Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Head gasket would be relatively easy to repair, so I'd bet on rings or valves... John Celio wrote: Hey, while we're on the subject of cars, I have a '95 Chevy Cavalier that I absolutely hate but still kinda need. It recently lost compression in two cylinders, according to the mechanic (who also said it probably wasn't worth repairing). Do you wise auto gurus think it could be just a blown head gasket, or something worse? Thanks, John -- http://www.neovenator.com http://www.cafepress.com/calemp http://www.cafepress.com/neovenatorphoto -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -- The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog. --G. K. Chesterton -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 03:36:19PM +1000, Rob Studdert wrote: On 6/6/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. I this is the hardest thing to convey to anyone who just thinks a car has four wheels and gets you from point a to point b. Porsche make drivers cars straight off the factory floor, I wish I still was able to afford one (or two as used to be the case). I'd like to drive one some time, to see how much difference there is in handling between the Porsche and a BMW. Of course what I'd really like is to persuade somebody I know, albeit only casually, to let me loose on his stable. He's got a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a Bugatti Veyron. I suspect they're pretty nice, too. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Jun 6, 2009, at 22:36 , Rob Studdert wrote: On 6/6/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. This is the hardest thing to convey to anyone who just thinks a car has four wheels and gets you from point a to point b. Porsche makes driver's cars straight off the factory floor, I wish I still was able to afford one (or two as used to be the case). Amen. I'll never be able to afford an old 914, because to be in good enough shape it would have to have been so carefully cared for, and have low mileage to boot. That would be very expensive. There was a time when you could buy a body in white and build your own. It's the body that ultimately gives up. You can tell it's getting old by taking off the roof and driving it hard. If the car seems to oversteer with only a little steering input, the car frame is twisting and is no good. Because they are tight cars, if you run them hard, over time the spot welds begin to work, and body strength and stiffness goes away. Water can get in the seams, and rust follows, usually starting at the rear of the front fender wells where the front trunk wall and the fender come together. Hose out behind the rocker panels from the front wheel well and engine compartment until water squirts out around the jack sockets. If water doesn't come out around the jack holes, you have to drill out the rivets that hold the rockers and kick panels in place, then clean up and apply wax or repaint any bad spots. Same goes for the front turn signals. Remove them and clean the area inside the fenders thoroughly. Most attention should be payed to the right hand side trunk lid torsion bar retaining bolt and mount near the battery, and the battery support structure, both of which tend to be surrounded by battery fumes (even maintenance free batteries breathe all the time). After modifying the factory bolt mounts so they would drain, some aftermarket versions appeared and could be welded on to replace the corroded ones. If you see a 914 with the right front of the trunk lid raised up from half an inch to two inches, this has not been done. The headlight bucket drain tubes should be kept clear, as should the two drain tubes in the front trunk, and the four drain tubes in the rear trunk. They tended to get clogged with sand from the trunk or mud from the road. The front and rear bumpers, the rubber seals around both trunk lids need to be removed periodically, and everything cleaned up. The rubber seal channels will hold water under the seal, and corrode away. Behind the bumpers need to be cleaned and waxed every couple of years. The drivers side floor carpet should be removed (it just sits there, no glue) every time you wash the car and vacuum under it. Keep that area clean and dry. Wet shoes, snow on boots, etc, all do damage to that area. The clutch cable needs to be cleaned and lubricated fairly often, as it gets greasy, then sand sticks to it, and it eats away at the clutch cable pulley (which I used to replace every couple of years) and itself, then breaks. The rear calipers also act as the emergency brake through a mechanical linkage. The brake is adjusted at the caliper by an allen head screw that you screw out to allow new pads to be put in, then screw in until the pads are just touching the rotor. What happened to me on several occasions is that the steel allen head screw would corrode in the aluminum caliper, and the head would get stripped out. So I always advised to back the screw out and screw it back in every couple of months in the winter. Just count the turns. If any of you pick up a 914 for fun driving anytime, keep a copy of this email, and you'll be able to care for it properly, or at least find out where it's screwed up. Can you tell I was the Potomac (Washington D.C.) Region Technical Chairperson for the Porsche Club of America from 1979 to 1982? Anyway, I've test driven several late 80's 928 S cars over the past few years. If I stop being a photographer and sell ALL my camera equipment, I can probably buy one in OK condition. But that won't happen. No. Never happen. Thanks for reading. Joseph McAllister pentax...@mac.com http://gallery.me.com/jomac http://web.me.com/jomac/show.me/Blog/Blog.html -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
From: William Robb - Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras The union guys would say its immoral. Obama and the dems would probably agree, since they agree with everything the unions say. But, no, it's not illegal or immoral, but the non-union shops gave the Japanese automakers a huge cost advantage over the domestic industry. At least they set up plants in Noth America, although they had to be coerced into it, iirc. ENTICED might be a better word. The manufacturers were already looking to build over here to save the cost shipping. Even if they'd located the factories inside UAW headquarters, labor costs would still have been lower than domestic Japanese wages. The plants went to the states who offered the largest giveaways tax incentives. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
I'd like to drive one some time, to see how much difference there is in handling between the Porsche and a BMW. Funny you should mention that Back in the spring of 05 I got a post card from Porsche, inviting me to any Porsche dealer to drive any Porsche I desired. I chose the Boxster cause I had heard some great things and it was relatively within my reach - financially. Well after an hour test drive I was thoroughly impressed, so much so that I instantly went from curious to intent. Took the wife for a ride and she NUDGED me on to get one ! I talked a little more seriously with the sales guy (a really great car guy who never tried to sell me a thing - he let the car sell itself). Reading me correctly, he actually told me of some things not to put on the car. I then ordered a new 05 'S' to be built in Finland presto about 3 months later my Seal Grey Boxster S ( built to my specs, (including 19 wheels/tires, wind blocker floor mats) magically appeared in the driveway. I bet if you went to your local dealer, you could easily get a demo drive ! Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: John Francis jo...@panix.com Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) On Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 03:36:19PM +1000, Rob Studdert wrote: On 6/6/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. I this is the hardest thing to convey to anyone who just thinks a car has four wheels and gets you from point a to point b. Porsche make drivers cars straight off the factory floor, I wish I still was able to afford one (or two as used to be the case). I'd like to drive one some time, to see how much difference there is in handling between the Porsche and a BMW. Of course what I'd really like is to persuade somebody I know, albeit only casually, to let me loose on his stable. He's got a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a Bugatti Veyron. I suspect they're pretty nice, too. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Scott Loveless wrote: On 6/5/09, mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote: Wow. Not even a hint of HD. How unpatriotic. The last time I looked at an HD was in the mid-90s and the middle-aged, gold card bikers had pretty much driven the price through the roof. If you could even find a bike on a showroom floor it was marked up about 20% over MSRP plus it had about $3000 worth of accessory chrome stuck to it. Guys like me who just wanted a motorcycle bought Japanese and European bikes because we could get one without getting bent over. From what I understand, over the last few years HD has been producing more bikes than their dealers can sell. My wife's cousin was recently laid off from the York plant. What's happened is that the gold card crowd is getting too old to ride, or they've just lost interest in it, but there's no one to replace them. Those of us who should be buying their bikes were laughed at 15 years ago when we tried to negotiate a fair price on the damn things. I won't forget the way I was treated by HD's dealers and it will be a cold day in hell before you see me on one. Pretty much the same here. There was the same scenario with the lumpen new mini (sorry MINI) although that vehicle didn't have the pseudo pirate lifestyle thing attached to it. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Ken Waller wrote: I bet if you went to your local dealer, you could easily get a demo drive ! The phrase before the comma would be the difficult part. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 10:20:14PM +0100, mike wilson wrote: Ken Waller wrote: I bet if you went to your local dealer, you could easily get a demo drive ! The phrase before the comma would be the difficult part. Not here - I'm in Silicon Valley. Porsche dealerships are commonplace (my local one is on auto row, next to the Ford/Buick/Toyota/Audi/... dealerships). Heck, within five miles I've got a place that wants to sell me Bentleys, Aston Martins, etc. Here's their used car lot: http://www.jfwaf.com/PAW/PAW.php?name=PAW0710 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On 6/6/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: There is governor in the black box, ignition cuts Off at 115 MPH and comes back on at 110 MPH. Engine Only doing 2800 rpm in fourth gear at 115 MPH. FYI -The engine is goverened to that speed due to several things but mainly due to the speed rating of the original tires. I lied. For a very short time I owned a '73 Mach I with a 351 Cleveland, C6 tranny and 9 rear end. I never found out how fast it would go because it got too squirrelly to steer at about 110. 9mpg if I drove the speed limit. 6mpg if I drove it like it was meant to be driven. It's the only American car I've ever owned that I actually liked. But a couple months after I bought it a Mustang collector offered me nearly twice what I paid for it. I think he was going to pull the drive train and scrap the body. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Jun 7, 2009, at 14:56 , John Francis wrote: On Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 10:20:14PM +0100, mike wilson wrote: Ken Waller wrote: I bet if you went to your local dealer, you could easily get a demo drive ! The phrase before the comma would be the difficult part. Not here - I'm in Silicon Valley. Porsche dealerships are commonplace (my local one is on auto row, next to the Ford/Buick/Toyota/Audi/... dealerships). Heck, within five miles I've got a place that wants to sell me Bentleys, Aston Martins, etc. Here's their used car lot: http://www.jfwaf.com/PAW/PAW.php?name=PAW0710 Well, that got me started on your Picture a Week album until after a couple of years I was able to break off and get back to business. Nice idea, and nice collection, including some very nice captures. Did I glean that you moved here from England? Joseph McAllister Lots of gear, not much time http://gallery.me.com/jomac http://web.me.com/jomac/show.me/Blog/Blog.html -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
My Boxster was only the second car I've had that needed nothing off the showroom floor. The other was my GT350, but that was in 66. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Rob Studdert distudio.p...@gmail.com To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 1:36 AM Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) On 6/6/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. I this is the hardest thing to convey to anyone who just thinks a car has four wheels and gets you from point a to point b. Porsche make drivers cars straight off the factory floor, I wish I still was able to afford one (or two as used to be the case). -- Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC +10 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
My local dealer is within walking distance of the house (even at 10 below zero). You don't know how tempting it is. He also sells Maserati's out of the same showroom as well as Volvo's. Owning a Volvo worsens the temptation because I need to go in there occasionally. jm - Original Message - From: mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 5:20 PM Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) Ken Waller wrote: I bet if you went to your local dealer, you could easily get a demo drive ! The phrase before the comma would be the difficult part. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Cars I have owned 1962 Chevy Impala SS My first car. It was what got me my wife! 1957 Mercury Parklane Cruiser After getting the wife I had to downsize to the Mercury for cheaper payments! 1958 VW Beetle Car we bought overseas on Guam. A real Guam Bomb! 1968 Toyota Corona Bought on Guam just before we returned to the states. It was the domestic Japanese version and some parts were not available in the US, like the rod bearings when it spun a few one day. Traded it in on the 69 Chevy Wagon. 1957 Rambler American SW Bought it from a shipmate for 24.95 so he could order seat covers for his VW from J C Whitney. The insurance was going to cost me over 100.00 per year so I sold it for 100.00. 1969 Chevy Townsman SW Had a lot of shortcomings but was the best car I ever had for many years to come. I still have very fond memories of that car and things and places we did in it. Car and Driver once voted the 69 full size chevy's in the top ten of best cars ever made! 1972 Toyota Corolla Bought new to travel from home in Concord,CA to the USS Enterprise in Hunters Point Naval Shipyard every day for 7 months. Then took it to Guam when we were sent there in late 72 1981 Chevy Malibu SW A drunken Piscataway Indian rearended the wife in the 69 Chevy wagon forced a new car sale just when interest rates went to 16% Thanks Jimmy Carter! The Chevy had lasted from 1969 til 1981 and had 187,000 miles on it. The engine had been rebuilt at 104,000. 1970 Datsun 210 Sedan second car while on Guam for last tour there. Sold the Malibu Wagon to an Air Force dude who needed a newer car to take back to the states and retirement. 1983 Nissan Maxima SW Diesel Replaced the Malibu. I paid 9700 cash for it in Guam. It lasted til 1996 when I traded it for the Mazda. The Maxima had 186,000 miles and still got 36mpg on the hwy. 1984 Honda CRX Bought it new on Guam and took back to Washington, DC. I put 47,000 on it in just a couple years and then sold it to a young female sailor who thought it was sporty. 1973 VW Beetle bought it from a friend at work and did a complete restoration. It was one nice looking and fun driving VW. Then I found the VW Camper on a used car lot and had to have it. Had to sell the Beetle to afford the camper. When we retired to FL in 90 the new tags were going to cost over 500.00 per vehicle so I sold the camper. I still regret that! 1973 VW Camper Maybe more fond memories in it than the 69 Chevy wagon! 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager bought to give the wife a more reliable car than the Nissan Maxima that had lost the power steering seals. The Plymouth is why I will never buy another Chrysler product. 175,000 miles and 3 transmissions. When the 3rd one died I junked it! 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera for the wife to replace the mini van. 1992 Mazda PU B2000 replaved the Nissan Maxima 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier SW The son was turning 17 and a drivers license. I couldn't bear to let him drive the Mazda and destroy it so I sold it for more than I had paid for it and bought the Cavilier SW. It was a good beeter for the son until he bought his own car, a Jeep CJ 1993 Buick LeSabre After the son took over the Cavalier I needed a car. Bought from a friend. It had 83,000 on it and I sold it in 2004 when I bought the Scion. The Buick had 177,000 and the tranny needed rebuilding. 2005 Scion xB bought it the day after Bush 43 won reelection to celebrate. Well, at least the car has proven to be a winner! 2001 Saturn LW200 SW Replaced the Cutlass Ciera for the wife. It had 93,000 on it when we bought it for 6000 bucks. So far it has been a good car except for a computer than needed replacing. It is the 4 banger so sorta gutless, but hey, it gets over 30mpg on the hwy! Now I am almost 67, retired, and starting to think we can get by on one car. Thinking of selling both and buying something that might qualify me for that tax credit for replacing a car older than 7 or 8 years old, whatever it is. Anyone have any suggestions! :-) Walt On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 4:50 PM, John Sessomsjsessoms...@nc.rr.com wrote: More or less in order starting from age 16. I don't think I've forgotten any: -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Well, I don't have the car history that a lot of you guys have, this post should really be in the Windows bashing thread, but here goes... 72 Mercury Capri (1.6 litre IIRC automatic). This started out life as my mom's car, hence the slush box. Met an untimely demise at the hood of a large domestic something or other. 