Knowledge Dump - Todays topic: Yanks.

[Jim Bell]

Junkman is son of bitch and made this internet page known with his bastard copy and paste (well played):

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321482396009?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_0wt_0

 

 

 

Now I know a few of you are high rollers, and have as a display of such standing, sometimes or previously been owners of fine automobiles of 'Merkin distinction.

 

Because your gang is cool, I might want to be in your gang.

 

So whats it like to live with a Yank?

I'm guessing parts are available from that internet that they have these days, but that delivery charges cost two arms and three legs because they have to come over on sea-ships or flying aeroplanes. (Y/N?)

 

How big is a Yank "compact" Multi-story navigable? or No chance Jose?

 

Anyone with specific experience or general knowledge of how owning an USA car makes you feel is welcome to deposit their knowledge right on this threads face. Like a poo in one of them german dvds.

 

Discuss. You will not be marked and this will not be part of the exam.

 

#junkman #eddyramrod #etc #mpgsuicide

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I haven't got a real Yank ,but be careful buying stuff from America. I've bought bits for my 300 and a couple of times got stung for duty,VAT and to really take the piss the Post Office charged £15 for handling. The duty is only 3 or 4% but by the time you've paid delivery as well it's often cheaper to buy from a UK specialist.

 

As for how they make you feel, if it's got a V8 -epic otherwise a bit of a fraud.

I once had a 67 Impala with a burbly but gutless 283,that was cool, the straight 6, 3 speed manual 73 Camaro that replaced it was faster but not cool in the slightest.

[Junkman]

Old yanks are arguably the mostest easiest to live with cars ever made.

 

The oily stuff must perform in a vast area with mediocre infrastructure and run on Disney grade petrol, and they are designed to be screwed together by unskilled workers for £0.24 /hour. Parts are dirt cheap and usually a phonecall away.

 

The big problem in Europe is, that due to insufficient knowledge, a lot of them have been botch repaired, or 'upgraded' (see those daft wheels on the example you are after). This kind of tinkering makes them usually louder, seldom faster, and always thirstier. Stupid wheel/suspension upgrades* usually spoil the roadholding.

 

So the first thing to do with most yanks you buy is - you guessed it - demonging them.

[Jim Bell]

I was mainly buying it for the wheels.

[Junkman]

They are probably OK. It looks like only the rear ones got banded.

See how badly it tramways. Tyres make a huge difference, too.

[Junkman]

Those old Mopars are of the better handling variety to begin with, what with their torsion bar front supension.

[Jim Bell]

Good to know. Cheers.

In case this info can be of use to other folk in the future, feel free to mention any decent uk based suppliers of American parts.

[Junkman]

The most helpful bunch I know is USAutomotive in Bedford.

Been dealing with them for a quarter century now.

Same goes for KTS in Hamburg, which might be the biggest US parts supplier in Europe.

[darkfour]

I now reside in Florida and use RockAuto for most of my parts. Their online catalog is pretty exhaustive offering a wide selection/price points for parts for each application from different suppliers. They do ship internationally too, the parts themselves are pretty inexpensive however they do sometimes "sting" you with shipping from multiple locations. There's normally a freely available 5-10% discount code floating around the internet too. 

 

Just been hunting around their website and they now have a .co.uk site too. 

[spike60]

I don't know how relevant it is but I ran a 1992 Corvette not quite as a daily because I always had something more mainstream as well, but certainly used a couple of times weekly with 3 or 4 trips abroad over 5 years and 18k miles. The trim was out of a lucky bag, 16mpg local, 25mpg on a run, ate brake pads. Nothing major went wrong, old car niggles like stuff inside doors, shock absorbers, 20 year old wiring.

As said above, import duty is utterly random and can make importing stuff more expensive than local but check, a new servo imported was still cheaper than one from a Lincs breaker.

The only time it was grounded was when it snapped something in the indicator stalk and I ordered from the wrong people....

Everyone thinks Corvettes are huge but about the same size as a 318i Coupe BMW, I don't know how other stuff compares to a E class Merc for size for instance.

LHD only mildly awkward at tolls and I only nearly died once overtaking.

Every pub bore/colleague/knob in petrol station will think they know all about yank cars and want tell you despite never having sat in one.

Mine was 2/10 for transport, 11/10 for feelgood factor, never regretted it.

[Jim Bell]

I had not even considered southpaw overtaking.

[mercrocker]

I ran a 79 Pontiac Grand Prix (305 Calif spec V8, turbo-hydramatic) for several years as a daily in the 1990s.   Indeed, it was my only car.  The California engine was poo and the box was shagged so it was junked for a 305V8/TH350 out of a Camaro.   A local Yank specialist did the swap for free providing he kept all the stuff he took out.   Top man, indeed most of the suppliers I dealt with were top blokes.   I bow to Junkman's more up to date information on suppliers, anything I vaguely remember now will be well out of date...

