Features I Have Old Car, Because It's An Old Car

Wow, lots of replies overnight.

I did read them.

My car has been changed to 12 volts, with a generator.

The master cylinder and the wheel cylinders have been rebuilt by my father it was a lesson.

I keep the drums adjusted it stops far better than my daily driver with disc drums!

I have added seat belts a Simpson 5" lap for the driver (I know it's not vintage but if I ever want to make a pass on the strip I need it.) and new vintage style laps for the passengers

I think a old car should be safe above all things!

 

I had a squeaky clean '65 Falcon, 100% bone stock, radio delete, rubber floor mat, no frills. Best most reliable car I have ever owned. If I had it back today, I would not change a single thing on it, maybe a new radio so I can plug in my iPod, but that's it. Always started, got 27 mpg, manual choke that worked on single-digit cold days.

My '59 is a different story. It was a basket case when I got it, made no sense to load the OG stuff back into it.

 

Still got 6 volt lighting? HRP

 

This is the engine in my 53-

58-62 style 261

Vintage Edelbrock intake

Fentens

Isky C-4 cam

 

This is my car since dec-86.
Will keep it more and less stock becouse i like old cars.
And it so reliable thats the car all my others compares to.

 

Love the attitude...You don't get to say that much anymore. LMAO

 

I usually have an old car because that is what I got. There was a time because that was all I could afford and now it is all I can do to afford one. LOL

Truth is that I prefer old beaters to late model cars, has nothing to do with being cool or even my ability to repair it I can work on pretty near anything. I just like older cars better, they are what I am familiar am accustomed to I think.

 

Well said...

 

....easier to find it in the walmart parking lot, too

 

You really love those baby hemis, eh?

 

Leave it stock......we'll maybe you could......fill in the blank........ha ha ..great thread

 

Hey Robert,
Your folks did a great job!

 

Thank-You @Tony Martino

Still waiting for my plaque.

Have my patch though!



Kingston Igniters EST 1956

 

And they are easier to work on. Bruce.{The Buick wagon}

 

Plus, drive an old car and you gotta be a better driver.

 

Next month will be 25 years since I bought my '56 Nomad. I do not know how many miles it had on it when I bought it (odometer read 32,000 but who knows how many times it had rolled over), but I have added over 300,000 miles to the total. It has points, a generator (power steering), drum brakes, vacuum wipers, and a heater but no air. It has the "wonder bar" tube radio that still works. It never fails to put a smile on my face when I get behind the wheel. It takes a bit more maintenance but it's therapeutic for me, so that's a positive. I did swap out the 265 for a late 60s 350 and the 3 on the tree for a Muncie M20 (15 years ago). I don't do more than that because everything works and I am cheap!

 

Old cars have soul and character and are part of the family. New cars are like cell phones, they've got all the latest crap to keep you distracted from what's going on around you until it's outdated, then you get a new one. Cars have become disposable like everything else.

 

I'm 72 years old. I drive old cars because that's what I'm used to. A mechanic for over 50 years, I can fix them with my eyes closed.
The only old one I'm driving now is a '42 Ford tudor with a stock '53 Merc flathead, '39 style transmission and 3:54 gears. Oh, yeah, Red's headers, Smithys and dual pipes. Auto registration is pretty high here but cars this old are only 20 bucks. Used to buy things like this off the back row of local used car dealers for 25 or 50 bucks and drive them all over the west. Never once was I stranded on the side of the road.
The '42 has all been gone through and mechanically it's as good as new. I can fix it if need be and I can't say the same for my '96 Chevy pickup with all it's computer junk.
No cell phone, no Ipad (whatever that is), no Gps, no nothing. I love it!

 

Ahmen! My stone stock ( other than alternator P.O. Installed, remote controled sony radio under the seat and under dash ac soon to be installed ) 64 F100 is my daily driver and my newest car I check the oil, water and brake fluid before I drive. It's the most dependable car I ever owned escept maybe for the 6cy 3 speed 55 Chevy I had right after high school. Way more dependable than my friends newer cars.

 

I am actually think it is the hemis that love me.
They seems to come from everywhere and begging for my care.

 

For me as well.

The only reason I own a cell phone is because phones are a thing of the past.

I had one of the women at work ask me "Don't you ever wish you had things like accident avoidance in your car?"

I told her "It has accident avoidance, it's called the windshield!"

 

"A car is more than a way to get from point A to point B, it IS the point" Jesse James. I wish I could use the Chevy year round but up here in New England we salt the roads in winter. It is registered all year and it does get used if the roads are clear. People love to tell me how they had one or their dad had one, etc.