65 Olds F85 4 door. 330 CID (or something) 2 speed slush. Died at the hands of my mom, who drove it home with a blown rad hose. 72 Mazda RX-2 with a crazy powerful non stock motor that dyno'd 50% more HP than stock. Ugly little 4 door sedan, didn't handle worth shit, but if you didn't have a 350 or bigger, I'd probably win a street drag. That car fooled a lot of people driving American muscle. 76 Yamaha RD400. Funny little sewing machine that was deceptively light, especially the front end of it. 78 Kawasaki 650 (bought in the fall of 1976). Not at all funny very powerful bike. Top heavy, hard to keep grounded, but very fun and fast. Prone to speed wobbles on wet pavement. Like that's any fun. 73 Mazda RX-2. Bought because I liked the first one so much. This one was a dissapointment. 78 Harley Davidson Superglide. Nice bike, suffered from some electrical problems in the starter. Inexplicably, HD left the kick start off this model. Probably an AMF thing. Traded it for: 79 HD Low Rider. This was an absolute joy. It was the first of the 80 inch engines, and the last of the cast iron shovelheads. Engine was factory balanced and blueprinted (whatever that means). Stolen from me 2 years later, never recovered. 81 HD Wide Glide. Nice factory chopper with an early aluminium block. POS engine. Thankfully stolen. 1980 Honda Accord hatchback. Flawless car, gave me 250,000 trouble free km with only routine maintenance. Obviously not a CVCC engine. BSA Lightning motorcycle, I don't recall what year. Isle of Mann gearing, it was hard to keep it on the ground, but it had a low top speed and shook like an epileptic crack whore. 1972 Triumph Trident. Great bike when it ran. Required more maintenance than an 18 year old mistress. Got tired of the constant wrenching, so traded it for a BMW R80. Very prone to speed wobble if not on absolutely smooth pavement which doesn't exist where I live. Sold it before it killed me. 1976 BMW 530i. Nice, comfortable 4 door sedan, no better quality wise than a full sized American car. Put lots of money into this one, only to have it catch fire while I was driving it. I figured it was the Heirich Himmler edition. Escaped from it moments before it exploded. 1998 Pontiac Grand Am. Nice driving car, notchy transmission and a very touchy clutch. Fatally flawed Quad4 engine which blew up with 22K km on the clock. I ended up with an inch thick stack of repair invoices on it before I gave up. Got it running well enough to trade and dumped it for a 1990 Nissan Axxess AWD. Funny looking micro van that was tough as nails. I did my best to pound the life out of it, but it kept coming back smiling. Eventually got nailed by a Ford sport ute and totaled. 1995 (I think) Isuzu Trooper. Would have been a nice car if GM hadn't insisted on putting one of their garbage transmissions into it. Bad exhaust routing caused by the badly engineered transmission decisions caused the exhaust pipe to run too close to the starter. It ate one starter a year, like clockwork, every year I owned it, and the tranny cost me over 3K to fix after it failed miserably at 60K KM. I took a bath on it, but got out from under it when I bought my 04 Titan. So far, it's been a good, solid truck, though it has had it's share of recalls, mostly due to electrical oversights. 1995 Nissan X-Trail. Actually my wife's car, but I'll include it since I paid for it. Bought it to replace her 1985 Toyota Tercel 4wd wagon. Basically an appliance on wheels. Very small, surprisingly invisible vehicle. I'm now working on teaching my dog to pull a cart, don't know if this will count as practicle transportation. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 11:17 AM, William Robb war...@gmail.com wrote: Well, I don't have the car history that a lot of you guys have, this post should really be in the Windows bashing thread, but here goes... My history is even shorter, having only owned 2 cars and had 2 others on loan. 1986 S-10 Blazer 4x4 - With the 2.8 V6, 5-speed and offroad package. This was my mother's but became essentially mine as of my 16th because Mom could no longer drive it. Surprisingly reliable little SUV, worked well for me and for the family until it started eating CV joints. UNderpowered though, that 2.8 was reliable but couldn't get out of its own way in an SUV. 1988 1/2 Subaru Justy AWD with the 5 speed. My first car. Lots of fun to drive, lots of money to fix. Got me around for quite awhile until I blew a main bearing seal at highway speed. A new block cost more than the car did. GREAT pizza delivery car. $20 in gas got me through a week. 1986 BMW 325i - Had this on loan from my Grandmother for a summer. A real blast to drive, beautiful handling. Was getting long in the tooth by the time I had it (summer of 1999). 1994 Eagle Vision ESi. My mother bought this to replace the S-10 in 95, I bought it off her a couple years ago. Reasonably reliable, comfortable, roomy, great highway car. Has the bulletproof 3.3L engine. A big car with mid-size mileage, good looks and lots of visibility. Parallel parking always is hard because it's difficult to tell where the car begins and ends due to hood/tail curvature. Really wish Chrysler had something comparable today. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
- Original Message From: William Robb war...@gmail.com To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 8:17:19 AM Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) it had a low top speed and shook like an epileptic crack whore. Just like the shutter in a Pentax 67... ;-) -Brendan -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Ken, Did you ever blow any of the head gaskets on the Super Coupes ? No, Never did. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: 27...@comcast.net Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) Ken, Did you ever blow any of the head gaskets on the Super Coupes ? - Original Message - From: Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 12:56:31 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) I guess I'll play also - 1953 VW used- yeah the one with a split rear window. 1959 Bugeye Sprite - used with factory fibreglass hard top, with radials on the front bias on the rear a real fun ride - my college ride - sold for what I paid for it. 1966 Shelby GT 350 new - bought new the last month in college - this one could go faster in second than the Bugeye could top out at. While on my way to Dearborn from New Jersey, for my job at Ford, I topped it out on the Ohio Turnpike at slightly over 140mph (indicated). Unfortunately some one else wanted it more than me - it was stolen 5 months later and the remains were found in 4 days behind a gas station near Flatrock speedway, near Toledo, ah if only Could have bought a new 66 GT350 from Ford WHQ but decided I didn't want to go thru that again. Got a speeding ticket while test driving a 66 911S Porsche, passed it up for a new 67 Cougar GT. Got married - things change alot here Wife got the Cougar, I picked up a well used 66 Ford Fairlane with the hypo 289 4 speed. Did a clutch job on it in a driveway decided I'll never do that again !968 Falcon 6 cyl/auto used - solid cheap transportation 1969 Mercury Capri new - that I managed to turn into a non streetable car with alot of suspension engine mods making it very competitive in local gymkhanas and almost a 'B' sedan for SCCA racing. 1972 (?) Pinto Wagon new - with some engine mods some BFG radials it became a great traveler. 1972 Ford Maverick used - more solid transportation for my daily commute 1975 Ford Econoline E350 used - a brute but very dependable 1976 Ford Econoline E 150 new - less of a brute still dependable. 1979 Fiesta S new - A well build little commuter that really performed, I loved the 1600cc crossflow pushrod engine in it. 1982 - began a 24 year run of company lease vehicles - Always tried to lease vehicles I would like to own - included several Thunderbirds (including Super Coupes), one of every year Taurus SHO's, several Explorers, Mercury Scorpio, several Escapes others I can't remember. 1995 Ford Contour v6/5 speed new - a great handling commuter vehicle for me. 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. 2008 2009 Escape FWD new - nice size for two people long distance travel. My auto tails to date Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Back then I lusted after a 914 2.0L but was too involved with sedan racing in SCCA/IMSA to have the money to purchase one. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Joseph McAllister pentax...@mac.com Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) On Jun 5, 2009, at 21:56 , Ken Waller wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. Exactly my feelings after only an hour in my 1973 914 2.0, 30 years earlier, after disappointing test drives in a 240Z and a Fiat Spyder the same week. Weight distribution, braking, cornering, shifting, and comfort all were exceptional. Acceleration was very good for a 4 cylinder engine. Plenty of passenger room for my soon to be wife, or my Malamute, but not both. Ended up buying her an identical used 914 for her 21st birthday in 1979, a 1.7 ltr that I had to do some upgrading on to get the same performance and appearance groups installed (vinyl sails, chrome bumpers, mag wheels, sway bars front and rear, some upholstery) and yes, she was quite a bit younger than I. Without me the car weighed 2173 lbs. A few hundred lbs less when I auto-crossed thanks to no spare tire, no passenger seat, no door or seat-back panels, no floor carpet front or rear, shaved Minilites vs stock mags, no tools, lighter Gel based battery, no trunk mats front or rear, unlined braced but ground lightened roof. In other words, stock. :-) Though utilizing the flat 6 engine from the 911 series, the Boxster was positioned as the 914 was to be an entry level car to suck you into Porsche's grip. If it doesn’t excite you, This thing that you see, Why in the world, Would it excite me? —Jay Maisel Joseph McAllister pentax...@mac.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Lets see here. 1973 Datsun 1200 coupe. Great car but rusted incredibly fast. Body was toast at 40,000 miles. I had enough money left after i bought this, last year of college, to either get a radio or rust proofing, i took the radio. 1979 GMC Jimmy. My first ordered truck. Three on the tree, 2 wheel drive. It had carpet, roof insulation etc. Never get carpet for a work truck:-) 1987 Chevy 4x4 pickup, 8' box(my first lemon)Spent the first 2 years in the dealers shop. It would just stall out when ever it felt like it. Many a time on our main hwys it would die and i had to wrestle it to the shoulder, then it would restart. Turned out it was a problem with the duel tank switch. It was stolen from a job site in March 1994. Sucker.:-) 1994 GMC Sierra 4x4 extend cab 6.5' box, Three transmissions later, see below. 2003 GMC Sierra 4x4 extend cab 6.5' box, So far not a bad truck, great mileage, but tranny problems. This will probably be my last GM product, if they can't buold a decent tranny after 100 years, they never will. Dave -- Documenting Life in Rural Ontario. www.caughtinmotion.com http://brooksinthecountry.blogspot.com/ York Region, Ontario, Canada -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
My car history has one theme. All American/rear wheel drive/V8 except the first. '69 Camaro V6 chevy '71 Sport Lemans V8 pontiac '71 Cutlass Supreme V8 olds '79 Cutlass Supreme V8 olds '84 T-Bird V8 ford '95 T-Bird LX V8 ford No imports on my list of any make. I havent bought a car in over a dozen years. This '95 T-Bird has been far and away the best car I have ever owned. 4.6L V8 DOHC multiport fuelie With rear wheel drive and independent rear Suspension. Just over a 100K miles on it and still Running smooth as silk. Only thing I don't like is There is governor in the black box, ignition cuts Off at 115 MPH and comes back on at 110 MPH. Engine Only doing 2800 rpm in fourth gear at 115 MPH. I would really love to find out how fast it would Top out at with the governor ripped out. I have A beef with Ford Motor Company on that one. What is odd, is if I had the reasonable money To put together/buy any car I wanted today, I would go back to the '69 Camaro but go with Compeltely restored stock exterior and interior But all new top line 2009 drive train, electonics, and suspension. That would be freakin aweseome as a daily driver. Too bad I cant even come close to affording that Setup. Oh, well its nice to have a plan at least. J.C. O'Connell ( mailto:hifis...@gate.net ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
You might be able to buy an aftermarket chip for that computer that will cancel the governor while enriching the fuel mixture a bit and improving the ignition advance curve. Paul On Jun 6, 2009, at 5:39 PM, J.C. O'Connell wrote: My car history has one theme. All American/rear wheel drive/V8 except the first. '69 Camaro V6 chevy '71 Sport Lemans V8 pontiac '71 Cutlass Supreme V8 olds '79 Cutlass Supreme V8 olds '84 T-Bird V8 ford '95 T-Bird LX V8 ford No imports on my list of any make. I havent bought a car in over a dozen years. This '95 T-Bird has been far and away the best car I have ever owned. 4.6L V8 DOHC multiport fuelie With rear wheel drive and independent rear Suspension. Just over a 100K miles on it and still Running smooth as silk. Only thing I don't like is There is governor in the black box, ignition cuts Off at 115 MPH and comes back on at 110 MPH. Engine Only doing 2800 rpm in fourth gear at 115 MPH. I would really love to find out how fast it would Top out at with the governor ripped out. I have A beef with Ford Motor Company on that one. What is odd, is if I had the reasonable money To put together/buy any car I wanted today, I would go back to the '69 Camaro but go with Compeltely restored stock exterior and interior But all new top line 2009 drive train, electonics, and suspension. That would be freakin aweseome as a daily driver. Too bad I cant even come close to affording that Setup. Oh, well its nice to have a plan at least. J.C. O'Connell ( mailto:hifis...@gate.net ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
There is governor in the black box, ignition cuts Off at 115 MPH and comes back on at 110 MPH. Engine Only doing 2800 rpm in fourth gear at 115 MPH. FYI -The engine is goverened to that speed due to several things but mainly due to the speed rating of the original tires. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: J.C. O'Connell hifis...@gate.net Subject: RE: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) My car history has one theme. All American/rear wheel drive/V8 except the first. '69 Camaro V6 chevy '71 Sport Lemans V8 pontiac '71 Cutlass Supreme V8 olds '79 Cutlass Supreme V8 olds '84 T-Bird V8 ford '95 T-Bird LX V8 ford No imports on my list of any make. I havent bought a car in over a dozen years. This '95 T-Bird has been far and away the best car I have ever owned. 4.6L V8 DOHC multiport fuelie With rear wheel drive and independent rear Suspension. Just over a 100K miles on it and still Running smooth as silk. Only thing I don't like is There is governor in the black box, ignition cuts Off at 115 MPH and comes back on at 110 MPH. Engine Only doing 2800 rpm in fourth gear at 115 MPH. I would really love to find out how fast it would Top out at with the governor ripped out. I have A beef with Ford Motor Company on that one. What is odd, is if I had the reasonable money To put together/buy any car I wanted today, I would go back to the '69 Camaro but go with Compeltely restored stock exterior and interior But all new top line 2009 drive train, electonics, and suspension. That would be freakin aweseome as a daily driver. Too bad I cant even come close to affording that Setup. Oh, well its nice to have a plan at least. J.C. O'Connell ( mailto:hifis...@gate.net ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On 6/5/09, mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote: Wow. Not even a hint of HD. How unpatriotic. The last time I looked at an HD was in the mid-90s and the middle-aged, gold card bikers had pretty much driven the price through the roof. If you could even find a bike on a showroom floor it was marked up about 20% over MSRP plus it had about $3000 worth of accessory chrome stuck to it. Guys like me who just wanted a motorcycle bought Japanese and European bikes because we could get one without getting bent over. From what I understand, over the last few years HD has been producing more bikes than their dealers can sell. My wife's cousin was recently laid off from the York plant. What's happened is that the gold card crowd is getting too old to ride, or they've just lost interest in it, but there's no one to replace them. Those of us who should be buying their bikes were laughed at 15 years ago when we tried to negotiate a fair price on the damn things. I won't forget the way I was treated by HD's dealers and it will be a cold day in hell before you see me on one. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Harley's are big around silicon valley amongst the recently monied hardware and software set. And here in the northwest, anywhere within 75 miles of Microsoft in Redmond, it's the commuter vehicle of choice. On Jun 6, 2009, at 15:33 , Scott Loveless wrote: On 6/5/09, mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote: Wow. Not even a hint of HD. How unpatriotic. The last time I looked at an HD was in the mid-90s and the middle-aged, gold card bikers had pretty much driven the price through the roof. If you could even find a bike on a showroom floor it was marked up about 20% over MSRP plus it had about $3000 worth of accessory chrome stuck to it. Guys like me who just wanted a motorcycle bought Japanese and European bikes because we could get one without getting bent over. From what I understand, over the last few years HD has been producing more bikes than their dealers can sell. My wife's cousin was recently laid off from the York plant. What's happened is that the gold card crowd is getting too old to ride, or they've just lost interest in it, but there's no one to replace them. Those of us who should be buying their bikes were laughed at 15 years ago when we tried to negotiate a fair price on the damn things. I won't forget the way I was treated by HD's dealers and it will be a cold day in hell before you see me on one. If it doesn’t excite you, This thing that you see, Why in the world, Would it excite me? —Jay Maisel Joseph McAllister pentax...@mac.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On 6/6/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. I this is the hardest thing to convey to anyone who just thinks a car has four wheels and gets you from point a to point b. Porsche make drivers cars straight off the factory floor, I wish I still was able to afford one (or two as used to be the case). -- Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC +10 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