 

Running the car on an absolute shoe-string proved remarkably easy.  Nothing broke, apart from starter motor (brought over by Mum on a visit from Canada) and the alternator (new diodes fitted by local scrapyard sparky).   I ran it for 5 years on classic insurance.   LHD was great, once you adjusted to the overtaking method (i.e. hang back, use the power and left-hand bends to see up the "other side").   Driving the car was so stress-free, even with shagged bushes it wafted over rubbish roads, only potholes seriously upset it.  

 

It was just a great experience and one I often think about repeating.   The only time in my life I was out of work was when I had this car and although I never qualified for dole money I had one appointment at the dole office.  It was great rocking up in the Pontiac like some pimp.  As was turning into Portland naval depot by mistake at 4.30 one morning and being waved straight through the gate! 

 

Mine had all the toys, ran on unleaded, was completely lined in crushed green velour and was a proper council flat Cadillac.....

[Doctormop]

Sorrry to jump in here but I was just wondering about Insurance for Yank motors ie who is, not to put too fine a point on it cheapest.

The other week I was looking at a 1991 Mercury Cougar on evilbay, BIN £895, put it through a couple of comparison sites and the cheapest quote was about £800!!

 Presuamably I was looking in the wrong place but just wondered like.

[mercrocker]

Probably best to forget comparison sites, try a specialist like Peter James or Adrian Flux.   Normal companies just shit themselves.   Also make sure they understand the car is LHD (if indeed it is....) as they used to conveniently "forget" to ask and subsequently double the premium when I started insuring mine....

[spike60]

I had not even considered southpaw overtaking.

To be fair that was only a factor, more relevant was my desire to hear the V8 bellow and a belief that power would provide a solution. Not my finest moment.

[spike60]

Sorrry to jump in here but I was just wondering about Insurance for Yank motors ie who is, not to put too fine a point on it cheapest.

The other week I was looking at a 1991 Mercury Cougar on evilbay, BIN £895, put it through a couple of comparison sites and the cheapest quote was about £800!!

 Presuamably I was looking in the wrong place but just wondered like.

2 years ago Towergate through Adrian Flux £217 fully comp, £7000 agreed value, 5000 miles per year cap. 1992 Corvette LT1. Specialists are the way to go, classic or yank.

[Rocket88]

If you can put up with the hilarious fuel consumption, they're great ........all of them, even the shite ones. Avoid the scene tax stuff, Mustangs etc, and they're some seriously good value out there. Chevy Caprice type stuff...still cheap, lovely to drive............ 

[Jim Bell]

Yeah. "Anything used as a taxi or police car" is the kind of shite that appealts to me. The generic stuff.

[Junkman]

Taxi/Police is the way to go, and so are all Cadillacs and all Lincolns.

Although they can look quite ridiculous, they drive fine.

[oman5]

I can echo most of this. Something mainstream like a caprice, crown vic, grand marquis of just about any age is an easy vehicle to own, from the 80s onwards it's not going to be too bad on fuel either. It always amused me that my de-smogged caprice 305 v8 would do an easy 25 mpg, compared to some much newer euro 4x4 stuff that would not. The benefit of the caprice of course is that being the sb engine it's very tuneable, police spec stuff is also out there to make them handle too (cop tyres, cop suspension,cop shocks lol) and whilst lengthwise the 80s caprice won't fit a uk space, width wise it will. Just make sure you have an empty space behind for the huge overhang.

Some of the later stuff with the tpi Chevy v8 can do mid 30s mpg, incredibly enough.

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I need a crown vic in my life

[cort16]

You should buy it and donk it

[garethj]

I know nothing about American cars, but I've had 2 Tatras and a VW which were LHD and only had one problem in many, many thousands of miles.  In slow moving traffic I was behind a van that stopped.  Because it had no rear windows and I was on the left (and I'd stopped too damn close) I didn't notice he was actually parked and had nipped out to the newsagents to get some fags.

 

After a minute of not moving but the other lane going, I popped into reverse, gave the big V8 a growl with the throttle to clear the car behind me, then pulled out into the other lane.  The first Tatra had a column gearchange and bench front seat so I suppose it was pretty American in some ways.  Driving with one arm over the bench seat is hugely enjoyable, I don't know why.

[Luckythirteen]

Fancy one myself, sometime. Early 90s Vette for preference.

So my questions are: how easy is it to de-smog a Yank tank: and will my metric toolkit be useless?

[Jim Bell]

^ good question. And when did smog regs come in?

[spike60]

Fancy one myself, sometime. Early 90s Vette for preference.

So my questions are: how easy is it to de-smog a Yank tank: and will my metric toolkit be useless?

