Mid 80's auto shop. The supposed"advanced" auto shop class. A guy named Phil Ketz,had a early 70's Saab. Good lord,I pushed that turd everywhere, for a month or so.. Finally got my license, thanks D.M.V..... Share yours,I dare you.....
The worst car you dealt with,in high school.....
- Thread starter Abodybomber
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Denny
Well-Known Member
Had to be the Lecar in shop class.What a tiny little P O S.
Petty Blu 72
Active Member
I had a Austin Healy Sprite 1966 mark III. Could not keep it on the road long enough with out it breaking down! The guys in my school called it a clown car! .....back in 1976
KENTON
Well-Known Member
Ya, I hear there are some parts of Idaho that still get there mail via pony express.
DaveBonds
Garage Trash
1986 Chevette.
"No Parking" signs for floorboards.
We eventually replaced the engine in it with one out of a '78 Corolla. That thing hauled *** after we did that. Slammed the hood until it shut.
We wanted to fix up the Corolla, but it was rolled. Looked like this one, only not as nice-
"No Parking" signs for floorboards.
We eventually replaced the engine in it with one out of a '78 Corolla. That thing hauled *** after we did that. Slammed the hood until it shut.
We wanted to fix up the Corolla, but it was rolled. Looked like this one, only not as nice-
My older brother had a 61 Ford Falcon six 2 speed auto. It had vaccum wipers and rings were shot. Great fun in rain storm also had hole in passenger floor board. He ran through a huge puddle on the way to school and it was like a fire hose spraying through the floor. I was not a happy camper as it soaked me and that's how I went to school. When I went to school there wasn't any AC so I dried out pretty quick. Dad and I cut a old metal awning and covered the floor so no more baths in the car.
Frankie
Member #9641
I graduated in 67. But, as I recall the worst car we ever had in the lab was an Allstate.
Had mechanical and electrical issues that not only complimented each other but took for ever to trace.
Had mechanical and electrical issues that not only complimented each other but took for ever to trace.
Our oldest friend in our group when we were freshman was a senior. He was a VW fan and had a '71 SUPER Beetle (not just a regular Beetle.... A Super Beetle....). He rebuilt the engine 3 times before getting it "right".
He had put the 3" flared fiberglass fenders on it so he could later put some Porche rims on it at a later time... OOoohhhh.... It was painted red primer....
Well, it was cool to ride with an upper classman to school, rather than take the bus....
But it wasn't cool when the bus passes you on the main street in your neighborhood while you are pushing your friends VW Bug the rest of the way to one of our houses after it stalled out and would not start..... This happened to us a few times....
There are a few more comical stories of Ed and his Super Beetle (sounds like he was a super hero).
He had put the 3" flared fiberglass fenders on it so he could later put some Porche rims on it at a later time... OOoohhhh.... It was painted red primer....
Well, it was cool to ride with an upper classman to school, rather than take the bus....
But it wasn't cool when the bus passes you on the main street in your neighborhood while you are pushing your friends VW Bug the rest of the way to one of our houses after it stalled out and would not start..... This happened to us a few times....
There are a few more comical stories of Ed and his Super Beetle (sounds like he was a super hero).
rp23g7
Well-Known Member
Everyone has had that one car......worked on and driven a lot of cars, but the biggest problem child, attitude car for my was a 73 Mustang fastback 351.
it came in with a drivability problem, the guy said he had replaced the timing chain, and water pump, but it still didn't run right, so I tried adjusting the carb and tried timing it.
Distributor bolt was frozen, so I took a distributor wrench and tried to loosen it, with the engine running.
The bolt snapped and my arm slipped down between the water pump and fan and belts, shaving a bit of skin off from my hand to my upper arm, yikes.
SO.... time to easy out the bolt. Here I am drilling the bolt. leaning over the front of the car and hear a weird hissing bubbling noise, smelling hydrogen from a battery.
Weird I thought, just as the battery exploded......knocking me back against a tool box, a guy pulled me to the sink and threw baking soda and that awful powdered soup they used to have on my face.
so..... I get the bolt drilled and replaced and a new distributor in, and a new battery. tried timing the car, crank.....turn dist, crank, turn distributor, almost crank....battery almost dead, crank.....backfire, carb fire, tried cranking, not enough juice left in the battery....
I had a rag on the bench close by, but some whiz kid decided to get a chemical fire extinguisher and put it out, no I have to rebuild the carb, sigh.......
it came in with a drivability problem, the guy said he had replaced the timing chain, and water pump, but it still didn't run right, so I tried adjusting the carb and tried timing it.
Distributor bolt was frozen, so I took a distributor wrench and tried to loosen it, with the engine running.
The bolt snapped and my arm slipped down between the water pump and fan and belts, shaving a bit of skin off from my hand to my upper arm, yikes.
SO.... time to easy out the bolt. Here I am drilling the bolt. leaning over the front of the car and hear a weird hissing bubbling noise, smelling hydrogen from a battery.
Weird I thought, just as the battery exploded......knocking me back against a tool box, a guy pulled me to the sink and threw baking soda and that awful powdered soup they used to have on my face.
so..... I get the bolt drilled and replaced and a new distributor in, and a new battery. tried timing the car, crank.....turn dist, crank, turn distributor, almost crank....battery almost dead, crank.....backfire, carb fire, tried cranking, not enough juice left in the battery....
