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This topic comprises 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Author
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Topic: What car do you drive?
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Mike Judge
Film Handler
Posts: 50
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-21-2001 04:44 AM
Ok, I have to post. Why? Because today I had to deliver a motor to another theatre in an "emergency" situation. As I was leaving, I noticed my odometer on my '72 Chevy C/20 3/4 ton rolled over to 50,000 miles. I haven't had a problem in over 3 years with this beast. Not a single one. I called my dad to tell him, and he was happy, he said, well, now that at least 250,000 miles that I know of! He's not sure of the previous milages but he's assuming that it's now up to 350,000 miles. I swear, you can't kill this thing. It's a testament to what periodic maintenence, and tlc will take care of! This is what my dad told me when I first became a projectionist and when I first got my license and it's what I tell everyone I train, "Take care of your machine and it'll take care of you." How true that is.
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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-21-2001 05:57 AM
quote:
It's not a normal car. I can't give a lot of details but I can tell you that I have to keep it under 88 miles per hour.
It's a Vega! (Or Monza.) Maybe an Isetta. 'Way under 88 mph.
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~carrlr/isetta.html Randy is way too cool to endure a VW Bug or homicidal VW van.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 05-21-2001 10:00 PM
I've only owned one car, a bright teal 1992 Chevy Camaro RS (25th anniversary model, and the last year of the "good" body style), which I bought brand new. I still drive it today, and it is still in pretty good shape after 110,000 miles. One fellow with a 1996 Z28 offered me a straight trade for mine and I turned him down.It's funny, I seem to remember those friends of mine back in Georgia who warned if I didn't buy a Honda Accord, any other car I purchased wouldn't last 5 years. As profanely high as car prices have risen (not to mention gas prices), I often joke how my next "car" will be a bicycle. I have only one car on my ownership "list." But if you want to talk about computers or electric guitars, I could provide an actual list there.
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Joe Schmidt
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 172
From: Billings, Montana, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 05-22-2001 01:53 AM
I might get the booby prize here for driving the oldest car in all of film-tech. To me, a car is just a necessary nuisance, nothing more.Mine is a 1964 Buick Special 4D sedan, V-6, automatic. By way of explanation, "if you don't drink, and you don't smoke, and you drive a car that's 38 years old like I do, you would be AMAZED at what you can afford just out of the savings in petty cash!" But I'm really flying on cloud-9 now. After years of looking, I've finally found a CLOCK for my car! [from another '64 in junkyard.] And soon, I'll have it running and installed.
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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-22-2001 02:15 AM
quote:
No, the reason I can't go over 88 MPH is because when I do strange things start happening. Maybe I ought to disconnect the flux capacitor.
A DeLorean! Yes, hooray! He drives a stainless steel bodied, Colin Chapman-Lotus-chassis derived funkyride! How are you living with the gull wings? The first person I knew who bought one new was a doctor, who flew out (taking his garage door opener), picked one up new, drove home with a big smug happysmile, opened the garage door with the remote from inside the car as the neighbors watched enviously, drove in, opened the car door to get out - thunk, thunk, umm, Houston, we have a problem opening gullwing doors in the garage, I can't get out of this thing... The old Mercedes gullwings were notorious for looking snazzy in pictures, & stupid in practice: the gull wing doors meant no roll down windows, & when it got hot, they were often driven with the doors open. They looked like big stupid pterodactyl-like birds going down the highway...
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Rick Long Jr
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 211
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 05-22-2001 03:49 PM
First car was a '74 Chrysler Newport Custom -400cid. I bought it from my grandfather (a retired PROjectionist). He warned me to use straight 50 weight oil as the bearings were getting thin and needed the extra cusion. Being a Know-it-all 17 year old, I used plain 10w30. Blew the engine after only 3 months. Nice car though.My next car was a '78 Plymouth Volare -slant 6. Not a bad car overall. My dad had an '80 at the same time with a dowser handle from a Peerless Magnarc on the window crank arm. Then came one of my favourites, a big(really big)'77 Plymouth Gran Fury. It looked like the Bluesmobile. Only had a 318, but it flew. I had enough of Chrysler products, so I thought I'd try something else. Picked up an '80 Mercury Capri- without a doubt the absolute WORST piece of junk I have, and probably will ever drive.Ford? Never again. Next car Was the biggest car I've ever driven, a '76 Chrysler New Yorker-440cid. It was given to me by a fellow tech. It looked good but was thoroughly rotten underneath. I replaced the entire drivers floor with the rear cover from a Prevost projector base. Got it to certify this way. Finnaly got so bad that if I was parked on a hill just right, I couldn't close the door due to the frame bending. Then bought an '85 Chev Caprice Classic. Big and boxy, but very nice to drive. It never let me down. Had over 450,000 kms on it when I gave it to my brother, who put another 90,000 on it. Next, a '93 Hyundai Elantra (I hear you laughing). Actually an excellent car. Very Quick and reliable. Had 180,000 kms on it when the timing belt broke and trashed the valves. My present car is a '90 Chevy Lumina 3.1v6. I got a good deal on it because of the rather high (230,000) mileage. Since October, Ive added nearly 60,000 more(the life of a theatre tech) So far, so good.