On a 1992 vet the only emissions stuff I remember are EGR, cats and fans to blow fresh air into the exhaust manifolds when cold. EGR and fans never caused any prob in 6 years, I don't know if you can take cats out for mot legality. Engine is fractional, most other stuff metric. 

[Luckythirteen]

^ good question. And when did smog regs come in?

Isn't that an 80s onwards thing?

The Yank cars I've pawed at classic shows feel like they're made of thick steel: is rust a huge problem on them, and does their simplicity make rust repairs easy?

[spike60]

I think it varies state to state, California brought it in first smog laws IIRC. All cars 74 on say Wiki

[wuvvum]

I've had various Yanks.  Smallest was a mid-'80s K-body Chrysler LeBaron sedan - looked like a proper Yank, but was only Sierra-sized.  It had a 2.2 Mitsubishi 4-pot though, so wasn't particularly exciting to drive, nor did it sound nice.  Biggest was a 1976 Ford LTD wagon - 20'6" long, 6.6-litre V8 and would seat 10 at a push.  That had a remarkably good turning circle for a '70s Yank, but the sheer physical size made it a PITA in town, and it handled like an elephant on a skateboard.

 

The '76 Cadillac Seville was probably a happy medium - manageable size (it would just squeeze into an 18' council garage) but a "proper" 5.7-litre V8.  RWD too, unlike the later Bustlebacks.

 

Mid-late '70s Yanks are always hopelessly gutless for the engine size though, unless they've been comprehensively de-smogged and tuned up.

[eddyramrod]

Barry: I'm jealous!  Buy it immediately, and I'll meet you with my Mercury somewhere.

 

I did actually have an 83 Gran Fury...

Nowhere near as nice as the one you're looking at, but it was cheap, and at least now I can say I've had an American police car.  This one had the 3.7 slant-6, a venerable and actually quite sturdy Chrysler standby, so I reckon it would have been used for urban work rather than highway.

 

If you have any doubts about running such a thing daily.... don't.  It's perfectly possible.  You won't want to be doing rep mileage, because you WILL use more fuel, but I've said before and will say again, there's more to life than MPG.  The Gran Fury is roughly the size of a Silver Shadow, but maybe 2/3 the weight.  You'll get automatic transmission which makes the transition to LHD much easier, and power steering and brakes, which believe me, you want.  There's very little Yank iron over here without that stuff.

I didn't actually use my Plymouth as a daily, or even at all (it was too big a project and tbh I should never have bought it) but at the time I also had a 1980 Buick and a 1990 Chrysler leBaron, as part of a long string of American cars.  I did use the Buick and Chrysler as normal daily cars.  I've always done that.

 

As I'm sure you will remember, I recently bought another one...

This is my 1993 Mercury Sable.  FWD, 3.0V6 with all the toys.  It's easily equivalent to, say, a Jag XJ40, something I was considering at the time.  The lure of sitting in the left-hand seat and experiencing the feather-soft ride was too strong.

I insured it with Adrian Flux, who I've used before, but there are other specialists about; Performance Direct springs to mind, as does Footman James.

Parts, well I've just used USAutomotive for two front springs and struts for this car.  333 notes, delivery took a fortnight.  I have found a classic-friendly garage nearby where they understand American iron, the owner has a Trans Am and is building himself a Chevy pickup.

 

More modern types tend to be smaller than the older stuff; I've had things like a 1962 Cadillac, all chrome and fins, which I always parked on 4 spaces in Tesco.  The Mercury almost fits at Barrow Asda, anywhere a Volvo estate would go this will.  A few years ago I had a Chevy Lumina...

This is directly comparable to the Mercury, having a 3.1 V6, although somewhat lower in the pecking order.  It didn't have a lot of the toys the Mercury has; Mercury is a luxury line.  I used it as a total daily for some time, as well as alternating with a Volvo estate and later the 62 Cadillac.  The Chevy was never a problem.

 

LHD will only ever be an issue at toll booths, ticket barriers and the like.  If you're going somewhere like that, carry a passenger, and if there isn't one, keep a RHD car for such occasions.

 

Rust?  A lot of Ford and GM stuff, certainly well up into the 80s and even 90s, was built on a proper chassis that you can unbolt just like a Land Rover.

 

Look, you must have a voice in your head that's telling you you want to do this.  I say, do it.  If you don't, you'll always wonder...  If you've got the cash, indulge.  What are you going to do with your money?  Drink?  Smoke?  Put it in the tank?  For me it's a no-brainer, especially if you can get something with a V8 and RWD.

 

Best of luck.

[eddyramrod]

Oh and if you still have any doubts: the Gran Fury (or its twin sister the Dodge Diplomat) was Cagney and Lacey's squad car!