What should I do with this car?

[Frank Lee]

Put a 5-speed in it.

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Put a 5-speed in it.

That's so crazy, it might work! I'd think a Subaru 5 (or 6) speed could be adapted. Weld the center diff, make an adapter for the engine and axles, and render the 'trep AWESOME. Offhand, I can't think of any other transmission that would be compatible with the LH cars' bizarro layout (longitudinal engine/FWD).

I actually want to put a Subaru drivetrain in my girlfriend's Intrepid, but she thinks that's absurd. What does she know, anyway?

[atomicradish]

These cars would have been awesome if they came with 5 speeds.

However... this car has the biggest trunk I've ever seen. I might read up on rigging up a massive HHO system. Just remove the spare & jack, cover the spare tire well with a garbage bag, fill it up with free ice from the coolers at my dad's work office, and shazam! Instant cooling for your HHO system...

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by RH77

A bit off topic -- a friend in college had a Mid-80's Celebrity Wagon. It had a 4-speed manual which I thought was odd. According to the story, it turns out that his Mom knew someone at the assembly plant, and had it installed as a custom item. Got to drive it once -- 2.5L -- nice ride.

Not sure if there's any truth to it, but I had only seen them in automatics...

RH77

All the a-bodies were available with a manual trans at some time or another. (Up till 85 or 86 you could also get them with a 4.3L diesel engine.) Pretty sure it was the 82-86 models that could have a 4 speed, and 87-88 models could have a Getrag 5 speed. Ive seen only a few ever, they were indeed pretty rare. Bench seat models had a trucklike floor shifter. Bucket seat models had a cool looking shifter integrated into the console.

[greenwar]

Remove all the interior parts that are not essential. Remove the rear seats. Switch to semi-synthetic or synthetic for fluids. Inflate the tires to high psi then drive the car like a grand ma. You might just get decent gas mileage. I have a 94 accord 4cyl auto that I plan on playing with. There are few things I always wanted to try doing to a car, modwise. I will do all those, then eventually sell the car off. Too bad there is no plug-and-play FE meter for OBD1 cars.

Will anybody make me a mpguino, please? Sigh!!

[Greenblazer]

I miss my first car. 1970 Honda 600 Sedan. 2 Cylinder 600CC air cooled. Light enough for a 16 Year old to pick the rear of the car so both tires were off the ground, and one front tire at a time. Probably could have lifted both front tires if I used something to get the right leverage. I don't remember what kind of mileage it got but what a fun little car.

Check out this classic commercial, claimed 40MPG. A new Honda for only $1545.00




Later,

Allan Greenblazer

[landspeed]

atomicradish:

If you want to keep it, that is fine. If money is no problem, then do it up and put a 5-speed in it. If you have time to do it yourself, keep a look out for a 5-speed. Bear in mind that you may need to fabricate mountings etc if you use a non-standard 5-speed.

Most cars, if fitted with a 5-speed, and lower rolling resistance tyres, would get good mpg. You could even convert it to an EV one day!

I still have my first car (although the engine doesn't exactly start at the moment) and will keep it, and fix it one day!

[atomicradish]

Unfortunately I have no idea what fabricating moldings even is let alone how to do it. Apparently I am the only one here who skipped out on shop and automotives class in high school...

I did talk with my dad about it. He laughed it off as soon as I mentioned painting it with rustoleum. I hate being at the mercy of people with handy skills!