• Automotive Addicts Lounge V3 - Autozone Aisle 6
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Just saw a 65/66 Charger in daily driver condition at walmart, little old lady packing her groceries into it :v:
So I'm in the market for my first car, gonna be some beater piece of trash w/e not the important part for now. Right now I need some advice on tools. My parents said they'd get me a tool set to start off with, I'm between a few sets from craftsman and husky having ~300 pieces each at about $200. I can throw some links if y'all want, but are there any recommendations? I'd cap the price to around $500, and I know i'm not gonna get anything complete but at least as inclusive as I can get. Also a good toolbox/chest for around 1-200, maybe something modular like [URL="http://www.sears.com/craftsman-5-drawer-basic-ball-bearing-tool-center/p-00931013000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3"]this[/URL] one
I'd suggest Craftsman because of the warranty. However, if you can find the USA made Craftsman ones. Maybe on Craigslist or something. The new Craftsmans tools are almost all Chinese. Side by side there's a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference in quality. My dad broke his USA made 1.5" 3/8" ratchet and we went to replace it at Sears, they laid out a bunch of ones from under the counter we could replace it with. One USA made one left, side by side with another Chinese one, you could tell the Chinese one was made cheaply as it had a weaker snap ring and an awful finish and cast.
Got the intake, airbox, horns and LED interior lights out today. Tomorrow is the rear sway bar and rear half of the coilovers.
Make sure you buy a nice breaker bar set. It'll save you a lot of swearing and frustration
[QUOTE=Code3Response;49317232]Make sure you buy a nice breaker bar set. It'll save you a lot of swearing and frustration[/QUOTE] I've always used ratchets with a piece of pipe. I have seen a new light with a breaker bar. Never gonna go without one now.
So I've decided to sell my Tacoma before it gets any worse. In the state it is in now I can get 6-7k at the very least. I figure I'll buy a police interceptor cheap and use it as a beater car until I move to Texas in a year or two. By than time I'll have enough money saved to afford something else. Any serious negatives to the CVPI? They seem decently reliable and really cheap.
yea, they're CVPI's.
Am I going to get pulled over driving one of these things? Because I can get one for like 1-2k but they have push-bars and search lights on them and I don't want to get my ass in trouble. The whole "it's a police car" thing is cool but I don't want anyone to think I'm impersonating a cop or some shit. I can take off the bull bar but the search lights look like they're permanent or something? Personally I love push-bars. I have one on my Tacoma but like I said, don't wanna be grouped as a wanna-be.
If they're selling them, it's legal. As long as you don't put on red/blue lights or decals that would suggest you're a cop, you'll be fine.
[QUOTE=Ridge;49318521]If they're selling them, it's legal. As long as you don't put on red/blue lights or decals that would suggest you're a cop, you'll be fine.[/QUOTE] I didn't think they would sell them illegally equipped. I know about the red/blue light law and stuff. I just wanted a black one and I won't even lie the push-bar and search lights are cool as shit to me. I did see that sometimes they have back window-tint and when they sell them they sell them as is and people get pulled over for that. Couple of things I Googled had guys pulled over just because it was a CVPI. Maybe I'll ask my cop buddy next time I see him. But he only works for one department and you know, every cop is different. That PD may be cool with it but maybe a Trooper wouldn't like it. I don't know if it's worth it if I'm going to be somewhat of a target. I have a CCW and work in Security so I'm sure if they ran my plates and saw that information with me driving a CVPI they'd have a field day because I'm a wanna-be rent-a-cop. I just have a hard time picking cars that 'speak' to me if that makes sense. I love, love, love my Tacoma but it has more problems than I have time or money. If it's any difference I drive like an old man so I don't see any reason they'd have to pull me over aside. I haven't been pulled over yet. I don't want to add lights to it or anything like that but I do like the potential to use it for work if I get a contract one day that makes me use my personal vehicle.
If you drive like an old man you won't be getting the most out of a CVPI. You'll just have 14 MPG and no fun to show for it.
