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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    In that I need to pull the other rear axle shaft, I want to have 2 tires on the ground up front for piece of mind (driver's side was up on a jack stand) …. so I finished off the 2nd front brake today: reused the races (which were excellent), but new grease seal & new bearings. All greased up & reassembled, it's really nice to see the front wheel spin (move at all!) smoothly & silently. Also attached a replacement driver's side step plate. Back to working on cleaning out the rear & pulling the other rear wheel.
  2. balthazar
    '57 Chevy Bel Air 2-dr sedan, white over turquoise, minty, Cragers, rollin. '34 Ford 3-window coupe, likely fiberglass, copper, minty, rollin. I usually see the 'fail hurrah' drives in the month of Sept, before car guys tuck their hot rods into the garage for the winter.
  3. balthazar
    I've driven a 3-spd, 3-spd on the column, a 4-spd and a 5-spd, but it's been over 15 years since I've been 'sticking it'. Without putting my skill to the test, I'd say I very well may have 'lost it'. I prefer an automatic, anyway. But if I'm going to drive my truck this fall, I'm going to need to require the skill cold, esp with a non-synchro 4-spd.
  4. balthazar
    MB is building their own image problem right now; the self-proclaimed best / like no other is flooding the market with a cheap econo-box FWD appliance at a sub-average MSRP, instantly beginning to tarnish their rep in exchange for money… then they lifted the nose from said cheap compact and put it right on the new s-class. One of the quickest about-faces in recent memory. I don't think anyone who can justify overpaying what they do for an s-class is going to have their ego stroked when SNAP-recipients are pulling up in a new CLAh right next to their s-class @ WalMart.
  5. balthazar
    Rear 15-in drum after cleaning it up. Pretty sure this is an original drum, not bad for being 74-yrs old: Some real filth inside the pumpkin, plenty of fluffy rust dust and an inch & a half of sludge at the bottom. Physically everything is fine at this point (operational evaluation is down the road), but it needs a ferocious cleaning: Strikes me funny: You often hear 'bench racers' comparing specs, performance RWD folk talk about getting a 12-bolt to replace their 10-bolt, or having a Ford 9-in. 'Bolt' terminology refers to the number of RING GEAR bolts, not the rear cover bolt count. Yes, there is such a thing as a 12 bolt cover with a 10-bolt ring gear. The strongest automotive RWD rear you can install is a Dana 60- that's a 12-bolt, 9.75" gear. Beefy. My COE's Eaton rear is Model 13800, rated for 13000 lb duty. The cover is 12-bolts, the ring gear is 13-in, everything inside is safety-wired…. but it's a "SIX BOLT" rear. That, folks, is funny stuff.
  6. balthazar
    Got the nut/ associated hardware/ bearings/ drum off. Initial inspection: bearings/races & brake shoes looks to be in very good shape. Rubber cups on wheel cylinder in exc shape, still going to pop it open to check. Drum need a minor clean up, but I think it's also going to be usable as is. Drained rear; after poking thru the 1/2-in of sludge at the bottom, an ounce or 2 of water drained out then 13 pints of gear oil. Going to pop the rear cover, flush/scrub everything out, clean the brake areas, and bolt everything up. Will update when I pull the rear cover with a pic. Extremely pleased- the axle servicing will only cost me a gallon of 90-weight, and some gasket paper. This truck continues to manage to surprise me with signs it has plenty of life left, when no doubt to most, it looks like it belongs in a junkyard.
  7. balthazar
    Open one rear axle end today, not as scary as I was fearing. Saw a similar vintage Chevy HD truck rear, all sorts of geared interfaces & spider washers in there. FoMoCo/Eaton was very straightforward. Temporary setback; I need a 3" socket to remove the nut. Not exactly commonplace. There's enough scunge inside there that I am going to have to open the differential up just to clean it all out. Everything turns, but the rust/grit would kill the bearings pretty quickly. yay. On the positive side, those who like to 'bench brag' about, say, how many gears their trans may have…. some guys like to compare axles, such as "8.8-in" or "9-in". It will be neat to see the 13-in ring gear inside this Eaton.
  8. balthazar
    I think a LOT of it is, unless one is willing to go down the Dysfunctional Highway where vehicles like the datsun cube gestate, there is almost no where to go, design advancement-wise, which is why the vast majority of supposedly top-tier brands are just swirling like a leaf over a drain; no advancement, just twiddledicking of the details. Fender vent, check. 'bumperless' front; ooo! check. 'underwear showing' black plastic @ the rear to disguise terrific height mandated by CAFE aero, check. angry head light shape, check. chrome (split single) exhaust outlets, check. Luxury car, done. WhenTF is anyone going to save us from the boredom & predictability of it all? WTH is anyone going to bring out in -say- 2020??
  9. balthazar
    At least the sedans are in increasing alpha order... XE < XF < XJ. But what do those letters MMEEAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN ?!?!?!?!?!? Is the XJ really 4 steps better than an XF, and how does the F-type relate to the XF? Would an AWD Jag be an 'XEX' and how would you pronounce that, exactly?
  10. balthazar
    Needs pic.
