Topic: One Piece at a Time

The word amazon conjures up images of the largest river on Earth or possibly a ubiquitous purveyor of books. But what does Amazon.com have to do with Johnny Cash?

We'll Amazon does sell books but they also sell auto parts, and a quite attractive prices too. I just purchased some replacement headlights for my Taurus for less than $100. This includes the whole headlamp assembly AND new lamps (bulbs to the average consumer). My car is a 2001 model and the headlights had developed "cataracts" in that they are so hazy one can "out drive" the lights with any speed above idle. So purchased new I have.

To answer the question I am sure is on your minds is yes I tried to buff the old lights to remove the cataracts. Unfortunately I was over zealous with my Dremel tool and all I managed to do was gouge the headlights and somehow impregnate the rubbing compound into the lens. Nice. Now my car looks like a tramp.

So, one piece at a time, I keep the Taurus road-worthy and avoid a car payment.
dj

Re: One Piece at a Time

I drive a 2000 Ford Explorer XLT.  Bought it used about a year ago for 1700.00, put about 1200 into it for safety check. 4.2 L V6 runs approximately 25MPG highway and about 22 city. It is clean, comfortable, no rust and runs like a clock.
I used our local Kijiji website to find it.
Kijiji is great, regular folks selling all kinds of stuff. Bought a 12' aluminum boat, 2005 9.9HP Yamaha ourboard and a trailer for just over 1000.00, seperately. They sell boat, motor, trailer combos like this for 1500.00, so I saved quite a bit.
Will never buy a new item again, I swear.
Randy

Hank's prosepctive gutiar player said: "Mr Williams, I'm not sure I can play for you, the onliest chords I know are C D & G"
Hank repleis, after a short pause: "Well, what else is there?"

Re: One Piece at a Time

I had a '98 Taurus and absolutely loved it.  I still miss that car.  Keep it alive, baby.  Keep it alive!

Man.  Now I really want to go out and buy a big sedan.  My wife does not like them, but I do.  My favorite car ever was a '78 Oldsmobile Delta 88.  It was longer and wider than my '78 Dodge Tradesman van.  Seven adults could sit comfortably in the bench seats.  Man, I miss that car. 

I should go buy a Town Car.

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude

Re: One Piece at a Time

I once owned a 74 Mercury Marquis - station wagon. That mutha was the biggest production car ever built. Bought it new, sold it in 1980. They guy I sold it to was a fellow Scout Leader, who always liked the car; called it the Dreadnought. He painted it battleship grey, put some lane lines on it and glued model airplanes on the hood and roof. Made me love the car even more.
Randy

Hank's prosepctive gutiar player said: "Mr Williams, I'm not sure I can play for you, the onliest chords I know are C D & G"
Hank repleis, after a short pause: "Well, what else is there?"

Re: One Piece at a Time

Dude.  Whitewater.  That is the best freaking big car story I have ever read.

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude

Re: One Piece at a Time

I have a 1999 Ford Taurus with barely 50k on it,it was a IBM fleet exc.car. I have never really had any large issues with it.only tires, brakes etc. The ford Taurus seems too be the solid car of the last couple of decades. I do miss driving older larger cars I liked the Mercurys they were great.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman

Re: One Piece at a Time

I am the original and only owner of my Taurus. I've had it since new. I did not buy it new...long story involving getting fired, etc. This past Monday, on the way to work, i watched the odometer roll from 199,999 to 200,000. I figured this warranted an injection of capital to keep her road-worthy and loved. So, this week, she will get a face lift with the new lights. I also bought two new 4-button OEM remotes (key fobs), i lost the two original ones. I got them off Amazon.com for $6.98 each. Ford wanted the entire checkbook!

Next: new floor mats and new front struts. Amazon has the latter @ $110 each already built up with the new springs installed. Delivered to my door! How can i shop anywhere else. All I really need is the strut upper bushings but for this price and while I'm in there i might as well replace the entire strut.
dj

p.s. this capital will put on hiatus any near-term guitar purchases so I'm back to playing what I have. Which is as it should be!

