Everything worked out fine........

[QuadBart]

I'll think twice.....even three times before buying another prebuilt car.
This isnt a RANT or a complaint thread its more of a buyer be AWARE thread.

When I bought my car , I knew it was what I refer to as my project car.
A cosmetic project car, interior, paint , details, stuff like that.

Now that Ive had it a few months, it has turned into a mechanical project car. LOL

When I bought the car , the one mechanical issue I knew it was some play in the steering wheel.
The universal joint at the end of the steering shaft was bad. I ended up replacing the steering shaft, the U joint and the steering box. I guess the knucklehead couldnt figure out how to do it right so he used a 1/2 drive universal joint out of his toolbox and welded to the shaft and the steering box.
Thank you very much !

The car had a pretty good shake to it over 40mph, nothing that readjusting the front wheel bearings and changing the 3/4 toe out to 1/8 toe in couldn't fix.

He had the front disc brakes mounted in such a way that the brake caliper COULDN'T slide back and forth like it needs to !

He mounted the electric fan with bolts going THROUGH a $700.00 walker radiator. They eventually wore through the core and it started leaking.

Theres been a few more other little things that just make you shake your head and go WTF was this guy thinking?

I went back and looked at this car and test drove it 3 times before I bought it. Unfortunatly I didnt test drive it at highway speeds, just residential.

Geez, unless youve actually built a car before, how do you catch crap like this? (Rhetorical question) LOL

So...... all this to tell of my last adventure. LOL

The wife and I are out cruising yesterday and she turns to me and YELLS in my ear "DO YOU SMELL GAS?" (Baffle less exhaust and a gear drive LOL)

I take a sniff and sure enough the odor of fuel is in the air. I pulled into the next gas station and checked it out. Sure enough , theres a hole in the fuel line on the pressurized side of the system between the pump and the carb.
The freakin knuckle head used regular fuel line on the pressurized side of the fuel system. GRRRR!!
We're about 50 miles from home and considering where the hole was I think to myself , OK, not to bad. Looks like I can just cut off about 3 inches of line and connect it back up and we're good to go.

So I fix er up and were on our way. The rest of the fuel line didnt look to be in all that great of shape so I figure lets not push our luck too much and lets head home.

About 15 miles later a get "DO YOU SMELL GAS" again in my ear.
I scramble to the nearest gas station as Im watching the needle on the gas guage plummet towards "E" !!! This time its worse , the whole end of the line split. while there was still some fuel getting to the motor, MOST of it was being pumped right out.

At this point, theres not enough fuel line to trim any off.

Amazingly , The wife is not freaking out. shes calm cool, and collected. like this happens all the time . LOL

So as Im standing there staring at it, the gas station attendant walks up, we discuss the problem and out of the blue he pulls his car keys out of his pocket and says there an auto parts store just up the street. Jump in my car and go get you a new fuel line.

How do you say no ? LOL So after I fix the fuel line, we thank him and reward him for his generosity.

We drive off into the sunset..........then we spot a Famous Daves BBQ. , we all know how that story ends. LOL

The question I keep asking is ...How in the world do you spend big $$$ on a chrome front end, A big dollar walker radiator and big dollar on therse Radir wheels? All the while you cheaping out on other MORE important items?

Im still glad I bought the car but Im scratching my head ( at home) LOL

 

[ellis8500]

Doesn't make sense sometimes how people will spend lots on the bling and go cheap on the stuff that just might kill ya. That attitude even shows up in the home-built airplane scene. The FAA inspectors usually find it. Sometimes they don't. Did John Denver in when he bought a home built that had a fuel tank selector valve where it could not be operated while flying the airplane. Text below is from the NTSB accident report.

The technician stated that he and the pilot talked about the inaccessibility of the cockpit fuel selector valve handle and its resistance to being turned. The handle was located behind the pilot's left shoulder. They attempted to extend the reach of the handle, using a pair of vice grip pliers. But this did not solve the problem as the pilot could not reach the handle. The pilot said he would use the autopilot inflight, if necessary, to hold the airplane level while he turned the fuel selector valve.

