Funny Conversation, Car diagnostics 30 years later.

[72HCODE]

Today I had funniest conversation at a gas station.

I was gassing up my 72 mach 1 today when a older gentlemen approached me to tell me my camaro looked great. After telling him it was in fact a mustang and not a Chevy. He begin to tell me he had a 68 fastback that was a huge piece of crap overheated and burned out 3 transmissions before he said he got fed up with it and left the keys and title to the car on the drivers seat and walked away from it.

This was back in 1976 so he said. I decided to ask him for more information on the car. Was an automatic 302 white and rust according to him.

Sounded like the guy really didn't know much about cars and didnt seem to know maintance either.

So he basically tells me the engine overheated all the time but it was the constant transmission failure that really angered him and what made him finally give up on it.

Keep in mind back then these cars were just old and had no value.

So I asked him if the radiator was ever cleaned out or replaced. He said no why. I explained a clogged up radiator would cause the trans and the engine to overheat. Which would boil the trans fluid and lead to failure over a few months. I actually had a similar issue in a 95 Mitsubishi where the trans was going over 210 degrees and it turned out the trans cooler was clogged up.

I explained it really sounds like you had a cooling issue due to a clogged up radiator and the engine and trans were not the problem, but the overheating and trans failure was a symptom of a poor cooling system. I also explained his transmission lines could of also been clogged up. Because it sounded like his auto mechanic was taking him for a ride in that he would charge him for trans swaps and he never replaced the lines or looked at the radiator itself.

Guy turned beat red and seemed to get really pissed off, then he bursts out laughing and said he wished he met me back then. I told him I would of been 3 years old, he burst out laughing again.

Too bad the 68 wasn't around to see if I was right or not.

Hee hee

 

[Don65Stang]

That's a great gas station story. They all seem to have an element of "I used to have..." but your has a much better ending than all the others.

 

[Wolverine]

The geezer wasn't Doc, was it? Skinny guy, laughs at anything?

 

[73vertproject]

The geezer wasn't Doc, was it? Skinny guy, laughs at anything?

I would never have confused one of our 'Stangs with a Camaro. Ever.

rofl rofl

 

[Kermit 460]

That's funny !

 

[72HCODE]

i get it all the time. People just do a quick look at something and there are some similarities between the front end.

I did have one mustang guy argue with me one time that my car had a chopped roof like a hotrod. he kept swearing up and down ford never made the 71-73 roof line as low as my car was.

thankfully another 71 fastback showed up at the car show and parked near me so i could prove i was correct and my car was original.

people are so used to the early mustang look that they really get confused with our cars.

 

[caspianwendell]

Great story

 

[MechEng]

Well played! Now I know what to watch out for if I ever start cooking off transmissions lol

 

[72HCODE]

it actually got me thinking about all the haunted car stories we all heard about.

Also made me think about all the ways my car has tried to kill me and it was all due to lack of experience and automotive knowledge the devil is in the details.

some examples i went through at various times.

my car is making moaning sounds it sounds like a ghost crying.

(3rd wheel chewing itself to death)

I can't stop!

( master cylinder failure)

i've lost steering control

(rag joint failure due to improperly set steering column)

My car is bouncing up and down all by itself followed by front tire blow out at 55mph

(tires sat under-inflated for too long bending the belts inside the tire, when i pressurized the tire the belts were kinked, bent round and created a weak spot, after 800 miles on the tires the belts began to snap and the tire became out of round, which caused the bouncing and tire failure)

huge bang from front end when using brakes

(strut rods rubber isolators fell apart, DO NOT USE POLY EVER)

rumbling noise when turning left.

(caliper float bolts Sheared off due to extreme rust.)

My car only starts when it feels like it.

(fuel lines ruptured with cracks, car would only startup when it was inclined toward the motor otherwise it would prime the fuel system with air and refuse to start)

there is a SNAKE IN MY ENGINE BAY!

(cracked top of radiator next to thermostat )

THERE'S A CREATURE IN MY CAR

(congrats you need to replace, frame rails, engine aprons, floors, torque box, cowl, seat pan, quarter panel, drop downs, trunk floor and trunk floor pan, maybe the roof too)

my personal favorite was i just drove back 135 miles from a swap meet, i got a set of 351V4 exhaust manifolds so i could finally get rid of my hooker headers that i could not stand, a few hours later i jack up the car and i'm trying to work out how to cut off my exhaust pipes and install the OEM exhaust manifolds, the passenger side, easy; the drives side major problem since the steering box is in the way.

so i'm sitting under there looking at things on the drivers side, and i go "hey my outer tie-rod kinda looks funny" i go to touch it, the nut falls off the back and the outer tie rod swings just above my face and continues to go along with the weight of the tire swinging to the right. I'm sitting there speechless with a nut sitting on my chest, holding a heavy exhaust manifold sort of piecing together what just happened. the realities of what could of happened at any point during my 135 mile drive all melting into my brain. (missing cotter pin)

at that point i tore the car apart and started to replace everything.

 

[Wolverine]

The geezer wasn't Doc, was it? Skinny guy, laughs at anything?

I would never have confused one of our 'Stangs with a Camaro. Ever.

rofl rofl

Sorry...you are correct. My apologizes....

However, I do have another friend who told me how he had to scurry through 5 junkyards before he found a radio that was pretuned to his radio stations...4 out of 5 stations anyway. '70 Monte Carlo.

 

[Totalled]

Wait wait wait... Where is this mythical place?

 

[OLE PONY]

It must have been this Musaro that confused him:

 

[droptop73]

WOW, that's hilarious!

 

[Kit Sullivan]

I once had a guy at a cruise night tell me he knows the guy I bought thecar from, and in fact he built the engine. I let him go on and he told me he did various personal touches when he built an engine and.proceeded to point out a few to me. After a while, i told him he might be mistaken, since I am the original owner. He slunk away.

Later, i overheard him telling other onlookers all about his adventures in the car before I owned it.

I think the guy was a little "touched", so I just let go on and tell his stories to whoever would listen.

 

[droptop73]

Ya can't fix... DELUSIONAL!

 

[72HCODE]

i've met people just like that at shows, screaming for attention.

I know a lot of older guys with 69s and back get it worse. a friend named Kieth owns a Shelby and he would have people coming up to him all the time about how its not a real Shelby then they would point to things on the car and say its a fake because of A,B,C.... hes in the shelby registry and we all know its a real shelby that had been modified over the years in various ways, Keith could care less.

Some idiot once commented on my 1970 shelby and how i did awesome custom body work.

better then that would be the one guy that stopped me at a gas station to tell me how awesome my ferrari is, and man is that FIRE ENGINE RED FERRARI PAINT AMAZING.

yes i agree my ferrari is awesome

you could see how Mitsubishi passion red could cause the confusion.

 

[VegasFastback]

Man, I love 69 and 70 shelbys. I want to get a mustang and make a shelby clone, cause I can't afford one, but then I can't afford a 69 70 mustang either.