 

I am going to catch flack for this but drum brakes are superior to disc brakes in stopping power. There is more area and force applied that will stop you. The only disadvantage to drum brakes is that they can't dissipate the heat generated in a stop as fast as disc brakes. This is only a problem when hauling it down to a stop at speeds in excess of 80mph or multiple hard stops. At this point you will get brake fade from excessive heat and disc brakes do a better job of heat dissipation than drums. A good adjustment is all that is needed to be safe.

The dual circuit master cylinders only advantage is that you don't lose your brakes totally if you have a leak. Here again keeping it in good working order is the key along with having a working hand brake in case of a failure. I have lost brakes with both systems and the results weren't that bad because I didn't panic. That said check your brake lines and replace if any doubt. Both failures came from a blown out rust pit in a steel line.

 

Damn Robert J., your thread is automatically the finest I've read and participated in! Indeed your parents have done a fine job as someone has already stated.

In January I'll have had my truck for 19 years or is it 20 and I went over 100k miles this year on a '56 235, in a '49 Chevy 1/2 ton. She's a dd/only vehicle. I have so much fun every day I tell my wife I should be paid by the county as "An Ambassador of Good Will". People smile, wave, tell stories. As others have posted...easy to work on, economical...just think of car payments (I have no idea how much X 12). I have a '62 261 punched out 80 over, Clifford cam, trying to locate 3 sidedrafts for this...

yes that's a '53-'54 Corvette triple side draft and the Corvette or dealer optional dual exhaust.

Love your journey Robert, Go Man, Go!!!

 

This is something my father taught me years ago.

Another thing I leaned from him is that a radial tire acts some what as a spring, and that most old cars

were not designed with that in mind!

I have the exhaust but I will be using it on my build.

This is a link to my project-

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/my-261-chevrolet-6-in-an-east-coast-model-a-truck.976419/

I hope do start in on it over the next two week.

 

I drove my '40 Coupe in stock form for about 4 years. Added dual carbs and split manifold but kept the 6 volt and rebuilt the stock brakes. It went amazingly well for a stock 1940 car. As I ventured to drive 350+ miles one way to a car show, I was limited to 55 mph so I normally arrived an hour or 2 after everyone else. I then wanted to keep driving to long range events but wanted the safety in traveling at freeway speeds and stopping. I added IFS front with 11" Discs, a larger inline 6 for more power, a 5 speed OD for economy and to keep the revs down, and radial tires. It's basically an updated old hotrod from the 70's. I just recently (10 years ago) added A/C so my wife would ride with me.
There is no power assisted anything other than Armstrong Steering and a heavy right foot. KISS!

 

Good on you, RJP! I drive old cars because I like them, and as someone else said, new cars lack "soul" . I have unfortunately had a newer (FWD, injected, electronic, blah blah blah...)car a few years ago, and one day (After An electronic breAkdown), I thought.. I actuAlly HATE new cars! They do NOTHING for me. They have no style. And its all a big race to see who can have the most forward speeds or number of cup-holders!
So now I'm bAck to points, bench seat, drum brakes, ect. and still get the dumb-Ass comments like- "how can you drive that without air-con or GPS or any other bullshit electronic gizmo that is the latest fad?" My reply - "just like they did 50 years ago"

 

I'am not totally opposed to some new technology in a old car.

Examples-

Bluefalmes and Small Block Chevrolet use the same exhaust valves, so I am running Manley stainless.

My crankshaft has been drilled and tapped for a Big Block Chevy balancer bolt-



My 261 rods resized and machined for A.R.P. Ford 460 bolts by B & G Engine service -

 

Give me a ride with points and a carb any day over electronic fuel injection and ignition any day! My OT 86 Vette has given me fits for two years with the TPI and computer controlled engine while my 47 Lincoln with the stock 75 Chevy 350 with HEI and a two barrel carb cranks every time! If the HEI ever goes bad, I'll slap a points distributor in it. The 47 has the stock Lincoln 12" drum brakes up front and 10" Fairlane drums in the rear and stops as good as my pickup with 4 wheel discs. It's all in how you drive an older car---you know it's limitations in modern traffic and drive accordingly. I run 55-65 mph, just slightly slower than most traffic and enjoy the ride. No radio yet, no AC yet, no power steering yet either, plan on all three in the future so the wife can drive it and enjoy it as much as I do. Nothing wrong with a few modern comforts as long as they are integrated into the car and don't draw too much attention.