away a bit. I love, love, love them. Discontinuing their production was a huge mistake. Just go out for a drive once and see how many Crown Vic/Marquis/Town Cars you run into. There's a lot of them and people love them.

I also refuse to buy imports and have only head rear-wheel-drive cars.

I think the Chevy Caprices will soon overlap the Chargers. 6.0 V8 and RWD. It's not body-on-frame and it's not as pretty as a Vic, but it's a good machine as far as the new ones go.

Atomic Tom; the plant that made those crown vics and marquis was in Talbotville, st thomas ont a hour from here, ford closed it in may, hope they rot in ................. . Not happy want to go to the south where they can pay low wages, top awards for quality mean nothing , many police departments ordered new cars and put them in storage. We couldnt order a new marquis for a year before they closed the plant, do you want to push a bad guy off the road in a taurus. Not exactly now the plant in brampton ont, is ramping up and selling a lot more rear drive hemis but not as good. way too go ford. 59LARK, ps I dont drive foreign cars unless southbed or maryland is foreign signed a northamerican Canadian who drives rear wheel drives only