Re: One Piece at a Time

I`ve had a lot of cars and trucks since 1978. My favorite was a 1991 mercury capri. I bought that to replace my 1965 mercury park lane convertible. I junked the capri in 2008. After my wife recovered from cancer,It just wasn`t important to me. Now I have a 98 explorer and a 92 f-150. The pickup is in awful shape, I always have the right of way at an intersection.

Enjoy Every Sandwich
Nothing In Moderation  -- Live Fast. Love Hard. Die Young And Leave A Beautiful Corpse. -- Buy It Today. Cry About It Tomorrow.

Re: One Piece at a Time

Zurf wrote:

I should go buy a Town Car.

My first car was a '78 Continental two door. Carburated 460 and everything.  I loved that car, six miles a gallon and all.

Now, all I want is a Town Car.

I love me some land yachts.

Someday we'll win this thing...

[url=http://www.aclosesecond.com]www.aclosesecond.com[/url]

10 (edited by wlbaye 2012-01-29 22:32:34)

Re: One Piece at a Time

I think Fred Eaglesmith knows what your talkin about

"Mighty Big Car"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE9l84hp2i8

He also has a song "Bench Seat Baby" but there's no Youtube but a good and fun song to play smile

"It's got a Bench Seat Baby , you don't have to sit over there"

Later, Wayne P

Re: One Piece at a Time

I learned to drive in a 1975 Oldsmobile 98. A HUGE car with a 455 V8 and a 4 barrel Rochester Quadrajet carburetor. A veritable land yacht it DRANK gasoline. The 1970s oil embargo caused it to be sold for a smaller albeit still inefficient car. We also bought a 1974 ORANGE VW Super Beetle - a blast to drive!

Re: One Piece at a Time

Naoslager - it was tough to quite get there, but did you just say that you were fired last Monday?  Geez I hope not.  If you were, here's wishing you the best luck in finding something better quickly. 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude

13 (edited by joeyjoeyjoey 2012-01-30 00:37:33)

Re: One Piece at a Time

naolslager wrote:

I learned to drive in a 1975 Oldsmobile 98. A HUGE car with a 455 V8 and a 4 barrel Rochester Quadrajet carburetor. A veritable land yacht it DRANK gasoline. The 1970s oil embargo caused it to be sold for a smaller albeit still inefficient car. We also bought a 1974 ORANGE VW Super Beetle - a blast to drive!

Youre down in georgia where it doesnt get that cold. I had a 1966 vw bus. It wasn`t fun to drive.It could barely get out of its own way. Always in the right lane and freezing your you know what off because  Vws have no heat. Try a VW up here and see. I never bought another Vw again But I learned to drive on a 1970 Caddilac with a 472 and rochester 4bbl. I also had a 1970 Bonneville with a 455 and rochester 4bbl. They are huge like the Olds 98. I remember getting 7 mpg also. They moved like lightning but sucked gas like water. The VW came after the Bonneville

Enjoy Every Sandwich
Nothing In Moderation  -- Live Fast. Love Hard. Die Young And Leave A Beautiful Corpse. -- Buy It Today. Cry About It Tomorrow.

Re: One Piece at a Time

Zurf

It looks like Monday was when the odometer hit 200,000 miles, I think getting fired was part of the story of how he acquired the car.

Re: One Piece at a Time

My "first" car was a 1970 Mercury Montego Station Wagon. It had a 351 Windsor with a 4bbl carb. My parents bought it new and we had it until 1984. The first is in quotes because I never drove it. At the time, I thought it would be a cool car to have, put on some Centerlines and Mickey Thompson tires with fatty's in the rear. Unfortunately I did not have a job so it sat in our driveway. My parents finally said if I was not going to drive it then sell it. Anything over 200 bucks I could have for myself. A guy came to look at it, saw the Windsor and offered 500 bucks on the spot. I took it.