OK - I'll chime in with my car history. My first car was a mid '60s Morris Minor 1000(sic) Estate with the 1100cc engine, which my mother gave to me. While not an exciting car to drive, it served me well for a few years with very few problems (until the frame rusted out), and was an easy car to work on (I even reground valves). After that I got my first convertible - a 1970s Triumph Vitesse (which I bought from my younger brother). That was a great car, and I was sorry to part with it when we left the UK. In the US we've owned: A 1980 Fiat 132. Far better than its reputation suggests. A 1983 Datsun(sic) Maxima wagon. A lot better that the US competition in that market segment - a Buick Century. We got a really good one, but manufacturing quality was quite variable - we knew of others which were less reliable. When we sold it (because of rust-through problems; in NH even pinhole rusting in the wheel arches fails inspection) the purchaser ruined the car in twelve months :-( A 1986 Ford Mustang GT convertible. Drove that car for 20 years and 120,000 miles. There were some initial clutch seal problems which took two complete clutch replacements to fix, but apart from that it was what you would expect from an American pony car - fast in a straight line, but not as tight as a European car when it came to cornering. A 1990 Ford Aerostar 4WDXL. A very versatile performer. It did need serious transmission work after five years. Sold it when we moved cross-country from NH to CA in 95. A (used) 1990 Range Rover. Expensive, unreliable. Over six or seven years we had multiple four-figure repair bills. Eventually it lunched the engine, and when the estimate for repairs (maybe 8-10K) exceeded the probable value of the car after the repairs we replaced it with ... A 2003 Mini Cooper. My wife loves this car. A (used) 2004 BMW Z4. My replacement for the Mustang. I hope it lasts me as long as the Mustang did. I don't use it enough to see many problems - maybe 5K miles/year. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 12:40 AM, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: I blame the United Auto Workers for all the industry problems. I'd agree if the issues were assembly related. Kenneth Waller Which a fair amount of them were/are. Can't blame the UAW for everything though, the Detroit management and the dealers are as much or more to blame for the Big 3's problems as the UAW. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On 6/5/09, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: Toyotas are great cars, if you're a fan of roll-steer. And about 98% of the Anmerican buying public has no idea what that is. I have a Green Machine that does that! ;) -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
I'll play: all my cars: 1978 Plymouth Horizon - bought used in 1984 shared with my older sister. Fine, reliable car until she melted the engine. 1965 Ford Mustang 289 4bbl V8 - used in 1985. Really a car that a 17 year old high school kid should never have owned. The car deserved better than I could give it. Lots of quirky factory options including a vinyl roof and seatbelts(!). It need a proper restoration but I sold it for $500. 1986 Hyundai Excel GLS - used in 1987. F-ing piece of crap. Went through two clutches and 3 water pumps. The water pumps literally seized and exploded on all occasions sending the drive pulley bouncing around the engine compartment. 1989 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L six - used in 1991. Really a great utilitarian, true off-road truck with good reliability. The fit and finish was atrocious. I used to say that I left a piece of trim every where I parked. The paint suffered from the standard peeling malady that you see on every Chrysler product of its era. I slid sideways into a curb on a wet road and took out the suspension. The car was never the same after that was repaired. 1988 Toyota Corolla - used in 1999. My mom's car. Reliable. Nuff said. 2000 Honda Civic EX - new in 2000. Best car purchase I could ever have made especially at the time when I didn't have a lot of cash and was going through a divorce. Most reliable car I've ever had. 194,800 trouble free (simple, regular, Manufacture recommended maintenance) miles. As much as I'd like to buy some flashy boy-racer car (and I can afford that sort of thing now), I'm keeping it for as long as it continues to provide the day-in-day-out reliability. -- Christian http://404mohawknotfound.blogspot.com/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Ken, I blame the UAW for the economics of the industry, not the assembly line problems. The union might as well have used a mask and a gun to hold up the auto makers in the '60's. That's when I notices the big wages and generous benefit packages. You could argue that it was better to hire on with a UAW job at an auto maker than spend money going to college. Company managements always gave in and just passed the costs back to the customers. Cheaper foreign manufacturing eventually broke the paradyme that union and management were using, to the advantage of the consumer. Regards, Bob S. On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 7:03 AM, Adam Maasa...@mawz.ca wrote: On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 12:40 AM, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: I blame the United Auto Workers for all the industry problems. I'd agree if the issues were assembly related. Kenneth Waller Which a fair amount of them were/are. Can't blame the UAW for everything though, the Detroit management and the dealers are as much or more to blame for the Big 3's problems as the UAW. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Gee, I thought I was starting a thread on cameras, not cars . . . Dan -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On 6/5/09, Daniel J. Matyola danmaty...@gmail.com wrote: Gee, I thought I was starting a thread on cameras, not cars . . . They talk about that stuff over at the Pentax forums. gdr -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg. Can I talk about my motorcycles? -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On 6/5/09, mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote: Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg. Can I talk about my motorcycles? No. Motorcycles are off-topic. A couple of ancient mopeds that were fun to play with. An old Yamaha 125cc dual sport that I fell off of a lot, mostly due to running it into trees. '85 Suzuki GS550L, claw-hammer reliable but really uncomfortable. '95 Honda Shadow 600, which I bought new, rode it a lot until we had kids and it now resides with my Dad who rides it to work when the weather is nice. The next one will either be a sport-tourer or something old-fashioned, like a Triumph Thruxton or even an Enfield. Or maybe a KLR650. Jebus. I think I need one of each. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 10:15:03AM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola scripsit: Gee, I thought I was starting a thread on cameras, not cars . . . It is a fundamental law that you can't decide what a thread is going to be about, only what you're going to post to it. Given long enough, it'll be about cars, marmoset grooming, and how to set up lighting to take pictures of paint drying. -- Graydon -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, 5 Jun 2009 15:39:51 +0100 mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote: Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg. Can I talk about my motorcycles? i have a car. it's purple. bought in late 2001 and in 7 1/2 years has done 30,500 *kilometres*. 14km/litre. right. can we talk about my motorcycles? regards, subash -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Scott Loveless sdlovel...@gmail.com wrote:
On 6/5/09, mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote:
Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote:
Cars I have owned:
I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg.
Can I talk about my motorcycles?
No. Motorcycles are off-topic.
A couple of ancient mopeds that were fun to play with.
An old Yamaha 125cc dual sport that I fell off of a lot, mostly due
to running it into trees.
'85 Suzuki GS550L, claw-hammer reliable but really uncomfortable.
'95 Honda Shadow 600, which I bought new, rode it a lot until we had
kids and it now resides with my Dad who rides it to work when the
weather is nice.
The next one will either be a sport-tourer or something old-fashioned,
like a Triumph Thruxton or even an Enfield. Or maybe a KLR650.
Jebus. I think I need one of each.
Wow. Not even a hint of HD. How unpatriotic.
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
RE: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
We have a simple plan. We buy Subaru cars and Ford trucks. Both have worked well for us. Subarus have their quirks and some odd repairs, but are generally very reliable and handle well. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
OT: Motorcycles (was RE: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
You can now. -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Scott Loveless Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 10:48 AM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras On 6/5/09, mike wilson m.9.wil...@ntlworld.com wrote: Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg. Can I talk about my motorcycles? No. Motorcycles are off-topic. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
This isn't an exhaustive chronicle of my cars but it does have pictures of quite a few of them from the past 20 years: http://www.red4est.com/lrc/racer_html/schoolpix.html A few of the racecars I've owned and/or driven: http://www.red4est.com/lrc/racer_html/racecars.html This'll have links to pictures of my current racecar and daily driver http://red4est.com/miata I took my airhead out to Thunderhill one day: http://www.red4est.com/lrc/pix/keigwinpix/ There are quite a few Healeys in these pictures, including my Sprite and Donald: http://www.red4est.com/lrc/racer_html/miscpix.html -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 11:15:09AM -0400, Desjardins, Steve wrote: We have a simple plan. We buy Subaru cars and Ford trucks. Both have worked well for us. Subarus have their quirks and some odd repairs, but are generally very reliable and handle well. I *hate* the steering boxes in Ford trucks. I've driven on mountain roads in cars where I've moved the steering wheel less than the play in most Ford truck steering boxes. Subie's do pretty well, but if you push them at all, you *have* to trailbrake to get them to turn in. Though powering out of the esses in a power induced four wheel drift in a 4WD can be a lot of fun. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On 6/5/09, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: This'll have links to pictures of my current racecar and daily driver http://red4est.com/miata About 8 years ago I almost had my wife convinced to let me turn her '94 Miata into a Spec Miata. Since we already had the car, the conversion would be relatively cheap, as far as race cars go. It was then that she realized her baby (the car, not me) very well might not come home intact, and that's how my racing career ended before it got started. Those are some really interesting photos you have there, Larry. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Oh, I realize that. I was trying for subtle humor, but that seldom works. I'm just glad to see Pentax get some good reviews for its consumer cameras in the popular press. I think that will help Pentax sales and the company's ability to keep manufacturing the kind of equipment we want and need. Dan On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Graydono...@uniserve.com wrote: It is a fundamental law that you can't decide what a thread is going to be about, only what you're going to post to it. Given long enough, it'll be about cars, marmoset grooming, and how to set up lighting to take pictures of paint drying. -- Graydon -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 12:34:41PM -0400, Scott Loveless wrote: On 6/5/09, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: This'll have links to pictures of my current racecar and daily driver http://red4est.com/miata About 8 years ago I almost had my wife convinced to let me turn her '94 Miata into a Spec Miata. Since we already had the car, the conversion would be relatively cheap, as far as race cars go. It was then that she realized her baby (the car, not me) very well might not come home intact, and that's how my racing career ended before it got started. 1) Don't race a car that you care about. 2) It's almost always cheaper to buy a used racecar than build it yourself. I'm not trying as hard as I should, but I really need to sell my racecar. I just don't have the time and money to mount a serious racing effort, and I spent too many years driving on the track while a race was in progress. Though some of my best races have been for the honor of not finishing DFL. My best race was probably one with someone who wasn't even in the same class as I was in. His car had power, mine had handling. Spec Miata is perhaps the best racing for your dollar out there. Mazda's support of the series is amazing (parts at dealer cost). The racing is very close. The last SCCA race I ran, qualifying times for the row I was in and the row ahead of me spanned all of .060 seconds. That works out to about six feet over three miles. As to reliability, it's my experience that Miata's are just slightly more reliable than an anvil. Since driving my car in a 25 hour enduro (we finished fifth in class http://red4est.com/enduro) I had to clean out the gas tank and replace the fuel filter because I got water and gunk inthe tank, plus I've changed oil, brake pads and tires. Those are some really interesting photos you have there, Larry. Thanks. I've had fun driving pretty much anything with wheels and an engine on the track. I'm looking forward to getting the MG back on the road, Leroy should finish rebuilding the motor in the next week or two. With luck, I'll have the car back on the road this summer. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 10:15:03AM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: Gee, I thought I was starting a thread on cameras, not cars . . . Dan Thread Nazi :-) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
LOL. I'm not nearly this picky with cars. The truck starts and hauls stuff where I want it to. The Subaru stays on the road in bad weather. This is what most folks care about, which is why the in-depth analysis of car/motorcycle magazines is largely useless to the average driver. In terms of performance, they want reliability and reasonable pickup. After that, the sound system, cool interior features, and appearance win. -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 12:24 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 11:15:09AM -0400, Desjardins, Steve wrote: We have a simple plan. We buy Subaru cars and Ford trucks. Both have worked well for us. Subarus have their quirks and some odd repairs, but are generally very reliable and handle well. I *hate* the steering boxes in Ford trucks. I've driven on mountain roads in cars where I've moved the steering wheel less than the play in most Ford truck steering boxes. Subie's do pretty well, but if you push them at all, you *have* to trailbrake to get them to turn in. Though powering out of the esses in a power induced four wheel drift in a 4WD can be a lot of fun. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 01:47:15PM -0400, Desjardins, Steve wrote: LOL. I'm not nearly this picky with cars. The truck starts and hauls stuff where I want it to. The Subaru stays on the road in bad weather. This is what most folks care about, which is why the in-depth analysis of car/motorcycle magazines is largely useless to the average driver. In terms of performance, they want reliability and reasonable pickup. After that, the sound system, cool interior features, and appearance win. With a bit of work, I could write just about the same sentence about cameras, or stereos, stoves or computers. As long as something pretty much does what it is supposed to, and doesn't break down too often, most people are pretty much satisfied with it. This explains both the Toyota Camry and the Canon EOS. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
That's certainly true. Once technology reaches a certain level, most of anything works fine for most people. There are some special features (all wheel drive in a car) that attract folks to certain brands, but edgy performance is often seen as a perk. One factor really hurting all of the current carmakers is that most current cars are good for much longer than the 3-5 years trade-in time, so not buying a new car during bad times is a good strategy for the individual. -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 1:56 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 01:47:15PM -0400, Desjardins, Steve wrote: LOL. I'm not nearly this picky with cars. The truck starts and hauls stuff where I want it to. The Subaru stays on the road in bad weather. This is what most folks care about, which is why the in-depth analysis of car/motorcycle magazines is largely useless to the average driver. In terms of performance, they want reliability and reasonable pickup. After that, the sound system, cool interior features, and appearance win. With a bit of work, I could write just about the same sentence about cameras, or stereos, stoves or computers. As long as something pretty much does what it is supposed to, and doesn't break down too often, most people are pretty much satisfied with it. This explains both the Toyota Camry and the Canon EOS. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Jun 5, 2009, at 11:24, Larry Colen wrote: Subie's do pretty well, but if you push them at all, you *have* to trailbrake to get them to turn in. Though powering out of the esses in a power induced four wheel drift in a 4WD can be a lot of fun. I simply LIVE for the 8-12 inch snowstorms when I can be the first out on the road in my Outback. Fun times! -Charles -- Charles Robinson - charl...@visi.com Minneapolis, MN http://charles.robinsontwins.org -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
