Show "Remarkable Car(s)"

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Well, first off, it reminded me why I don't miss having an old(er) sports car. Taking it for what it is, the suspension was harsher than I would have set it up as, but the owner is proud of it and says it's factory race. What ever that means. The engine had a rather disturbing (to me at least) loud metallic ticking noise which sounded like maybe a valve was out of adjustment but the owner said was normal. It never went away and didn't diminish very much when warmed up. The 'race clutch' was a little grabby right off the floor, but I attribute a lot of the jerkiness to my lack of familiarity with it and my not having driven a stick for well on (sheesh, has been THAT long?) five years or so. My old habit of dropping into fourth gear before putting it in first failed to appear so I found first gear a little hard to get into when full stopped. It wasn't bad but not Honda smooth by any means. And it didn't have the Teutonic solid feel of my old Porsche's gear boxes. I blame the shift linkage mostly as it was rather loose feeling. The engine had been rebuilt with bigger pistons so the get up and go was pretty good. We drove around the Palos Verdes peninsula so lots of hills and 2-3rd gear running. I didn't want to insult the owner, but it didn't impress me as being as solid as a Porsche. The doors slam shut with a bang, not a solid 'thunk' like other cars I'm used to. Overall the drive was fun as it really liked pulling in second gear going around some of the sweepers we encountered. I was told to wind it out to blow it out since it was known to be running on the rich side so wrapping it up in 2nd and getting it really going in 3rd was fun. I think given some attention to the suspension set up it could be a fun car to play around with. I also recommended the owner try to get it on a dyno to check the A/F ratio to get it correct. I think the throttle response would improve. Funny how it reminded me of how spoiled we've become with electronic, and even mechanical, fuel injection.
The owner said it's one of one hundred made that model year (73) with small bumpers
 
Well, first off, it reminded me why I don't miss having an old(er) sports car. Taking it for what it is, the suspension was harsher than I would have set it up as, but the owner is proud of it and says it's factory race. What ever that means. The engine had a rather disturbing (to me at least) loud metallic ticking noise which sounded like maybe a valve was out of adjustment but the owner said was normal. It never went away and didn't diminish very much when warmed up. The 'race clutch' was a little grabby right off the floor, but I attribute a lot of the jerkiness to my lack of familiarity with it and my not having driven a stick for well on (sheesh, has been THAT long?) five years or so. My old habit of dropping into fourth gear before putting it in first failed to appear so I found first gear a little hard to get into when full stopped. It wasn't bad but not Honda smooth by any means. And it didn't have the Teutonic solid feel of my old Porsche's gear boxes. I blame the shift linkage mostly as it was rather loose feeling. The engine had been rebuilt with bigger pistons so the get up and go was pretty good. We drove around the Palos Verdes peninsula so lots of hills and 2-3rd gear running. I didn't want to insult the owner, but it didn't impress me as being as solid as a Porsche. The doors slam shut with a bang, not a solid 'thunk' like other cars I'm used to. Overall the drive was fun as it really liked pulling in second gear going around some of the sweepers we encountered. I was told to wind it out to blow it out since it was known to be running on the rich side so wrapping it up in 2nd and getting it really going in 3rd was fun. I think given some attention to the suspension set up it could be a fun car to play around with. I also recommended the owner try to get it on a dyno to check the A/F ratio to get it correct. I think the throttle response would improve. Funny how it reminded me of how spoiled we've become with electronic, and even mechanical, fuel injection.
The owner said it's one of one hundred made that model year (73) with small bumpers
Thanks for that. Interesting. Agree about the valve noise. Most mechanics I've ever spoken to don't know how to correctly adjust valve clearances!

I always ran fork lift clutch facings before I got cars that didn't need constant fiddling with in about 1980.

Apart from changing the platinum tipped plugs every 120,000 Kms, along with the timing belt and water pump, my 2006 Subaru Forester needs almost zero maintenance! It's a dual range manual 5 speed, with a naturally aspirated 2.5L engine. Terrific touring car. Comfortable, fast, handles well on any sort of road or dirt track.

Barring accident, I will probably keep it until I die.
 
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