Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Yeah, to me that photo combined with nobody knowing WTF it is combined with the Mach 2 being finished at Kar Kraft and the notation on the differences being a floor panel model year (did the floor pan even change appreciably 66-67? The aftermarket seems to think they're the same) and "the front end was tube steel" screams "The front end got cut off and remade in a racecar shop"

The body lines are also totally different, but the difference that bothers me the most is the B-pillar line and back glass being totally different. If it is the same car... They sure redid a lot of work.
 
Stupid Ford and their stupid crappy aluminum panels... I'm getting more spots of paint bubbling on the leading edge of the hood (probably where shit hits it from driving) :(

Once it gets paint peeling bad I think I'll just get a stainless steel replacement (it's also like half the price of Al). I doubt that there is going to be a huge difference in weight, not sure how much the Al one weighs, the SS one is 60lbs or so. Considering that this isn't exactly a light car I doubt it would make huge difference.
 
Got a reply back. I was right!
 
MPT is doing a livestream MotorWeek marathon right now:
 
? For months I've been trying to find a genuine replacement heat shield for my Ducati. The problem is that it has a very nice Termignoni exhaust, but I can't even find a part number for the heat shield - only the entire kit. The pipe itself is fine, but the heat shield is hammered. The only options I've found are eBay "carbon" parts that will look silly next to the carbon pipe (two different weaves of carbon on top of each other).

I finally broke down and sent an email to Termignoni asking if I can order just the heat shield. Maybe sometime in 2021 I might hear back.
 
I was just casually browsing through mobile.de, trying to find out whether an attainable Porsche is just a pipe-dream or a possibility, when this came up, just as I set the parameters for the Cayman:

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Is mobile.de suggesting me I should be looking for 911s instead of Caymans?
 
Oh Ford, why do you do the things you do? My oil pan is plastic, as is the plug. Doesn't seem like the best idea but probably ok. The oil filter sits on the side of the engine and is very accessible - much more so than in my previous Japanese cars where I had to remove a wheel to get to the filter. However, the filter sits in a plastic cap/housing that can be seen here:

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That's a 27mm nut, which no one on planet Earth owns. Not a huge deal, especially when you have a second car to go to the store and get the right socket. It IS a huge deal, however, when the genius who did the last oil change overtightens it so when you go to undo it you just strip the plastic nut. The only solution at that point is to buy a whole new plastic cap/housing and then use brute force to take off the old one. Why, Ford, WHY?!?!?!
 
So you go to the dealer duh.
Oh, I did. I was in there for something else and asked them to simply loosen the cap/housing while they were under the hood anyways. They said they did. BULLSHIT! :mad: At this point it's almost time for another oil change anyways, so I'm waiting another few hundred miles and replacing the filter and the cap/housing with my next oil change.
 
So my Corolla popped a hose and vomited all its ATF. And the mitsubishi has an electricity leak of biblical proportions.

Apparently the most reliable vehicle on my roster (ie. the only one that works right now), is the 7MPG-getting lump of pig iron carelessly built by drunken UAW builders in Winsconsin in the 70s and then improved by a bunch of hondurans through the 80s and 90s.
 
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I just realised the Opel Omega had a successor. It's called Cadillac CTS.

I knew all about the Cadillac Catera, and how the CTS succeeded it, and how the CTS was sold in Western European markets, but it took me until today to connect all the dots and realise that Cadillac CTS, despite being built in Michigan instead of Europe, basically filled that gap in the European market for GM. You could say that the Opel Signum or Insignia replaced the Omega, but the first was more of a failed design experiment, and the latter came out a few years later.
 
The Insignia is the Vectra successor, if anything.

Except if you ask my uncle. His last cars were: (at least one) Rekord, Omega A, Omega B, and now Insignia. :D
 
That's true, the Insignia is a direct replacement for the Vectra, but also an indirect replacement for the Signum, which was an indirect replacement for the Omega.

Also, it was available with something else than FWD, and it was considerably larger than the Vectra, so it partially filled the gap that the Omega left when it was discontinued, which (at least in my eyes) makes it somewhat of an indirect Omega successor. Kind of like how Peugeot 508 replaced both the 407 and 607.
 
Oh Ford, why do you do the things you do? My oil pan is plastic, as is the plug. Doesn't seem like the best idea but probably ok. The oil filter sits on the side of the engine and is very accessible - much more so than in my previous Japanese cars where I had to remove a wheel to get to the filter. However, the filter sits in a plastic cap/housing that can be seen here:

View attachment 3557280
View attachment 3557281

That's a 27mm nut, which no one on planet Earth owns. Not a huge deal, especially when you have a second car to go to the store and get the right socket. It IS a huge deal, however, when the genius who did the last oil change overtightens it so when you go to undo it you just strip the plastic nut. The only solution at that point is to buy a whole new plastic cap/housing and then use brute force to take off the old one. Why, Ford, WHY?!?!?!
Why not use a strap/filter wrench? Or, since you own the vehicle, just buy the correct size socket from Harbor Frieght, it's a plastic cover - even a cheap socket will work.
 
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