Bring back the station wagon!

The "shoebox" (as the 510 was known) was THE car that started
attracting people to Japanese product. Although hardly luxurous and
with the usualy smelly vinyl in the spartan interior, the Ajin
Precision 1500 and 1600 OHC mills were great performers and would
outlast most American V8s, like lousy Chevies, at least 3 to 1 all the
while turning in excellent fuel economy. The same mill, enlarged,
showed up in the trucks which were Nissan's best sellers for years,
and were well liked by consumers.

That sound about right...they'd only get marginally more than the
flattie Ford V8, while the Chrysler flatheads would get 19-20. Funny,
since the "Blue Flame Six" was OHV! The sleepers for economy back in
those days were the Oldses and Cadillacs. I had a '55 Olds and a few
'55 Cadillacs...25 MPG on the road was no problem, and these were
heavy, senior line cars. Both were equipped with the cast iron
HydraMatic. Contemporary Chevy V8s MIGHT get 16 on the road with
"Powerslide." GM was going for torque converters over step gear
transmissions because TCs were cheaper to build and yielded crappier
efficiency.

Had any transaxle leak problems with your Concord? My dad-in-law
couldn't keep front seals in his, but his maintenance practices were
always suspect.

 

My wife wound up renting a Hyundai Sonata last year. Although Hyundai
has made up for sins of the Vega-quality Excel, I'm still not
convinced they're not "throw-away" cars with a short life expectancy.
Chrysler learned their lesson on the Hyundai engines when they started
selling them in their lower line Mitsubishi car lines and started
getting warranty complaints galore. Most Excels would last maybe 50K
miles before major engine problems.

Her rental was the 250 HP V6, and it was overpowered, I'd agree. It
also had a "slap stick" auto trans, from whom, I'm not sure, but I'm
pretty sure Hyundai Heavy Industries isn't sophisticated enough to
produce their own reliable automatic transmissions...yet. However,
Hyundai, a couple of years ago, sunk billions into a desert test site
out here in the California high desert, so they ARE doing R&D for
their car lines. However, they have a lot to make up for; the legacy
for blown Hyundai and Mitsubishi-by-Hyundai engines was widely known.

 

Well, that goes way back! That's why people would take their new cars
and put duals on them back in the pre-converter days. I know going to
duals on my '70 Delta 88 4 bbl 350 raised highway mileage from 19 to
24 immediately, while increasing city mileage from 13 to 15. On my
M-body, I got rid of the factory system behind the converter, went to
2" aluminized tubing and a Flowmaster Corvair Monza-style
muffler...which wasn't even needed, due to the triple converters on
those cars. That's when my highway mileage skyrocketed to as high as
30 MPG...with a 318! Removing the muffler entirely didn't change the
exhaust note much at all, oddly enough, but, at least in this state,
you cannot run without a muffler, even if it's not noisy...it's
illegal.

Factory exhaust systems are designed for two things: cheapness, and
quietness on the test drive...nothing more. The trend appears to be
continuing today, even though the automakers have known that crappy
exhausts waste fuel.

 

Ah yes, but the CAFE requirement eliminated a lot of dumb choices for
idiots...which is the only way you can control the buying habits of
the lower skirt of the IQ bell curve. Once they started rolling back
CAFE requirement (Bushies' toadies aren't even enforcing them at all
anymore) people started buying dumb vehicles again.

 

Model Ts were driving backwards up hills to keep gas flowing to the
carburetor, not for gearing. There was no fuel pump, and if the
"firewall" mounted tank was less than about half full, going up about
a 5% grade would starve the carburetor.

 

A stock T could comfortably do 40 to 45, and would do more, if the
driver was daring enough. Remember, these cars were basically
"horseless carriages," so handling wasn't really the best! The Model
A, while still a sled, improved vehicle handling quite a bit, but
Walter Chrysler's cars starting around 1930 could out handle them all
due to his suspension designs.

 

you DUMB ASS- all automotive engines STILL use paddle lubing of some
type, to lube the cylinder walls with splash- or use oil spurt holes in
the rods, where the rod cap bolts on. And the 216 had an oil pump,
which means it was PRESSURE OILED at the mains, rods, and cam bearings.