I blame the UAW for the economics of the industry, not the assembly line problems. Bob I worked in the Ford St Louis Assembly plant for several years as the Vehicle Resident Engineer during the mid to late 80's. I could go on and on about union caused assembly line issues but I can tell you that toward the end of my stay at the plant (I returned to Dearborn) these issues became almost non existent, as the union realised they had to do the very best they could do to protect their jobs (non selling vehicles = less/no jobs).The transformation was simply unbelieveable - wouldn't have believed it unless I experienced it. Bad union/company relationship at the assembly is no where near as bad as it use to be. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Ken, I blame the UAW for the economics of the industry, not the assembly line problems. The union might as well have used a mask and a gun to hold up the auto makers in the '60's. That's when I notices the big wages and generous benefit packages. You could argue that it was better to hire on with a UAW job at an auto maker than spend money going to college. Company managements always gave in and just passed the costs back to the customers. Cheaper foreign manufacturing eventually broke the paradyme that union and management were using, to the advantage of the consumer. Regards, Bob S. On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 7:03 AM, Adam Maasa...@mawz.ca wrote: On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 12:40 AM, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: I blame the United Auto Workers for all the industry problems. I'd agree if the issues were assembly related. Kenneth Waller Which a fair amount of them were/are. Can't blame the UAW for everything though, the Detroit management and the dealers are as much or more to blame for the Big 3's problems as the UAW. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Larry Colen l...@red4est.com Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 11:15:09AM -0400, Desjardins, Steve wrote: We have a simple plan. We buy Subaru cars and Ford trucks. Both have worked well for us. Subarus have their quirks and some odd repairs, but are generally very reliable and handle well. I *hate* the steering boxes in Ford trucks. I've driven on mountain roads in cars where I've moved the steering wheel less than the play in most Ford truck steering boxes. Except for the heavest of GVW vehicles, Ford trucks now have Rack pinion steering installed. The gearbox you complain about, (XR 50), continues to be the main steering gear assembly in NASCAR cup cars. Subie's do pretty well, but if you push them at all, you *have* to trailbrake to get them to turn in. Though powering out of the esses in a power induced four wheel drift in a 4WD can be a lot of fun. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
From: paul stenquist He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made outside the U.S. Toyotas are manufactured in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas West Virginia. They have a new manufacturing plant under construction in Mississippi, with a second one on hold due to the current economic situation. Toyota has joint ventures with GM in California and Subaru in Indiana. They also have manufacturing facilities in Canada and Mexico just like the U.S. Big 3. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Ken, Thanks for the interesting insight. Bob S. On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 4:08 PM, Ken Wallerkwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: I blame the UAW for the economics of the industry, not the assembly line problems. Bob I worked in the Ford St Louis Assembly plant for several years as the Vehicle Resident Engineer during the mid to late 80's. I could go on and on about union caused assembly line issues but I can tell you that toward the end of my stay at the plant (I returned to Dearborn) these issues became almost non existent, as the union realised they had to do the very best they could do to protect their jobs (non selling vehicles = less/no jobs).The transformation was simply unbelieveable - wouldn't have believed it unless I experienced it. Bad union/company relationship at the assembly is no where near as bad as it use to be. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Ken, I blame the UAW for the economics of the industry, not the assembly line problems. The union might as well have used a mask and a gun to hold up the auto makers in the '60's. That's when I notices the big wages and generous benefit packages. You could argue that it was better to hire on with a UAW job at an auto maker than spend money going to college. Company managements always gave in and just passed the costs back to the customers. Cheaper foreign manufacturing eventually broke the paradyme that union and management were using, to the advantage of the consumer. Regards, Bob S. On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 7:03 AM, Adam Maasa...@mawz.ca wrote: On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 12:40 AM, Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com wrote: I blame the United Auto Workers for all the industry problems. I'd agree if the issues were assembly related. Kenneth Waller Which a fair amount of them were/are. Can't blame the UAW for everything though, the Detroit management and the dealers are as much or more to blame for the Big 3's problems as the UAW. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
We get much less snow in Va, but we get that damned wintry mix from Dec to March. I always apreciate the Outback when I drive another car. Steve Desjardins On Jun 5, 2009, at 3:38 PM, Charles Robinson charl...@visi.com wrote: On Jun 5, 2009, at 11:24, Larry Colen wrote: Subie's do pretty well, but if you push them at all, you *have* to trailbrake to get them to turn in. Though powering out of the esses in a power induced four wheel drift in a 4WD can be a lot of fun. I simply LIVE for the 8-12 inch snowstorms when I can be the first out on the road in my Outback. Fun times! -Charles -- Charles Robinson - charl...@visi.com Minneapolis, MN http://charles.robinsontwins.org -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
From: William Robb I guess the questions are: What are their criteria? Is it initial owner impression or is it long term reliability? Are they testing the vehicles to failure or depending on consumer feedback? Consumer's Union (publisher of Consumer Reports) BUYs the cars they test anonymously through the dealer networks. The cars get a couple thousand miles daily driving logged, then are taken to a test facility that has road tracks, skid pans such for the various handling tests. The cars are also given a thorough bumper to bumper examination to determine quality of fit and finish. Consumers Union doesn't normally do crash tests - those are done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (non-profit funded by the insurance companies), so it would not be testing to destruction. The test results stand alone, but are augmented by surveying Consumer's Union members. FWIW, the two vehicle manufacturers who have sued Consumers Union over product reviews were Suzuki and Isuzu - both Japanese companies. Neither was able to collect. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 12:36:20PM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola scripsit: Oh, I realize that. I was trying for subtle humor, but that seldom works. Well, there's this thing I _use_ for a sense of humour; it's not that good at subtle. I'm just glad to see Pentax get some good reviews for its consumer cameras in the popular press. I think that will help Pentax sales and the company's ability to keep manufacturing the kind of equipment we want and need. Some more PR for the solid value proposition certainly wouldn't hurt. -- Graydon -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 05:25:11PM -0400, Ken Waller wrote: Except for the heavest of GVW vehicles, Ford trucks now have Rack pinion steering installed. The gearbox you complain about, (XR 50), continues to be the main steering gear assembly in NASCAR cup cars. Which I suspect don't have the problem of wearing out after 50,000 miles. I have vivid memories of borrowing a friend's ford van with about 220 degrees of play int he steering and towing my racecar over hwy 17 ( a four lane mountain hwy) in the rain. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
I have vivid memories of borrowing a friend's ford van with about 220 degrees of play int he steering and towing my racecar over hwy 17 ( a four lane mountain hwy) in the rain. That's not necessarily a sign of wearing out Could be alignment, could be an overloaded tow vehicle, could be non serviced steering linkage ball joints. I did forsensic examinations on these gearboxes and never found one 'worn out'. Like 220 degrees of freeplay would even be driveable ;+} Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Larry Colen l...@red4est.com Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 05:25:11PM -0400, Ken Waller wrote: Except for the heavest of GVW vehicles, Ford trucks now have Rack pinion steering installed. The gearbox you complain about, (XR 50), continues to be the main steering gear assembly in NASCAR cup cars. Which I suspect don't have the problem of wearing out after 50,000 miles. I have vivid memories of borrowing a friend's ford van with about 220 degrees of play int he steering and towing my racecar over hwy 17 ( a four lane mountain hwy) in the rain. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
From: John Celio Hey, while we're on the subject of cars, I have a '95 Chevy Cavalier that I absolutely hate but still kinda need. It recently lost compression in two cylinders, according to the mechanic (who also said it probably wasn't worth repairing). Do you wise auto gurus think it could be just a blown head gasket, or something worse? Adjacent cylinders? Could be a cracked head. If you're somewhat handy, you might pull the head and have a look. You'd have to remove it anyway to replace the head gasket, and if it's cracked find a replacement head in a junkyard. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Made was a poor choice of words. The profits go back to Japan. Of course all Toyota plants are in right to work states. No UAW. No health care and pension burdens. So they have a huge competitive advantage. Paul On Jun 5, 2009, at 5:37 PM, John Sessoms wrote: From: paul stenquist He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made outside the U.S. Toyotas are manufactured in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas West Virginia. They have a new manufacturing plant under construction in Mississippi, with a second one on hold due to the current economic situation. Toyota has joint ventures with GM in California and Subaru in Indiana. They also have manufacturing facilities in Canada and Mexico just like the U.S. Big 3. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Head gasket fixes rarely work unless the block and head are resurfaced. That makes it a big job. Cracks almost always cause loss of coolant and overheating. Paul On Jun 5, 2009, at 7:10 PM, John Sessoms wrote: From: John Celio Hey, while we're on the subject of cars, I have a '95 Chevy Cavalier that I absolutely hate but still kinda need. It recently lost compression in two cylinders, according to the mechanic (who also said it probably wasn't worth repairing). Do you wise auto gurus think it could be just a blown head gasket, or something worse? Adjacent cylinders? Could be a cracked head. If you're somewhat handy, you might pull the head and have a look. You'd have to remove it anyway to replace the head gasket, and if it's cracked find a replacement head in a junkyard. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
More or less in order starting from age 16. I don't think I've forgotten any: (16) 1961 Bel Air 4 dr; 283 powerglide - an automatic that could be push started. Actually my parents car that I inherited because I could fix it. 196x-something Morris Minor that I never got running - who knew from English Whitworth? (21) 196x-something Fiat 850 Spyder; breaking a fan belt ripped out the oil seals - it was very prone to breaking fan belts. Sold it after my foot went through the driver's side floorboard. 1964 Bel Air 4 dr wagon; the rear bumper fell off and took the license plate with it on the way to a Deep Purple concert. The Highway Patrol was pretty understanding about the whole thing. 196x-something Fiat 124 Spyder; you'd think I would have learned my lesson from the 850. (25) 1965 Mustang convertable; 289 4 speed ... some drunk a$$hole ran a stop sign smashed it. Total loss. 1972 Pinto wagon; weirdest car I ever knew - body made in USA was all metric hardware, engine made in Germany was all SAE standard hardware. All I could afford after the insurance company screwed me on the Mustang. 1964 VW Van; another non-starter - it ran, but could not pass NC's safety inspection. 195x-something Volvo; maybe a 544 - the only thing my ex-wife got when she took off. As I remember I only paid a couple hundred dollars for it. It ran OK, but needed work. I didn't have time to fix it up before she took it. (30) 1980 Chevrolet Citation; the only car I ever bought brand new off the show-room floor. Never, ever buy the FIRST YEAR of any new automotive technology. Great concept. Lousy execution. 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987 Chevrolet G20 long-bed vans; 350 V8, Auto, AC - LOTS OF ROOM INSIDE. Leased by my employer. I bought the last one for residual value at the end of the lease and drove it another 10 years. Should have kept it and put a new motor in it. The company switched to Chevy Astro vans I drove several of them as well. (40) 1978 MGB Tourer; Safety Fast. Mid-life crisis and I couldn't afford a Porsche. Drove it until some knucklehead pulled out in front of me smashed the front left. Bought a 1979 Tourer from a junkyard for parts and rebuilt it myself, but kept the parts car as well because it was too complete to get rid of. In 1996 the car was vandalised and I've never been able to get the ready to rebuild it. I've still got both of them. Maybe next year. (48) 1995 Ford Escort wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything - NON-interference engine (don't worry about that timing belt - run it 'til it breaks). Problematic cooling system. I think there's some kind of plastic radiator that part melted and clogged the block. I got stuck in traffic in July 2002; it overheated ONE TIME and blew the engine. Literally the temp guage went up to the peg, bounced and came right back down. Got another 5 miles before it lost power and died. Aluminum engine, blown head gasket, warped block, warped head. Ford Dealer told me it would cost less to get a replacement from Mr. Engine than it would for them to repair it. Apparently did the same thing to the replacement engine in 2004 while I was overseas. (55) 1998 Mazda 626; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, no power nothin'. I had three hours of transportation to go looking for a car in January 2005. I added after market cruise control. Been a good, reliable car, but nowhere to throw out a sleeping bag in the back. I've averaged 30 mpg city, 36 mpg highway and 31 mpg combined - about 5 mpg better than the EPA rating. For Sale - $2500. (59) 2005 Ford Focus Wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything, 6 disk CD in dash. I've had it two months and the new hasn't worn off, although I already know a couple things I got to fix - clutch switch to disengage cruise control and the master control for the rest of the power windows have to be fixed. Not as much room to throw out a sleeping bag as I originally hoped, but I'm working on that too. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
From: mike wilson Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg. Can I talk about my motorcycles? Motorcycles are in the Why does Windows ... thread. ;-D -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Wow. I've had only three cars in my driving life. 18 - 1972 Mercury Capri. It had a 2600cc V6 in a body that didn't weigh very much, especially mine since I only had the passenger seat in the car half the time. I wrecked it twice, the last time I lost the entire steering rack. Shouldn't have put any money into at that point but did anyway. 20 - 1989 Dodge D50 pick up (Mitsubishi Mighty Max). I worked at a Dodge dealership from 1988-1992 so I got the truck for $100 over invoice cost. White with light buckskin interior. I went on the dealer trade to pick it up and so I drove it when it only had 3 miles on the OD. It cost me $172.66 a month for 60 months (10,359.60). I paid it off about a year early. I had that truck for 14 years and when I sold it in 2003 it had fewer than 95,000 original miles on the 90Hp 4 cylinder. 34 to present- 2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab. I ordered this one from the factory and paid cash for it. It has has every option available except for the rear window defrost which I felt I could live without and got the sliding rear window instead (mutually exclusive options), and the largest V8 option. It is rear wheel drive, but I think if I had to do it over I would have gone with the 4X4. It's been a great truck and it was one of the last in the diesel tractor body styling. I decided against the larger 5.9L V8 that they were putting into the RT trucks as that got like 12MPG. I opted for the 4.7L instead. This turned out to be a good decision when gas hit $4 a gallon. I did opt for a 3.92 rear end with Limited Slip. The truck is torquey as hell. I love my truck. I'm not sure I'll ever own a car, I think I might just be a truck guy for life. But, if someone wants to buy me a Challenger with a Hemi I wouldn't say no. ;-) -Brendan - Original Message From: John Sessoms jsessoms...@nc.rr.com To: pdml@pdml.net Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:50:17 PM Subject: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) More or less in order starting from age 16. I don't think I've forgotten any: (16) 1961 Bel Air 4 dr; 283 powerglide - an automatic that could be push started. Actually my parents car that I inherited because I could fix it. 196x-something Morris Minor that I never got running - who knew from English Whitworth? (21) 196x-something Fiat 850 Spyder; breaking a fan belt ripped out the oil seals - it was very prone to breaking fan belts. Sold it after my foot went through the driver's side floorboard. 1964 Bel Air 4 dr wagon; the rear bumper fell off and took the license plate with it on the way to a Deep Purple concert. The Highway Patrol was pretty understanding about the whole thing. 196x-something Fiat 124 Spyder; you'd think I would have learned my lesson from the 850. (25) 1965 Mustang convertable; 289 4 speed ... some drunk a$$hole ran a stop sign smashed it. Total loss. 1972 Pinto wagon; weirdest car I ever knew - body made in USA was all metric hardware, engine made in Germany was all SAE standard hardware. All I could afford after the insurance company screwed me on the Mustang. 1964 VW Van; another non-starter - it ran, but could not pass NC's safety inspection. 195x-something Volvo; maybe a 544 - the only thing my ex-wife got when she took off. As I remember I only paid a couple hundred dollars for it. It ran OK, but needed work. I didn't have time to fix it up before she took it. (30) 1980 Chevrolet Citation; the only car I ever bought brand new off the show-room floor. Never, ever buy the FIRST YEAR of any new automotive technology. Great concept. Lousy execution. 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987 Chevrolet G20 long-bed vans; 350 V8, Auto, AC - LOTS OF ROOM INSIDE. Leased by my employer. I bought the last one for residual value at the end of the lease and drove it another 10 years. Should have kept it and put a new motor in it. The company switched to Chevy Astro vans I drove several of them as well. (40) 1978 MGB Tourer; Safety Fast. Mid-life crisis and I couldn't afford a Porsche. Drove it until some knucklehead pulled out in front of me smashed the front left. Bought a 1979 Tourer from a junkyard for parts and rebuilt it myself, but kept the parts car as well because it was too complete to get rid of. In 1996 the car was vandalised and I've never been able to get the ready to rebuild it. I've still got both of them. Maybe next year. (48) 1995 Ford Escort wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything - NON-interference engine (don't worry about that timing belt - run it 'til it breaks). Problematic cooling system. I think there's some kind of plastic radiator that part melted and clogged the block. I got stuck in traffic in July 2002; it overheated ONE TIME and blew the engine. Literally the temp guage went up to the peg, bounced and came right back down. Got another 5 miles before it lost power and died
