Triple Pickle
Senior Member
If you want to talk surviving in a crash, don’t kid yourself. Today’s vehicles are safer than ANY vehicle from the past. That is an irrefutable fact.
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1986 Plymouth Horizon....Opinions.
- Thread starter thrashingcows
- Start date
Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
Tell that to Anton Yelchin.
The engineering problems aside, you folks get serious snow, what about ground clearance? A car with 3" free space underneath is not going to get very far in 6" or more of snow.
Dave
The regular Horizon/Omni did rather ok in snow with skinny tires and FWD. Alot better than alot of rear drive American cars of the time. More than 3 inches of clearance
for sure.
for sure.
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65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
The feedback carbs are junk, I have worked on a few. My boss was very familiar with them, I have forgotten the tips and tricks to setting them up. There were some special tools also for setup.
Omni's and Horizons were popular rally cars in the day. The custom front axles in my car were from a rally guy that used a Getrag geared 555 tranny which is what I use
. It was the only bullet proof manual tranny that could take 300+ hp and not blow up. The cars have to be seam welded to get rid of the spot welds, 1/4 inch plates welded to the K frame and other key areas to make it sound which is what I did to mine to take the power.
I have posted this before but here goes again. Same getrag 5 speed 9 second fwd Omni glh.
Omni GLH Dyno 577hp 552 ft-lb
says 8 valve 2.2 turbo
Not bad for 135 cubic inches ,,,,
Omni GLH Dyno 577hp 552 ft-lb
says 8 valve 2.2 turbo
Not bad for 135 cubic inches ,,,,
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Here is my one of 500 1986 Omni GLHS Shelby's made in his plant in CA. I go to a car cruise and the kids are all over this thing, Their version of our 55 Chevy,,and 90% have seen it in a mag or internet but never in person. I will never let my daughter drive it ,,period,,,,it's nuts,,
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70NEWYORKER
Well-Known Member
I had a '87 Omni. Damn thing was like a mountain goat! Tires - $25 a piece at Sears.
Best and most economical shitbox I've owned so far.
Triple Pickle
Senior Member
Non-occupants involved in vehicle crashes usually don’t fair well no matter what year the car was made.
Now, as for the drive by wire, rotary shifters, every function going through a computer crap lately...I’m not a fan. As dumb as I am, I saw that tragedies such as what happened to Mr. Yelchin coming.
The idea of driving a real car essentially with a controller from a Play Station doesn’t seem safe or necessary.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
I can know in about 30 seconds weather my old car is tow truck terminal or just a quick fix. When a new one dies on the side of the road, then what?
My BIL and sister have a mini van right now they bought as a extra /work vehicle. Most days it will not start because the fuel pump will not turn on, no check engine no melted wires, changed the fuel pump (that is as far as we went with shotgunning parts,) we did swap around the relays. It's been to a few known good mechanics, they are all pointing to the board in the fuse box but can't say for sure. A $1200 guess and that's just the part. If my fuel pump stops working on my '68 Charger, I know I'm not buying a fuse box. That's all I was disagreeing with. Yes they work well, but if they have a problem that is not consistent all the time they are way worse than a old car. We ended up building a parallel system to feed the fuel pump, of course the auto shutdown does not work as it should if something happens.
Triple Pickle
Senior Member
Sounds like another way of saying old and new don’t compare! All of them can give you trouble sometimes is the only constant. Diagnosing what in the world is wrong with the newer ones isn’t fun for sure!
Lots of crash protection was added to cars during the 90's. It all added weight, which partially explains some of the weight differences between then and now. Extra steel used for side impact protection and such, for the most part better crumple zones, etc. The addition ABS is a + and a -... yes it will make stopping more controllable, but it also provides another expensive point of failure. The number of shops equipped to work on a system that old is dwindling too.
Air bags... MB used to put a sticker on the drivers door jab to indicate when your airbags had expired. Around a decade, they were said to require replacements with new dated parts that came with new stickers... that was killed in the end of the 90's/early 2000's... then they were said to be a lifetime item. The term "lifetime" is subjective in automobiles, but if Takata taught us anything, it's that old airbags are not safe forever. At what age an old airbag becomes more of a hazard than a help in a crash is now officially undetermined, but would you want to be firing ordinance from decades ago in an emergency situation?
