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  #46  
Old 11-21-2014, 10:04 PM
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Jon A. Jon A. is offline
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Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
Another place we had the Yuropeans beat was style. Take even the nicest Rolls (with their "I'm the 10th generation Earl of nopshamshire, and I'm given a tremendous amount of wealth to sit on my but eating grapes all day and be a powerless symbol of power")
That pretty much defines Great Britain's royal family.

Prime Minister Trudeau met the queen in cutoffs and sandals. How I would have loved to have seen the look on her face.

Last edited by Jon A.; 11-21-2014 at 10:07 PM.
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  #47  
Old 11-22-2014, 02:27 PM
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That pretty much defines Great Britain's royal family.

Prime Minister Trudeau met the queen in cutoffs and sandals. How I would have loved to have seen the look on her face.
It was the same look as when the 15yr. old kid leaned in on the red carpet to
squeeze off a self-pic of him with the Queen in the background......

I remember that story went around the world twice....

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  #48  
Old 11-23-2014, 08:35 PM
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Neat car, Tom. Quite the cruiser.

But, you will need some weight over those rear tires for winter. About 300# should do it. Water softener salt, sand, whatever. You will need it. Keeping the tank full will help too. With old RWD cars, it's getting going that's the issue. Once you are going, it's not hard to keep going. And in my opinion, they are usually easier to control on ice than front drive.

I'm sure you a great driver but being a new driver, remember when it's snowy and icy, when you start to skid, try to steer your way our of trouble as much as possible. You have no ABS so lightly pumping the brakes may be the best way to stop sometimes.
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  #49  
Old 11-24-2014, 07:42 AM
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CoogarXR CoogarXR is offline
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I have been driving noting but RWD cars for 99% of my adult life, and served part-time as a pizza delivery driver on and off for probably 10+ years. So I have spent more hours than your average cat behind the wheel of RWD land yachts.

Anywho, the best thing I can recommend, is find a big open parking lot when the weather gets bad and go play. Drift it, spin it, lock up the brakes. Do all those things, not just because its fun, but you will get a feel for what it takes for the car to get out of control. You will see how your brakes react under slippery conditions (RWD cars sometimes need the rear brakes adjusted because the fronts lock up first- this is something you will never notice on dry ground). You will see how fast you can take a turn before you lose traction. All these things are necessary to learn. Plus, you won't freak out if it happens in real life if you have had some practice in a controlled environment.
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  #50  
Old 11-24-2014, 09:46 AM
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Plus, it will give you some experience making up excuses to tell the cops when you get busted. Not to mention unnecessary wear and tear on your car. Not a good idea.
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  #51  
Old 11-24-2014, 10:09 AM
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Another place we had the Yuropeans beat was style. Take even the nicest Rolls (with their "I'm the 10th generation Earl of nopshamshire, and I'm given a tremendous amount of wealth to sit on my but eating grapes all day and be a powerless symbol of power") or Mercedes (with their borderline utilitarian styling that historically has said "Ya, ve ship um to oter countries to oosed as taxis, but add uns radio, air counditioner, ands switch ze interior to leather, ship um to America, put out some sphiel and sey actually pay quadrupple ze price. ha ha"). Compare that to say a 59-60 (hell anything they made from the mid 30's to the mid 70's for that matter) caddy that says "I'm a reasonably well to do American I'm going places, and I don't just want some stick up the but luxury car...I want a rocket ship! We're going to the moon, and I want a car that looks like it's trying to get there."

