How to keep classic cars roadworthy

BB.
BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Here is an interesting article from Jay Leno on how he updates/takes care of his classic car collection:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/vintage/how-to-keep-classic-cars-road-ready-14849542?click=pp

A couple of interesting ideas that may map to our forum... One is a waterless antifreeze (and pretty much corrosion free) that may be of interest to people with water cooled backup gensets ($44 per gallon--not cheap). Another is a conversion that uses a rotor on the drive shaft and electro magnets to create eddy currents in the rotors (saves the brakes on old vehicles)--May be of interest as a second method to shut down a Wind Turbine (use permanent magnets instead or electro magnets to stall the turbine first?).

Evans Cooling Systems
Telma S.A.

-Bill
Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    I thought it was going to be about fitting your 1912 Baker Electric with solar panels! :D

    (I think Mr. Leno has one of those in fact. The Baker. Sans panels.)
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #3
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    I had to keep my post somewhat on forum topic list. :roll:

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy
    BB. wrote: »
    Another is a conversion that uses a rotor on the drive shaft and electro magnets to create eddy currents in the rotors (saves the brakes on old vehicles)--May be of interest as a second method to shut down a Wind Turbine (use permanent magnets instead or electro magnets to stall the turbine first?).

    Evans     Cooling Systems
    Telma S.A.

    -Bill

    Neat for dynamic (but not regenerative) breaking. For sustained use, such as turbine loading, almost all of the power is dissipated in the rotor itself, so cooling that is key. (If it melts, it won't work very well as a load. Since you are using non-contact braking, you could run the whole thing in a water or oil bath. The Telma units are designed to generate their own air cooling thorough internal channels as they rotate. This has the same basic disadvantage/advantage as a fixed resistance clipper or load: The power it sinks is proportional to the square of the rotational speed if the magnet current is fixed.

    BTW, if you use permanent magnets, there would be no way to turn the retarder off, and adding a mechanical clutch would add needless complexity and unreliability.
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #5
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    Just rotate the magnet assembly out of the area of the spinning disks... Anyway--Just some ideas.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    how do they completely drain out all of the old antifreeze to be able to throw in the expensive stuff? some is always in some areas of the engine and you could flush it out with water, but that's counter-intuitive with putting the new stuff in to be water free as then the water gets stuck in those nooks in the engine. i do know a good alternative to antifreeze is warranted and very much needed as i got zapped with replacing my radiator at 60k miles. the newer cars (compared to 80s and before) don't seem to be as rugged as i never had to replace a radiator until about 100k+ miles. most likely thinner metal used in the radiators. the answer many mechanics tell me is to replace the antifreeze much more often as they say it goes acidic. i have forgotten what time interval they said, but i believe it was about every 20k miles or 2 years. don't quote me on this as i'm not remembering well what i was told, but it was something to this effect.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    Radiators used to be brass. Now they are aluminium and plastic, and as thin as they can possibly get away with.

    If you do a good water flush then leave the jacket open long enough the water evaporates out. I know some who will run the engine briefly with no coolant to accelerate evaporation. I wouldn't. It's a bit different setting up and old car and having to do a flush & change right now on a new one.

    My complaint is that premix only comes in 50/50, not 60/40. Bit of a problem in the land of -40.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: How to keep classic cars roadworthy

    coot,
    yes, and they charge allot for that mix too. i used to get the concentrate and mix it myself and i could then dictate how low the cooling protection can and should go. you just need to throw some concentrate into the 50/50 mix.

    btw, the 60k miles car i have is a 96 ford taurus. i thought i was lucky to find a low miles car as it had 43k miles on it a few years ago when i bought it. seems the rocker panels are now almost shot and it was immaculate when i bought it. i'm quite sure that's just as big of a problem up there. high priced junk.:grr
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  • Ralph Day
    Ralph Day Solar Expert Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: How to keep classic cars roadworthy

    $50 is money well spent on rust proofing. Many body shops will do it, not needed yearly, maybe every 5 in my experience. I have a 2000 Camry with no rust at all. There are weep stains (the troll boogers blown in the doors weep out the drain holes and dirt/grime sticks to it) on the doors, trunk and such, but no rust. It's the exposed metal under the car that needs more applications...brake lines rust, floor pans etc.

    Ralph

    Ps haven't had to have any rust work done in 15 years on any "sprayed" cars.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #10
    Re: How to keep classic cars roadworthy

    i hear ya ralph and lesson learned here. i forgot to mention i had the brake lines replaced already due to rust through failure. nothing like driving a car with no brakes where you have to go up and down hills. it still proves the car manufacturers are putting out junk.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: How to keep classic cars roadworthy
    niel wrote: »
    i hear ya ralph and lesson learned here. i forgot to mention i had the brake lines replaced already due to rust through failure. nothing like driving a car with no brakes where you have to go up and down hills. it still proves the car manufacturers are putting out junk.

    And if any of you youngsters doubt this, consider that we old codgers have been driving for a long time and have experienced the best and worst available over many years. :D
    No lie: my 1969 Chevy C10 went 200,000 miles with nothing but regular maintenance. There were no catastrophic system failures at all. And when a rock went through the radiator (courtesy of a dump truck) I soldered it up and kept driving it. Nor is that a unique example. Fit and finish was always the main complaint about domestic vehicles 30-50 years ago. But they'd last.

    As they continue to cut costs and reduce weight they keep engineering things closer to the limits; making everything as thin and cheap as possible. This is exactly the design we used to laugh at in Japanese cars when the first appeared in force on the market. They learned their lesson. Some other companies have yet to.

    Ever notice how I keep mentioning the need to have enough margin for error in a solar power system? It's the same with everything; lower tolerances = greater likelihood of failure.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    even though i replaced my radiator already i fear i am in for another catastrophic breakdown because of my heater core. i keep telling the other half we need to get rid of this thing and the best thing would be as a trade in toward something else, but alas she's content to run it into the ground and we'll lose at least $1000 for another car. it won't pass the next inspection in a few months and will cost about $2600 to make it roadworthy. that doesn't count the heater core ftr. most of the money i could've used toward another car has been going into this piece of junk and she does not listen that we are digging a hole and could wind up carless.

    btw, the first car i had was a 65 impala with a 283ci motor. better than 20mpg city and lots of power. my brother later wound up with the car and wrecked it, but the engine went about 300k miles with 1 rebuild. take it from me that the engine wasn't pampered.
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  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: How to keep clasic cars roadworthy

    I had a 66 Impala with a 283, it ran like mad up to 150K and then the frame rotted from the road salt and chloride just in front of the rear spring perch. Michigan used huge amounts of the stuff on the roads, I can remember following a state tanker truck with a spray bar dumping liquid out on the road for ice control. The motor got pulled from it and it went into an old Chevy pickup and ran many more years. Those old small block Chevy's would just click them off forever with regular oil changes.
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