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I had an '84 Subaru hatchback that had the two speed transfer case. I think I used the low range exactly once when I owned it. I wonder what the max gradient is on the inclines they took that Subaru. I think it should have been able to take it without stalling. I calculated the ratios, and in...

Bad news: searching for a solution to the loping idle and fluttering vacuum gauge I found the intake valve on the number 2 cylinder was frozen open. Probably from all the years sitting parked outside. Freed that up today, and decided to run the engine. Loudest rod knock I've ever heard. Going...

The world's not going to end if you have to postpone a vacation for a few weeks.

Disease is and historically has been spread by travel. And the more people travel, the more diseases spread. Staying put for a month or two, is asking very, very little of people. I'd actually be very wary of traveling to small towns and "middle of nowheres" right now, as a lot of these places...

Back in the 80s, there was a company called Jet Industries, that imported Subaru Sambar vans and converted them to electric. Mostly sold for fleet use to utility companies, factories, etc. If all driving was low speed, the range was actually pretty good. About 15 years ago when I still lived in...

Found a cool photo of the Saab that placed 1st in class in the 1970 Baja 500. It is interesting to me that in 1971 the winner of this class was Rodney Hall himself, in a Ford Maverick with a 302, but he didn't even come close to beating the time Lindqvist set in the Saab in '70.

Since I'm not able to proceed with work on the suspension for the moment, turned to doing other jobs. Got out a can of rubbing compound and started seeing what I can do with this paint. The car was repainted, presumably after the collision that bent up the front, and that repaint is not very...

The '68 Saab I'm working on (as in my avatar) has a 3.56 first, and 4.88 final drive. And such short legged gearing was not unusual in prewar cars. 0.83 for fourth, so the spread of ratios is pretty big (although, not really big enough with such a highly geared final). Old automatics weren't...

For a few decades when three speeds was standard, fourth if offered, was the overdrive. You can have have the same spread of gearing between two gears as you can have with 10 gears. All we've been adding really is more intermediate gears. Partly because this improves city fuel economy, but...

Are they? And if so, why? Do you mean higher gearing, as in numerically higher (ie. more revs for a given road speed)? I've only ever owned one car with a 5 speed, and 5th gear was pretty much just for highway use. I'm not sure what advantage, if any, a sixth gear would offer a vehicle. I...

Wired up the fog lights today. The lamps are vintage Lumax units, mentioned earlier. The switch is a "Lucas" illuminated unit, I got off ebay. Advertised as being for a Land Rover Series 2. I don't think it has anything to do with Lucas. It was sort of disappointingly chintzy in feel and...

The shop that was supposed to press in new bushings, declined to do so, so I've had a bit of a setback. Thankfully, I found a friend of a friend who has a hydraulic press and we'll be pressing the old ones out in a week or so. Still have to find somebody to reinforce the A-arms and shock mounts...

The future may be electric, but the "Cybertruck" is not it. I guess it'd be ok for going to the mall though.

It's alive! Started and ran with surprisingly little fuss. Carb's auto-choke doesn't work properly. Probably easiest to just remove it. Didn't seem to like running with any choke at all, and it never gets that cold in Texas anyway. After it warmed up a bit, it settled into a very slow John...

Got it started and running on gasoline today after filling with new oil and swapping on a new oil filter. Only ran it for about a minute. I'm not sure it was running on all cylinders, but there wasn't a stench of unburnt fuel, so maybe the extreme lumpiness was due to a timing issue. It does...

A few months ago I was watching some youtube videos about the SVEA 123. But something was absolutely BOGGLING my mind. In every single video the person would light the stove in an overly complicated, and in my opinion, needlessly hazardous way. I saw many different approaches, but most of them...

Yes, has the freewheel in the transmission. It's a feature that was put in for the 2-stroke motors, since the 2-stroke has its engine oil mixed with the gas, when the throttle is closed, no gas, no oil, seized engine. So engine braking was a big no-no, the freewheel allows the car to coast...

Well back on this. Dropped the A-arms off at a shop finally for new bushings. Looking at bump stops now. Deciding on whether to go with the original solid bullet-style or if there is something better suited for rough road use. Hoping to have the car driving next month, but it's still going to be...

Update, Spring and A-arms are out. Now to reinforce the A-arms and shock mounts, and put in the new bushings, ball joints, and bump stops. I've pushed in bushings at home before, and while possible, it's a PITA, so I'm going to find a shop to do these ones for me.

Just confuse them with this one: