Things I don't miss on vehicles

[lil_Blue_Ford]

the 1234 is similar to propane....

as reported.....works well compared to 134. those that know butane or propane know....




i was serious about hand cranking...my engine can run with no electricity when i configure it that way....its an automatic so push starting isnt a thing...


if i cummins swap mine...it is easy to have a bothy bell housing to use a normal 12/24 volt starter on one side and a mechanical starter on the other...probably would run a sae3 and a 545....


with the current humvee engine/4l80 combination i have in the ranger, i will have to mod a 4x4 torque converter housing or build a custom piece to use the smallest mechanical starter....but it has been done several times on oilfield equipment i work with....though those are usually on ford manual 4 speeds or eaton fullers.



there are a few companies and alot of setups

Mechanical Spring Starters

the problem......that starter cost more than the value of my truck...

You need a starter that takes 12 gauge blanks

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You need a starter that takes 12 gauge blanks

I've heard of that, can't remember what it was used on.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've heard of that, can't remember what it was used on.

I know it was used on a number of aircraft

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Coffman starter!

You need a starter that takes 12 gauge blanks

I've heard of that, can't remember what it was used on.

Coffman engine starter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[97RangerXLT]

I have seen it on a tractor as well as aircraft. Wathe the original flight of the Phoenix with Steve McQueen for an applied instance of that

AJ

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have seen it on a tractor as well as aircraft. Wathe the original flight of the Phoenix with Steve McQueen for an applied instance of that

AJ

Remake with Dennis Quaid had one on the C-119 as well.

I don't remember the tractor, I thought it was Lantz but it doesn't look like it. Pretty sure it was European though.

 

[RCC]

Hey bobbywalter,
I've seen mustang with cummins turbo diesel.
If you stuff one in ranger, be sure to post some pics...

 

[MISWFL]

Late 60s and early 70s Citroen DS had a crank starter in addition to the electric starter. The car, while ugly enough to make a freight train take a dirt road had a bunch of neat innovative technologies in it. It had headlights that turned with the wheels (like the Tucker, but both sets, not just a separate center light) , you could also retract either of the rear wheels, could change a tire without a jack plus with that feature you could retract the flat wheel and drive short distances without changing it. and had fully independent suspension and disk brakes in the mid 60s. Quite an engineering marvel for its time. Youtuber Car Wizard did a show on one, showing these features. Highly recommend it

AJ

They're cool cars. Supposedly I came home from the hospital after being born in one. My dad had some interesting cars in the 1970s in California.

I checked out a very original and nice one in detail that was at the Stockton PnP in the late 2000s. Great ergonomics and funky styling. I doubt there's an easy was to recharge or service the high pressure nitrogen spheres in the trunk that provides the suspension damping. You could probably use hydraulics or maybe an on board air compressor to keep it functional.

 

[MISWFL]

I don't mind carburetors, REAR drum brakes, or R134a at all.

I don't miss factory radios that were always different sizes and you had to hack an ugly hole into the dash to make a single DIN one fit.

I also don't miss swingset throttle/shifter/clutch linkages that bind up if the body mounts sag or something gets a little out of whack.

Oh, 70's import interior trim/plastic pieces is high up on my list too. It's been more than two decades since I parted with my Datsun and I can still feel that crumbly crap on my fingers.

What kind of Datsun?

 

[MISWFL]

Generators, 6 volt electrical systems and single circuit brake systems.

My first car was a 1958 VW Bug. It had all 3. It had the original 36hp engine with the cast in generator stand. I priced a Porsche 912 generator, which was 12 volt and would fit my 36hp engine. A rebuilt one was more than what I paid for my bug! I eventually found a good running 40hp engine and installed that and put in a 12 volt generator. I used a variable speed wiper control to not burn up the 6 volt wiper motor. That was fun to use. Living on a long dirt road meant that the generator brushes needed to be replaced frequently.

I learned about brakes on that car when I lost all brakes going downhill to a T intersection. Luckily nobody was coming on either side. I converted it to dual circuit brakes and later on put Porsche 356 aluminum finned drums on it, first on the front, then later the back. New wheel cylinders for them were expensive and the fronts used 2 cylinders per drum.