Sounds a lot like starting the '71 914 I was driving in the late 80s. Except that it didn't have the dual Webers, it still hat the original Bosch JetTronic injector and the starting procedure was to press the gas pedal to the floor and DO NOT LET UP UNTIL IT STARTS because the second press will flood it. The problem is that my parking brake also did not work, and if the car started to roll, the instinct is to let off the gas to hit the brake pedal. At this point, the only solution was to get out, open the engine lid, and take the fuse out of the injector main board, (which was easy to get to because the cover over the board was long gone,) get back in and start the car to burn off the excess fuel, get back out and replace the fuse, and start over. After a while I got tired of that procedure and wired a switch to disconnect the injector. I used this as an anti-theft device because the switch was hidden under the dash where it couldn't be seen, so I could just leave it parked with the fuel injector switched off. ... View more

In 2011 I bought a VW Karmann Ghia convertible that had been built the same month I had graduated from high school (May 1970.) Before the next class reunion it was wearing a plate with my name and the year, CLAXN 70. It still has that plate, and is currently in the garage getting the ORIGINAL top replaced, and hopefully will be back on the road in time for the 50th reunion, which has been delayed by the covid. Also, in spring 1991, shortly after I graduated from University of Illinois in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (yes, it took me a few years, I didn't make it through on the first try,) I bought a Dodge Caravan and I put the plates UI TAM 91 on it. Those plates and the minivan are both long gone. ... View more

"Driving a vintage, classic, or antique four-door sedan of any national origin is quite the ordeal on urban roads these days. Yesteryear’s low-slung beasts get absolutely lost in a parking lot full of crossover utility vehicles (CUVs), while the minuscule Nissan Kicks looks down upon you in traffic." So how do you think it feels driving around in my VW Karmann Ghia convertible? And back in the late '80s/early '90s I had a Porsche 914. Both made "interesting" drives at night, with the headlights of even small cars at rearview mirror level. ... View more

In the late '80s I had a '71 Porsche 914 that was in good enough shape that I got it for about $1700. A little rusty, and had been bent a couple of times. I don't know how safe it would have been if I had actually tried to take it up to speed, but a local junior college had a perimeter drive around the campus that I don't think had a straight section, and had about a 15 or 20 mph limit, and that 914 was a lot of fun going around between classes at about 35! My current toy is a '70 VW Karmann Ghia convertible, which still has its original 57 hp 1600 single port engine. (And also its original convertible top, which is not much more weather proof up than down, but I hope to get that fixed this winter.) Up until a few months ago the VW was backup to a "02 F150 with 344,000 miles on its V6, and both vehicles were getting to the point where not running the mileage up was more important than getting there in a hurry, so when I needed to travel I usually set Google Maps to find the shortest route, which often meant the "scenic route" rather than the interstates. Since I retired this spring I suspect that when the world opens back up and I start to travel again I will probably go out of my way to take the scenic route. Even in my "new" F150, which is only 8 years old and only has 100,000 miles ... View more

When we were kids back in the late '50s My uncle had a Model T. It didn't have the snowmobile conversion, but it went pretty well in the snow. We would take some rope and tie our sleds to the back bumper and he would tow us around the country roads. I'm sure the Fun Police would have something to say about trying that today. ... View more

I also learned from the shop foreman at the airplane mechanic's school I attended in the early 80s, (the shop that maintained the airplanes, because the school also trained pilots,) that a little dab of valve lapping compound on the tip of the Phillips bit will help it get a better grip on the head. I assume it would also work on the other "cross-point" styles. ... View more

I also remember seeing some of those teardrops on some early Mustangs too, ('67 fastback?) but I don't know if they were factory. ... View more

I always liked the Shaker scoop on my '70 Boss 302 Mustang, which I am pretty sure was the same scoop pictured on the Mach 1, but without the "Cobra Jet" labels. And it was functional, with a vacuum operated trap door in the bottom that opened up at higher throttle, and manifold vacuum held it closed at lower. Of course, mine stayed open all the time because the vacuum line was missing. ... View more

In the late '80s I had a Porsche 914, which was in good enough shape I had bought it for $1700. I couldn't afford the "official" service manual, which was 8 volumes of 3-ring binders and kept going up in price faster than I could save up for it. (As I recall, the last time I looked it was about $850.) I had copies of about every after-market manual I could find, and the Haynes turned out to be the best. I think it may still be around. It was very interesting to use though, being a British based publishing company, they had translated the German instructions into the Queen's English, which I then had to translate into American as I worked on the car. I do have the factory manual for my current Karmann Ghia convertible, but when I ran across a used Haynes VW Type 1 manual on the internet I added it to my library. ... View more

In the summer of '73 I was driving a Boss 302, which sported a 289 2bbl under the hood. On a Saturday night my room mate and I were cruising campustown of an area university in it, and saw a Shelby GT500 convertible go by with dealer plates on it. The Sunday morning paper had the Shelby in an ad from the local Ford dealer and the price looked reasonable, so we went to take it for a test drive. Given the price they were asking, and what they were offering for the Boss in trade, (and the payoff on the loan on the Boss) I probably could have kept up the payments on the Shelby, and possibly could have bought enough gas to feed the 428. But being about a month shy of 21 years old at the time, I would have undoubtedly gone bankrupt trying to buy insurance for it. A few months later, after a couple of beers and just before the first oil embargo, I traded the Boss 302 on a 318 2bbl Charger, which was geared so high to try to get good gas mileage that it wouldn't hardly pull itself in 3rd gear, (would only do 5 mph faster than in 2nd) and got about the same mileage as my brother's 340 Duster. To this day, I still wish I had ONE of those mustangs. ... View more

My '76 Dodge Dart had aluminum hood and trunk lid. (Same car as the Feather Duster, except for the grille and tail lights.) ... View more

Walter_mitty, the Feather Duster was not ALL aluminum, just the hood and trunk lid. I believe it was 200 lbs lighter overall. I had a '76 Dart Lite, which was the Dodge version, with a Slant Six and a 4-speed overdrive. 33 MPG at a time when mileage averages were at about an all-time low, and room for 5 people somewhat comfortably. (6 if someone didn't mind getting whacked on the kneecaps.) the first car I kept until it was paid for, and I had just turned the odometer over, and it was reading 600 miles when it was T-boned by a Vista Cruiser wagon. ... View more

I love the red Ghia in the article. I have one in the garage that looks just like it, except that, being a 1970, (built the same month I graduated from high school,) it has 4-bolt hubs and 8-spoke mags ... View more

Would that be the "armstrong" power steering? (Or was it strongarm?) I think my '70 Boss 302 had the same system. And it almost took both feet to push the clutch. ... View more

My '70 VW Karmann Ghia convertible (stock original 1600 single port)will cruise at 70.  don't ask it too very often, but I know it will. And since I just retired this spring, I don't have to be anywhere in a hurry any more. ... View more

"And I wasn't going to tell Bob I went with the fire extinguisher." ... View more

This article reads backwards for me. On a VW Karmann Ghia, you check for gas leaks under the front and oil leaks under the back. But at least I don't have to worry about anti freeze leaks. ... View more

Interesting that this article should come out at this time. My VW Karmann Ghia convertible's 50th birthday is coming up within the week, May 4, 1970. (And I got my high school diploma 3-1/2 weeks later on May 28.) ... View more