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
John, I like this part of your car history (story). Joe 195x-something Volvo; maybe a 544 - the only thing my ex-wife got when she took off. As I remember I only paid a couple hundred dollars for it. It ran OK, but needed work. I didn't have time to fix it up before she took it. - Original Message - From: John Sessoms jsessoms...@nc.rr.com To: pdml@pdml.net Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 7:50:17 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) More or less in order starting from age 16. I don't think I've forgotten any: (16) 1961 Bel Air 4 dr; 283 powerglide - an automatic that could be push started. Actually my parents car that I inherited because I could fix it. 196x-something Morris Minor that I never got running - who knew from English Whitworth? (21) 196x-something Fiat 850 Spyder; breaking a fan belt ripped out the oil seals - it was very prone to breaking fan belts. Sold it after my foot went through the driver's side floorboard. 1964 Bel Air 4 dr wagon; the rear bumper fell off and took the license plate with it on the way to a Deep Purple concert. The Highway Patrol was pretty understanding about the whole thing. 196x-something Fiat 124 Spyder; you'd think I would have learned my lesson from the 850. (25) 1965 Mustang convertable; 289 4 speed ... some drunk a$$hole ran a stop sign smashed it. Total loss. 1972 Pinto wagon; weirdest car I ever knew - body made in USA was all metric hardware, engine made in Germany was all SAE standard hardware. All I could afford after the insurance company screwed me on the Mustang. 1964 VW Van; another non-starter - it ran, but could not pass NC's safety inspection. 195x-something Volvo; maybe a 544 - the only thing my ex-wife got when she took off. As I remember I only paid a couple hundred dollars for it. It ran OK, but needed work. I didn't have time to fix it up before she took it. (30) 1980 Chevrolet Citation; the only car I ever bought brand new off the show-room floor. Never, ever buy the FIRST YEAR of any new automotive technology. Great concept. Lousy execution. 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987 Chevrolet G20 long-bed vans; 350 V8, Auto, AC - LOTS OF ROOM INSIDE. Leased by my employer. I bought the last one for residual value at the end of the lease and drove it another 10 years. Should have kept it and put a new motor in it. The company switched to Chevy Astro vans I drove several of them as well. (40) 1978 MGB Tourer; Safety Fast. Mid-life crisis and I couldn't afford a Porsche. Drove it until some knucklehead pulled out in front of me smashed the front left. Bought a 1979 Tourer from a junkyard for parts and rebuilt it myself, but kept the parts car as well because it was too complete to get rid of. In 1996 the car was vandalised and I've never been able to get the ready to rebuild it. I've still got both of them. Maybe next year. (48) 1995 Ford Escort wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything - NON-interference engine (don't worry about that timing belt - run it 'til it breaks). Problematic cooling system. I think there's some kind of plastic radiator that part melted and clogged the block. I got stuck in traffic in July 2002; it overheated ONE TIME and blew the engine. Literally the temp guage went up to the peg, bounced and came right back down. Got another 5 miles before it lost power and died. Aluminum engine, blown head gasket, warped block, warped head. Ford Dealer told me it would cost less to get a replacement from Mr. Engine than it would for them to repair it. Apparently did the same thing to the replacement engine in 2004 while I was overseas. (55) 1998 Mazda 626; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, no power nothin'. I had three hours of transportation to go looking for a car in January 2005. I added after market cruise control. Been a good, reliable car, but nowhere to throw out a sleeping bag in the back. I've averaged 30 mpg city, 36 mpg highway and 31 mpg combined - about 5 mpg better than the EPA rating. For Sale - $2500. (59) 2005 Ford Focus Wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything, 6 disk CD in dash. I've had it two months and the new hasn't worn off, although I already know a couple things I got to fix - clutch switch to disengage cruise control and the master control for the rest of the power windows have to be fixed. Not as much room to throw out a sleeping bag as I originally hoped, but I'm working on that too. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
John Sessoms wrote: From: mike wilson Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: I have a car. It's dark green. It's done 173,000 miles. It does 50mpg. Can I talk about my motorcycles? Motorcycles are in the Why does Windows ... thread. ;-D *Very* good, John I had a really good laugh at that one! Hah, hah, hah. keith -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
This will be a good memory test for me. Let's see. The first car I ever bought was a 1934 Ford Tudor. I paid $150 for it in 1963. It came with a Pontiac engine laying on the floor where the back seat shold have been. With the help of three buddies, I pushed it home -- about a mile and a half. Put it together and drag raced it. It went 12.56, 112 mph. The Pontiac engine was a 1960 NASCAR 389. Lucky find. My first driver was a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 with a 312 V8. Paid fifty bucks for it in 67. It had bad steering parts. Used it to deliver pizzas until the right front wheel fell off. Literally. I chiseled the VIN tag off the door post and abandoned it on a Chicago southside street. A 57 Dodge followed, then a 57 Desoto. Both had the 325 V8 and no floorboards. They had rusted out. Next was a 62 Studebaker Lark convertible with a flathead six that had a burnt valve. I used it to deliver pizzas, but totaled it when I rear ended someone. A 62 Pontiac Catalina convertible followed. It had a four-speed and a 389, but it had been converted from an automatic, so it had too high of a rear axle ratio and went through clutches. I eventually put a 4.10 : 1 ring and pinion in it, which was really too low for that stock motor. Oh well. About that time I sold the 34 Ford and bought an old top fuel dragster. I built an injected Pontiac engine with 12:1 compression, a roller cam, and mechanical fuel injection (an enderle/algon hybrid of my own design). It ran 8.65 187 on 70% nitro, but I couldn't keep head gaskets in it, even with copper O-rings. Pontiacs had only ten head bolts in those days. My next drive was a 61 Olds, followed by another 62 Pontiac, then a 59 Pontiac. I sold the dragster and bought a crashed 442 Olds funny car with a supercharged 426 Hemi that was pretty badly damaged. I also bought a 67 Barracuda funny car with no drivetrain. It was the original Chi-- Town Hustler and had been campaigned and stripped by someone else after Austin Coil and company got rid of it. I rebuilt the hemi and got a friend to build a competition torque flite, and I put them in the Barracuda. I couldn't afford to run it, so I essentially gave it away to the guy who was going to drive it and let him take over the financing. I worked for him for a percentage of the gross. We named it Flite Master, which was the name of the transmission builder who gave us the free gearboxes (which had to be changed every run). It went 7.42, 205 at Kansas City. The best it had done in its Chi-Town days was 7.35, 197. But it was only with the advice of Coil that I was able to make it work that well. My driver at the time was a mint 1969 Lincoln Mark III. It eventually shorted out while parked in my driveway and basically burned to the ground. It was a beautiful car. Sad. I followed with a 63 Impala Super Sport that was kind of trashed. After the Barracuda, we built an all new funny car: a 1973 Dodge mini Charger, which was a shortened and narrowed fiberglass Charger body on a tube chassis. The Charger managed a best of 6.51, 225 at New York National Dragway on Long Island. It was called Qu Voe Charger. Qu Voe was an automotive additive company that gave us 10K. A lot of money in those days. After two years we replaced the Charger with a 1974 Corvette named Fever. It was yellow and beautiful. but it handled like doo-doo, as a result of the short tail and not enough rear downforce. It did a best of 6.35, 237 but crashed violently.. Eight end over ends at over 200 mph and a ball of flame. . The driver walked away with a concussion and broken ribs. After that we ran a Mustang that looked like a police car, complete with mars lights, and was called Chicago Patrol. It ran 6.41, but it was short lived, because the guy who drove it and owned it went to jail. That, of course, is another story for another day. My daily driver at the time was a 1969 Javelin that belonged to the girl I married. That was followed by a 1973 Hornet, because only an AMC dealer would take the Javelin in trade. Next was a Toyota toaster van. By the I was working for car magazines, so I always had a press car. Got into advertising shortly thereafter, working on the Jaguar account and bough a Jag 79 XJ12L in 1985. Kept it for 22 years. Next were company cars from ad agencies: a Lincoln Town Car, a Buick Park Avenue, and a Dodge Intrepid. That was followed by a Dodge Stratus, then another Intrepid. A Dodge Caravan came in there somewhere. I also leased a Dodge Durango, a Pt Cruiser, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. While working in LA I found my 55 Chevy BelAir Convertible and shipped it back home to Michigan on a Chrysler enclosed transporter with a couple of Vipers to keep it company. I've owned the Chevy for nine years now, and it's pretty close to mint, with 25K on the clock since it's frame-off restoration. My daily driver is a four-door
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
- Original Message - From: John Sessoms Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras FWIW, the two vehicle manufacturers who have sued Consumers Union over product reviews were Suzuki and Isuzu - both Japanese companies. Neither was able to collect. I remember the Isuzu one. I bought a Trooper anyway. It wasn't a good vehicle, but not for the major reason CR reported, which was tippyness. One really did have to set the vehicle up to fail to get it to roll, though it wouldn't surprise me to find it was easier to roll than other vehicles of it's ilk. My Trooper was bad because of a fatally flawed and I think undersized GM transmission. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
- Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Made was a poor choice of words. The profits go back to Japan. Of course all Toyota plants are in right to work states. No UAW. No health care and pension burdens. So they have a huge competitive advantage. Are they breaking any laws or even doing anything morally corrupt by setting up shop where it is financially advantageous? William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
- Original Message From: paul stenquist pnstenqu...@comcast.net To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 6:25:45 PM Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) This will be a good memory test for me. Let's see. The first car I ever bought was a 1934 Ford Tudor. I paid $150 for it in 1963. It came with a Pontiac engine laying on the floor where the back seat shold have been. With the help of three buddies, I pushed it home -- about a mile and a half. Put it together and drag raced it. It went 12.56, 112 mph. The Pontiac engine was a 1960 NASCAR 389. Lucky find. My first driver was a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 with a 312 V8. Paid fifty bucks for it in 67. It had bad steering parts. Used it to deliver pizzas until the right front wheel fell off. Literally. I chiseled the VIN tag off the door post and abandoned it on a Chicago southside street. A 57 Dodge followed, then a 57 Desoto. Both had the 325 V8 and no floorboards. They had rusted out. Next was a 62 Studebaker Lark convertible with a flathead six that had a burnt valve. I used it to deliver pizzas, but totaled it when I rear ended someone. A 62 Pontiac Catalina convertible followed. It had a four-speed and a 389, but it had been converted from an automatic, so it had too high of a rear axle ratio and went through clutches. I eventually put a 4.10 : 1 ring and pinion in it, which was really too low for that stock motor. Oh well. About that time I sold the 34 Ford and bought an old top fuel dragster. I built an injected Pontiac engine with 12:1 compression, a roller cam, and mechanical fuel injection (an enderle/algon hybrid of my own design). It ran 8.65 187 on 70% nitro, but I couldn't keep head gaskets in it, even with copper O-rings. Pontiacs had only ten head bolts in those days. My next drive was a 61 Olds, followed by another 62 Pontiac, then a 59 Pontiac. I sold the dragster and bought a crashed 442 Olds funny car with a supercharged 426 Hemi that was pretty badly damaged. I also bought a 67 Barracuda funny car with no drivetrain. It was the original Chi--Town Hustler and had been campaigned and stripped by someone else after Austin Coil and company got rid of it. I rebuilt the hemi and got a friend to build a competition torque flite, and I put them in the Barracuda. I couldn't afford to run it, so I essentially gave it away to the guy who was going to drive it and let him take over the financing. I worked for him for a percentage of the gross. We named it Flite Master, which was the name of the transmission builder who gave us the free gearboxes (which had to be changed every run). It went 7.42, 205 at Kansas City. The best it had done in its Chi-Town days was 7.35, 197. But it was only with the advice of Coil that I was able to make it work that well. My driver at the time was a mint 1969 Lincoln Mark III. It eventually shorted out while parked in my driveway and basically burned to the ground. It was a beautiful car. Sad. I followed with a 63 Impala Super Sport that was kind of trashed. After the Barracuda, we built an all new funny car: a 1973 Dodge mini Charger, which was a shortened and narrowed fiberglass Charger body on a tube chassis. The Charger managed a best of 6.51, 225 at New York National Dragway on Long Island. It was called Qu Voe Charger. Qu Voe was an automotive additive company that gave us 10K. A lot of money in those days. After two years we replaced the Charger with a 1974 Corvette named Fever. It was yellow and beautiful. but it handled like doo-doo, as a result of the short tail and not enough rear downforce. It did a best of 6.35, 237 but crashed violently.. Eight end over ends at over 200 mph and a ball of flame. . The driver walked away with a concussion and broken ribs. After that we ran a Mustang that looked like a police car, complete with mars lights, and was called Chicago Patrol. It ran 6.41, but it was short lived, because the guy who drove it and owned it went to jail. That, of course, is another story for another day. My daily driver at the time was a 1969 Javelin that belonged to the girl I married. That was followed by a 1973 Hornet, because only an AMC dealer would take the Javelin in trade. Next was a Toyota toaster van. By the I was working for car magazines, so I always had a press car. Got into advertising shortly thereafter, working on the Jaguar account and bough a Jag 79 XJ12L in 1985. Kept it for 22 years. Next were company cars from ad agencies: a Lincoln Town Car, a Buick Park Avenue, and a Dodge Intrepid. That was followed by a Dodge Stratus, then another Intrepid. A Dodge Caravan came in there somewhere. I also leased a Dodge Durango, a Pt Cruiser, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. While working in LA I found my 55 Chevy BelAir Convertible
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Brendan MacRae wrote: Do you still wish you had the blown 426? The engine, I mean...!? I don't know if it's still true, but as of four or five years ago you could order a brand new, crate 428 or 429 (your choice, they had both) from Ford Racing Performance Parts. -- Thanks, DougF (KG4LMZ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