Where do you dream up this bullshit ?? You obviously don't know SHIT
about cars and engines.

 

ps- and furthermore, Chevy offered a larger 235 CID straight 6, from
1950 onward.

why do you care ?? you're "anti-GM", remember ??

 

WRONG! Chevrolet sixes were only partially pressure lubed until 1954.

 

....and it was a cheaply made, gas guzzling piece of crap that lasted
into the '60s...because it was very cheap to build and consumers
evidently didn't know any better.

Enjoy your troll posting today, Noodles. This account is going down
in flames Monday.

 

Your loss, but also your choice. Cheers.

 

I'm not familiar with Excels, but what you claim here isn't borne out by
the comments in the alt.autos.hyundai.

The 2.4L engine I have was jointly designed by Hyundai, Chrysler and
Mitsubishi and is used by all three. So if it has problems, it won't be
just Hyundai cars that are affected. I believe this is the engine used
in the Caliber for one.

I have nearly 13,000 on mine and so far, so good. And for $16,000 for a
Camry class car, I'll risk it not lasting 200,000 miles.

Matt

 

So it is Bush's fault that Americans are dumb. Wow, it is just amazing
at what liberals (speaking of the lower tail of the IQ bell curve) will
blame on Bush.

Matt

 

That is one of the reasons, the fact that reverse was a lower ratio is
the other reason. I can't find a web reference that lists the ratios,
but I heard this many times from my grandfather who owned one of the
first Model Ts in this area.

Matt

 

That's not what the article said, now, is it...kimchee car buyer?

Projection from...the lower half of the bell curve again!

The polls prove you wrong.

 

The reverse planet set did provide lower gearing than the high of the
forward set. So, consider it a three speed, with 1st and 3rd forward
and 2nd reverse! The planetary transmission, of course, lives on
today in automatic (non-CVT) transmissions.

I remember, during undergrad, driving charter buses for a living and
book money, and driving a 40' Crown coach with a 220 Cummins and
Spicer "air split" 12 speed transmission. Top speed in reserve in 6th
gear reverse: 48 MPH...theoretically, of course. It would do 102 MPH
in 12th at 2100 RPM, and that, I'm afraid, is fact I proved myself!
Crown, one of the last of the independent coach and fire engine
builders based in Los Angeles since the early '20s, finally threw in
the towel and is now a subsidiary of throw-away bus maker Blue Turd
from somewhere down south.

 

What, were you asleep during the '80s? The Excel was a hot
seller...at first...until exploding engine blocks, crankshaft noses
that were so soft they'd spit out pulley keys, collapsing pistons,
disinegrating axle bearings and other fun things made them one of the
quickest depreciating cars on the used market back then. It was
Hyundai Heavy's first try at cracking the US market, and they failed
miserably. They even eschewed the Hyundai name entirely, trying again
with the Kia name with a bit more success. The story here is that
they're learning, and the Japanese should be quite wary of them.
Meanwhile, another Korean attempt from GM's Daewoo, the "Pontiac Le
Mans," was another throw-away that had a horrid reliability reputation
and was quickly scrapped by GM.

Obviously no one in there remembers the horrid Excels, or the crappy
Hyundai engines that were used by the small Mitsubishis. The current
Hyundai engine bears no resemblance to that piece of crap, but based
on their history, I wouldn't buy a Hyundai for any reason until I see
what happens with 100K miles on them. I also notice that the Sonata's
interior was pretty cheesy...all for show, little substance, and that
the too-thin leather smelled mysteriously like kim chee. I also am
wary of any Mitsubishi designed/built engine. They have a pretty
lousy reputation, as well.

 

Right on, the car we drive is our own good or bad decision.

 

True, you made the decision I usually make.
However many buyers think the highest HP is best, even though it may be
worse for them.
Similar thinking leads to drivers buying premium gasoline, thinking it
is best for their vehicle.

 

Had any transaxle leak problems with your Concord? My dad-in-law
couldn't keep front seals in his, but his maintenance practices were
always suspect.[/QUOTE]
Fortunately not, I haven't heard of that possible problem.
I'm not concerned because my garage floor is still free of leak stains.

What maintenance practices would cause transaxle leaks?