Here's a guy who had more than enough money to fix the problem but chose the cheap route on a very important safety-of-flight issue.

 

[lincolnuT]

I bought the YeloT about 5 years ago and it took 1 year before I thought it was safe enough to drive far away from home and I am still fixing things that should have been done at the time of build.

I am taking her apart this winter for a complete rebuild of things I think need to be done over. Hang in there and make it safe then make it nice to drive and ride in..........

Mike

 

[Francis Blake]

I think a lot of times (this applies to everything) that people putting things together don't know the proper parts to use or where to get the information. In the past I would see a nice hotrod and wonder where all these parts came from. with out this forum I would have had a lot harder time building my car.

 

[Telman2]

I'll think twice.....even three times before buying another prebuilt car.
This isnt a RANT or a complaint thread its more of a buyer be AWARE thread.

When I bought my car , I knew it was what I refer to as my project car.
A cosmetic project car, interior, paint , details, stuff like that.

Now that Ive had it a few months, it has turned into a mechanical project car. LOL

When I bought the car , the one mechanical issue I knew it was some play in the steering wheel.
The universal joint at the end of the steering shaft was bad. I ended up replacing the steering shaft, the U joint and the steering box. I guess the knucklehead couldnt figure out how to do it right so he used a 1/2 drive universal joint out of his toolbox and welded to the shaft and the steering box.
Thank you very much !

The car had a pretty good shake to it over 40mph, nothing that readjusting the front wheel bearings and changing the 3/4 toe out to 1/8 toe in couldn't fix.

He had the front disc brakes mounted in such a way that the brake caliper COULDN'T slide back and forth like it needs to !

He mounted the electric fan with bolts going THROUGH a $700.00 walker radiator. They eventually wore through the core and it started leaking.

Theres been a few more other little things that just make you shake your head and go WTF was this guy thinking?

I went back and looked at this car and test drove it 3 times before I bought it. Unfortunatly I didnt test drive it at highway speeds, just residential.

Geez, unless youve actually built a car before, how do you catch crap like this? (Rhetorical question) LOL

So...... all this to tell of my last adventure. LOL

The wife and I are out cruising yesterday and she turns to me and YELLS in my ear "DO YOU SMELL GAS?" (Baffle less exhaust and a gear drive LOL)

I take a sniff and sure enough the odor of fuel is in the air. I pulled into the next gas station and checked it out. Sure enough , theres a hole in the fuel line on the pressurized side of the system between the pump and the carb.
The freakin knuckle head used regular fuel line on the pressurized side of the fuel system. GRRRR!!
We're about 50 miles from home and considering where the hole was I think to myself , OK, not to bad. Looks like I can just cut off about 3 inches of line and connect it back up and we're good to go.

So I fix er up and were on our way. The rest of the fuel line didnt look to be in all that great of shape so I figure lets not push our luck too much and lets head home.

About 15 miles later a get "DO YOU SMELL GAS" again in my ear.
I scramble to the nearest gas station as Im watching the needle on the gas guage plummet towards "E" !!! This time its worse , the whole end of the line split. while there was still some fuel getting to the motor, MOST of it was being pumped right out.

At this point, theres not enough fuel line to trim any off.

Amazingly , The wife is not freaking out. shes calm cool, and collected. like this happens all the time . LOL

So as Im standing there staring at it, the gas station attendant walks up, we discuss the problem and out of the blue he pulls his car keys out of his pocket and says there an auto parts store just up the street. Jump in my car and go get you a new fuel line.

How do you say no ? LOL So after I fix the fuel line, we thank him and reward him for his generosity.

We drive off into the sunset..........then we spot a Famous Daves BBQ. , we all know how that story ends. LOL

The question I keep asking is ...How in the world do you spend big $$$ on a chrome front end, A big dollar walker radiator and big dollar on therse Radir wheels? All the while you cheaping out on other MORE important items?

