Random Thoughts Thread

[David]

28 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

unpopular opinion about a popular car...... I never really got the love for these either.   Even in Olds form, the G-Bodies don't do much for me.  The interiors are sh!t.  Give me that same powertrain in a Riviera or even an Electra coupe and you might have something for me. 

Totally get and agree on the interiors, Yet the body does speak to me. Maybe it is the older guy in me over ya young buck!  

Having that powertrain in the Riviera would have been AWESOME!

[balthazar]

^ Agreed on the GN opinion. Exteriors are appealing for the '80s, but I could not live with the interiors, and only the GM (vs. the 442 / Monte / GP) have appropriate performance (stock; there's always mods / power train swaps).

Quote

Having that powertrain in the Riviera would have been AWESOME!

I don't know what the power output was, but there was a Riviera Type S turbo (FWD at this point tho) ~ 

These were sharp cars & still look really good.

Edited June 4, 2019 by balthazar

[Drew Dowdell]

14 minutes ago, balthazar said:

^ Agreed on the GN opinion. Exteriors are appealing for the '80s, but I could not live with the interiors, and only the GM (vs. the 442 / Monte / GP) have appropriate performance (stock; there's always mods / power train swaps).

I don't know what the power output was, but there was a Riviera Type S turbo (FWD at this point tho) ~ 

These were sharp cars & still look really good.

185 hp at 4,200rpm - 280-lbs.ft. at 2,400rpm, an upgrade over the 140hp and about 255 lb-ft of the 307. 

They stopped making the Riviera T-Type a few years before they started making GNXes. 

[David]

@Drew Dowdell This is a very sharp Riviera with the Turbo V6 1985.

http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/buick/112915-1985-buick-riviera-t-type-turbo.html

@balthazar Seems this Turbo V6 is the base engine from the Buick GNGX. Online spec is showing: 

• Buick Riviera T Type (aut. 4) , model year 1985, version for North America U.S. (up to November)
• manufactured by Buick in USA
• 2-door coupe body type
• FWD (front-wheel drive), automatic 4-speed gearbox
• gasoline (petrol) engine with displacement: 3791 cm3 / 231.4 cui, advertised power: 149 kW / 200 hp / 203 PS ( SAE net ), torque: 407 Nm / 300 lb-ft, more data: 1985 Buick Riviera T Type (aut. 4) Horsepower/Torque Curve
• characteristic dimensions: outside length: 5248 mm / 206.6 in, width: 1796 mm / 70.7 in, wheelbase: 2896 mm / 114 in
• reference weights: shipping weight 1617 kg / 3564 lbs base curb weight: 1667 kg / 3675 lbs
• how fast is this car ? top speed: 199 km/h (124 mph) (©theoretical);
• accelerations: 0- 60 mph 8.7© s; 0- 100 km/h 9.2© s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com); 1/4 mile drag time (402 m) 16.7© s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com) 1985 Buick Riviera T Type (aut. 4) Detailed Performance Review
• fuel consumption and mileage: 19 mpg (U.S.), 12.4 l/100km, 22.8 mpg (imp.), 8.1 km/l EPA combined ratings; average estimated by a-c©: 13 l/100km / 21.6 mpg (imp.) / 18 mpg (U.S.) / 7.7 km/l, more data: 1985 Buick Riviera T Type (aut. 4) Specifications Review

https://www.automobile-catalog.com/car/1985/310700/buick_riviera_t_type.html

https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/buick/riviera_6gen/riviera_6gen/1985.html

[David]

@smk4565 Outstanding read on understanding Torque and Horsepower in laymen terms.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-torque-in-terms-of-cars-and-why-is-it-important-in-layman-terms

OR this has great visuals to help explain the Torque versus Horsepower too:

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-torque-and-power-in-a-car-in-layman-terms-If-you-say-a-car-has-a-particular-torque-at-3000-rpm-and-power-at-4500rpm-what-does-it-mean

Another great way to explain it here:

Prepping for the Electric auto world, this is a good overview of Newton-meters:

https://www.theunitconverter.com/newton-meter-to-foot-pound-conversion/360-newton-meter-to-foot-pound.html

Also excellent conversion chart here where you just enter the figures and have it figure it all out for you. Future is metric man:

https://www.metric-conversions.org/energy-and-power/newton-meters-to-kilowatt-hours.htm

[David]

According to this announcement, seems GM and Michelin will bring to production airless tires on the Chevrolet Bolt by 2024 and other select models.