That wouldn't suprise me. I'd like the 429. I wouldn't have anything to put it in, but then, the fun is in the looking. - Original Message From: Doug Franklin jehosep...@mindspring.com To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 8:01:00 PM Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) Brendan MacRae wrote: Do you still wish you had the blown 426? The engine, I mean...!? I don't know if it's still true, but as of four or five years ago you could order a brand new, crate 428 or 429 (your choice, they had both) from Ford Racing Performance Parts. -- Thanks, DougF (KG4LMZ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Jun 5, 2009, at 10:36 PM, Brendan MacRae wrote: - Original Message From: paul stenquist pnstenqu...@comcast.net To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 6:25:45 PM Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) This will be a good memory test for me. Let's see. The first car I ever bought was a 1934 Ford Tudor. I paid $150 for it in 1963. It came with a Pontiac engine laying on the floor where the back seat shold have been. With the help of three buddies, I pushed it home -- about a mile and a half. Put it together and drag raced it. It went 12.56, 112 mph. The Pontiac engine was a 1960 NASCAR 389. Lucky find. My first driver was a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 with a 312 V8. Paid fifty bucks for it in 67. It had bad steering parts. Used it to deliver pizzas until the right front wheel fell off. Literally. I chiseled the VIN tag off the door post and abandoned it on a Chicago southside street. A 57 Dodge followed, then a 57 Desoto. Both had the 325 V8 and no floorboards. They had rusted out. Next was a 62 Studebaker Lark convertible with a flathead six that had a burnt valve. I used it to deliver pizzas, but totaled it when I rear ended someone. A 62 Pontiac Catalina convertible followed. It had a four-speed and a 389, but it had been converted from an automatic, so it had too high of a rear axle ratio and went through clutches. I eventually put a 4.10 : 1 ring and pinion in it, which was really too low for that stock motor. Oh well. About that time I sold the 34 Ford and bought an old top fuel dragster. I built an injected Pontiac engine with 12:1 compression, a roller cam, and mechanical fuel injection (an enderle/algon hybrid of my own design). It ran 8.65 187 on 70% nitro, but I couldn't keep head gaskets in it, even with copper O-rings. Pontiacs had only ten head bolts in those days. My next drive was a 61 Olds, followed by another 62 Pontiac, then a 59 Pontiac. I sold the dragster and bought a crashed 442 Olds funny car with a supercharged 426 Hemi that was pretty badly damaged. I also bought a 67 Barracuda funny car with no drivetrain. It was the original Chi--Town Hustler and had been campaigned and stripped by someone else after Austin Coil and company got rid of it. I rebuilt the hemi and got a friend to build a competition torque flite, and I put them in the Barracuda. I couldn't afford to run it, so I essentially gave it away to the guy who was going to drive it and let him take over the financing. I worked for him for a percentage of the gross. We named it Flite Master, which was the name of the transmission builder who gave us the free gearboxes (which had to be changed every run). It went 7.42, 205 at Kansas City. The best it had done in its Chi-Town days was 7.35, 197. But it was only with the advice of Coil that I was able to make it work that well. My driver at the time was a mint 1969 Lincoln Mark III. It eventually shorted out while parked in my driveway and basically burned to the ground. It was a beautiful car. Sad. I followed with a 63 Impala Super Sport that was kind of trashed. After the Barracuda, we built an all new funny car: a 1973 Dodge mini Charger, which was a shortened and narrowed fiberglass Charger body on a tube chassis. The Charger managed a best of 6.51, 225 at New York National Dragway on Long Island. It was called Qu Voe Charger. Qu Voe was an automotive additive company that gave us 10K. A lot of money in those days. After two years we replaced the Charger with a 1974 Corvette named Fever. It was yellow and beautiful. but it handled like doo-doo, as a result of the short tail and not enough rear downforce. It did a best of 6.35, 237 but crashed violently.. Eight end over ends at over 200 mph and a ball of flame. . The driver walked away with a concussion and broken ribs. After that we ran a Mustang that looked like a police car, complete with mars lights, and was called Chicago Patrol. It ran 6.41, but it was short lived, because the guy who drove it and owned it went to jail. That, of course, is another story for another day. My daily driver at the time was a 1969 Javelin that belonged to the girl I married. That was followed by a 1973 Hornet, because only an AMC dealer would take the Javelin in trade. Next was a Toyota toaster van. By the I was working for car magazines, so I always had a press car. Got into advertising shortly thereafter, working on the Jaguar account and bough a Jag 79 XJ12L in 1985. Kept it for 22 years. Next were company cars from ad agencies: a Lincoln Town Car, a Buick Park Avenue, and a Dodge Intrepid. That was followed by a Dodge Stratus, then another Intrepid. A Dodge Caravan came in there somewhere. I also leased a Dodge Durango, a Pt Cruiser, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. While working in LA I found my 55 Chevy BelAir Convertible and shipped
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Jun 5, 2009, at 8:59 PM, William Robb wrote: - Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Made was a poor choice of words. The profits go back to Japan. Of course all Toyota plants are in right to work states. No UAW. No health care and pension burdens. So they have a huge competitive advantage. Are they breaking any laws or even doing anything morally corrupt by setting up shop where it is financially advantageous? The union guys would say its immoral. Obama and the dems would probably agree, since they agree with everything the unions say. But, no, it's not illegal or immoral, but the non-union shops gave the Japanese automakers a huge cost advantage over the domestic industry. Paul William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
- Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras The union guys would say its immoral. Obama and the dems would probably agree, since they agree with everything the unions say. But, no, it's not illegal or immoral, but the non-union shops gave the Japanese automakers a huge cost advantage over the domestic industry. At least they set up plants in Noth America, although they had to be coerced into it, iirc. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Jun 5, 2009, at 9:25 PM, paul stenquist wrote: This will be a good memory test for me. I failed the memory test. Forgot my 59 Mercedes 220S and 58 Mercedes 300d that I owned in the seventies. That's a small d 300 btw. It had a 3 litre six cylinder gasoline engine with mechanical fuel injection. Great motor, similar to the gull wing coupe engine. In the late sixties I had a 55 Chevy two door BelAir post car with a 400 horsepower 327. I did a lot of street racing with that car all over Chicago. Paul Let's see. The first car I ever bought was a 1934 Ford Tudor. I paid $150 for it in 1963. It came with a Pontiac engine laying on the floor where the back seat shold have been. With the help of three buddies, I pushed it home -- about a mile and a half. Put it together and drag raced it. It went 12.56, 112 mph. The Pontiac engine was a 1960 NASCAR 389. Lucky find. My first driver was a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 with a 312 V8. Paid fifty bucks for it in 67. It had bad steering parts. Used it to deliver pizzas until the right front wheel fell off. Literally. I chiseled the VIN tag off the door post and abandoned it on a Chicago southside street. A 57 Dodge followed, then a 57 Desoto. Both had the 325 V8 and no floorboards. They had rusted out. Next was a 62 Studebaker Lark convertible with a flathead six that had a burnt valve. I used it to deliver pizzas, but totaled it when I rear ended someone. A 62 Pontiac Catalina convertible followed. It had a four- speed and a 389, but it had been converted from an automatic, so it had too high of a rear axle ratio and went through clutches. I eventually put a 4.10 : 1 ring and pinion in it, which was really too low for that stock motor. Oh well. About that time I sold the 34 Ford and bought an old top fuel dragster. I built an injected Pontiac engine with 12:1 compression, a roller cam, and mechanical fuel injection (an enderle/algon hybrid of my own design). It ran 8.65 187 on 70% nitro, but I couldn't keep head gaskets in it, even with copper O-rings. Pontiacs had only ten head bolts in those days. My next drive was a 61 Olds, followed by another 62 Pontiac, then a 59 Pontiac. I sold the dragster and bought a crashed 442 Olds funny car with a supercharged 426 Hemi that was pretty badly damaged. I also bought a 67 Barracuda funny car with no drivetrain. It was the original Chi-- Town Hustler and had been campaigned and stripped by someone else after Austin Coil and company got rid of it. I rebuilt the hemi and got a friend to build a competition torque flite, and I put them in the Barracuda. I couldn't afford to run it, so I essentially gave it away to the guy who was going to drive it and let him take over the financing. I worked for him for a percentage of the gross. We named it Flite Master, which was the name of the transmission builder who gave us the free gearboxes (which had to be changed every run). It went 7.42, 205 at Kansas City. The best it had done in its Chi-Town days was 7.35, 197. But it was only with the advice of Coil that I was able to make it work that well. My driver at the time was a mint 1969 Lincoln Mark III. It eventually shorted out while parked in my driveway and basically burned to the ground. It was a beautiful car. Sad. I followed with a 63 Impala Super Sport that was kind of trashed. After the Barracuda, we built an all new funny car: a 1973 Dodge mini Charger, which was a shortened and narrowed fiberglass Charger body on a tube chassis. The Charger managed a best of 6.51, 225 at New York National Dragway on Long Island. It was called Qu Voe Charger. Qu Voe was an automotive additive company that gave us 10K. A lot of money in those days. After two years we replaced the Charger with a 1974 Corvette named Fever. It was yellow and beautiful. but it handled like doo-doo, as a result of the short tail and not enough rear downforce. It did a best of 6.35, 237 but crashed violently.. Eight end over ends at over 200 mph and a ball of flame. . The driver walked away with a concussion and broken ribs. After that we ran a Mustang that looked like a police car, complete with mars lights, and was called Chicago Patrol. It ran 6.41, but it was short lived, because the guy who drove it and owned it went to jail. That, of course, is another story for another day. My daily driver at the time was a 1969 Javelin that belonged to the girl I married. That was followed by a 1973 Hornet, because only an AMC dealer would take the Javelin in trade. Next was a Toyota toaster van. By the I was working for car magazines, so I always had a press car. Got into advertising shortly thereafter, working on the Jaguar account and bough a Jag 79 XJ12L in 1985. Kept it for 22 years. Next were company cars from ad agencies: a Lincoln Town Car, a Buick Park Avenue, and a Dodge Intrepid. That was followed by a Dodge
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
I guess I'll play also - 1953 VW used- yeah the one with a split rear window. 1959 Bugeye Sprite - used with factory fibreglass hard top, with radials on the front bias on the rear a real fun ride - my college ride - sold for what I paid for it. 1966 Shelby GT 350 new - bought new the last month in college - this one could go faster in second than the Bugeye could top out at. While on my way to Dearborn from New Jersey, for my job at Ford, I topped it out on the Ohio Turnpike at slightly over 140mph (indicated). Unfortunately some one else wanted it more than me - it was stolen 5 months later and the remains were found in 4 days behind a gas station near Flatrock speedway, near Toledo, ah if only Could have bought a new 66 GT350 from Ford WHQ but decided I didn't want to go thru that again. Got a speeding ticket while test driving a 66 911S Porsche, passed it up for a new 67 Cougar GT. Got married - things change alot here Wife got the Cougar, I picked up a well used 66 Ford Fairlane with the hypo 289 4 speed. Did a clutch job on it in a driveway decided I'll never do that again !968 Falcon 6 cyl/auto used - solid cheap transportation 1969 Mercury Capri new - that I managed to turn into a non streetable car with alot of suspension engine mods making it very competitive in local gymkhanas and almost a 'B' sedan for SCCA racing. 1972 (?) Pinto Wagon new - with some engine mods some BFG radials it became a great traveler. 1972 Ford Maverick used - more solid transportation for my daily commute 1975 Ford Econoline E350 used - a brute but very dependable 1976 Ford Econoline E 150 new - less of a brute still dependable. 1979 Fiesta S new - A well build little commuter that really performed, I loved the 1600cc crossflow pushrod engine in it. 1982 - began a 24 year run of company lease vehicles - Always tried to lease vehicles I would like to own - included several Thunderbirds (including Super Coupes), one of every year Taurus SHO's, several Explorers, Mercury Scorpio, several Escapes others I can't remember. 1995 Ford Contour v6/5 speed new - a great handling commuter vehicle for me. 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. 2008 2009 Escape FWD new - nice size for two people long distance travel. My auto tails to date Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
Ken, Did you ever blow any of the head gaskets on the Super Coupes ? - Original Message - From: Ken Waller kwal...@peoplepc.com To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Sent: Saturday, June 6, 2009 12:56:31 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras) I guess I'll play also - 1953 VW used- yeah the one with a split rear window. 1959 Bugeye Sprite - used with factory fibreglass hard top, with radials on the front bias on the rear a real fun ride - my college ride - sold for what I paid for it. 1966 Shelby GT 350 new - bought new the last month in college - this one could go faster in second than the Bugeye could top out at. While on my way to Dearborn from New Jersey, for my job at Ford, I topped it out on the Ohio Turnpike at slightly over 140mph (indicated). Unfortunately some one else wanted it more than me - it was stolen 5 months later and the remains were found in 4 days behind a gas station near Flatrock speedway, near Toledo, ah if only Could have bought a new 66 GT350 from Ford WHQ but decided I didn't want to go thru that again. Got a speeding ticket while test driving a 66 911S Porsche, passed it up for a new 67 Cougar GT. Got married - things change alot here Wife got the Cougar, I picked up a well used 66 Ford Fairlane with the hypo 289 4 speed. Did a clutch job on it in a driveway decided I'll never do that again !968 Falcon 6 cyl/auto used - solid cheap transportation 1969 Mercury Capri new - that I managed to turn into a non streetable car with alot of suspension engine mods making it very competitive in local gymkhanas and almost a 'B' sedan for SCCA racing. 1972 (?) Pinto Wagon new - with some engine mods some BFG radials it became a great traveler. 1972 Ford Maverick used - more solid transportation for my daily commute 1975 Ford Econoline E350 used - a brute but very dependable 1976 Ford Econoline E 150 new - less of a brute still dependable. 1979 Fiesta S new - A well build little commuter that really performed, I loved the 1600cc crossflow pushrod engine in it. 1982 - began a 24 year run of company lease vehicles - Always tried to lease vehicles I would like to own - included several Thunderbirds (including Super Coupes), one of every year Taurus SHO's, several Explorers, Mercury Scorpio, several Escapes others I can't remember. 1995 Ford Contour v6/5 speed new - a great handling commuter vehicle for me. 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. 2008 2009 Escape FWD new - nice size for two people long distance travel. My auto tails to date Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras)
On Jun 5, 2009, at 21:56 , Ken Waller wrote: 2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are designed by people that know what a driver wants provide it. Exactly my feelings after only an hour in my 1973 914 2.0, 30 years earlier, after disappointing test drives in a 240Z and a Fiat Spyder the same week. Weight distribution, braking, cornering, shifting, and comfort all were exceptional. Acceleration was very good for a 4 cylinder engine. Plenty of passenger room for my soon to be wife, or my Malamute, but not both. Ended up buying her an identical used 914 for her 21st birthday in 1979, a 1.7 ltr that I had to do some upgrading on to get the same performance and appearance groups installed (vinyl sails, chrome bumpers, mag wheels, sway bars front and rear, some upholstery) and yes, she was quite a bit younger than I. Without me the car weighed 2173 lbs. A few hundred lbs less when I auto-crossed thanks to no spare tire, no passenger seat, no door or seat-back panels, no floor carpet front or rear, shaved Minilites vs stock mags, no tools, lighter Gel based battery, no trunk mats front or rear, unlined braced but ground lightened roof. In other words, stock. :-) Though utilizing the flat 6 engine from the 911 series, the Boxster was positioned as the 914 was to be an entry level car to suck you into Porsche's grip. If it doesn’t excite you, This thing that you see, Why in the world, Would it excite me? —Jay Maisel Joseph McAllister pentax...@mac.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Consumer Reports on cool cameras
For those who do not live in the US, Consumer Reports is published by Consumers Union, the world's largest independent consumer product testing organization. The cover story of the July 2009 issue of Consumer Reports is entitled: Cool Cameras -- best point-and-shoots SLRs of 77 we tested (some under $150). The camera rated Best point-and shoot under $150 is the Pentax Optio M50. They conclude that it is small enough to fit in a pocket and has very good first-shot delay and a 5X zoom but only a simulated stabilizer. The Best basic SLR is the Pentax K200D: it is better designed to keep out moisture and dust, with the lens on, then other basic SLRs. It's one of the few basic models with an LCD screen on top that displays exposure and other settings. True, more expensive Canon and Nikon models are rated higher that the Optio M50 overall, and Nikon and Canon top the Advanced SLR category, in which the K20 ranks 6 out of 6, but that ain't bad at all for a little company like Pentax. What until they get their hands on a D-7! Dan -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 05:26:21PM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: True, more expensive Canon and Nikon models are rated higher that the Optio M50 overall, and Nikon and Canon top the Advanced SLR category, in which the K20 ranks 6 out of 6, but that ain't bad at all for a little company like Pentax. What until they get their hands on a D-7! Or even a K-7. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
