No Garage

Started by Eye of the Tiger, December 07, 2018, 11:51:28 AM

Soup DeVille

Quote from: Morris Minor on June 20, 2022, 01:30:08 PM
I always thought that was a particular arrogance of the British car makers: shipped them over here thinking something rated for the domestic no-extremes climate would work fine too in desert heat, tropical humidity & arctic cold. Clueless management.
Oh and the electrics...

The electrics never made sense.

Its a fucking island, and it pisses down rain constantly. You'd think British carmakers would adjust accordingly and set the world standard for weather resistance when it came to water.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator

FoMoJo

Quote from: Soup DeVille on June 20, 2022, 04:15:29 PM
The electrics never made sense.

Its a fucking island, and it pisses down rain constantly. You'd think British carmakers would adjust accordingly and set the world standard for weather resistance when it came to water.
Their cars and engineering were both amazingly good and amazingly bad.  That still holds true.
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." ~ Albert Einstein
"As the saying goes, when you mix science and politics, you get politics."

Laconian

So what are the actual reasons for Lucas being so terrible?
Kia EV6 GT-Line / MX-5 RF 6MT

FoMoJo

Quote from: Laconian on June 20, 2022, 09:00:41 PM
So what are the actual reasons for Lucas being so terrible?
PRINCE OF DARKNESS – JOSEPH LUCAS

A good article...

The fact of the matter is that old Joe Lucas has received a bad rap and that the faults of others are often attributed to him and his misunderstood products. He has nothing to do with the failure of your car to start or caused your lights to flicker. Truth be told – he was gone from the scene long before any of our British sports cars were a glimmer in the eye of Messrs. Healey, Black, Lyon or Enever.

However...

But first, let us get the jokes out of the way to clear out our system for the knowledge to come.

The Lucas corporate motto: "Get home before dark."
If Lucas made guns, wars would not start.
Lucas holds the patent for the short circuit.
Lucas – Inventor of the intermittent wiper.
Lucas – Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch – Dim, Flicker and Off
The Original Anti-Theft Device – Lucas Electrics.
Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." ~ Albert Einstein
"As the saying goes, when you mix science and politics, you get politics."

Eye of the Tiger

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on January 27, 2020, 04:44:38 PM
I bought an XJ.

I never expected to keep Jeep this long.
Over 2 years and 17K miles later, it has never needed a tow truck.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Morris Minor

#1445
Quote from: Laconian on June 20, 2022, 09:00:41 PM
So what are the actual reasons for Lucas being so terrible?
Crap quality control, bad layouts of their components, shoddy final vehicle production line assembly. Poor connections, poor grounding.

Austin/Morris putting the Mini's distributor 2" behind the radiator, where it gets deluged in bad weather. Stuff like that.
⏤  '10 G37 | '21 CX-5 GT Reserve  ⏤

Soup DeVille

Quote from: Laconian on June 20, 2022, 09:00:41 PM
So what are the actual reasons for Lucas being so terrible?

Try to find an original Lucas fuse. You mostly can't, because all of them sold today are "improved" versions in some way.

For starters, the conductor is on the outside of the fuse, unprotected. They're basically a thin, almost foil piece stretched over a small torpedo shaped piece of ceramic. The idea originally was you didn't replace the whole fuse; you peeled off the conductor and put another one on. The contact points to the fuse block were often barely larger than the fuse itself- which meant it was often that the fuse didn't blow, but the fuse block contact did.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator

FoMoJo

Quote from: Laconian on June 20, 2022, 09:00:41 PM
So what are the actual reasons for Lucas being so terrible?
To be fair, all auto electrics in the '50s and '60s were pretty crap, which is when Lucas got its reputation.  We generally had a can of ignition spray in the car at all times, especially in the wet weather.  When you opened the hood and turned the engine over, you'd see blue sparks dancing along the ignition wires.  Most Euro cars, and especially imports, were usually worse.  I recall in the mid sixties a Toyota (Corona I believe), with Toyoglide, parked under our balcony at the apartment we rented trying to start every morning around 7:00am grinding over and over trying to fire up.  Put me off Toyotas to this day.

The materials, especially the ignition wires were good for about a year, and then hardened and developed cracks.
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." ~ Albert Einstein
"As the saying goes, when you mix science and politics, you get politics."

shp4man

My old truck still has the factory wiring harness. Working well. A few bad light bulb sockets. That's it. 57 years old. GM built a good vehicle then.