  11. balthazar
    [ Can't start a topic in this sub-forum, so sticking this here. Feel free to split it off if desired. ] Aston-Martin's rumored Lagonda sedan has broken cover: My take is; I'm seeing a LOT of Ford / Lincoln in this; Ford up front & Lincoln out back. The 3/4 & profile views frankly are strangely ungainly, like somehow 2 or 3 images with slightly different POVs were digitally spliced. In as much as the original Lagonda was hot wedgy weirdness, this is severely underwhelming from the exterior. Still, remembering the fuss the original generated; looking forward to more specs/pics on this.
  12. balthazar
    Ahh, OK. Didn't see any MSRP mention in the article and Jag. alpha-numerics are completely meaningless; on the same lousy confusing order as Lincoln.
  13. balthazar
    Yep, the original digital fuel consumption readout was clearly visible on the REO's HUD display. :/
  14. balthazar
    Most all current LED- equipped cars do this; turn the LEDs OFF when the signal comes on. Yet anytime anyone states they find modern lighting to generally be too bright, they get jumped all over… yet the OEMs recognize a flashing amber bulb can't be seen well next to an LED. Hmmm. Anyway, it would far more elegant to have the LED fade to -say- 25% illumination rather than cold switching on & off; not sure if this is common think or a Fed mandate. Looking forward to the day OEMs (Cadillac aside) do more than paste these on and pat themselves on the back for being 'modern'.
  15. balthazar
    If the CLAh is pegged at $29K, this had better greatly undercut that in order to get any showroom foot traffic. I think $24K would be a great starting price, then Jag can pile some incentives on top, get it snug & spread-eagled at around $19,500.
  16. balthazar
    I saw it the 2nd time on the main drag going out of New Brunswick, it was rollin' right along at about 40-45 MPG… wonder if it's been repowered or at least overdriven. Also wondering what sort of discount I might be able to work if I rolled up in my '40 COE. (Actually; no fan of brick oven pizza. )
  17. balthazar
    And this sort of factual nonsense is continually brushed aside as if insignificant. I will state it again, Cadillac is NOT here to push volume, but still people -clinging to Old World Think- believe Cadillac needs to outsell every competitor or it's 'floundering/failing'… yet no such talk about the A6 or GS, for example. Wonder why the standards are so different for some people??
  18. balthazar
    Is that no fog lights I don't see?? And, OHNOOZZ, the tailpipes are too close together!! (repeated criticism of the ATS when it came out). meh- looks fine, but no one will buy it and only a miniscule fraction will buy another jag after owning this one. Without Tata's pockets, Jag would have already gone well down the road that -say- British Leyland has.
  19. balthazar
    Seen it twice now, so I assume it's local; a 1940s REO 'Nomad Hot Dog' truck, in great, restored shape, rollin'. EDIT : This is it : Whoops; pizza, not dogs.
  20. balthazar
    Exhaust is finally, 100% done. Was worried I had snapped something when a couple header bolts popped in the block and wouldn't tighten anymore, but a quick online search revealed something that would never have occurred to me. Ford flathead 8s have paired center exhaust ports, so headers / exhaust manifolds look like they're from a V6 : For reasons that escape my reasoning, Ford spec'd thicker bolts in the front outlets ONLY (on both sides), 7/16" instead of 3/8". Reused the original hardware there, now everything's snug & tight & clearances all the chassis plumbing & linkages. Next : finish off the brakes. 1 front wheel is done, other needs to be reassembled. I've not yet taken the rear drums off- have to pull the axle shafts. The front bearings were rough, expecting the same out back.
  21. balthazar
    ^ That was the Pontiac truck assembly plant, no? I thought the Pontiac Motor Division (auto) home plant went down many many years ago. My Grand Prix was built there. I've heard many Pontiac collectors state the best built Pontiacs came out of the home plant.
  22. balthazar
    Everything gets fatter over time. 5-series used to be the size of the current 3-series- it's the way of the industry… because marketing must give you 'more'. Reminds me of Raisin Bran; it's been getting "more" raisins since 1960. However, at least with the ATS & CTS, they have kept relatively svelte. Few new vehicles catch (& hold) my eye out in the world, but the current CTS front end is dynamite. I have no problem with the rear; could be more expressive but I don't have a problem with it. But Cadillac is like the only OEM who has figured out what to do with LEDs, whereas everyone else is merely pasting mail-order LED strips in nonsensical outlines in the headlamp lens. Look at everyone else; this is plain awful, zero thought, 4 hard angles in an otherwise completely amorphous, bland shape: This is so unique, echoes the long-running vertical tails :
  23. balthazar
    I was thinking of Germany retail buyers for mercedes, my bad. Growth aspirations are fine for toyota, Chevy, nissan…. and mercedes. Mercedes has been unable to create a viable 2nd brand, hence the FWD appliance down marketing. Cadillac is NOT about volume because it does not HAVE to be, a huge boon to luxury/exclusivity. Ya; according to that link it's 56.4%, or the same as mercedes. In the case here vs. mercedes, clearly it's product that talks louder at Chevy, whereas it's reputation instead that gets mercedes repeat customers. Unless you think Chevy's rep is comparable to mercedes'.
  24. balthazar
  25. balthazar
    You are incorrect. BMW & MB repeat ownership figures are between 30-35%, that's way less than, for example, Ford (which I believe is close to 50%). Terrible numbers, actually. And as I posted above, CTS transaction prices are CLOSER to MSRP than the 5-series, so MB & BMW are pulling some sort of slippery money 'laundering' in that their ATPs are much farther off of MSRP, regardless what the 'official' numbers they report.
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