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We need to take Climate Change seriously


Dibya

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I have to chuckle at the issue of battery life.

I own SIX vehicles.  A '55, a '61, a '90, a '91, an '07, and an '08.

The '90 and '91 can only sit for about a week and a half between starts.

The '07 is a motorcycle and can sit about a month between starts.

The '55 and '61 can sit for THREE MONTHS between starts - but I generally start them at least once a month to circulate oil.

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I've always thought that this would make the perfect project car.

I owned one of these during my High School years - first engine I ever rebuilt.

It's an '84 Plymouth Horizon and I owned one between '88 and '91.

4 cylinder 2.2L manual 5-speed.

Brand new these things exceeded 30+ mpg highway (low to today's econo-cars, but this was great efficiency in the late 80s - and it was a CARBURETOR, no fuel injection!).

I had this thing running at FORTY TWO MPG HIGHWAY as my first engine rebuild/modification !!!

I think it would make a fun project as a conversion to COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS - fill up right from the natural gas line running to my furnace and water heater.

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Edited by ArcticFoxie
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The solution to climate change appears to be moving more consumers to electricity, transportation, house heating, cooking, but without adding new nuclear power stations to increase supply. Electricity here has doubled in price since last year. Officials take European money and buy useless hydrogen powered buses, and probably pocket a good fraction of the funds.

I'm using the same facemask that I got for free after entering a market, and refuse to pay for these things.

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44 minutes ago, j7n said:

I'm using the same facemask that I got for free after entering a market, and refuse to pay for these things.

Too funny!  I'm not an "anti-vax'er" or against masks per se, but I like to give public servants (gas stations, fast food, retail, grocery) employees a hard time, "How well does that mask work when it looks so dirty that it looks like you picked it up off the floor?"  Or, "How well does that mask work when you wear it on your chin like that and not even covering your nose (sometimes not even their mouths!)?"

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I was against masks at the beginning, hence my avatar of Araym of Jinaam, who were at war with the Ankarans and released a plague. But now I enjoy being able to go for groceries without shaving and with bad breath. The mask doesn't get that dirty, only the string around the ears. I poured technical alcohol on it a couple times.

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8 hours ago, ArcticFoxie said:

4 cylinder 2.2L manual 5-speed.

wait american car drive by american with manual transmission:buehehe:. Ok that was bad joke that european say from americans since many do not seem to be able drive manual anymore and manual earned nickname anti theft stick. Something more strange is seeing drivers complaining from car having power key instead start stop engine thingy. How hard using key can be? All you need to do is turn it all way to start engine then release. For me it makes it harder as it prevents manually adjust starting motor. In cold weather you may need slam accerlator while turning on to make engine start and automatic usually fails to do it.

Anyway that car seems like a great thing. Funny that here 2.2l is considered as dirty and cars with that engine size generally got 500+ euros emission tax every year (like that is gonna make emission disappear). I do not know from chrysler engines since everyone here got v6 or higher cylinder chrysler because that is something many other cars did not offer as option. But I got experience from General Motors L61 ecotec 2.2l non turbo. Those were used in original Opel Zafira A and Opel Speedster (Saturn sky) until 2004 or so. They had diesel block despite being petrol powered and that is why they were so reliable. One can easily reach 400 000km without leakages, it gets 8-10l/100km on highway (sorry I do not know from MPG). I am surprised GM engine lasts that long consider lot atleast newers fails out early.

For me 2.2l is not big at all and pushing small engine too high can have all type of side effects. Wonder how long those 1.2l heavily turbocharged engines last? Honda 1.5l earthdream engine already has oil dilution issues even on latest european model that do not exist on lower powered 2.0l vtec earthdream engine. Less engine gets excess strain longer it lasts.

7 hours ago, j7n said:

The solution to climate change appears to be moving more consumers to electricity, transportation, house heating, cooking, but without adding new nuclear power stations to increase supply. Electricity here has doubled in price since last year. Officials take European money and buy useless hydrogen powered buses, and probably pocket a good fraction of the funds.