 

Michelin and GM bringing airless tires to the road in 2024

http://flip.it/U3B4aE

 

[balthazar]

Is the airless tire finally ready?? It’s been pitched for 50 years now. BTW - I don’t believe there’s any market reason for them AND I’d be real curious to see them in high cornering loads and packed full of slush & mud.

[oldshurst442]

Quote

but Michelin says this deficit can be reduced by eliminating flat-tire kits and jacks from production cars. 

(on the fact that this new wheel thingy is heavier than run-flats...but a very minor difference)

 A vehicle on the road will always need a jack...eliminating a jack to save a very minor weight difference sounds stupid to me...

There will always be a pot hole(s) (yeah...like in succession) somewhere in Detroit or Montreal that will be deep enough, or jagged enough, or both...to damage this uptis wheel thingy...

 

So...if you damage your utpis...how do you lift your car to replace it?

I aint the one to call for assistance as I could handle a jack well enough, thank-you very much! 

 

[Robert Hall]

6 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 So...if you damage your utpis...how do you lift your car to replace it?

I aint the one to call for assistance as I could handle a jack well enough, thank-you very much! 

 

In the states, I'd call AAA.  I have changed tires myself, but probably not in the last 20 years.  And a 20 inch wheel and tire is really freaking heavy...with my back issues, I wouldn't try it. 

[oldshurst442]

12 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

In the states, I'd call AAA.  I have changed tires myself, but probably not in the last 20 years.  And a 20 inch wheel and tire is really freaking heavy...with my back issues, I wouldn't try it. 

I hear you.  

I wouldnt change tires myself if I was going to injure myself due to bad backs or any other ailments.  I have been lucky because in the last 20 years, I havent needed to lift my cars to chang a flat tire.  Ive had 2 or 3 instances with nails in my tires, but they were slow leaks and I was able to put air in the tires, when I saw them low, and drive to a garage to repair the tire. Those plug thingys worked great for those 2-3 times. 

Knock on wood because I dont want a flat tire anytime soon.

There are some cars that dont come with a jack anymore. That much I know so its not a total shocker for me to hear this kind of news.  I think the Corvette is one of these cars that dont come with a jack.  

I dont like the idea of not having a jack, though. 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

I had a run of bad luck w/ nails on my old Jeep on a set of Goodyear Wranglers back in '02-04..must had at least 5 nails in 3 tires, had to get them patched each time.   When I was in Arizona my sister was driving my Jeep and ran over something on freeway, had to call AAA to swap on the spare.   Back in the 90s I did occasionally swap a flat tire w/ the spare on my Bronco or Mustangs, those were 15 inch and I was a lot younger...

My old Jeep had 16 inch tires had a full size spare and jack, my newer one has a spare and jack, don't recall if it's a space saver or not (the salesman showed it to me for about 5 seconds when I bought it).  

[balthazar]

Just upgrade to Load Range E tires- they hold their structural shape with next to no air in them. 😛
- - - - -
 

Edited June 5, 2019 by balthazar

[Drew Dowdell]

They probably ride like sh!t

 

[balthazar]

Well of course! Actually, as common built they have much taller sidewalls- the enemy of a shitty ride is short uber-stiff sidewalls (and suspension)- no absorption. COE has 10-ply 20-in tires, hard as a rock. I'm not sure the ride would be different if it had solid rubber tires.
- - - - -
Factory-built circa '52 Cadillac with bullet-proof glass ~

[balthazar]

[oldshurst442]

^^^  I cant make out that first pic.   