My first real car was a 1978 Honda Civic Wagon.

I shoulda kept the Montego.

Re: One Piece at a Time

whitewater55 wrote:

I drive a 2000 Ford Explorer XLT.  Bought it used about a year ago for 1700.00, put about 1200 into it for safety check. 4.2 L V6 runs approximately 25MPG highway and about 22 city.
Randy

You guys are scary - I have a Peugeot 207 hatchback which does about 55 mpg 'highway' and it's still pricey to run with diesel being around £6 per gallon!

roll

I'm the son of rage and love

Re: One Piece at a Time

bonedaddy wrote:
whitewater55 wrote:

I drive a 2000 Ford Explorer XLT.  Bought it used about a year ago for 1700.00, put about 1200 into it for safety check. 4.2 L V6 runs approximately 25MPG highway and about 22 city.
Randy

You guys are scary - I have a Peugeot 207 hatchback which does about 55 mpg 'highway' and it's still pricey to run with diesel being around £6 per gallon!

roll

In Canada, the driving distances are on a scale you folks across the pond don't understand. I routinely drive about 1500k each summer for vacation, and stay in my home province. Coast to coast would be about 5500k in each direction. Roads in the "hinterland" are steep and the extra power is needed. Had a Honda Civic that I loved, but the wee motor couldn't handle the climbing.

Hank's prosepctive gutiar player said: "Mr Williams, I'm not sure I can play for you, the onliest chords I know are C D & G"
Hank repleis, after a short pause: "Well, what else is there?"

Re: One Piece at a Time

I love the big old cars.  I had a 73 Monte Carlo with the long front end.  I loved that car.  Smooth ride.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.

Re: One Piece at a Time

Back then they were called cars.Remember in 77 when  GM downsized the big cars(bonneville, 98s ,cadillacs etc), how tiny they looked. Now they are considered tanks

Enjoy Every Sandwich
Nothing In Moderation  -- Live Fast. Love Hard. Die Young And Leave A Beautiful Corpse. -- Buy It Today. Cry About It Tomorrow.

Re: One Piece at a Time

Imagine this if you were in a wallmartand they announced gray compact,small car has its lights left on. You would empty out half the store. We are driving Gumby cars,they look almost the same and it is hard to tell what model it is till you get up close.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman

Re: One Piece at a Time

Zurf, you sorted out my tale correctly. Fired = new car, back in 2002.

Back to big gas-guzzling V8s: Anyone flip the top of the air cleaner over so you could hear the 4bbl howl when you floored it? The quadrajets were best for this. I loved doing that. of course I'd have to pop the hood (bonnet) on the way home to flip it back to the "normal" configuration.
dj

Re: One Piece at a Time

This thread has got me thinking about some of the vehicles I've owned over the years.  Some were new, most I bought with 50K-70K and drove until I put 150K-170K on them. Some looked good for used vehicles others were rust buckets. (Kind of embarrassing to get caught in a safety check and the patrolman says "Don't panic buddy, we'll get a torch and cut you out of that wreck ....)

Here's a list, although I'm pretty sure I missed a couple.   