Climate protection is done with € or $ or <insert your country currency symbol here> on eyes. Consumertards buy wasteful unreliable stuff in belief they are saving the earth. Worst example that made me question this world was when one guy explained me how he did good thing by wasting his old phone and buying new iPhone that had no charger that saved E-waste:wacko:. How about not buying brand new device every year from companies that design anti repair garbage and trying extend old one that work just fine as long as can? That would actually help reducing waste, but no since could not consoom then. Sure I got plenty of phones from 1995-2008, but all of them I saved from being disposed into e-waste or were phones I already owned and all got user replacable batteries and casing is held by few screws at worse if need to replace and most got Xpress on cover or similar easily swappable. Same applies to most computers I got. Lot of them were saved same faith. Diamondtron CRT I got friend actually saved from building that was about to get demolished along with other working stuff to himself (he had permission to take stuff from one floor).

I would actually make better news article to one newspaper than most of it environmental hippies showed. Every time it is someone who buys last year iPhone (I have no idea why it always must be iPhone) or macbook and most of article is saying Apple makes devices last longer with offering updates and let just ignore batteries are long dead before you reach few year unless you take battery surgery that is dangerous to phone and how Macbooks are stronger than laptops (Thinkpads or HP compaq NC/NX series anyone?). But I would not be trending since wont run after latest fashion trends and operate equipments that are from 1990s at best. EV and other are just trend

I would not mind all that if it was not shoved down my throat. I do not care if you drive EV, there is actually some useful cases to one like doing short inside town areas (though bicycle works better to it), I do not care and can actually understand why some uses smartphone, my personal preference is simple brick but some may need access to email anywhere by work or something else and I am not declining it.

What I am against is wasteful design or modern equipments. Easy of service is important to longevity of equipment. Good example is saab 900 turbo where fuse box is under the hood and fuses are clearly marked so do not need manual to replace one and that car got engine that can last 500 000km without leaks if kept good care. Same applies to phones and laptops. Non user replacable batteries are anticonsumer feature that purpose if prevent consumer from extending device life themself. There used to be long time pretty much standard that battery was held on place by backcover or was mounted at back of laptop, but that changed one point to internal ones for no good reason.

I could list lot more examples but you get the point. I am against badly designed equipment, but do not care from something until someone starts shoving it down my throat

 

 

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5 hours ago, Mr.Scienceman2000 said:

wait american car drive by american with manual transmission:buehehe:.

My '55 is a "three-on-the-tree"  --  manual 3-speed where the shifter is on the steering column.

My '61 is a "four-on-the-floor"  --  manual 4-speed with the shifter on the floor and that was what they called them in the 60s.

My '90 is a 5-speed manual turbo.

My '91 is a 5-speed manual.

My '07 is a 4-speed manual.

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13 minutes ago, ArcticFoxie said:

My '55 is a "three-on-the-tree"  --  manual 3-speed where the shifter is on the steering column.

My '61 is a "four-on-the-floor"  --  manual 4-speed with the shifter on the floor and that was what they called them in the 60s.

My '90 is a 5-speed manual turbo.

My '91 is a 5-speed manual.

My '07 is a 4-speed manual.

I know lot of US cars had manual transmission. I just like to make fun of inability drive with manual gearbox AT ALL. There has been even car theft attempts that fell short since weird three pedals and strange stick. It does not take lot intelligent to take off with manual on flat surface. Before learnt to shift proper I was able take off with high revving on manual. Good to see someone who likes manuals too. Sure there is advantages on automatic like not rolling backwards when take off on hill, less likely to stall, but manual gives more control and lasts way longer. Only seen major manual gearbox failure for downshifting too low gear that will kill any gearbox.

Edited by Mr.Scienceman2000
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6 hours ago, Mr.Scienceman2000 said:

Wonder how long those 1.2l heavily turbocharged engines last?

Now you tell me ? :w00t:

(I recently bought a 1.2 turbocharged, nominal 145 HP :ph34r:)

As I see it the issue is the poor engineering (not in itself, the poor engineering aimed to maintenance and replacements).

There is not one reason in the world why taking out the whole engine (possibly including the gearbox and/or in case of front traction whole front sub-assembly) should take anything more than 2 (two) hours of labour of two people, which (it depends on the country of course) could be valued nowadays more or less 4 hours x 50 Euro= 200 Euro and the same time to re-install a refurbished unit, total 400 Euro per intervention.

Refurbishing a (still working) unit cannot take more[2]  than 1500-2000 Euro in spares and 10 hours labour (one person) say 500 Euro.

So, if you routinely change the main unit every 100,000 km, including some (well deserved) 20% margin for the operators and the (stolen[1] by the state) VAT of 20-25% you get:

400+2000+500+100(various)=3000*1.2=3600*1.25=4500 Euro

This amounts to 4500/100,000=0.045 Euro/km, let's round it to 0.05

Compare with other costs (data just invented with common sense, 20000 km/year don't start nitpicking on sources and their reliability):

fuel: 1.50/20=0.075 -> 0.08

insurance: 1000/20000=0.05

taxes: 500/20000=0.025

ordinary maintenance: 2500/100000=0.025

It would make a lot of sense[3].

BTW overall it is not much different from the 12,000 Euro one would probably be asked nowadays to replace a 300,000 km engine (0.04).

jaclaz

 

 

[1] Yes, I mean exactly stolen
[2] by specialized workshops with all the needed tools and spares handy
[3] BTW this is the approach I have used for years (though for other prevailing reasons - production and availability of machines) in my tunnel construction site workshop for trucks, concrete mixers, wheel loaders, excavators  and similar, basically if the repair could keep potentially the machine in the workshop for more than 12 hours[4], we just switched the engine (or gearbox or both) with a spare complete unit and then repair the replaced one, it was a lot of money (initial investment for the spare units) but it largely repaid itself in non-lost production 
[4] the site was working 24/5 or 24/6, so 12 hours represented 8-10% of weekly production

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37 minutes ago, Mr.Scienceman2000 said:

I just like to make fun of inability drive with manual gearbox AT ALL.

I once had to drive home from University without a clutch cable!

So not only did I have to get the car MOVING but I had to drive FOUR HOURS never once coming to a complete stop.

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Oh, and one of the funnest parts of driving a MANUAL?

You know those types of people that TAILGATE folks - what does the person in FRONT do to tell them to back off?  They tap the brake pedal.

In a MANUAL you downshift and the TAILGATER nearly craps their pants, "Holy S#!t, that car is slowing down without a brake light!"

 

As far as rolling backward on a hill, my '61 has this technology  --  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill-holder

It existed in the LATE THIRTIES.

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1 hour ago, ArcticFoxie said:

I once had to drive home from University without a clutch cable!

So not only did I have to get the car MOVING but I had to drive FOUR HOURS never once coming to a complete stop.

That is kinda tough to do. Did you stall at all during trip?

1 hour ago, ArcticFoxie said:

In a MANUAL you downshift and the TAILGATER nearly craps their pants, "Holy S#!t, that car is slowing down without a brake light!"

why would somone want do that to someone, I would never ever do such a thing or do anything else to annyoing tailgaters :angel:whistle:. I cannot believe what said even myself. Everyone has done it some just never admit it:P

Edited by Mr.Scienceman2000
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1 hour ago, jaclaz said:

Now you tell me ? :w00t:

(I recently bought a 1.2 turbocharged, nominal 145 HP :ph34r:)

As I see it the issue is the poor engineering (not in itself, the poor engineering aimed to maintenance and replacements).

it is issue with too high turbocharging and too big cost cut. Weak engine block, gasket, cams is begging for trouble. They could sure make it reliable but it would cost too much. That seems like industrial standard to make stuff cheaply nowadays.

I have driven 1.2l Opel astra that claimed 145hp and also drive 2.2l L61 Opel zafira that had 2.2l engine with 145hp and can say I take 2.2l Opel without turbo anytime. I tried join the highway and reach 100km/h on ramp, but it did not accerlate even on higher revs. Then one point turbo kicked in giving short and too aggressive kick and then turned off. It could be horrible ecu design also. Same on zafira I do not need rev or hit gas pedal hard to reach 100km/h. When I hit accerlator it means I want power and do not care from fuel consumption. Also what is trend on designing cars to be too small? Did they consider there is that one 2meter guy who has barely room to press pedals without turning steering wheel? I need car with lot of room for a reason.

Only small high performance engine I would want is legendary Honda B16A, 1.6 that produced near 180hp without turbocharger while being reliable and relatively fuel efficent as long as VTEC was not enganed

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I gotta say that this is first and likely last board that can talk from climate change without going massive personal insults and and saying unrealistic soluctions like lets forbid all fuel powered cars, make heating with wood illegal etc.

This is only time I actually put up my opinions on topic related to climate change. Here everyone seems to have realistic image that there is no simple answer unlike some think and there is more than just fossil fuels that causes climate/environmental damage. And counter arguments are actually good.

Well this board members intelligent overall is beyond average board and it has it own unique contect other places do not have

Edited by Mr.Scienceman2000
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