Mopar and FoMoCo (tempted to switch the F and M to see if anybody notices...) made some nice luxury cars too. The late 50's to early 60's Imperials (even more so their lower lines) had some real cool styling especially the last of the finned imperials, and some of the mid to mid to late 60's imperials had this look to them that I can only quantify as being like someone made a late 60's modern styled Zenith TV in to a car...The just have that same sort of appealing look to them. I like the 40's Lincolns, and some of their 60's offerings, the 70's Marks, and the late 70's continentals, but most of their other offerings feel like the designers were told take any impression of 'fun' out of the styling...Some of the recent Ford and Lincoln cars are interesting looking though, and if I was given money told that I had to buy my self a new car I'd probably look at those first.
Tom! There was a firm in Milwaukee, years ago, that named their concern "MoFoCo". IIRC, it was an auto body or repair shop. Back then, we always thought it was a play on words for FoMoCo.
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  #52  
Old 11-24-2014, 10:13 AM
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Tom! There was a firm in Milwaukee, years ago, that named their concern "MoFoCo". IIRC, it was an auto body or repair shop. Back then, we always thought it was a play on words for FoMoCo.
Still around. MOtors FOr COmpetition

http://www.mofoco.com/

.
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  #53  
Old 11-24-2014, 10:43 AM
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Plus, it will give you some experience making up excuses to tell the cops when you get busted. Not to mention unnecessary wear and tear on your car. Not a good idea.
*Sigh*

Just to clarify, I don't mean beating the heck out of it. Spinning the tires (at a reasonable RPM), doing doughnuts and locking the brakes up, all while in the snow doesn't create any real wear and tear. And I don't suggest "playing" in a lot close to traffic, in the city, or a lot with a bunch of poles. C'mon, I thought these things were common sense. If you do a doughnut in an icy parking lot and something breaks, it wasn't road worthy in the first place.

I come from a "worst case scenario" type upbringing. That's how my dad taught me to deal with snow and ice. Get out there and get a feel for it.

He taught me to drive a stick shift in a similar manner. He let me get used to shifting and working the clutch in a nice flat gravel lot. After I got a feel for it, we went out in the country and he made me stop in the middle of the steepest hill we could find, and practice taking off without rolling back wards.

The logic being, most situations won't be that intense, and it will seem like "nothing" to drive day-to-day after you master the tough stuff.

Everybody is so scared, angry, or distracted while driving nowadays. People forget how fun driving can be. I love to drive.
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  #54  
Old 11-24-2014, 12:42 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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*Sigh*

Just to clarify, I don't mean beating the heck out of it. Spinning the tires (at a reasonable RPM), doing doughnuts and locking the brakes up, all while in the snow doesn't create any real wear and tear. And I don't suggest "playing" in a lot close to traffic, in the city, or a lot with a bunch of poles. C'mon, I thought these things were common sense. If you do a doughnut in an icy parking lot and something breaks, it wasn't road worthy in the first place.

I come from a "worst case scenario" type upbringing. That's how my dad taught me to deal with snow and ice. Get out there and get a feel for it.

He taught me to drive a stick shift in a similar manner. He let me get used to shifting and working the clutch in a nice flat gravel lot. After I got a feel for it, we went out in the country and he made me stop in the middle of the steepest hill we could find, and practice taking off without rolling back wards.

The logic being, most situations won't be that intense, and it will seem like "nothing" to drive day-to-day after you master the tough stuff.

Everybody is so scared, angry, or distracted while driving nowadays. People forget how fun driving can be. I love to drive.
I was a little older than most of you people, when I got my D/L and first car. My parents didn't own a car, as we lived in the city and my father felt, he didn't need one. They didn't mind using public transportation. Myself, I hated it with a passion, especially in bad weather.
My first car had a manual transmission, because it was less expensive to buy. For me, the clutching was the hardest to get the feel of. Right now, I'm back to a manual, for my daily driver.
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  #55  
Old 11-24-2014, 01:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CoogarXR View Post
*Sigh*

Just to clarify, I don't mean beating the heck out of it. Spinning the tires (at a reasonable RPM), doing doughnuts and locking the brakes up, all while in the snow doesn't create any real wear and tear. And I don't suggest "playing" in a lot close to traffic, in the city, or a lot with a bunch of poles. C'mon, I thought these things were common sense. If you do a doughnut in an icy parking lot and something breaks, it wasn't road worthy in the first place.

I come from a "worst case scenario" type upbringing. That's how my dad taught me to deal with snow and ice. Get out there and get a feel for it.

He taught me to drive a stick shift in a similar manner. He let me get used to shifting and working the clutch in a nice flat gravel lot. After I got a feel for it, we went out in the country and he made me stop in the middle of the steepest hill we could find, and practice taking off without rolling back wards.

The logic being, most situations won't be that intense, and it will seem like "nothing" to drive day-to-day after you master the tough stuff.

Everybody is so scared, angry, or distracted while driving nowadays. People forget how fun driving can be. I love to drive.
"Sigh" Common sense is not driving like an idiot. If you think doing donuts and locking up the brakes is common sense, then more power to you. You drive and do what you think is right. You can help pay for his tickets for exhibition driving if he follows your advice. "Sigh"
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  #56  
Old 11-24-2014, 06:15 PM
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I was already planing to do something like that. I'm an easy does it kind of a guy. I'll probably see what the minimum it takes to slide is, and practice dealing with a pinch more than that. Finding a good lot in reasonable driving distance will be the tricky part...The roads are hilly and twisty for the most part so the longer the journey the more the chances of unplanned/unwanted road practice. I doubt I'd get my self into trouble inadvertently on the road, since I've been accused of driving like an old man (a fair assessment of my technique IMO) before.

A friend has been trying to talk me into doing that stuff on a frozen lake in the coldest part of January when you see the ice fishers take their pickups, and multi-ton construction equipment out on the ice, but I'm a bit apprehensive on that.
This same friend has done that in his Prelude before...

@GGregg: Thanks. I'm pretty sure it does not have ABS, but it was actually an option on my model...They called it 'Sure-trac', and it only 'modulated' the rear brakes. Lincoln offered ABS before any other major brand, and in the late 80's IIRC when the guberment wanted car makers to offer it they were the first to (re)introduce it.
Another option that Squirrel boy might get a kick outa (if he is still following this thread) is that among the available 'trailer towing package' options was adjustable air ride suspension according to the manual.

@ Dieseljeep + jim: Lol! That is not the first dumb thought I've had that someone beat me to thinking of.

Yesterday I bought the factory shop manuals off ebay, and today I went to the auto parts shop and got a 'weather/water proof car covering' (AKA a tarp), and floor mats. I had hoped to do that before it snowed on it again, but I was a bit too slow. I did make enough room to confirm it fits in the garage though (It should since the house is nearly the age as my car). And it will stay in the garage until the snow stops and and has melted off it.
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  #57  
Old 11-25-2014, 07:03 AM
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Tom,
Don't do the lake ice thing (even though it is pretty fun). I remember doing 60 mph donuts on a lake when we were kids. We hit an ice ridge in the middle of the lake and broke the beads on three of the four tires. It was a long walk back to shore. And then we still had to drive back to the car and take three tires off and bring them back to the service station to air them back up. Ending ruining 2 of the tires, one of the rims, and screwing up the alignment big time.

Not me BTW, I was just along for the ride.

The parking lot thing is a great idea, no matter what some think. It will not hurt anything and gives you a feel for how your car skids, which will keep you out of trouble some day. ABS on the rear wheels is a good idea on RWD cars and the goal was to prevent a skid not necessarily decrease stopping ability. Since most people tend to slam on their brakes when they skid, which usually only makes matters worse, it makes sense. I'm not fond of a lot of the doo dads on newer cars but I do like ABS. Your lucky you don't have the optional air ride. It's quite expensive to rebuild, which it would need by now, and parts are not easy to find. Many were converted back to standard when the cars were only a few years old. Today's air ride systems are much more durable but a metal spring is still a lot longer lasting than a rubber bag.

And for those of you that think that driving on a lake is not a good idea, up here we have plowed roads on some lakes. The University in town uses it as a parking lot. The ice gets many feet thick and as long as you stay away from the river inlet and outlet (the Mississippi, which is really just a wide creek up here), you are fine.

Last edited by ggregg; 11-25-2014 at 08:00 AM.
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  #58  
Old 11-25-2014, 09:37 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Neat car, Tom. Quite the cruiser.

But, you will need some weight over those rear tires for winter. About 300# should do it. Water softener salt, sand, whatever. You will need it. Keeping the tank full will help too. With old RWD cars, it's getting going that's the issue. Once you are going, it's not hard to keep going. And in my opinion, they are usually easier to control on ice than front drive.

I'm sure you a great driver but being a new driver, remember when it's snowy and icy, when you start to skid, try to steer your way our of trouble as much as possible. You have no ABS so lightly pumping the brakes may be the best way to stop sometimes.
In this area, we got our first taste of winter driving. Most people living around here, still have to re-learn driving on slipperly roads. More crazy accidents on the freeway. Trucks and cell phoning "yuppie types".
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  #59  
Old 11-25-2014, 12:56 PM
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I have not been behind the wheel on any slip trips yet but I've been passenger on a few so far...The first snows of the year have been bad enough that I've seen both of my folks, who are normally fairly good winter drivers, do some mild sliding and wheel spinning.

ggregg: What you mention is similar to a good part of my worry about lake driving. There are a lot of ice fishermen around here, and the possibility of hitting an abandoned fishin hole at any speed don't seem too appealing to me.

If this year goes like last year (I hope not) I might have my own personal ice patch to play with anyway. Our drive way slopes towards the house from the street to just over a car length away from the garage where it levels out. Last year I was too busy to run the snow blower, and the folks never picked up the slack. Eventually the snow packed down to become a big sheet of ice. I can remember being in the passenger seat as my dad had his Accord in reverse and revved pretty good while we were sliding forward at a good pace...That finally convinced them to salt ONCE. A college buddy visited in his plow truck and had to engage the 4 wheel drive to get out around then too.
Scarier than that is the hill our road runs up the face of. It is about 3-6 stories tall over 1-2 blocks, the grade varies along it, it is not always kept deiced, at the bottom it turns sharply, and there is only a persons yard between said curve and Pewaukee lake...

For rear ballast I might grab some of the unused bags of top soil the folks leave outside every winter (provided they have not frozen to the ground yet) after buying too much every spring. I don't want to try any softener salt as I have seen what it does to metal things in the softener room, and to a lesser extent my basement storage adjacent to it .
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  #60  
Old 11-25-2014, 01:20 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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I have not been behind the wheel on any slip trips yet but I've been passenger on a few so far...The first snows of the year have been bad enough that I've seen both of my folks, who are normally fairly good winter drivers, do some mild sliding and wheel spinning.

ggregg: What you mention is similar to a good part of my worry about lake driving. There are a lot of ice fishermen around here, and the possibility of hitting an abandoned fishin hole at any speed don't seem too appealing to me.

If this year goes like last year (I hope not) I might have my own personal ice patch to play with anyway. Our drive way slopes towards the house from the street to just over a car length away from the garage where it levels out. Last year I was too busy to run the snow blower, and the folks never picked up the slack. Eventually the snow packed down to become a big sheet of ice. I can remember being in the passenger seat as my dad had his Accord in reverse and revved pretty good while we were sliding forward at a good pace...That finally convinced them to salt ONCE. A college buddy visited in his plow truck and had to engage the 4 wheel drive to get out around then too.
Scarier than that is the hill our road runs up the face of. It is about 3-6 stories tall over 1-2 blocks, the grade varies along it, it is not always kept deiced, at the bottom it turns sharply, and there is only a persons yard between said curve and Pewaukee lake...

For rear ballast I might grab some of the unused bags of top soil the folks leave outside every winter (provided they have not frozen to the ground yet) after buying too much every spring. I don't want to try any softener salt as I have seen what it does to metal things in the softener room, and to a lesser extent my basement storage adjacent to it .
I leave my softener salt in the garage, unopened, until use.
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