Also first generation airbags were always a hazard if she is of particularly small frame. They hit at full strength when they deploy, newer bags have a variable punch and can hit softer when full force isn't needed... perfect, no, but better. If you bubble wrap your child every time they go outdoors and bought a house without steps "just in case"... buy a newish car. If you believe that your child is an accomplished enough and mature enough driver to avoid most trouble, and you also believe that in the worst scenarios, it will come down to luck or fate or whatever... an old car is fine.
Reliability is a function of condition and maintenance, more than anything. There are lemons, and newer may mean less wear and maintenance required. That doesn't mean a well maintained old car can't be reliable. Use rockauto to figure out if there is good enough parts availability for the car to be maintained easily, and know that anything older than 1996 will have fewer shops willing to work on it due to lack of knowledge/scan equipment. In many cases, you can work on them without having a scan tool... but manually retrieving codes and diagnosing without a date stream is a foreign concept and time killer for most shops today.
Something brand new, with all the safety gadgetry would be ideal if you keep her bubble wrapped... but don't get her wet and never, ever feed her after midnight... kids do stuff and accidents happen, would you feel better if she just used public transportation and uber to get around?
That Lil' **** Box iz owned and driven by a car-bud that livez just south of Cincinnati in Ky. I've watch him do the 1320' at Norwalk several timez. Everybody stops what their doin' to watch him, lol. Jer
Triple Pickle
Senior Member
I witnessed a distracted (cell phone) driver in a Windstar hit a friend of mine in a 80s S10 head on about 45 mph.
Nothing my friend could have done to avoid it. He sat in the truck and screamed until he died. It only took about a minute. The kid in the Windstar walked away with a bruise or two. I don’t recall there being much of this kind of John Wayne tough guy talk from his parents at the funeral.
BTW, Triple Pickle. Ask any of our northern brethren why they all run their Big Rigs up there with reinforced steel on the front of 'um. Better still, Not sure where you are in the USA but I guess it doesn't really matter. Take a trip up I-75 in Northern Michigan and pick up Hi-Way 17 in Sault-St-Marie and run it west all the way around Lake Superior to Thunder Bay, AND COUNT THE RED CIRCLES THE COVER BOTH LANES ON THAT JOURNEY. Then try to figure out what percent of those collisions were with cars and trucks and how many drove away after they met up with which over size critter that bleeds enough to cover the whole Hi-Way, Jer
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Triple Pickle
Senior Member
I’ve hit deer in several different vehicles including a ‘68 Barracuda, ‘87 Crown Vic, ‘78 Bronco and, a few 88-98 Chevy trucks. The Cuda took the most damage but limped home. Unlike trees or other vehicles, big critters can do some damage but usually they have a little give to them unless it’s a moose or cow. I’d rather hit a immovable object in air bag, crumple zone equipped Kia than I would my old 72 Polara!
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Never hit an animal but oh those freaking birds smashing into my windshield. Arrrrgggghhhhh.
Funny Story #670:
One of our drivers went off the highway and overturned (loaded) when a Turkey came thru the windshield. He was rushed to the hospital for......
Wait for it.....
Turkey bites.
No word on the fate of the Turkey.
Funny Story #670:
One of our drivers went off the highway and overturned (loaded) when a Turkey came thru the windshield. He was rushed to the hospital for......
Wait for it.....
Turkey bites.
No word on the fate of the Turkey.
Soundz like you drive in ah hazardous area? MOOSE, COW, PIG, HORSE YES AND BAMBIE TOO. THEY'RE ALL GONNA HURT YEAH IF YOU ARGUE WITH AND CONTACT THEM AT SPEED. Run (SR212 the back door from Rapid city to Billings) in stead of I-90 all the way around and save 65 milez, but be aware the the the Native Americans have been known to wait 'til after dark and deliberately run their cowz 'n horses out in front of you if you try and run thru' those little villages on the reservation too fast (open range you know). It'll give you a new appreciation for what they did to Custer over on the other side of the hill on I-90, Jer
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