You forget that the average motorist wouldn't know a sparkplug from their dishwasher. "Oh my god my car is low on p/s fluid, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!!!!!, I think its time to junk it and pay more money to buy another car from the same brand!". Seriously however, i do agree with you on the point that you or I would be able to perform basic and sometimes intensive maintenance on possibly newer car, but imagine the damage the average low grade punter could do, potentially even placing themselves or others in danger. We've all heard some horror stories about a simple oil change...
Basic maintenance should be mandatory for driver's training, including but not limited to: how engines work, what is oil and factors of its degration, how brake system works, how to check (and add) fluids, hot to read the torque curve, what is AFR, how to use OBD diagnostic tools... There are already too many morons on public roads, more intensive driver's training and stricter exams would be beneficial
My driving school did teach us how to check the fluids, read a tire size and change a flat, but i think a lot of people just don't care and see it as something you just need to learn to pass the exam, rather than something that could be useful in the future
Now i think that may be a little overboard, but how to change a tire, sparkplugs and oil should definitely be mandatory. Oh and get rid of that pathetic "auto only" license, if you cant handle a clutch and shifter (which are in this day and age are super easy to use, not unlike the shifters of my cars time) then how in the world can you handle situational awareness whilst safely and smoothly operating a car, which is another thing, instructors DO NOT teach you anything about situational awareness or even looking around to see what others are doing beside looking in your mirror when you change lanes. I remember that when i went for my license, heading down the road i was told to move to the right lane, so i indicated and checked my mirror, now normally if some one (at least in this country) is indicating ahead of you to come into your lane, you usually stop accelerating for a moment and let the person in... Well in the mirror i saw a truck accelerating toward me, so i waited a moment before moving over to see if he lets me in, they dont, by now instructor is saying its safe to move over, though despite they were still a few metres behind us they were accelerating. If i were to move into his lane i would then be cutting off this large and accelerating truck, so i tell the instructor that this isnt safe to do because there is a truck approaching, he reply was that i had my indicator on so he should allow me to move safely over... The truck at that moment then speeds past us... Still failed the test due to not "following instructions" despite the inherent danger i would be putting us all in, absolutely do not teach anything about being aware of what others are doing...
Damn, that's yours!? That looks awesome. Usually, I don't like fender flares, but with those wheels on that car, they look surprisingly good! I can understand why you don't want to mess with it, though... That's a Torana, right? What engine's in it?
I was lucky enough to learn most of that stuff during my time in the army where they showed us how to maintain our (Puch) G-Wagons and that knowledge already paid out more than once. Once had a flat tire and the other time got caught in heavy snows and no one in the car had a clue how to simply change a tire or even put on snow chains...so yea such basic stuff should really be taught in driving school as I think its also an important safety issue - you dont want to be stranded for a long period of time at the side of a busy highway unsucessfully trying to jack up a vehicle.
Its got the little 253 and traumatic, appearance wise its pretty good, i hate those fucking flares those, absolutely loathe them, all of them are different, they dont match and are all wonky (plus im a bit of the practical kind, if its money spent of looking good and not going fast, then your wasting coin!), its got the way too sensitive and heavy 16:1 steering rack and slippery, grip-less "sport" tiller, dry rotted too-big-for-the-body tires (the flares are only show, the original fenders haven't been cut), a howling, grinding, crunching diff with a slow assed 2.76 ratio, ruined valve stem seals, a shitty oversized Holley knock off carb that even more erratic than the real thing, a flywheel with broken teeth, a sloppy, sloppy, slow, sloooooooow shift pattern with NO kickdown (hint, its broken), door internals that rattle like crazy unless the window is in just the right position, a non functional speedo (it worked-ish last i drove it), non functional clock, non functional fuel gauge, non functional fuel warning light, non functional temp light, non functional park brake light, non functional aftermarket rear right speaker (it had a good radio though, that currently resides in the valiant), leaking t/stat housing, chalking, cracking paint on the wrongly painted black out bits, dodgily dodgy done wiring (makes me look like professional sparky with the valiant), broken teeth on the starter, the wheels are too wide for the actual body... it goes on An actual heap of shit, and these are im not joking... normal "quirks" on old holdens, trust me if you ever see one, sure it might look cool and all, but look closer... I hate what my pop did to the thing, or conversely, didn't do, nothing on it has changed since the 90's when the shady assed bikie run "dealership" put on fake junk on and black paint to make it look more like an SS or SLR, to make it more desirable, then my pop bought it. Then of course there's my pop on top of all of that Im not selling, i like the thing enough to keep it, plus i did learn to drive in it and i have the only good memories of me and my pop in that car, until its stalled on the train tracks one day... And when i started driving it, suffice to say i learnt like a company that put a bit more effort in engineering its cars... Here are pictures for your perusal, they're from about 6 years ago --- Post updated --- God i fucking hate that fucking steering wheel, it should have the original two spoke jobber, then i might have something to grip and not hurt my palm/fingers, a heap of fucking shit that wheel, junk...
Isn't that what OBD is for? --- Post updated --- Well, it wasn't really unhappy, just went into limp mode for like 10 minutes or so. It ran fine afterwards and still does. Curiously, the misfires I noticed yesterday didn't occur today. Once I've got my car back from the shop (hopefully with a working cruise control) I'll be able to see if keeps misfiring. For now I will most likely return the spark plugs I bought yesterday, they were overpriced anyways. (I checked and you can get the same ones for 5 to 10 bucks less online) --- Post updated --- Well, it wasn't really unhappy, just went into limp mode for like 10 minutes or so. It ran fine afterwards and still does. Curiously, the misfires I noticed yesterday didn't occur today. Once I've got my car back from the shop (hopefully with a working cruise control) I'll be able to see if keeps misfiring. For now I will most likely return the spark plugs I bought yesterday, they were overpriced anyways. (I checked and you can get the same ones for 5-10 bucks less online) Edit: the description of your Torana is great, made me burst out laughing
There are too many people who fail to grasp the concept of "rate of closure" if a vehicle is approaching fast, do not merge even if the space is sufficient. Also , there are tons of people who believe shifting up makes you accelerate faster.
Well i'll fix all of it besides the diff and paint (i'll prep it though), so it wont be too much, less than what ive spent on the Valiant easily, the biggest hurdle is my grandfather. I wont lie i would love to drive it again, it'll be a good daily if i fixed it up some --- Post updated --- Actually looking at those pictures are making me a little nostalgic now, it is really nice car to drive, handles like a go kart despite the soft springing (which ill be leaving), very fun to throw about, thats if it makes past the first street without losing spark or overheating...
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...h&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post If I ever need a new money-pit, I know who to message.
Based on those seats, I'm guessing it actually has 45,000 miles, and not 145,000. There's also this... https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...h&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post
Got my shitbox back from the dealer last Thursday, and the cruise control actually works! It also ran fine on LPG for the last couple days, guess it really was too cold to run it on LPG earlier this week.
See if you can get more photo's, thats way nicer looking than the Polara, with minimal price increase, but the question remains; What are going to do with your Eagle?
