So, we have done "first cars" and "your non MoPars" How about the cars you had to buy and drive due to not having anything and needing transportation. I will go first.
I had just been laid off from Mcdonnell Douglas in 94 and was moving back home to Wa.
I had sold my 78 Chrysler LeBaron (mistake, it was a 2 dr Landau) and rented a Uhaul.
Drove home and looked for another job. One found me, before i was ready and i needed a car. Well my wifes, boss's, moms, grandma etc had one for sale.
A 1979 Ford LTD. I lived in Everett, Wa, and it was in Spokane. No biggie, my dad flies, so we flew over there.
It was a 4 dr, ugly ford red(everyone knows that Ford rust red color) but it did have a 302 in it. $800, sure, ok. I drove it around and gave them the money. My dad takes off and i try to leave. This is Friday night 4 or so.
I sign the title and try to go, car sputters and gas is spewing out the carb, stuck needle. I didnt bring tools and they dont have any either.
So, car is towed to shop for work in the morning, they let me spend the night.
Car is given a tune up and a rebuilt carb the next day, and i try to start home again.
I stop at a light before the freeway, and smoke is coming out from under the hood. Pop the hood and the A.C. Compressor is siezed and the belt is spinning on the pulley. Great. Look down in the gutter, and hey, theres a knife. Cool, Cut the belt, and am on my way again.
I make it to Moses Lake, This is August by the way, and its 90 degrees there.
Engine light comes on, great. I had passed a gas station a mile back so I pull a u turn and go back. I make it to the station just as the engine siezes.
I let the engine cool and let it do the water spewage thing a few times and finally i can fill it up with water. Water pump is leaking.
I put the cap on loose and fillit up again at Snoqualmie Pass, make it back home. Replace the water pump the next day, and yank the A.C. outta there too.
A week later the heater core goes out, this is a 79 Ford with A.C. remember, they heater core must have been the first thing they put in the car. I try to replace it, finally say screw it and bypass it. I drive it without a heater for the remainder of its time with me.
This thing you could not kill it, it had no antifreeze in it, the block froze once, i loosened the belt and let the engine warm up, put the belt back on and drove it. I leaked oil like a seive, from the main seal, a stripped plug, and a valve cover i could never seal.
The final straw was when i was going to work on a cold morning, no heater remember, and i drove through someones exhaust condensation and it froze on the windsheild. Grrr. I traded it for a 78 Plymouth Horizon.
Long story, whats yours?
I had just been laid off from Mcdonnell Douglas in 94 and was moving back home to Wa.
I had sold my 78 Chrysler LeBaron (mistake, it was a 2 dr Landau) and rented a Uhaul.
Drove home and looked for another job. One found me, before i was ready and i needed a car. Well my wifes, boss's, moms, grandma etc had one for sale.
A 1979 Ford LTD. I lived in Everett, Wa, and it was in Spokane. No biggie, my dad flies, so we flew over there.
It was a 4 dr, ugly ford red(everyone knows that Ford rust red color) but it did have a 302 in it. $800, sure, ok. I drove it around and gave them the money. My dad takes off and i try to leave. This is Friday night 4 or so.
I sign the title and try to go, car sputters and gas is spewing out the carb, stuck needle. I didnt bring tools and they dont have any either.
So, car is towed to shop for work in the morning, they let me spend the night.
Car is given a tune up and a rebuilt carb the next day, and i try to start home again.
I stop at a light before the freeway, and smoke is coming out from under the hood. Pop the hood and the A.C. Compressor is siezed and the belt is spinning on the pulley. Great. Look down in the gutter, and hey, theres a knife. Cool, Cut the belt, and am on my way again.
I make it to Moses Lake, This is August by the way, and its 90 degrees there.
Engine light comes on, great. I had passed a gas station a mile back so I pull a u turn and go back. I make it to the station just as the engine siezes.
I let the engine cool and let it do the water spewage thing a few times and finally i can fill it up with water. Water pump is leaking.
I put the cap on loose and fillit up again at Snoqualmie Pass, make it back home. Replace the water pump the next day, and yank the A.C. outta there too.
A week later the heater core goes out, this is a 79 Ford with A.C. remember, they heater core must have been the first thing they put in the car. I try to replace it, finally say screw it and bypass it. I drive it without a heater for the remainder of its time with me.
This thing you could not kill it, it had no antifreeze in it, the block froze once, i loosened the belt and let the engine warm up, put the belt back on and drove it. I leaked oil like a seive, from the main seal, a stripped plug, and a valve cover i could never seal.
The final straw was when i was going to work on a cold morning, no heater remember, and i drove through someones exhaust condensation and it froze on the windsheild. Grrr. I traded it for a 78 Plymouth Horizon.
Long story, whats yours?