'58 Olds Super 88 -(My first car, bought in 1966 for $250.  Got about 10 mpg and 200 miles to a quart of oil)
'56 Ford Custom Line 2-door couple (Came with a 272 ci engine, I put a 390 in it, Keystone mags, bucket seats out of a Mustang.  Sure wish I still had that car)
'60 Chevy Impala
* '70 Plymouth Duster - my first new car.  Drove it 2-1/2years, went to Florida 4 times and California once.
*'72 Mercury Cougar XR7 - looked great but always seemed to have some kind of problem
*'77 Ford F-100 truck - Loved that truck but had to sell it when the family started growing
'72 Chevy Vega Hatchback
'74 Chevy Vega Wagon
'72 VW bus - hauled 8 kayaks and kayakers in it one time-wouldn't go into reverse unless half the crew jumped out.
*79 Buick Century wagon - finally bought my first "family" car. My kids nick-named her "Granny"
'68 Chevy C-10 truck - hauled firewood with it
'74 Chevy Suburban - my best river vehicle for hauling paddlers and kayaks- OD Green, could sleep 5 in a pinch.  My daughters refused to ride in it because it was too ugly
'82 Ford Bronco II - daughter #2 wrecked it while mama and I were away on vacation
*87 Chevy C-20 customized van - best family vacation vehicle I ever owned
'68 Dodge Dart - work car, didn't have it long
'86 Chevy S-10 truck
'89 Chevy Corsica
'89 Chevy Citation
'90 Chevy S-10
'94 Ford Explorer
'94 Chevy Astro customized van - overall, maybe the best all-round vehicle I ever owned
*'01 Ford Ranger - still drive it
'04 Mercury Sable - still drive it
'07 Subaru Forester - still drive it

*bought new

A few I wish I still had, most served their purpose but were chunks of machinery which I poured a lot of money into.

DE

I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs

23 (edited by naolslager 2012-01-31 13:40:43)

Re: One Piece at a Time

this could be fun:

1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
1977 Chevrolet Camaro
1977 VW Rabbit
1986 VW Golf
1987 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II
1991 Chevrolet Silverado
1988 VW Scirocco 16V
1988 Honda Accord
1991 Ford Escort GT
1994 Honda Accord
1998 Ford Expedition (my bride's daily driver)
2001 Ford Taurus (my daily driver)
2003 Honda Pilot (family's "third" car in use by my daughter)

We are a NO PUSHROD family!

Re: One Piece at a Time

Here goes  71 chev vega ,70 pontiac bonneville, 69 plymouth belvedere, 66 vw bus, 81 vette (chevette), 69 chev pickup, 81 honda accord ,58 renault dauphine(never ran), 74 bmw bavaria, 77 olds cutlass,83 ford exp(remember those), 79 chev malibu, 84 toyota van, 84 renault alliance, 87 hyundai excel, 85 saab turbo, 92 chev corsica, 79 ford f-150,65 mercury park lane convertible, 78 ford f-150,  87 nissan pickup, 98 chev lumina, 93 nissan pickup, 91 mercury capri conv., 92 isuzu trooper(one of my favorites), 02 impala, 98 ford explorer, 92 toyota camry, 91 chevy conversion van, 92 ford pickup.  The impala, explorer and 92 ford pickup we still use.  My dream car is an Austin Healey 3000 mk II. I dont care if I go up or down in years. These are in order

Enjoy Every Sandwich
Nothing In Moderation  -- Live Fast. Love Hard. Die Young And Leave A Beautiful Corpse. -- Buy It Today. Cry About It Tomorrow.

Re: One Piece at a Time

I'll do what I can on the list:
'77 Mercury Bobcat
'78 Dodge Tradesman van
'78 Oldmobile Delta 88
'80 Chevy Malibu (hated it with a passion - I used to stall it in intersections hoping to get t-boned)
'88 Ford Tempo (bought new)
'76 Mercury Comet (loved it - did the Mooch America tour with it trying to find work and could sleep in the front seat comfortably)
'89 Plymouth Sundance (bought new)
'92 Ford Ranger (one of my favorites - kept it longest of all the vehicles)
'95 Taurus (loved it)
'96 Subaru Impreza (loved it - my first AWD car and I will never be without AWD or 4WD again if I can help it)
'02 (?) Mazda somethingorother - it was bright yellow and little and felt like driving a bumblebee - I was not a fan of this car
'04 Mazda MPV*
'00 Volvo V70 Crosscountry - I loved the car, but I did not love the size or frequency of the repair bills. 
'06 Dodge Dakota 4x4*

* - current vehicles

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude