Author Topic: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...  (Read 29966 times)

Offline Rhino

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #100 on: August 18, 2014, 04:41:16 PM »
It is hard on the spider gears in the differential also. I saw a Honda hub carrier all 'wore out' due to significantly different diameter tires used on the front end..... for 10's of thousands of miles. Those little gears were just not designed for those kinds of rotations....  ::)

My favorite though is someone, usually a 'soccer Mom' or similar, bucking his / her way through a turn 'cause the grocerie- getter is stuck in 4WD.  ;D  I have noticed that auto manufacturers are continuously 'dumbing down' 4WD into "AWD" and "Full Time 4WD" and various other incantations of [not real 4 WD] mechanisms. I just picked up a GMC Envoy but not after looking at a bunch of recent year 4WD vehicles that either were not really 4WD or were but did not have a low range.

Brian

Hadn't though about that but seems obvious now that you point it out.

Offline RFH87_Connie

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #101 on: August 19, 2014, 06:06:36 AM »
Apparently those warnings on the sidewall are just nonsense to cover the backsides of the manufacture.

I had a co-worker in the 80s that had all 4 as "spares".  He had a little Ford Fiesta.  He could get the whole wheel and tire from the local junkyard for $10 each.  Cheaper that a new tire and balance.  The "regular" tires looked almost the same as the spares.
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Offline jettawreck

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #102 on: August 19, 2014, 07:31:20 AM »
I had a co-worker in the 80s that had all 4 as "spares".  He had a little Ford Fiesta.  He could get the whole wheel and tire from the local junkyard for $10 each.  Cheaper that a new tire and balance.  The "regular" tires looked almost the same as the spares.

The "original" Fiesta had little 12" wheels. Had one new waaay back in the day (1980). It was actually a good, tough little car. Didn't get the greatest for gas mileage for a shoebox, but an archaic carbed, push rod 1.6l engine, that was fairly quick and only a four speed gearbox.
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Offline Strawboss

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #103 on: August 20, 2014, 01:29:42 PM »
Here in Cleveland, for awhile there it was quite the styling statement in the urban areas to run spare temporary wheels and tires on all four corners.  I had a '79 Fiesta Ghia, a German Ford, great car.
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Offline RFH87_Connie

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #104 on: August 20, 2014, 01:34:57 PM »
I think a '78 or '79 Fiesta was the first stick-shift I drove legally.  A little off-white colored one with maybe orangy interior, it wasn't mine though.
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Offline Strawboss

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #105 on: August 20, 2014, 01:46:39 PM »
In 1980 or '81, I can't remember, Ford pulled the plug and decided to stop importing them as they were soon to start selling the then new Escort, not the one made in Europe, that was vastly superior to anything sold here until the Focus, a U.S. spec model. I walked into a dealer and they had them on sale for $4000, at the time I thought it was too much. But then again, they were also giving you a free Pinto if you bought a Lincoln at the time.
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Offline sherob

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #106 on: August 20, 2014, 02:22:38 PM »
In 1981 was the last year for the Fiesta... first year for the Escort, had it for 10 years, and almost 100k miles.
Rob
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Offline jettawreck

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #107 on: August 20, 2014, 08:38:53 PM »
Here in Cleveland, for awhile there it was quite the styling statement in the urban areas to run spare temporary wheels and tires on all four corners.  I had a '79 Fiesta Ghia, a German Ford, great car.

I had an '80 Fiesta. It was a great little car. It was marketed as Ford's "World Car". Mine had a strip of tiny little flags from the countries that they sourced parts from for it. There were several and China wasn't among them at that time.
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Offline Strawboss

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #108 on: August 21, 2014, 06:29:55 AM »
I think the 2000 focus was Ford's first truly "world car" as you could really go to any place in the world and get parts for it, as far as I know the first generation Fiesta was only made in Germany, sold around the world but only made in one place. The Focus was made in a few other places I think, not sure, ours was Mexico though. Then they redesigned it in 2007 for the U.S. and it was truly awful. The Fiesta is now touted as a "world car" too, and for the most part it is.
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Offline RFH87_Connie

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #109 on: August 21, 2014, 08:25:38 AM »
I also think the Fiesta was reincarnated as the Festiva a few years after it went out of production?  It appeared to me to be just a little more rounded off.

Wow - just googled it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fiesta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Festiva

It would seem they are not the same...
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Offline jettawreck

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #110 on: August 21, 2014, 10:33:18 AM »
I think the 2000 focus was Ford's first truly "world car" as you could really go to any place in the world and get parts for it, as far as I know the first generation Fiesta was only made in Germany, sold around the world but only made in one place. The Focus was made in a few other places I think, not sure, ours was Mexico though. Then they redesigned it in 2007 for the U.S. and it was truly awful. The Fiesta is now touted as a "world car" too, and for the most part it is.

The Focus was much more "worldly" than the Fiesta was, but that's how Ford tried to market the Fiesta to the US. Actually, parts of it really were made all over. I think the engine was made/assembled in England and the tranny somewhere else. Most of the cast aluminum parts were Italy. Etc...

Yep, the Festiva was a different model and I don't think very good quality wise. Every one I have ever seen up here in the snow/salt country is rotted to bits.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2014, 11:53:29 AM by jettawreck »
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Offline Gumby

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #111 on: August 21, 2014, 01:17:30 PM »
Why there is so much talk about the Ford Fiesta.

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #112 on: August 21, 2014, 01:43:33 PM »
Well we can certainly agree to that!  I'm attributing it to mission creep.
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Offline sherob

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #113 on: August 21, 2014, 01:50:18 PM »
Rob
Brighton, CO... missing Texas!

Offline jettawreck

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #114 on: August 21, 2014, 01:56:37 PM »
Why there is so much talk about the Ford Fiesta.


Because we are all bored and I really didn't feel like doing anything much at work today. ;)
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #115 on: August 21, 2014, 03:06:34 PM »
Hey, I was bored too until a little while ago WHEN SUDDENLY (ever notice you can get those two words in any sentence in the English language?) a streak of 'interesting' broke out on the 'ole internet.   :rotflmao: 

Brian


Because we are all bored and I really didn't feel like doing anything much at work today. ;)
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Offline Conrad

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #116 on: August 22, 2014, 04:48:32 AM »

Because we are all bored and I really didn't feel like doing anything much at work today. ;)

What is this 'work' you speak of?
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Offline jettawreck

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #117 on: August 22, 2014, 08:47:04 AM »
What is this 'work' you speak of?

It is what I tell the wife I do when I leave most mornings to linger around at the paint/floorcovering store I co-own. Things are slow here.
There is a big difference between "working" and being "at work". ;) Being "at work" doesn't involve all that much "work" and then I don't have to spend time at home on the computer. I can do that "at work".
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Offline Outback_Jon

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #118 on: August 22, 2014, 10:15:03 AM »
But then again, they were also giving you a free Pinto if you bought a Lincoln at the time.
I think that was only if you tried to talk them down in price.  If you paid full list price for the Lincoln, they didn't make you take the Pinto.
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Offline RFH87_Connie

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Re: Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder...
« Reply #119 on: August 22, 2014, 10:19:46 AM »
I remember when Toyota trucks were coming with a free Yugo.
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