Im still glad I bought the car but Im scratching my head ( at home) LOL

I have to ask, which Famous Daves did you go to, Vernon Hills? I usually hit either Addison which is the closest or Algonquin.

 

[QuadBart]

I have to ask, which Famous Daves did you go to, Vernon Hills? I usually hit either Addison which is the closest or Algonquin.

We were actually up in Wisconsin where the traffic lights are further apart. LOL
So we hit the Famous Daves in Kenosha on Rt 50

 

[QuadBart]

I bought the YeloT about 5 years ago and it took 1 year before I thought it was safe enough to drive far away from home and I am still fixing things that should have been done at the time of build.

I am taking her apart this winter for a complete rebuild of things I think need to be done over. Hang in there and make it safe then make it nice to drive and ride in..........

Mike

The plan was to take it down to the frame this winter and "Pretty it up" so to speak.
With this latest episode ,Thats all changed to tear it down and go over all the mechanicals.
Maybe next year we make it pretty

 

[Lee_in_KC]

Even though I built my T myself and thought I had done a pretty good job of it, I drove it around in primer for two seasons working the bugs out, fixing things it turned out I had not done such a good job on, and changing a few things. Several of the "fixes" and changes would have damaged a final paint job, so it worked out for the better.

My .02 would be work on the mechanicals (and electricals!), drive it around for awhile under all the conditions you think you will be driving it in the future, fine-tune or change anything you're not happy with, then pretty it up.

 

[EX JUNK]

Lee has given some VERY good advice!!!

Jim

 

[kgrimm]

After reading all your tales, I don't feel so bad about my own car. I learned a lot about "gremlins" after buying my first T this spring. Oil leaks, carb problems, bad points, loose steering box bolts, overheating, weekend thrashes trying to make cruises and shows (usually I didn't)...the list goes on. I guess it's all part of the learning process-once I have it all straightened out it'll be time to have some real fun without worrying about what's going to go wrong next.

 

[LumenAl]

Even though I built my T myself and thought I had done a pretty good job of it, I drove it around in primer for two seasons working the bugs out, fixing things it turned out I had not done such a good job on, and changing a few things. Several of the "fixes" and changes would have damaged a final paint job, so it worked out for the better.

My .02 would be work on the mechanicals (and electricals!), drive it around for awhile under all the conditions you think you will be driving it in the future, fine-tune or change anything you're not happy with, then pretty it up.

Yep... was a real nice looking car till he painted it! :yuk:


KIDDING!!!! :dummy: So ya miss me? LOL

 

[Mike]

We were actually up in Wisconsin where the traffic lights are further apart. LOL
So we hit the Famous Daves in Kenosha on Rt 50

You could have dropped me at the exit and I could have walked to the Brat Stop. Mmmmmm...

The lesson I've learned is the other guy's work needs to be checked, double-checked and then checked again. It's the only way to know it was done correctly. I second Lee's advice. It's always a good idea to make sure it works, before you add the spit and polish.

 

[Youngster]

The first thing you do when buying a driver is a nut and bolt check then have a friend do it all over again.

Ron

 

[QuadBart]

You could have dropped me at the exit and I could have walked to the Brat Stop. Mmmmmm...

We've lived in this area for 13-14 years now and have yet to eat at the Brat Stop.

My wife says she just "IMAGINES" that it smells like greasy Bratwursts inside.
I say "SO" is that a bad thing?

So because of Her Imagination we havent visited there yet. LOL

 

[Mike]

When NHRA still had a Division 3 points meet at Union Grove, we always stayed at the Super 8 or at the Howard Johnson. Which meant the Brat Stop was going to be a regular stop for the weekend.

Actually, the brats are anything but greasy. They almost tend to the dry side of things. But they are sure tasty. I always liked eating there.