FoMoJo

That's pretty amazing.  Thought you'd have a bit of moister in the air out there being by the Ocean.
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." ~ Albert Einstein
"As the saying goes, when you mix science and politics, you get politics."

Eye of the Tiger

Exhaust manifold cracked again. Yep.
I'm looking at the Banks Revolver header. Claims 22.5HP gain at the wheels. $472 on Amazon.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

giant_mtb

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on July 02, 2022, 02:51:07 PM
Exhaust manifold cracked again. Yep.
I'm looking at the Banks Revolver header. Claims 22.5HP gain at the wheels. $472 on Amazon.

You could strap a Harbor Freight Predator engine onto the flywheel or something for like $250 and get almost the same gainz.

Eye of the Tiger

Quote from: giant_mtb on July 02, 2022, 03:43:32 PM
You could strap a Harbor Freight Predator engine onto the flywheel or something for like $250 and get almost the same gainz.

Yeah, but the nearest Harbor Freight is like 30 miles away. That is like $17 in gas.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

giant_mtb

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on July 02, 2022, 03:57:01 PM
Yeah, but the nearest Harbor Freight is like 30 miles away. That is like $17 in gas.

Fair enough. I went to get a $12 pizza the other day and realized it cost me about $8 in gas. Was worth it tho.

Eye of the Tiger

Peanut butter and crack sandwich, the ignition coil is cracked, too. MSD on the way.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

I want to do some road trips. I have a 4-day work week, so I can do 3-day weekend trips whenever I want. I just want a car that gets gas mileage. Savage is only tolerable for 2-hours at a time. Jeep is too good to sell. I predict a 90's econo car is coming soon.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

shp4man

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on July 16, 2022, 01:04:50 PM
I want to do some road trips. I have a 4-day work week, so I can do 3-day weekend trips whenever I want. I just want a car that gets gas mileage. Savage is only tolerable for 2-hours at a time. Jeep is too good to sell. I predict a 90's econo car is coming soon.

Go find Grandma's Toyota. Or Honda. Or ?

Eye of the Tiger

Quote from: shp4man on July 21, 2022, 09:34:08 AM
Go find Grandma's Toyota. Or Honda. Or ?

I got one sitting out in the parking lot right now. 4 cyl Camry needs a timing belt, but they can't afford to fix it.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

This is where the practical side of me decides that getting a second car is stupid.
I present a second set of Jeep wheels, on which will be mounted some 215/75r15 highway tires for best MPG and nothing else. 30x9.5x15 chonk tires will be saved for winter.

2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

These wheels are bare aluminum and corroded to heck. Should I just plastidip them?
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

giant_mtb

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on July 30, 2022, 03:48:12 PM
These wheels are bare aluminum and corroded to heck. Should I just plastidip them?

POR-15

Eye of the Tiger

2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

Huh, the internet says it can do aluminnieum.  Neat.
Or I can just be lazy and leave them alone.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

giant_mtb

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on July 30, 2022, 04:02:50 PM
Huh, the internet says it can do aluminnieum.  Neat.
Or I can just be lazy and leave them alone.

Could grind/sand them down and throw a few coats of spraycan clearcoat on 'em? 

Eye of the Tiger

Quote from: giant_mtb on July 30, 2022, 04:10:24 PM
Could grind/sand them down and throw a few coats of spraycan clearcoat on 'em?

I would rather just hit them with some tack cloth and then whatever self etching two and one crap I can find.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

Heck I don't know what I want. I like the way they are m, except for this annoying corrosion dust.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

Eye of the Tiger

My tires will be here in 3 days. I don't have much time. Quickly, think of something!
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

giant_mtb

Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on July 30, 2022, 04:13:10 PM
I would rather just hit them with some tack cloth and then whatever self etching two and one crap I can find.

Not a bad choice. I know that wouldn't last for a damn here through winter, but if it's for your summer/highway tires...could work just fine.

Eye of the Tiger

Quote from: giant_mtb on July 30, 2022, 04:21:05 PM
Not a bad choice. I know that wouldn't last for a damn here through winter, but if it's for your summer/highway tires...could work just fine.

Yeah, summer only. As soon as snowflakes happen, back to the chonks.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)