Meme Thread... no politics

Stefan (Forum Supporter) said:

I drove one of those recently, same color. I thought it was awful, although it would be perfect for someone that hates cars and hates driving. 
 

Stefan (Forum Supporter) said:

You've never been a broke college student trying to keep a Triumph Spitfire running. Not me, but my best friend since age 5 or 6. Long stroke way undersquare British engines don't like to rev. Young  male idiots like revs. More than one bottom end was pulled from the junk yard and had the whole head, with most stuff still attached inc. carbs, was swapped from the old knocking bottom end onto the 'new' one. Head gasket and all. With a compression ratio similar to a 90 year old smoker a used head gasket was the least of your worries. I would never have reused a head gasket, but then I drove a Hillman Imp which went through head gaskets like Miami Vice went through blow. 

Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:

Stefan (Forum Supporter) said:

You've never been a broke college student trying to keep a Triumph Spitfire running. Not me, but my best friend since age 5 or 6. Long stroke way undersquare British engines don't like to rev. Young  male idiots like revs. More than one bottom end was pulled from the junk yard and had the whole head, with most stuff still attached inc. carbs, was swapped from the old knocking bottom end onto the 'new' one. Head gasket and all. With a compression ratio similar to a 90 year old smoker a used head gasket was the least of your worries. I would never have reused a head gasket, but then I drove a Hillman Imp which went through head gaskets like Miami Vice went through blow. 

In The Grapes of Wrath, there was an exchange where a vehicle needed a roadside repair and a bystander asked if they had a new head gasket.  Answer was, of course, "no", so they went about making it reuseable.

Of course, back then it was probably a steel shim, and as you point out compression ratio was probably in the 5:1 range because cars were engineered to run on whatever mystery liquid was posing for gasoline.  And also had to accomodate hand-cranking.

I've reused head gaskets.  Did heads on a 3.0 Audi (the infamous AVK) and the person who cut the valve seats couldn't find the right collet for the guides so he just sort of winged it, and the cutter chattered.  It turns out that septadecoganal seats do not seal to round valves.  So, the heads came back off, the seats were recut, and I put it back together with the heat cycled head gaskets and the now-used head bolts.  Lots of Copper-Kote on the gaskets.  MLS head gaskets ARE reusable if you put fresh sealant on them.

The head bolts....  when they torqued up the first time, they did the angle torque part of the sequence like butter.  The second time, after the fancy coating had been worn off, they gritched and squeaked and popped and needed a lot more torque to get to the right angle.  LOTS more torque.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

They shimmed the worn out bearings with a chunk of belt leather. I hated that dreary,  unfulfilling book with a passion.  But I remember being thoroughly engrossed in that roadside repair.

Appleseed said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

They shimmed the worn out bearings with a chunk of belt leather. I hated that dreary,  unfulfilling book with a passion.  But I remember being thoroughly engrossed in that roadside repair.

I did that on audiobook. I remember getting to work one day after listening on the commute, and being so depressed that I was not able to get out of the car right away.

tuna55 said:

Appleseed said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

They shimmed the worn out bearings with a chunk of belt leather. I hated that dreary,  unfulfilling book with a passion.  But I remember being thoroughly engrossed in that roadside repair.

I did that on audiobook. I remember getting to work one day after listening on the commute, and being so depressed that I was not able to get out of the car right away.

Never read Grapes Of Wrath, but Steinbeck's The Winter Of Our Discontent really took the wind out of my sails. John Steinbeck really wasn't a cheery, feel-good kind of guy. I got the The Moon Is Down for Christmas but I haven't cracked that open.

As for the belt leather bearing trick, ask David Freiburger and Rick Pewe how that one works out. They tried it in a Willys Go-Devil (side note: has there ever been a greater engine name than Go-Devil?) with a bad rod knock and all it did was immediately distribute chunks of oily leathery goo throughout every passage in the block.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

I drove one of those [Corollas] recently, same color. I thought it was awful, although it would be perfect for someone that hates cars and hates driving.

A few years ago DD#1's BF of the time - completely a non-carperson - wanted help picking a new car.  We went to see a new Toyota iC-whatever... the 5-door version of that car.  I was astounded at how crappy it felt, drove, and sounded for the price point. The Cruze was a much nicer car, for less money.

And that's saying a lot.

In reply to NickD :

The leather bearing trick will work in engines with babbitt bearings for a little while. Think early 1900s tractors and farm engines that only turn 300-500 rpms. Any modern engine turns too fast, makes too much hp, has too tight tolerances, and has too much oil pressure. Also belt leather is too thick. My father and grandfather would use the tongue out of a leather shoe on the farm engines. That would keep a tractor running through planting or the well pump engine running until they could pull it down and repour the bearings. 

This one's for you Wally: