HMC- XK8 Starts!

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 30/11/2020 at 00:55, PhilA said:

Re: Exhaust notes- A lot of people have it in their head that a large engine is naturally unstable and that all big American cars with big engines in (>4.0) lope amd pop and bang and sit at the traffic lights PRAC-PACKA-TACKAPAP-BRUB-PACKA-BRUBBA-POP

Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, you can make a big eight lope and fart and idle lumpy but most American engines idle smoothly with only the occasional pop of a misfire.

Reason being is the market wanted something smooth, easy to drive but with enough grunt to get out of the way of it's own shadow when needed. So, big and lazy with a big hump of torque south of 2500rpm is where they're tuned. 

The pops and bangs and high stall torque converters are aftermarket only in most cases.

Even the 6.4 in my Challenger idles without missing a beat at 650rpm.

 

Phil

 

of course now you've said it it needs proved! 😁

[HMC]

Just to reinforce the idea of the importance of a low key dependable Volvo, the taxi and the crown vic have shown a few foibles today.

Firstly the taxi failed to start. There’s a thing about earthing problems on these and a variety of extra leads from the negative terminal to ground on this one hinted at previous issues. It’s always been sluggish at turning over so I’ll need to investigate how healthy the battery is and take it from there.

The crown vic seemed to be letting a lot of water in and a load of it was sloshing round in the passenger door and spilling into the interior until I rodded the drains...

I also de- pimped it. Sometimes people are keen to dress up American cars with tints and a variety of hot rod stickers. I get it. But the thing about a crown vic wagon is it was probably typically driven by quite conservative normal people. They were just going to wall mart and not being a drug lord or king of the salt flats.

 

Someone couldn’t resist tints and hot rod stickers on this in the past and I’ve got rid of them. It doesn’t really need any hints about which country spawned it. I did leave the shimmying hula girl on the dash though. Aloha!

 

[danthecapriman]

That looks miles better without the tints. Definitely an improvement.

I don’t know why the American car ‘scene’ attracts mods galore? It’s something that irks me tbh, the cars are great without all the cheap tacky shit stuck all over them. The biggest one for me though is wheels. The majority of American cars have fantastic standard wheels or wheel trims so why on earth so many end up having them taken off in favour of stupidly over sized bastard ugly modern style alloys is beyond me! Each to his own I suppose!

Love your Ford waterfall feature too btw😃

[Supernaut]

6 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

That looks miles better without the tints. Definitely an improvement.

I don’t know why the American car ‘scene’ attracts mods galore? It’s something that irks me tbh, the cars are great without all the cheap tacky shit stuck all over them. The biggest one for me though is wheels. The majority of American cars have fantastic standard wheels or wheel trims so why on earth so many end up having them taken off in favour of stupidly over sized bastard ugly modern style alloys is beyond me! Each to his own I suppose!

Love your Ford waterfall feature too btw😃

Torq thrust wheels. Torq thrust wheels everywhere.

[danthecapriman]

1 minute ago, Supernaut said:

Torq thrust wheels. Torq thrust wheels everywhere.

You got it! And those stupid donk look things!? Wtf is that all about!?

[Dave_Q]

Love a de-tinting job, very satisfying.

[Ian_Fearn]

10 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

That looks miles better without the tints. Definitely an improvement.

I don’t know why the American car ‘scene’ attracts mods galore? It’s something that irks me tbh, the cars are great without all the cheap tacky shit stuck all over them. The biggest one for me though is wheels. The majority of American cars have fantastic standard wheels or wheel trims so why on earth so many end up having them taken off in favour of stupidly over sized bastard ugly modern style alloys is beyond me! Each to his own I suppose!

Love your Ford waterfall feature too btw😃

This is so true. I’ve always hung my nose over these things but it would appear the day they arrive in this country they attract a certain type of owner that insists on removing all of the cars essential qualities with stupid modifications.

[jonathan_dyane]

Looking so much better. If it was me I’d finish it off with a rear number plate like this

[Agila]

16 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

That looks miles better without the tints. Definitely an improvement.

I don’t know why the American car ‘scene’ attracts mods galore? It’s something that irks me tbh, the cars are great without all the cheap tacky shit stuck all over them. The biggest one for me though is wheels. The majority of American cars have fantastic standard wheels or wheel trims so why on earth so many end up having them taken off in favour of stupidly over sized bastard ugly modern style alloys is beyond me! Each to his own I suppose!

Love your Ford waterfall feature too btw😃

You mean crap like this??? It's throwin' sparks.....apparently.

 

Looks broken to me.

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

That looks miles better without the tints. Definitely an improvement.

I don’t know why the American car ‘scene’ attracts mods galore? It’s something that irks me tbh, the cars are great without all the cheap tacky shit stuck all over them. The biggest one for me though is wheels. The majority of American cars have fantastic standard wheels or wheel trims so why on earth so many end up having them taken off in favour of stupidly over sized bastard ugly modern style alloys is beyond me! Each to his own I suppose!

Love your Ford waterfall feature too btw😃

I'm right with you there Dan.  When I bought my 1980 Buick Century the PO was a long -serving chairman of the American Auto Club North West, and had stickered the car up to advertise the club.  He had also tinted the back screen and all the side windows.  How he drove it I don't know!  I couldn't see a damn thing out of the front door windows.  First job was to de-tint the front pair.  I left the back half blacked out as the car was black anyway.  Over time I eventually stripped all the stickers too, working in stages.  When I sold it after nearly three years it looked a whole lot better than when I bought it!  Fitting whitewalls in a slightly larger size than the blackwalls it came with helped a lot too.  (195/70 front and 205/70 rear to replace 185/70 all round, much better!)

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, Agila said:

You mean crap like this??? It's throwin' sparks.....apparently.

 

Looks broken to me.

Couldn't agree more!

[PhilA]

15 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

of course now you've said it it needs proved! 😁

Doesn't lope, pop or fart. It just runs. That's cold, too.

 

Window tints are popular here, because in the blazing sunshine you can at least keep some of the sun's heat off your arm, particularly as on the interstate is possible to be facing the same way for hours and get the sun on you and not your passengers, or vice versa.

However, silly dark tints on all windows are not popular unless you fit a certain.. stereotypical niche whereby you either think you're damn cool, have major light sensitivity, or both.

 

Phil

[Flat4]

You have excellent taste in cars @HMC! Not at all familar with the Crown Victoria but rather like it. Is it as huge as it looks in pictures?

I'd love to try a D5 with a manual box. The auto in our V70 really lets it down. It drives like a big lazy car and on paper it shouldn't be slow but it really is! Blanking the EGR has helped a bit with that though.

[Steve79]

Quick question, do you get much air output from the interior fan or is it like the fan in my grand marquis - 1 is slow, 2 is marginally quicker, 3 is moderate. 

I'm trying to figure out if i need to remove the fan and lube it.

[HMC]

@Steve79 yes the fan output isn’t too bad. Is the distribution thing working on yours? On American forums they call it the “blend” that could reduce output if it’s half stuck. 
 

My issue is the heater matrix. It seemed not to respond to the Heat setting and after a quick look round I could see the bare stubs for the matrix coming out of the bulkhead in the engine bay.... with nothing attached to them. Ah that’s why there’s no heat!

Weve got our own south west American car scene going on on the forum!

[PhilA]

By then you should be on a constant-flow heater matrix with the heater "blend" flap directing air either through the matrix or bypassing it.

(As opposed to the older style where the coolant flow to the heater matrix is modulated by the heater controls and the air always goes through the matrix.)

Gonna be fun changing that out, guarantee it sprung a leak and it was from an area that never really needs the heater anyway...

 

Phil

[Steve79]

The air direction seems to work fine, its just the output seems a little half hearted.

I'm amazed at how much is still available for this and the mercury. Even full carpet sets in the original colours are still available from rock auto.

Definitely should do a side by side comparison sometime. Where are you in the southwest?

[egg]

Rockauto will sell you an OEM matrix for £70. Err, plus a little* bit of VAT and shipping!

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3422436&cc=1434350&jsn=968

Knock off ones start at £15.

[wuvvum]

21 hours ago, Steve79 said:

Where are you in the southwest?

From HMC's to Portishead is about an hour and three quarters in an Alfa 156 V6, so maybe slightly longer in a Mercury Huge Marquee.

[HMC]

Fleet news

I tried to resist this for a while but it sort of became an inevitability with how my mind works. 

 

Found in our very forum classified ads, the urge to own a lada has been strong for as long as I can remember. It’s a late model 1200 as certain markets didn’t receive the riva but the predecessor with a few minor revisions. Hence the scarcely believable E plate. Arrives Sunday. I IZ EXCITE

 

[eddyramrod]

My first Lada was a white 1200, SVR 535R, way back in 1984.  RHD with yellow interior.  Bloody good little car that was!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

That's absolutely magnificent, comrade.

[Cord Fourteener]

Don't they also help with smooth shutdown when you stop the engine?

I only know anything about swirl flaps because I cleaned some with a tissue when I was chasing a limp mode gremlin on a Renault F9Q engine attached to my Mitsubishi Carisma.

Great car but an arsehole of a Gremlin that never got found.

[cort16]

You’ve got your very own Cold War going on there , what will be victorious v8 muscle or Russian steel ? Just dont nuke yourself on Christmas Eve .

[HMC]

Exertion and austerity! communism is soviet power plus electrification.
LOADED

[Split_Pin]

That is tremendous. This thread is the gift that keeps on giving.

[danthecapriman]

Oh man, I love that! It looks so much older than it’s number plates say. Good old Soviet’s, if it ain’t broke don’t change it!

Id love to try a Soviet car at some point. A GAZ Volga 24 is doing it for me at the moment, god knows how to actually get one though.

[Bitzer]

https://www.ooyyo.com/ukraine/used-gaz-24-for-sale/c=CDA31D7114D3854F111B9C6FBA9F355BDFAC1D6617F286/

[HMC]

Because corona tier changes The delivery guy rang up about tomorrow’s proposed delivery. I said I was happy to leave things for the mo - and let it happen sometime in January or whenever. Instead he announced he was making a dash for it this afternoon/ tonight. Dash being a relative term.......
 

So it’s here. And was delivered in style.....

[High Jetter]

La da da La da da La, (reprise twice) La da...