What is it Im looking at?  

 

[balthazar]

Uhhh, the same design of pullies, hanging, from some ropes...

[oldshurst442]

I think I can make the ropes out.  I think I can see the pulleys. 

Is this on a boat?  

I really cant make out the scenery.  Maybe I need to upgrade my graphics video card in my brain....

 

[Robert Hall]

Looks like a scene from an old b&w horror movie.

[balthazar]

OOOO! Close! except... not a movie. But horrific; yes.

[oldshurst442]

so that ghostly figure on the right is a human then?

I wondered about it in initially...looks like a female.  It always looked like a female to me. 

I still cant make out the scenery.  A dungeon?  I said boat only because you said ropes...so I went with a boiler room in a boat...

Its a blurry photograph. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

Someone's old time murder room, then.

[David]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

So that looks like a witches hat to the left, so witch trials with mid-evil torture? 🤔

[Robert Hall]

Read somewhere that the GM Parma stamping plant made W-body floor pans.  Drove by it yesterday and today, seems to still be in operation.  Wonder what they make there now. 

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

So that looks like a witches hat to the left, so witch trials with mid-evil torture? 🤔

All the way to the left, the ghostly shape, is a human foot.

[balthazar]

Lil fella was perturbed when I disturbed his nap under some leaves I was raking.

[ocnblu]

6 hours ago, dfelt said:

mid-evil

  So it's not full-evil?  King of malapropisms

[balthazar]

'54 Firebird I ~ 

[surreal1272]

One month after shoulder surgery and I’ve finally been cleared to drive. I have never been so happy about something so small in my entire life. 

[David]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

One month after shoulder surgery and I’ve finally been cleared to drive. I have never been so happy about something so small in my entire life. 

Way to go, Congratulations!  🎉

[surreal1272]

Just now, dfelt said:

Way to go, Congratulations!  🎉

Thanks. I still have four months or so before I’m totally recovered (according to my doctor today anyway) but not being to drive the past month has literally been driving me insane. This is at least a step in the right direction. 

 

On a side note, on way home from the doctor I spotted a dark gray CTS-V wagon with the tag that read “1 BD WAGON”. I have to say I agreed with that tag 100%. That is a bucket list car for me. 

[Drew Dowdell]

My dad had shoulder done and then later his knees done.... makes driving a manual shift F150 a challenge. 

[ccap41]

 

@Drew Dowdell  It was kept very civil until today. I thought we had solid discussion yesterday. 

People cannot talk politics without getting personal, for whatever reason. 

[Drew Dowdell]

8 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

 

@Drew Dowdell  It was kept very civil until today. I thought we had solid discussion yesterday. 

People cannot talk politics without getting personal, for whatever reason. 

We used to have a politics section here.... technically it still is, but I keep it on lockdown.  Too many people couldn't handle it. 

[surreal1272]

38 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

 

@Drew Dowdell  It was kept very civil until today. I thought we had solid discussion yesterday. 

People cannot talk politics without getting personal, for whatever reason. 

I know I pull no punches on the subject matter but I think once folks start talking about glorified concentration camps and a police state, that’s where it starts to cross the line. 

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

My dad had shoulder done and then later his knees done.... makes driving a manual shift F150 a challenge. 

I was just thinking about that very thing. I would be up $h! creek if I still had my old Talon TSI (or any of the seven other manual cars I’ve owned over the years). Bought one of those steering knobs to make it easier but the green turtle (my old RAV4) is pretty easy to drive without it. Just playing the safe route for now because I still have two more weeks in this sling and several months of physical therapy. 

[balthazar]

^ Guess yer not a potential autonomous driving vehicle consumer. 

[surreal1272]

3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

^ Guess yer not a potential autonomous driving vehicle consumer. 

Not under any circumstance. I will never let skynet drive for me lol. 

