Chevrolet is abandoning their customers....

[Javarod]

things seem to depend on brands really...

i took my pervious car, a 1978 Ford Mustang II, to a ford dealership, and they were unable to even adjust the carburator...

my dad is a firefighter, he's doing some work renovating one of their old fire trucks, a Volvo from 1936, Volvo Dealership had spare parts in stock...

Actually that doesn't surprise me, commercial trucks tend to be easier to find parts for, although admittedly this is impressive. Reason is simple, commercial trucks are bought for function first, form second typically. Because of this, designs change based on market needs, which can me long periods without change, therefore there's less parts to stock. Also because of this purpose first design, think of it as a tool, so long as it does the job fine, companies won't replace them. Heck, I worked in a factory and some of our equipment dated back to the late 70s and early 80s, it did the job just fine, safety gear could be retrofitted to it, and parts were available, so why spend the money to replace it?

Yes. They are the ones who made the engines for the LP-driven Schwan's trucks (you've seen them, big yellow trucks with food and a Swan printed on the side that delivers to your home ICE CREME AND MEAT!! ). They're dependable and only got stuck in my sinking driveway once. It's easy to flood the engine, though, so you have to talk to it and let it know you're not trying to drown it (at least that's what I do).

Hmmm, I wonder ifn that's actually a GM engine in there, its quite common in heavy trucks to source the body/chassis, engine and transmission from different sources, say like a Freightliner with a CAT motor backed up by an Eaton-Fullerton tranny.

Speaking of those heavy (technically medium duty) trucks, GM doesn't make them any more, they sold them to International. Boy, wish I had some stock in International, their big trucks, straight and Class A tractors are getting fairly positive reviews, their Blue Diamond joint venture with Ford to produce LCFs (those small cab overs like the Fuso or NPR) seems to be going good, and now this, they're on a roll.

[Jadedcarguy]

Speaking of those heavy (technically medium duty) trucks, GM doesn't make them any more, they sold them to International.

I'll have to look into that one. Our medium truck line is the TopKick/Kodiak, which as far as I know we still sell. GM sold their part in the Volvo/White trucks a while back, I know that for sure.

[Sonoma]

things seem to depend on brands really...

i took my pervious car, a 1978 Ford Mustang II, to a ford dealership, and they were unable to even adjust the carburator...

I had a 1972 Ford Mustang II. It was a beautiful lemon yellow, with lime-green shag carpeting. It was a gutless wonder, but it ran forever. It was about 25 years old when I sold it, and it only had 90k original miles.

I'll have to look into that one. Our medium truck line is the TopKick/Kodiak, which as far as I know we still sell. GM sold their part in the Volvo/White trucks a while back, I know that for sure.

When I checked their ordering information, the choices only go up to medium-duty, with a C-8500 Tandem being the biggest truck I could find. I used to work in their department where dealers would call for ordering & shipping questions, and I don't recall any heavy-duty truck models. The biggest GVWR I found goes up to 61,000 lbs.

[Jadedcarguy]

I had a 1972 Ford Mustang II.

First year of the Mustang II was '74.

When I checked their ordering information, the choices only go up to medium-duty, with a C-8500 Tandem being the biggest truck I could find. I used to work in their department where dealers would call for ordering & shipping questions, and I don't recall any heavy-duty truck models. The biggest GVWR I found goes up to 61,000 lbs.

Those are the trucks I was referring to. GMC dropped the heavy line rigs some years ago. Up to 8500 is considered a medium truck, 9 and higher heavy. GMC used to make a heavy truck called the general. I would get calls on them once in a while. Most truckers don't take it lightly when you tell them they're boned.

[Sonoma]

First year of the Mustang II was '74.

My bad. My Country Squire wagon was the '72. My Mustang was a '74. Sorry for the confusion.

[Jadedcarguy]

My bad. My Country Squire wagon was the '72. My Mustang was a '74. Sorry for the confusion.

It's all good.

[CancelMyService]

Oh my, that reminds me of my friend's '80 Mustang. Let's just say that wasn't a good year for that particular brand. Actually, that's not fair since he bought it used for like $400 and ended up putting 2x that in parts. Still, it was pretty funny the day we drove home from school and had the whole exhaust system drop to the ground

Agreed on the "more they play the vet card, the less actual combat seen" points. My uncle was one of the guys who stormed the beaches at Normandy. The only time he ever went into detail about it was to say he was in the first row that didn't immediately get mowed down upon exiting the boat Needless to say he never played the "I'm a vet, gimme stuff" game.