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Russ Kress
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 202
From: Charleston, WV, USA
Registered: May 2000
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posted 05-27-2001 12:38 AM
First car: 1980 Ford Escort (hand-me-down from Dad).First car I ever bought: 1984 Ford Tempo (because my current wife wanted that one). Second car: 1989 Pontiac Grand Am (yeah, she picked that one too. The worst part was that I got to keep it after the divorce). Disposable alternators. First car after the divorce *grin*: 1996 Ford Mustang (I'm free!!!!) Second car after the divorce: 2000 Ford Mustang (replaced the faulty 3.8 liter "exploding engine design"). Third car: 2001 Ford Taurus (Driven primarily by new fiancee). Um, is anyone else starting to see a pattern here? *grin* I still have the Mustang, but once the vows are spoken..... Trash Fords all you want, but you can't beat thier extended warranty (ESP) plans. They're not like the after-market warranty crap that some of the other makers sell. If the kids dump a large Pepsi into the window motor at 74,999 miles (within six years), I get a new window motor installed for fifty bucks, as well as a loaner car to use while it's in the shop. If the engine explodes (Hey! It's happened before!) I get a new one for fifty bucks. The initial warranty is also bumper to bumper until 36,000 miles without the $50.00 deductable. I have had very few problems with any of the Ford products that I have driven (Well, except for the exploding engine in the '96 Mustang). The Grand-Am was a nightmare and the future wife's Grand Voyager (which was offered in trade for the Taurus) was a "tinkerer's dream". The sales depertment at Ford was kind enough to send a tech to the house with a booster pack to get the darn thing started. I reciprocated the kindness by following him back to the dealership so he wouldn't be stranded if it locked up! With the cost of driving the way it is today, a big part of a car's reliability is the cost of the tech support after the sale. I like Ford. Call me crazy, but they don't often break down on me. When they do, I don't have to re-allocate grocery funds into car repairs. Russ
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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster
Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-27-2001 11:16 PM
Add a 1995 KIA Sportage to my pile of iron and steel in the driveway. We had a blast in this thing over the weekend on the 300 plus miles of Pony Express Trail here in Utah! Comfortable, solid, powerful and geared just right to tackle the highest hilltops out there. I know some may say "Killed In Action" and I guess if a semi truck hit us that might hold true......now I can't wait to get down to Moab with this thing. Size really doesn't matter here.Joe, I'm glad you found a clock for your car, the old heaps in allot of the junk yards out west here are still quite clean and could be restored......I even know of a junk yard just for Rolls Royces thats out west too. Of course no Rolls owner would ever admit to going there..???! Mark @ GTS
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Josh Jones
Redhat
Posts: 1207
From: Plano, TX
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 05-28-2001 01:17 AM
1st and current car:
1989 Isuzu I mark type S
(even Joe cant spell it right  )Great little car, gets about 35 MPG, used to get 40. Needs new struts, valve cover gasket, has rusty frame. A bit underpowered, but down a hill one can achieve 106MPH(My dad was driving I swear  ) no tickets yet, lose races often  When gas hits 2.00, I'll say to hell with driving and start running. I put over 1000 miles on my legs last year! You have to settle for 12 MPH though. After all, shoes are cheaper than tires  Josh
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Jason Burroughs
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 654
From: Allen, TX
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 06-01-2001 11:35 AM
1st Car: 87 Honda Prelude Sold it when it had over 150K miles on it. Needed transmission work (again) and the power steering was going out. When I bought it I spent about $500 getting the A/C fixed but turned out to be worth it, as I never had a problem with the A/C again.2nd and still have it - 95 Chevrolet Silverado has 110K miles, only thing I've done to it is keep the oil changed, and replaced worn tires. Had to replace the alternator twice once because of bad bearings, and the 2nd time the diode blew up, but it was covered under the warranty. The 5.7l engine is a gas hog, but damn, its reliable  3rd 99 Ford Tarus (wife's car) ~40K miles. this thing is an utter piece of crap. Engine knocks, had to have the transmission replaced, windows squeal like fingernails on a chalkboard when rolling them down.
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