[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;49318624]I didn't think they would sell them illegally equipped. I know about the red/blue light law and stuff. I just wanted a black one and I won't even lie the push-bar and search lights are cool as shit to me. I did see that sometimes they have back window-tint and when they sell them they sell them as is and people get pulled over for that. Couple of things I Googled had guys pulled over just because it was a CVPI. Maybe I'll ask my cop buddy next time I see him. But he only works for one department and you know, every cop is different. That PD may be cool with it but maybe a Trooper wouldn't like it. I don't know if it's worth it if I'm going to be somewhat of a target. I have a CCW and work in Security so I'm sure if they ran my plates and saw that information with me driving a CVPI they'd have a field day because I'm a wanna-be rent-a-cop. I just have a hard time picking cars that 'speak' to me if that makes sense. I love, love, love my Tacoma but it has more problems than I have time or money. If it's any difference I drive like an old man so I don't see any reason they'd have to pull me over aside. I haven't been pulled over yet. I don't want to add lights to it or anything like that but I do like the potential to use it for work if I get a contract one day that makes me use my personal vehicle.[/QUOTE] You're thinking way into this. You're not going to be pulled over for having an old CVPI.
Well, guys. My grandfather was found at work today unresponsive and it's not looking good. So if you guys need me for anything which I doubt just send me a pm. I may not be on for a week or so, sorry guys. On the plus side, my car finally got its fog light repaired last week and is only a new set of tires away from being perfectly fine to get me through inspection for once! Haha.
I've got a black CVPI with a push bar and the most extra attention I've gotten from cops is a head nod or two. On paper the car isn't really good at particularly anything besides being cheap, but in practice, its a really great car. Sure, like every ford, they love their maintenance, but all the important parts are nigh bulletproof. Cheap parts, easy to work on. If you can get one that's 2008+, you've got yourself a pretty modern car that aside from the basics like engine control and ABS, isn't completely slathered in gimmicky computers. I get a lot of compliments from people on how cool it is, and all I've done is stick glasspacks and a push bar on it, and repaint the wheels and a few chipped /rusty body spots.
[QUOTE=Birdman101;49318898]I've got a black CVPI with a push bar and the most extra attention I've gotten from cops is a head nod or two. On paper the car isn't really good at particularly anything besides being cheap, but in practice, its a really great car. Sure, like every ford, they love their maintenance, but all the important parts are nigh bulletproof. Cheap parts, easy to work on. If you can get one that's 2008+, you've got yourself a pretty modern car that aside from the basics like engine control and ABS, isn't completely slathered in gimmicky computers. I get a lot of compliments from people on how cool it is, and all I've done is stick glasspacks and a push bar on it, and repaint the wheels and a few chipped /rusty body spots.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the info. Makes me feel a bit better. I'm not going to lie a retired police car is a cool concept to me. The reason the Crown Vic came up is because I need to sell my truck and my Uncle has a friend who is selling a Crown Vic and is going to give me a deal for less than 2k and it's in decent shape. But it has all the cool shit on it. They didn't even take the laptop mount out of it. So I just was iffy on if driving something like that around was even legal but I don't see why not unless I go around trying to pull people over.
I use rainx washer fluid and my windows are clear.
[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;49318930]Thanks for the info. Makes me feel a bit better. I'm not going to lie a retired police car is a cool concept to me. The reason the Crown Vic came up is because I need to sell my truck and my Uncle has a friend who is selling a Crown Vic and is going to give me a deal for less than 2k and it's in decent shape. But it has all the cool shit on it. They didn't even take the laptop mount out of it. So I just was iffy on if driving something like that around was even legal but I don't see why not unless I go around trying to pull people over.[/QUOTE] Oh nice. I had to make a center console for mine out of plywood. I really wish Trek would have made a good quality crown vic writeup, so I could paste it when needed. Also, if it has a trac-lok, it does wonderful cookies. What year is the one you're looking at? [editline]14th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Grenadiac;49318684]If you drive like an old man you won't be getting the most out of a CVPI. You'll just have 14 MPG and no fun to show for it.[/QUOTE] Gas is a buck seventy here, Ill do what I want [editline]14th December 2015[/editline] and its 15. check your mpg privilege.
[QUOTE=Birdman101;49318954]Oh nice. I had to make a center console for mine out of plywood. I really wish Trek would have made a good quality crown vic writeup, so I could paste it when needed. Also, if it has a trac-lok, it does wonderful cookies. What year is the one you're looking at? [editline]14th December 2015[/editline] Gas is a buck seventy here, Ill do what I want[/QUOTE] 2005 but I've only seen pictures of it. The paint on the roof is fucked up where the unit number used to be, there is a small exhaust manifold leak and sometimes the flywheel grinds when starting it up but I was told it happens rarely. Aside that it looks good to me. I want a beater. Like, I want to be able come back to my car and find scratches and dents on it and just shrug it off and drive away. I babied my Tacoma so every minor defect drove me nuts. I just need it to last for two-three years. Trek? Writeup? Cookies? Trac-lock? You're speaking more gibberish than a Thai hooker right now to me.
[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;49318976]2005 but I've only seen pictures of it. The paint on the roof is fucked up where the unit number used to be, there is a small exhaust manifold leak and sometimes the flywheel grinds when starting it up but I was told it happens rarely. Aside that it looks good to me. I want a beater. Like, I want to be able come back to my car and find scratches and dents on it and just shrug it off and drive away. I babied my Tacoma so every minor defect drove me nuts. I just need it to last for two-three years. Trek? Writeup? Cookies? Trac-lock? You're speaking more gibberish than a Thai hooker right now to me.[/QUOTE] Trek is one of the other cvpi guys here, write up as in 2 paragraphs of bitchin cool facts, cookies are circular burnouts usually done in snow or dirt, trac-lok is ford's limited slip rear end. And when people say something like "the trunk sits 3 comfortably", its usually a joke. That statement is not a joke when you speak of a crown vic. As long at the spare tire goes on top of the gas tank where it belongs, the trunk is deep enough for children to stand up in. Oh and the "flywheel grinding" sounds a lot like the starter is staying engaged after it turns over. Some CVPIs it happens intermittently. It happened to mine, but no amount of restarting or banging on the starter would disengage the starter, so I drove it home about 6 miles through stop and go traffic, and the starter still worked after that, it didnt melt or explode.
[QUOTE=Birdman101;49319012]Trek is one of the other cvpi guys here, write up as in 2 paragraphs of bitchin cool facts, cookies are circular burnouts usually done in snow or dirt, trac-lok is ford's limited slip rear end. And when people say something like "the trunk sits 3 comfortably", its usually a joke. That statement is not a joke when you speak of a crown vic. As long at the spare tire goes on top of the gas tank where it belongs, the trunk is deep enough for children to stand up in.[/QUOTE] Great now I can go around abducting children and putting them into the truck of my police car. I'm sold.
Anyone here tire nerds? Math says I require 23psi in my tires. But I believe that's too low. Ohhhh the joys of going oversized on tires! I guess I need to go get some chalk and a air compressor and see what the pressure needs to be...
It's going to fluctuate depending on driving conditions, tire size, and how comfortable you want the car to be. If you got bigger tires, I'd add two pounds of pressure and see how it feels. Back it down slowly by .5 lbs until you get a comfortable to drive and controllable car.
How do I tell when tires are balding to the point where I should get new ones? Is there some coin trick I can do or whatnot?
[QUOTE=dwt110;49319224]How do I tell when tires are balding to the point where I should get new ones? Is there some coin trick I can do or whatnot?[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=51[/url]
Sorry to hear that Mastoner :(
[QUOTE=dwt110;49319224]How do I tell when tires are balding to the point where I should get new ones? Is there some coin trick I can do or whatnot?[/QUOTE] When they turn into drag slicks and you could slide the back end out whenever you felt like you wanted to....and sometimes when you didn't want it to. Sorry to hear stoner, Best of wishes.
There are little rubber nubs going widthwise on the tire, between the treads. Once the treads are the same height as those cross bars, they're toast. [IMG]http://blog.autointhebox.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tire-wear-visual-indicator-tire-wear-bars-874x492.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=dwt110;49319224]How do I tell when tires are balding to the point where I should get new ones? Is there some coin trick I can do or whatnot?[/QUOTE] when your tires wear to this line [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/187F2pv.jpg[/IMG] [editline]wefeff[/editline] didn't even know there was a new page
[QUOTE=Birdman101;49318954]I really wish Trek would have made a good quality crown vic writeup, so I could paste it when needed.[/QUOTE] [img]http://i.imgur.com/m0uIoRB.jpg[/img] The Ford Crown Victoria (Police Interceptor), Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car Writeup. The Crown Victoria(and its sisters, the Grand Marquis and Town Car) is a magnificent vehicle. There's nothing quite like it. Extremely comfortable, fantastic ride quality, unparalleled people-hauling capability for a sedan, very handsome, rear wheel drive, torque, reliable, durable. I hope you like buying gas. It's not efficient, it's not a modern car. Not quite, at least. It's a hybrid of modern and old fashioned design. It's a very fun car to drive with tons of character and personality. However you simply have to come to terms with a lack of fuel economy. It's also a heavy car, ~4600lbs wet with only 230-250 horsepower and 250-280ft/lbs of torque. Depending on your rear end (don't worry, I'll get to that later), it's going to be somewhere between 'tolerably quick' and 'painfully slow.' [B]Buy a post-2002 model. No older than 2003.[/B] Hey, that 2002 looks like a great deal and it's mint and- [B]NO.[/B] Don't buy it. I don't care how cheap it is, don't buy it. In 2003 the Crown Victoria was entirely redesigned underneath. While the body remained identical to the 1998-2002 cars, the chassis was remade with hydroformed steel, recirculating ball steering was replaced with rack and pinion, a Watts linkage was added to the rear suspension, the rear suspension went from leafs to shocks and struts, the front suspension gained sway bars, there's all sorts of improvements to the suspension all around. It's a much better car, far more driveable. To the point where the pre-2003 models are just not worth buying as anything beyond a winter beater or with a several-thousand dollar discount. [sp]or for demolition derbies/lemons racing[/sp] Important concern points are mostly limited to the transmission. Try to get maintenance records of transmission flushes and the like. Cops and taxi drivers drive these like they stole them, and with the lack of power and excess of weight, it's very tempting to weld your foot to the floor any time you get at a stop sign, stop light, freeway onramp, passing a car, pretty much any time you like. Feel free to just slam it to WOT whenever you like. Just make sure you keep regular maintenance up to date on the transmission. Other failure points include the MAF sensor, but that's a super cheap junkyard replacement, and the cupholder mount likes to shatter. A $15 bluetooth/wifi OBDII reader will serve you well, like any Ford there's a handful of simple wear and tear failures that can toggle the CEL, but the actual functioning drivetrain is pretty darn bulletproof. Rear ends are important to consider. For those who don't know, the term 'rear end' when used in reference to a rear wheel drive car, refers to the gears inside the differential. I won't get into specifics but there's two things you need to know. A: The gear ratio. This refers to how many times the rear wheels turn for each turn of the driveshaft. Generally what it boils down to is a larger number means faster acceleration but somewhat worse fuel economy. A Crown Victoria has the following rear gear ratios: 2.73:1 (civilian CV, GM, base models and fleet sales only), 3.23:1( all cars, base model only), 3.55:1 (CV,GM,TC: Handling and Performance Package, Police Interceptor: most units), and 3.73:1(Marauder, all cars Handling Performance Package, and Police Interceptor, highly desirable ones). I recommend 3.23's or 3.55's if you do any significant amount of highway driving. 3.73's give you the best acceleration and are the only reason that anyone might think the car is fast. Oh right, B: Trac-lock differentials. These are limited-slip differentials, specifically clutch-plate type ones. Essentially they keep both wheels putting down power when you've got the throttle down, and are crucial to doing donuts and drifts. These are somewhat more desirable but don't let anyone talk you up in price because their Vic has a Trac-lock. Trac-locks are available on civilian Vics and siblings with the Handling and Performance Package, but many have miserable open differentials. Police units are not immune as well. You can look at a sticker on the driver's side door sill to find out what kind of differential and gear ratio your car has. Other things to note are the differences between Police and Civilian cars. Police cars have an upgraded airbox and a more aggressive tune on the engine and transmission. They shift harder and faster, and the engine cares a bit less about fuel economy. Police cars have Severe Duty suspension components to allow them to drive over curbs, as well as smaller steel wheels with higher profile tires, again for going over curbs. The last drivetrain difference is that the police cars come with an external transmission fluid cooler, which is excellent as it allows long distance driving at high RPM and speed, perfect if you want to drive across the country at 120mph. Oh, speaking of, there's different speed limiters for different cars. Civilian Crown Vics without the Handling and Performance Package are limited to 110 MPH. Grand Marquis, Town Cars, HPP Crown Vics, and 3.73 rear end police cars are limited to 120MPH. 3.55 and lower police cars are limited to 130mph. Police cars have an aluminum composite driveshaft, while civilian cars have steel ones. A handful of 2004 police cars have composite matrix driveshafts, but those are much rarer and not much worth considering here. One should note that the Grand Marquis and Town Car(and very rarely civilian Crown Victorias) have airbag suspension in the rear. I'm not covering that here because I have zero experience or knowledge related to it. Inside the police cars usually are missing a center console and have big ugly holes in the floor where it used to mount. They might have big chunks cut out of the seats for space for the police consoles as well. The Town Car has a much nicer center console than the CV and GM, but it's more difficult to get aftermarket stereos in, so take that for what it's worth. Lastly, these cars are extremely easy to work on. There's tons of space underneath them, there's tons of space inside of the engine bay, and most components are somewhere that makes a lot of sense. There's tons of help online as well if you ever need help. Cop car crashes make spare parts plentiful and cheap, as well. I hope this helps.
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