[balthazar]

We were talking about older cars, when they used to be able to tow; '71 Pontiac towing guide- up to Class 3 / 6000 lbs with up to 600 lbs tongue weight. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by balthazar

[Potluck]

More towing options than many trucks these days.

[ocnblu]

VPOTUS was in York today, visiting a manufacturing plant.  Awesome.

[David]

50 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

VPOTUS was in York today, visiting a manufacturing plant.  Awesome.

Lovely another WASTE of Tax payers dollars on a company visit to really hid the cost of being used to stump for re-election of Potus45.

https://www.abc27.com/news/local/carlisle-west-shore/vp-pence-to-attend-pa-gop-state-dinner/2053594541

Pretty clear this is a fund raising / re-election visit than a valid company visit.

Need to stop of Political people from abusing the system this way.

Seems since December 47,000 manufacturing jobs have been shed. Guess the Trump Bump is over.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-05/manufacturing-jobs-boom-is-fading

Harvard University economist Robert Z. Lawrence described this phenomenon in 2017, writing that it suggested “a tradeoff between the ability of the manufacturing sector to contribute to productivity growth and its ability to provide employment opportunities.” In the booming 1990s, big gains in manufacturing productivity were accompanied by more or less flat manufacturing employment; in the less-booming early 2000s and in the immediate aftermath of the last recession, spectacular gains in manufacturing productivity were accompanied by plummeting manufacturing employment.

[Drew Dowdell]

Trump’s China Tariffs Could Cost 400,000 Manufacturing Jobs

[ocnblu]

Well I thought it was awesome.  There were a million "predictions" before the election as well... how'd that pan out for ya?  Trump won Pennsylvania on his way to the White House.  That was fantastic.  It was like "The Attack of the Black Tahoes" over there today.  A lot of heft.

[oldshurst442]

7 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Not under any circumstance. I will never let skynet drive for me lol. 

Well...Skynet is happening... whether we want it or not.   

 

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by oldshurst442

[surreal1272]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Well I thought it was awesome.  There were a million "predictions" before the election as well... how'd that pan out for ya?  Trump won Pennsylvania on his way to the White House.  That was fantastic.  It was like "The Attack of the Black Tahoes" over there today.  A lot of heft.

Hope you didn’t get your knees dirty. 

[balthazar]

[Dark Fate trailer] : so far, I'm not feeling it. And seeing Linda Hamilton looking 70 -not that she was a great classical beauty in T1- isn't helping.

- - - - - 

[surreal1272]

34 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

Well...Skynet is happening... whether we want it or not.   

 

 

Lol. Not watching that dumpster fire either. 

[oldshurst442]

I aint feelin' it either, 

For me...its the lack of...da da da du dun.  da da da du dun.   The new song is just...depressing. But maybe that's the point?

I will see it. Just because Ive invested 30 years of my life consuming  this franchise, including wasting my quarters playing the T2 pinball machine.

Oh yes...I was a pinball wizard.

I figure, I might as well see how Ahnold gets to say "Ill be back" once again.  There will be great disappoint if he doesnt say it.  Yup...my expectations are soooooo high for this version that Ill be happy JUST to hear Ahnold say those 3 words.  

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by oldshurst442

[surreal1272]

27 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

I aint feelin' it either, 

For me...its the lack of...da da da du dun.  da da da du dun.   The new song is just...depressing. But maybe that's the point?

I will see it. Just because Ive invested 30 years of my life consuming  this franchise, including wasting my quarters playing the T2 pinball machine.

Oh yes...I was a pinball wizard.

I figure, I might as well see how Ahnold gets to say "Ill be back" once again.  There will be great disappoint if he doesnt say it.  Yup...my expectations are soooooo high for this version that Ill be happy JUST to hear Ahnold say those 3 words.  

 

The pinball game rocked! Haven’t played it in ages though. 

[balthazar]

I could easily live in either of those 2 houses to the far right, driving a weathered coupe older than I am.