[Pezzle]

You ain't kidding. My brother in law was a sniper in Iraq, and I still can't get him to talk about it. I'm sure he has some interesting stories, but I don't want to push him. He tried to play Call of Duty 4, and he started shaking. I think I'll leave him be until he's ready.

Boyfriend blew a lot of Iraqi's brains out many years ago in the first Gulf War. Close range trench warfare. Call of Duty 4 is actually theraputic for him now!

[Javarod]

I'll have to look into that one. Our medium truck line is the TopKick/Kodiak, which as far as I know we still sell. GM sold their part in the Volvo/White trucks a while back, I know that for sure.

It was recent, I heard the news maybe a month or so ago. I don't think it was ever madly successful, and GM's bleeding red ink, so they decided to cut their losses on that line. Prolly what'll happen is that the equivalent IH models will be fitted with new GM or Chevy style hoods, since the front end is a single forward tilting fiberglass piece, plus the proper badges where appropriate, and GM will service them at their dealerships just like always. The ability to sell a truck in the market without the cost of producing them, a good solution when you're in GM's shoes.

[Jester]

... most, if not all, car companies have flushed some real lumps on the road that make their owners curse the heavens.

I am a huge Porsche fan.

But everyone who knows anything about that line of cars knows about the disaster that was the Porsche 914.

How bad was the 914? Let's just say that Fiats laughed at it. It was a huge POS.

[protege]

MG made a couple of "what the hell where they thinking" type cars, mainly because they no longer had a say in their product line. They were forced to use whatever the BMC (later British Leyland) design office came up with.

The one I'm thinking of was the MGC. This was a half-assed attempt at putting more power into the MGB. Didn't sell very well, mainly because it didn't handle worth a damn, and also because it looked too much like the B. The heavy straight-six simply put too much weight in the nose. It only lasted a paltry 2 years (1967-69) and only 8,999 were built. Doesn't sound like much when you consider that over a half-million MGBs were built from 1962-80! As such, the C is pretty rare now, even though many of its handling problems have since been overcome.

The same could be said of the MGA Twin-Cam. These are pretty rare...mainly because most had their engines replaced under warranty when new. Sad, since those engine problems were mainly due to the technology in place at the time. 40 years on, much of that has been solved. Sadly, there are few Twin-Cams still running their original engines

Then there's the NSU Ro80...aka the first production sedan with a rotary engine. Again, it was rushed into development in an attempt to beat the Japanese (Mazda) for the title. The engines simply didn't last--the rotor tips would wear, and eventually destroy it. This was a disaster, and bankrupted NSU, forcing it into a VW takeover. Too bad, since those cars were so smooth, they made ideal high-speed transports. What's ironic about that mess...is that many owners have fitted similar Mazda rotaries...

[Jadedcarguy]

I am a huge Porsche fan.

But everyone who knows anything about that line of cars knows about the disaster that was the Porsche 914.

How bad was the 914? Let's just say that Fiats laughed at it. It was a huge POS.

Sounds like you're moderate compared with my brother. He is a rabid Porsche fan, even liking the 914 and that turd the 924. He will get angry if you tell him you like another car more than the vaunted 911! "Corvette" sends him into orbit.

[protege]

Heh...I wonder what they'd think of the 1/24 Porsche 917 I'm working on...that's getting painted in Gulf colors. Yep, I'm a Steve McQueen fan, and I've seen Le Mans a few times too many

[Jadedcarguy]

Heh...I wonder what they'd think of the 1/24 Porsche 917 I'm working on...that's getting painted in Gulf colors. Yep, I'm a Steve McQueen fan, and I've seen Le Mans a few times too many

The 917 is one of the greatest race cars EVER.

[Andara Bledin]

All entitlement cards suck, really. Most of the vets I've run into that really did things were pretty quiet about it. The blowhards are almost always the ones that never even got close to the possibility of combat.

I'm currently the owner of a land yacht; a 1979 Chrysler LeBaron station wagon, with the fake wood paneling. It's got a few issues, but the engine is good for another 20 years so long as it doesn't get abused. Luckily, I have a mechanic about a block away that works on older American cars.

We found him while I was still driving the Hornet. That was a great car, except for the fact that there was no way to find anything to replace the bad suspension in the back. The engine was still going strong. If we'd had the money, we'd have had replacement parts made to keep it on the road. The thing was built like a tank, only with better visibility.

^-.-^