OOOPS! Obviously, I meant K-7, not D-7. I have got to start proof-reading before I hit Send! Dan On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 5:42 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 05:26:21PM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: True, more expensive Canon and Nikon models are rated higher that the Optio M50 overall, and Nikon and Canon top the Advanced SLR category, in which the K20 ranks 6 out of 6, but that ain't bad at all for a little company like Pentax. What until they get their hands on a D-7! Or even a K-7. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Although by the time Consumer Reports does this again, there will be a new round of cameras from Canon and Nikon. Timing is everything. Unfortunately, Consumer Reports, for all their incompetence, holds large sway in the U.S. On Jun 4, 2009, at 5:47 PM, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: OOOPS! Obviously, I meant K-7, not D-7. I have got to start proof-reading before I hit Send! Dan On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 5:42 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 05:26:21PM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: True, more expensive Canon and Nikon models are rated higher that the Optio M50 overall, and Nikon and Canon top the Advanced SLR category, in which the K20 ranks 6 out of 6, but that ain't bad at all for a little company like Pentax. What until they get their hands on a D-7! Or even a K-7. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
- Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Although by the time Consumer Reports does this again, there will be a new round of cameras from Canon and Nikon. Timing is everything. Unfortunately, Consumer Reports, for all their incompetence, holds large sway in the U.S. I had a fellow in my store the other day going on about how consumer reports was listing Toyotas as just about the worst cars made (why this kind of converstion happens in photolabs is beyond my limited comprehension skills) because consumer reports was putting GMs ahead of everyone else. I asked him what their criteria was, since everything I had heard about Toyota was that they were on par with one piece hammers for reliability. No answer of course. I suspect they are teamed up with JD Power, which is another group that seems to have their heads in their nether regions. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
I wouldn't buy a camera based on advice from Consumer Reports, but I'm happy to see this article. Any good press about Pentax cameras helps the company, which benefits all of us Pentax users. Dan On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 8:14 PM, William Robb war...@gmail.com wrote: - Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Although by the time Consumer Reports does this again, there will be a new round of cameras from Canon and Nikon. Timing is everything. Unfortunately, Consumer Reports, for all their incompetence, holds large sway in the U.S. I had a fellow in my store the other day going on about how consumer reports was listing Toyotas as just about the worst cars made (why this kind of converstion happens in photolabs is beyond my limited comprehension skills) because consumer reports was putting GMs ahead of everyone else. I asked him what their criteria was, since everything I had heard about Toyota was that they were on par with one piece hammers for reliability. No answer of course. I suspect they are teamed up with JD Power, which is another group that seems to have their heads in their nether regions. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made outside the U.S. In my opinion J.D. Power is much more accurate. I worked with them over they years, and they were untouchable at any price. They gave very high grades to GM cars. Paul On Jun 4, 2009, at 8:14 PM, William Robb wrote: - Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras Although by the time Consumer Reports does this again, there will be a new round of cameras from Canon and Nikon. Timing is everything. Unfortunately, Consumer Reports, for all their incompetence, holds large sway in the U.S. I had a fellow in my store the other day going on about how consumer reports was listing Toyotas as just about the worst cars made (why this kind of converstion happens in photolabs is beyond my limited comprehension skills) because consumer reports was putting GMs ahead of everyone else. I asked him what their criteria was, since everything I had heard about Toyota was that they were on par with one piece hammers for reliability. No answer of course. I suspect they are teamed up with JD Power, which is another group that seems to have their heads in their nether regions. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 08:47:01PM -0400, paul stenquist wrote: He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made Interesting, because about 20 miles from where I'm sitting is the NUMMI plant where GMs and Toyotas are made on the same assembly line. In my experience Toyotas are great cars, if you're a fan of roll-steer. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.comhttp://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
- Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made outside the U.S. In my opinion J.D. Power is much more accurate. I worked with them over they years, and they were untouchable at any price. They gave very high grades to GM cars. I guess the questions are: What are their criteria? Is it initial owner impression or is it long term reliability? Are they testing the vehicles to failure or depending on consumer feedback? If it's consumer feedback, there is still a large contingent of people with the my great grand daddy drove a Ford, my grand daddy drove a Ford, my daddy drove a Ford, and by gumm, I'm not about to plunk my ass into the drivers seat of a Sake burner attitude around my neck of the woods, though it seems to be more of a half ton truck driver's mental illness. I had an uncle in Montana who wouldn't have a Japanese car on his driveway. He'd fought them as a marine in WWII, and as far as he was concerned, the war wasn't over, it's just the shooting that had ended. He was pretty uncomfortable when I showed up on his doorstep driving a BMW. Probably if he hadn't been standing on his doorstep at the time it would have been better for him. Around here, there are a lot more old Toyotas still on the road than old GMs Fords or Chryslers, so I'm not sure what they would be apologizing for on Toyota's behalf. They seem to make a pretty long lived automobile. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
J.D. Power does a variety of research studies. They measure initial satisfaction three year satisfaction and long term durability among other things. Initial Satisfaction tends to be a measure of dealership schmoozing more than anything else. The U.S. guys used to get killed on that, but they learned from the Japanese, and now many excel-- GM dealers in particular. American carmakers always did fairly well in long term durability, in spite of what you might hear. These days they do even better. I believe that three of the top six brands in durability were American in the last surveys. In terms of people defending their brand, other studies show that import buyers are much more likely to do that than are American car buyers. It's PC to drive an import. It's uncool to drive an American car. I used to write a column for the service industry. It appeared in Hearst's Motor magazine, and it was called Troubleshooter. The idea was to help service people with problems they couldn't solve. I had access to all the engineers and factory bulletins and tried to sort things out for the guys in the field. Our audience was largely domestic service people, but I got plenty of letters from import mechanics as ell. I rarely got letters from consumers -- with two notable exceptions. Honda and Peugeot. Honda owners were very distraught about recurring head gasket problems on Civics. But they always prefaced their complaint with praise for their car and a profession of deep love. They were all sure that they're car was an exception and all the other Hondas were problem free. Peugeot owners had myriad problems, and once in a while one of them would search out my phone number and call me. They were begging for help. Everything went wrong with those cars. But, still, they loved them. Go figure. Car research can be very misleading, because there's a lot going on. But in the states, the intelligentsia drive imports. It's part of their calling card. They won't be caught dead in an American made car. Their prejudices are based on bullshit, but they're powerful. Paul On Jun 4, 2009, at 9:00 PM, William Robb wrote: - Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made outside the U.S. In my opinion J.D. Power is much more accurate. I worked with them over they years, and they were untouchable at any price. They gave very high grades to GM cars. I guess the questions are: What are their criteria? Is it initial owner impression or is it long term reliability? Are they testing the vehicles to failure or depending on consumer feedback? If it's consumer feedback, there is still a large contingent of people with the my great grand daddy drove a Ford, my grand daddy drove a Ford, my daddy drove a Ford, and by gumm, I'm not about to plunk my ass into the drivers seat of a Sake burner attitude around my neck of the woods, though it seems to be more of a half ton truck driver's mental illness. I had an uncle in Montana who wouldn't have a Japanese car on his driveway. He'd fought them as a marine in WWII, and as far as he was concerned, the war wasn't over, it's just the shooting that had ended. He was pretty uncomfortable when I showed up on his doorstep driving a BMW. Probably if he hadn't been standing on his doorstep at the time it would have been better for him. Around here, there are a lot more old Toyotas still on the road than old GMs Fords or Chryslers, so I'm not sure what they would be apologizing for on Toyota's behalf. They seem to make a pretty long lived automobile. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 9:14 PM, paul stenquist pnstenqu...@comcast.net wrote: J.D. Power does a variety of research studies. They measure initial satisfaction three year satisfaction and long term durability among other things. Initial Satisfaction tends to be a measure of dealership schmoozing more than anything else. The U.S. guys used to get killed on that, but they learned from the Japanese, and now many excel-- GM dealers in particular. American carmakers always did fairly well in long term durability, in spite of what you might hear. These days they do even better. I believe that three of the top six brands in durability were American in the last surveys. I'm not surprised that the Big 3 do well in long term durability. It's the sort of thing that plays well to their strengths and frankly anything that makes it to that point without dying is likely going to last a while. It's the 3 year that is the most telling for most consumers though, since that's just about dead on the replacement cycle for cars for the majority of the new market. In terms of people defending their brand, other studies show that import buyers are much more likely to do that than are American car buyers. It's PC to drive an import. It's uncool to drive an American car. I used to write a column for the service industry. It appeared in Hearst's Motor magazine, and it was called Troubleshooter. The idea was to help service people with problems they couldn't solve. I had access to all the engineers and factory bulletins and tried to sort things out for the guys in the field. Our audience was largely domestic service people, but I got plenty of letters from import mechanics as ell. I rarely got letters from consumers -- with two notable exceptions. Honda and Peugeot. Honda owners were very distraught about recurring head gasket problems on Civics. But they always prefaced their complaint with praise for their car and a profession of deep love. They were all sure that they're car was an exception and all the other Hondas were problem free. Peugeot owners had myriad problems, and once in a while one of them would search out my phone number and call me. They were begging for help. Everything went wrong with those cars. But, still, they loved them. Go figure. Car research can be very misleading, because there's a lot going on. But in the states, the intelligentsia drive imports. It's part of their calling card. They won't be caught dead in an American made car. Their prejudices are based on bullshit, but they're powerful. Paul Somewhere approaching half the US population drives 'imports', many of which are actually made in the US unlike many big-3 products. It's not just the intelligentsia. The big 3 spent 30+ years making products that were for the most part distinctly inferior to the foreign brands while often providing a dealer experience that was once again far worse than the foreign brands. They didn't get their shit together on anything until the 90's and even then it was a crapshoot unless you were looking at a Taurus or an LH car. Even now if you look at say GM's best car, the Malibu, it's essentially a Corolla clone for the same money. If you're getting a Toyota clone for Toyota money, why not just buy the Toyota and not have to take the risk that the GM product will turn out to be a POS, just like every single one of its predecessors (which usually were hailed as 'just as good as the Japanese' when they came out too). People don't believe that the new products from the Big 3 are as good as the Japanese because the Big 3 have been feeding them that line since the 70's and it was flat out lies until recently. Frankly, I do like some Big 3 product. If I was in the market today I'd be buying a Ford Flex and my current car is a '94 Eagle Vision. I'm not biased against the big 3, but I have comparison shopped much of their product over the last 15 years and typically they came in well behind the major Japanese makers. Hell, I'd take a Kia over a Cobalt/G5 or Caliber any day. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
- Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras I rarely got letters from consumers -- with two notable exceptions. Honda and Peugeot. Honda owners were very distraught about recurring head gasket problems on Civics. But they always prefaced their complaint with praise for their car and a profession of deep love. They were all sure that they're car was an exception and all the other Hondas were problem free. Peugeot owners had myriad problems, and once in a while one of them would search out my phone number and call me. They were begging for help. Everything went wrong with those cars. But, still, they loved them. Go figure. HAR!! My wife has owned two civics. The first one was a normal 2 valve car that was a paragon of reliability until it got hit by an early 70s full sized Mercury Roadboat. She liked it enough that she replaced it with a CVCC powered car. Blown head gaskets were an annual repair, the starter gave continual problems, as did the charging system. It also torque steered badly enough that it was almost uncontrollable on slippery streets. To be fair, it was a first model year for that engine, they have gotten better. The original CVCC design was flawed from the get go, and the local Honda dealer didn't make any effort towards customer satisfaction, to the point she sicced her law office on them. She grew to hate that car with a passion because it left her stranded more often than it got her to where she wanted to go. Contrast this with my experiecne with a Quad4 powered Grand Am. Wonderful car to drive, though the clutch took a bit of getting used to and the shifter was definitely crude by the standards of what I had been driving (BMW Honda Accord). Unfortunately at 22,000K the chain drive to the oil pump broke, and that was pretty much that. The car was just never fixed, and suffered all sorts of problems, mostly atributable, I am sure, to what I believe to be an incredibly dishonest dealer. A friend had some sort of Peugot back in the mid 1980s, he spent more time riding the bus than he did driving his car, which was perpetually broken. Apparently, on the rare occassions that it did run, it was a fun little car to drive which is why he kept it, I would have gotten tired of the one way trips much faster than he did. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
