xci_ed6 wrote:mndsm wrote: I fear for the poor Miata that ever ends up in my possession.LS1 + spare diff = end fear
Yeah, that is already the plan. Now to convince the friend with the built LS1 in the GTO that his motor is a better idea for me to have.......
Junkyard_Dog wrote:zipty842 wrote: My last one was my XP car.For some reason I thought you were going to say it was blue and had "screen of death" painted on the side
Now I wanna do something like that 
Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, it just breaks. My first car was a 73 Pinto with the 2.0 OHC. It had a tendency to eat timing belts and would do so without notice (I blame my uncle, he didn't tell me I needed a new cam pulley until years after). Drove it for about 7 years like this before the final one finally bent some valves and blew the head gasket. Was given an 80 K5 Blazer by my dad which developed a terminal coolant leak and locked up the motor. I'll take the blame on that one, but I don't recall seeing any puddles indicating a coolant leak (temp guage didn't work). Totalled the 85 Town Car that came after it (makes two 85 Town Cars I totalled, no more for me). The 91 Ranger I bought with a warped head, replaced it and the tranny drove it for about 125k before trading it in on my current victim, er Mustang. Currently I've put about 150k on her and hopefully she'll last another 150k.
NYG95GA wrote: Next Challenge: Solid white car, Number 502, sponsored by Bad Gateway Racing.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....
That was a good one!!!!
NYG95GA wrote: Not just you; I've noticed it too, but I'm at a loss to explain why. Maybe it's a karma thing that has nothing to do with the mechanical aspect. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the *little* things: over-revving the engine at start up and not allowing it to warm up before thrashing.. holding the redline just that split second too long.. not getting the clutch in all the way before forcing the shift.. lack of regular maintenance, etc. It's a mystery; some people are just hell on equipment..
I think you've hit the nail on the head. It has to do with knowing just when enough is enough, and having a feeling for how much, and what that is. I think it's probably something you can't teach.
I always thought it was strange that I could beat the tar out of my stuff, and never have any problems, yet others never have anything but problems. I knew I wasn't the only one.
I'm typically not afraid to break stuff...but I definitely have the sympathy. I don't break stuff that often...and given the way I drive my stuff...I should. But the sympathy keeps me out of trouble.
Because I've got the sympathy, I find that my cars are never suitable to lend to anyone else. I'm patient enough to deal with stuff most folks would send a car to the scrapper for.
Clem
The people who don't blow up cars are generally easier on everything. I, mercifully, am mechanically sympathetic. (and for what it's worth, that's exactly what I've called this trait, forever) I oil starved a cam journal on an '84 Civic S a loong time ago, but it had somehow ingested a blob of silicone the a body shop used in place of an oil pan gasket and plugged an oil gallery. The journal one over from the distributor squeeked, cam broke, game over. Otherwise, my cars, motorcycles, bikes, skateboards, scooters, tools...all last forever.
I was a rock drummer for a long time. I toiled in an infinite number of "uneasy listening bands" up and down the east coast and did some national and international touring. I was a very, very loud drummer who used huge sticks and hit very, very hard.
I broke a stick or 3 a year. I didn't dent heads, I don't break cymbals. There's a certain economy of motion that some drummers have; a means of getting a lot out without a huge amount of effort. I reckon it's a property that can be manifest in the practitioners of all sorts of acts, and it's a great feeling when pne realizes they've started to get it...
Mechanical sympathy is a great way to put it. There's only so much loctite you can put on a pressure plate bolt to keep it from coming out at 8000+rpms. I learned that one the hard way. I have also learned that drag racing is hard on parts, but is still cheaper then road racing.. well.. anything.
Hahaha! I have a friend who has blown the engine in 80% of the vehicles he has owned! He is not very good about maintenance, couple that with driving like an ass and you get several blown up cars. My favorite was the Cressida that caught on fire in downtown Eugene, Or. hahahaha
I agree about the mechanical sympathy thing, but I've got to say, there are such things as curses. No one in the world can blow up a Toyota 22R. Except me. Take what is almost THE most reliable engine in the world, add one very sympathetic driver who desperately wants these things to survive...BOOM! I broke the block horns off my 82 4X4's engine when it had less than 500 miles on a rebuild-the u-joint broke at about 60mph, and could have catapulted me off the mountain. My '90 4X4 had 3 different engines in it in the 5 or so years I owned it. One miracle 30k japanese short block(sucked up some silicone from the oil pan, died at 750 miles), One LC engineering short block with forged pistons that slapped like a sumbitch til it blew(I barely made it home with the next block in the bed), then one I built, but didn't measure well enough. I blame the machine shop who bored a 125k block 0.60 over. Slapped from inception until I sold it, burning oil, and making a hell of a commotion. On the other hand, I had an Isuzu pup that ran for at least 5k miles with gravel in the crankcase(evil roomate in college-I swear, I didn't deserve it). I ran it til it blew, and didn't even do a rebore at the rebuild- ran great forever. Reading back on this, I've blown a lot of engines-maybe I don't have sympathy after all.
I admit I tend to run things forever until they just plain wear out. My friends think I keep things running by sheer will alone.. but what can I say, my cars are 32, 15, and 13 years old.. and most of my friends all drive semi-new cars that they pay off and then trade in.
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