I bought a Toyota Corrola in 1980(?) to replace our '71 Olds Cutlass. It was the middle of the gas crisis and more fuel efficient made a lot of sense. The dealer in Racine, Wisconsin gouged us on price, but the car ran well for many miles. It was generally superior to the GM products we purchased afterwards. After a while, the US auto makers caught up in terms of my experiences with quality. The last two Ford vans have had some problems (engine brakes), but been pretty good otherwise. My wife loves her Accura TL and I thought it was relatively cheap. I blame the United Auto Workers for all the industry problems. They became too powerful. Regards, Bob S. On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 8:14 PM, paul stenquistpnstenqu...@comcast.net wrote: J.D. Power does a variety of research studies. They measure initial satisfaction three year satisfaction and long term durability among other things. Initial Satisfaction tends to be a measure of dealership schmoozing more than anything else. The U.S. guys used to get killed on that, but they learned from the Japanese, and now many excel-- GM dealers in particular. American carmakers always did fairly well in long term durability, in spite of what you might hear. These days they do even better. I believe that three of the top six brands in durability were American in the last surveys. In terms of people defending their brand, other studies show that import buyers are much more likely to do that than are American car buyers. It's PC to drive an import. It's uncool to drive an American car. I used to write a column for the service industry. It appeared in Hearst's Motor magazine, and it was called Troubleshooter. The idea was to help service people with problems they couldn't solve. I had access to all the engineers and factory bulletins and tried to sort things out for the guys in the field. Our audience was largely domestic service people, but I got plenty of letters from import mechanics as ell. I rarely got letters from consumers -- with two notable exceptions. Honda and Peugeot. Honda owners were very distraught about recurring head gasket problems on Civics. But they always prefaced their complaint with praise for their car and a profession of deep love. They were all sure that they're car was an exception and all the other Hondas were problem free. Peugeot owners had myriad problems, and once in a while one of them would search out my phone number and call me. They were begging for help. Everything went wrong with those cars. But, still, they loved them. Go figure. Car research can be very misleading, because there's a lot going on. But in the states, the intelligentsia drive imports. It's part of their calling card. They won't be caught dead in an American made car. Their prejudices are based on bullshit, but they're powerful. Paul On Jun 4, 2009, at 9:00 PM, William Robb wrote: - Original Message - From: paul stenquist Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made outside the U.S. In my opinion J.D. Power is much more accurate. I worked with them over they years, and they were untouchable at any price. They gave very high grades to GM cars. I guess the questions are: What are their criteria? Is it initial owner impression or is it long term reliability? Are they testing the vehicles to failure or depending on consumer feedback? If it's consumer feedback, there is still a large contingent of people with the my great grand daddy drove a Ford, my grand daddy drove a Ford, my daddy drove a Ford, and by gumm, I'm not about to plunk my ass into the drivers seat of a Sake burner attitude around my neck of the woods, though it seems to be more of a half ton truck driver's mental illness. I had an uncle in Montana who wouldn't have a Japanese car on his driveway. He'd fought them as a marine in WWII, and as far as he was concerned, the war wasn't over, it's just the shooting that had ended. He was pretty uncomfortable when I showed up on his doorstep driving a BMW. Probably if he hadn't been standing on his doorstep at the time it would have been better for him. Around here, there are a lot more old Toyotas still on the road than old GMs Fords or Chryslers, so I'm not sure what they would be apologizing for on Toyota's behalf. They seem to make a pretty long lived automobile. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On 6/4/09, paul stenquist pnstenqu...@comcast.net wrote: Car research can be very misleading, because there's a lot going on. But in the states, the intelligentsia drive imports. It's part of their calling card. They won't be caught dead in an American made car. Their prejudices are based on bullshit, but they're powerful. You can call it what you want, and claim one set of research backs this and another backs that, and it very well may be that some people are looking for a status symbol in their import, but I think for a lot of people, including myself, it comes down to personal experience. Mom and Dad bought one Ford after another from the mid-70s through the early 2000s. Dad believes they could have bought a couple more cars with the money they spent on repairs. So their latest vehicle was a Chrysler Town and Country. It spent most of last summer at three different dealerships because the first two couldn't figure out how to fix the AC that wouldn't stop blowing hot air. I've owned 2 Fords and 2 Dodge pickups. I've also had a VW, 2 Mazdas and 2 Nissans. Pick one of the American cars. Any of them, doesn't matter which. It needed more repairs than the 5 imports combined. Either I've had probability-defying bad luck or someone's lying about the quality of American cars. Couple that with the fact that they can't figure out ergonomics for anyone shorter than average and it adds up to I ain't giving them any more of my money. Period. And I don't give a damn what the magazines say. Bill nailed it with the bit about grand daddy's and daddy's and whatnot. They're the opposite of Paul's intelligentsia. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Cars I have owned: 1961 Sunbeam Alpine: more often dead than alive as a used car. I learned to repair it. Rusted away by '73 1971 Olds Cutlass: Drove thru 110K miles. Good performer, simple repairs. 1973 Olds Cutlass: Again, a good performer - sold after wife was rear ended in '78 (trunk leak) 1980 Toyota Corrola: Reliable, quality car if a bit spartan. 1982 Chevy Caprice: Comfortable car with minor problems. Drove the Wife Kiddies some 600 miles per weekend for family visits while Grandpa died of panceatic cancer. (Big car for the road) 1984(?) Pontiac Parisian (=Chevy Caprice): Big comfortable car with few problems. Had to get out of the Toyota for the daily commute on Chicago's Tri-state tollway 18 wheelers. 1988 Olds 88 Royal: Another fine performer, reliable, comfortable, mid-sized. 1991 Olds Station Wagon: Comfortable touring on multiple family vacations, very good 1993 Buick Regal: Pretty car, but not very reliable. Dealership couldn't fix it's problems. 1995 Mercury Marque (used in '97): Big iron for the kids to drive, worked fine. 1997 Cadillac (used in '99): Neighbor insisted we buy his low milage car - trouble always, dead by '03 1998 Ford Explorer (used in '00): Son drove thru 100K miles without major problems. 1998 Mercury Nautica Van: 18 inches too short, but best van we've had - shared platform with Nissan Quest. 2002 Ford Windstar Van: OK performer, but major engine issues at 60K miles 2003 Olds Aurora (used in '05): Another problem car 2005 Accura TL: very nice car! 2006 Ford Freestar: OK, but mysterious brake problems - chatter 2003 Corvette (used in '08): Only 7K miles and a pleasure to drive! Overall, the recent experiences with the 1st year Mercury van built in conjunction with Nissan and the Accura TL have made a very favorable impression for the foreign engineering. Ford has been OK by me, but nothing outstanding. Meanwhile, the recent GM experiences with Buick, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile have been problematic. I won't go there again. Regards, Bob S. On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 9:00 PM, Scott Lovelesssdlovel...@gmail.com wrote: On 6/4/09, paul stenquist pnstenqu...@comcast.net wrote: Car research can be very misleading, because there's a lot going on. But in the states, the intelligentsia drive imports. It's part of their calling card. They won't be caught dead in an American made car. Their prejudices are based on bullshit, but they're powerful. You can call it what you want, and claim one set of research backs this and another backs that, and it very well may be that some people are looking for a status symbol in their import, but I think for a lot of people, including myself, it comes down to personal experience. Mom and Dad bought one Ford after another from the mid-70s through the early 2000s. Dad believes they could have bought a couple more cars with the money they spent on repairs. So their latest vehicle was a Chrysler Town and Country. It spent most of last summer at three different dealerships because the first two couldn't figure out how to fix the AC that wouldn't stop blowing hot air. I've owned 2 Fords and 2 Dodge pickups. I've also had a VW, 2 Mazdas and 2 Nissans. Pick one of the American cars. Any of them, doesn't matter which. It needed more repairs than the 5 imports combined. Either I've had probability-defying bad luck or someone's lying about the quality of American cars. Couple that with the fact that they can't figure out ergonomics for anyone shorter than average and it adds up to I ain't giving them any more of my money. Period. And I don't give a damn what the magazines say. Bill nailed it with the bit about grand daddy's and daddy's and whatnot. They're the opposite of Paul's intelligentsia. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 10:54 PM, Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: 1961 Sunbeam Alpine: more often dead than alive as a used car. I learned to repair it. Rusted away by '73 1971 Olds Cutlass: Drove thru 110K miles. Good performer, simple repairs. 1973 Olds Cutlass: Again, a good performer - sold after wife was rear ended in '78 (trunk leak) 1980 Toyota Corrola: Reliable, quality car if a bit spartan. 1982 Chevy Caprice: Comfortable car with minor problems. Drove the Wife Kiddies some 600 miles per weekend for family visits while Grandpa died of panceatic cancer. (Big car for the road) 1984(?) Pontiac Parisian (=Chevy Caprice): Big comfortable car with few problems. Had to get out of the Toyota for the daily commute on Chicago's Tri-state tollway 18 wheelers. 1988 Olds 88 Royal: Another fine performer, reliable, comfortable, mid-sized. 1991 Olds Station Wagon: Comfortable touring on multiple family vacations, very good 1993 Buick Regal: Pretty car, but not very reliable. Dealership couldn't fix it's problems. 1995 Mercury Marque (used in '97): Big iron for the kids to drive, worked fine. 1997 Cadillac (used in '99): Neighbor insisted we buy his low milage car - trouble always, dead by '03 1998 Ford Explorer (used in '00): Son drove thru 100K miles without major problems. 1998 Mercury Nautica Van: 18 inches too short, but best van we've had - shared platform with Nissan Quest. 2002 Ford Windstar Van: OK performer, but major engine issues at 60K miles 2003 Olds Aurora (used in '05): Another problem car 2005 Accura TL: very nice car! 2006 Ford Freestar: OK, but mysterious brake problems - chatter 2003 Corvette (used in '08): Only 7K miles and a pleasure to drive! Overall, the recent experiences with the 1st year Mercury van built in conjunction with Nissan and the Accura TL have made a very favorable impression for the foreign engineering. Ford has been OK by me, but nothing outstanding. Meanwhile, the recent GM experiences with Buick, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile have been problematic. I won't go there again. Regards, Bob S. Offhand it looks like you had your best experiences with the big Detroit iron (aside from the Caddy, which were known for problems in the late 90's/early 2000's models). Not all that surprising an experience, big iron is what Detroit spent their dollars doing right. The smaller stuff had more issues. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Agreed! On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 9:59 PM, Adam Maasa...@mawz.ca wrote: On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 10:54 PM, Bob Sullivan rf.sulli...@gmail.com wrote: Cars I have owned: 1961 Sunbeam Alpine: more often dead than alive as a used car. I learned to repair it. Rusted away by '73 1971 Olds Cutlass: Drove thru 110K miles. Good performer, simple repairs. 1973 Olds Cutlass: Again, a good performer - sold after wife was rear ended in '78 (trunk leak) 1980 Toyota Corrola: Reliable, quality car if a bit spartan. 1982 Chevy Caprice: Comfortable car with minor problems. Drove the Wife Kiddies some 600 miles per weekend for family visits while Grandpa died of panceatic cancer. (Big car for the road) 1984(?) Pontiac Parisian (=Chevy Caprice): Big comfortable car with few problems. Had to get out of the Toyota for the daily commute on Chicago's Tri-state tollway 18 wheelers. 1988 Olds 88 Royal: Another fine performer, reliable, comfortable, mid-sized. 1991 Olds Station Wagon: Comfortable touring on multiple family vacations, very good 1993 Buick Regal: Pretty car, but not very reliable. Dealership couldn't fix it's problems. 1995 Mercury Marque (used in '97): Big iron for the kids to drive, worked fine. 1997 Cadillac (used in '99): Neighbor insisted we buy his low milage car - trouble always, dead by '03 1998 Ford Explorer (used in '00): Son drove thru 100K miles without major problems. 1998 Mercury Nautica Van: 18 inches too short, but best van we've had - shared platform with Nissan Quest. 2002 Ford Windstar Van: OK performer, but major engine issues at 60K miles 2003 Olds Aurora (used in '05): Another problem car 2005 Accura TL: very nice car! 2006 Ford Freestar: OK, but mysterious brake problems - chatter 2003 Corvette (used in '08): Only 7K miles and a pleasure to drive! Overall, the recent experiences with the 1st year Mercury van built in conjunction with Nissan and the Accura TL have made a very favorable impression for the foreign engineering. Ford has been OK by me, but nothing outstanding. Meanwhile, the recent GM experiences with Buick, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile have been problematic. I won't go there again. Regards, Bob S. Offhand it looks like you had your best experiences with the big Detroit iron (aside from the Caddy, which were known for problems in the late 90's/early 2000's models). Not all that surprising an experience, big iron is what Detroit spent their dollars doing right. The smaller stuff had more issues. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Hey, while we're on the subject of cars, I have a '95 Chevy Cavalier that I absolutely hate but still kinda need. It recently lost compression in two cylinders, according to the mechanic (who also said it probably wasn't worth repairing). Do you wise auto gurus think it could be just a blown head gasket, or something worse? Thanks, John -- http://www.neovenator.com http://www.cafepress.com/calemp http://www.cafepress.com/neovenatorphoto -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Lets see, My car history has been '56 Pontiac, 62' Peugot, 68 AMC, '67 Porsche 912, '68 Porsche 912 #1 (mine), '68 Porsche 912 #2 (wife's), '75 Ford F150 van, '80 Subaru station wagon, '90 Dodge minivan, '93 Cherokee, '00 Chrysler Town Country, and, as of last night, '09 Grand Cherokee. Along the way various wives have owned the aforementioned Porsche, Toyota pickup, Honda Civic, VW Bug, Nissan something or other, Jeep Wrangler, and Eagle Vision. The '94 Vision is getting a bit clunky at 170,000 miles, but runs fine. (And my 5' wife has no problem driving it.) The TC van I traded on the new Cherokee had 150,000 and in that period had the muffler replaced and the brakes replaced. Period. Well, tires of course. Oh, and I had it tuned at 70,000 miles and oil change and fluid check every 3-5,000 miles. The Vision and the TC have been far and away the most reliable vehicles of all those I've owned or been associated with. The Subaru lasted for 175,000 (and was the only smallish car at the time that allowed me to sit upright, maybe even wear a hat.) But IMHO for comfort, hauling/towing capacity, and low repair costs the TC (and I expect the new Jeep) put the current Subarus to shame. Obviously, in this car love/hate thing, YMMV. stan On Jun 4, 2009, at 9:00 PM, Scott Loveless wrote: On 6/4/09, paul stenquist pnstenqu...@comcast.net wrote: Car research can be very misleading, because there's a lot going on. But in the states, the intelligentsia drive imports. It's part of their calling card. They won't be caught dead in an American made car. Their prejudices are based on bullshit, but they're powerful. You can call it what you want, and claim one set of research backs this and another backs that, and it very well may be that some people are looking for a status symbol in their import, but I think for a lot of people, including myself, it comes down to personal experience. Mom and Dad bought one Ford after another from the mid-70s through the early 2000s. Dad believes they could have bought a couple more cars with the money they spent on repairs. So their latest vehicle was a Chrysler Town and Country. It spent most of last summer at three different dealerships because the first two couldn't figure out how to fix the AC that wouldn't stop blowing hot air. I've owned 2 Fords and 2 Dodge pickups. I've also had a VW, 2 Mazdas and 2 Nissans. Pick one of the American cars. Any of them, doesn't matter which. It needed more repairs than the 5 imports combined. Either I've had probability-defying bad luck or someone's lying about the quality of American cars. Couple that with the fact that they can't figure out ergonomics for anyone shorter than average and it adds up to I ain't giving them any more of my money. Period. And I don't give a damn what the magazines say. Bill nailed it with the bit about grand daddy's and daddy's and whatnot. They're the opposite of Paul's intelligentsia. -- Scott Loveless Cigarette-free since December 14th, 2008 http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
If they're adjacent cylinders, it could very well be a blown head gasket. However, just replacing the gasket usually won't solve the problem. The block and head will probably need resurfacing. You should probably hunt down a good low-cost replacement. Major repairs are expensive, even if you do it yourself. Look for another car that runs well but has zero appeal. That's where you'll find the bargains. Paul On Jun 4, 2009, at 11:38 PM, John Celio wrote: Hey, while we're on the subject of cars, I have a '95 Chevy Cavalier that I absolutely hate but still kinda need. It recently lost compression in two cylinders, according to the mechanic (who also said it probably wasn't worth repairing). Do you wise auto gurus think it could be just a blown head gasket, or something worse? Thanks, John -- http://www.neovenator.com http://www.cafepress.com/calemp http://www.cafepress.com/neovenatorphoto -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras
Toyotas are great cars, if you're a fan of roll-steer. And about 98% of the Anmerican buying public has no idea what that is. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f - Original Message - From: Larry Colen l...@red4est.com Subject: Re: Consumer Reports on cool cameras On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 08:47:01PM -0400, paul stenquist wrote: He had it completely wrong. Consumer Reports recommends all Toyotas and no GM cars. For the most part, they're apologists for any car made Interesting, because about 20 miles from where I'm sitting is the NUMMI plant where GMs and Toyotas are made on the same assembly line. In my experience Toyotas are great cars, if you're a fan of roll-steer. -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