I had a rag on the bench close by, but some whiz kid decided to get a chemical fire extinguisher and put it out, no I have to rebuild the carb, sigh.......
bad440
everything,all the time..
A guy on my block had a 71 vega .283 with a cast iron powerglide .and of course the stock rearend .it had those hardy conversion headers with glasspacks bolted to them.what a piece of scrap....
Frankie
Member #9641
OK, if you want to talk about the worst car, instead of the worst engine, I can say that the worst vehicle we've every owned was a 2012 Durango R/T. AWD.
Within in the first 5 weeks ownership it went back to the dealer for warranty work 3 times for a total of 8 days.
1. Door locks failed, they replaced the actuator.
2. Transmission would hold 2nd gear until the car was going fast enough to shift directly into 4th. Replaced the 6 speed auto.
Two days after having the trans replaced:
3. Computer went into safety mode. Replaced the computer.
At that point in time the car had 315 miles on it.
Not a very good start for a $38,000.00+ Automobile.
When I finally returned the car to the dealership as a Lemon, they accepted the car back with a total of 492.4 miles on it. I got all of my money back, except 55¢ per mile for the 492.4 miles ($270.82).
There much more to that story, but the gist of it is in the time we owned the car, the dealer had the car in their shop, nearly an equal amount of time that we had it in our garage.
It was a 2012 Dirango R/T AWD, and I returned it to the dealership at the beginning of December 2011.
bad440
everything,all the time..
Thought it said worst car.....hated that vega hit my shins.on those mufflers a bunch of times....
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
My first car didn't do well, it was a "Powerslide"
Cast iron
This was before they were cool, before "guys" called 'em "glides," before "we" learned to build 'em, and before anybody made aftermarket improved parts for 'em
This car had been a 3 speed on the column (57 Chev) converted to a PG a 265 2bbl. The PG lasted some of one summer. It just might be that when I let a friend drive it, and he "accidently" put it into reverse at ?? MPH this might have been the downfall.
Bear in mind that because of the 3 speed to PG shift conversion there were NO locks in the column and NO indicator, AND that cast iron PG shifted P-N-D-L-R so if you were "being cute" and trying to shift into Low, you could easily end up in Reverse.
Cast iron
This was before they were cool, before "guys" called 'em "glides," before "we" learned to build 'em, and before anybody made aftermarket improved parts for 'em
This car had been a 3 speed on the column (57 Chev) converted to a PG a 265 2bbl. The PG lasted some of one summer. It just might be that when I let a friend drive it, and he "accidently" put it into reverse at ?? MPH this might have been the downfall.
Bear in mind that because of the 3 speed to PG shift conversion there were NO locks in the column and NO indicator, AND that cast iron PG shifted P-N-D-L-R so if you were "being cute" and trying to shift into Low, you could easily end up in Reverse.
DaveBonds
Garage Trash
Wow!
This is a prime example of why I hate new cars. There was a brief point in time that I considered plopping AWD in my '68 Charger, using this trans on an LA roller 360 with a custom pan. I scrapped the idea, in fear of the Mercedes trans. This confirms it.
I'll bet that sounded cool. lol
These two stories are on both ends of the complicated/ simple spectrum.
Simple is always default, but sometimes it does pay to redesign simple things so they don't work against themselves. In this case, literally.
Daves69
Well-Known Member
Late in '73 I traded my "good" '66 sport fury for a '68 roadrunner. 383, auto on the column, black vinyl over white, black interior, and I was thinking now I got a hot car for my final HS year. Well it turned out torqueflites and I just could not get along. I promptly screw up two due to my incompetence and not so good advice I got from "those in the know".
So late April '75 with grad day right around the corner, I'm out in the my parents drive way, (the concrete strips separated by gravel kind) struggling to put the 4 speed trans into the bell housing and clutch setup that I bought for 200 from old man Grynski at City Auto Wreckers, in a constant irritating drizzle, water running down the drive and my back. I was saying a lot of words to that car that day. Well I got it done before GDay so I had my car again. It looked funny with a bench seat as the shifter was for a console and but it worked for now.
Within a couple months I installed buckets and a no console shifter. And everything was fine. A year and a half later I traded it in for yeah, you guessed it, another automatic RR. '72 440, auto, air grabber, black/white strobe, white interior. No trans problems with that one though!
So late April '75 with grad day right around the corner, I'm out in the my parents drive way, (the concrete strips separated by gravel kind) struggling to put the 4 speed trans into the bell housing and clutch setup that I bought for 200 from old man Grynski at City Auto Wreckers, in a constant irritating drizzle, water running down the drive and my back. I was saying a lot of words to that car that day. Well I got it done before GDay so I had my car again. It looked funny with a bench seat as the shifter was for a console and but it worked for now.
Within a couple months I installed buckets and a no console shifter. And everything was fine. A year and a half later I traded it in for yeah, you guessed it, another automatic RR. '72 440, auto, air grabber, black/white strobe, white interior. No trans problems with that one though!
goldduster318
Overzealous Car Modifier
1995 Neons.
3 Girls I knew had them. They all leaked literally everything they possibly could. Constant issues. Clearcoat peeled on all of them too.
2nd place went to my friend's 1992 Buick Skylark. Replaced engine, wheel bearings multiple times, interior would come off in your hands.
3 Girls I knew had them. They all leaked literally everything they possibly could. Constant issues. Clearcoat peeled on all of them too.
2nd place went to my friend's 1992 Buick Skylark. Replaced engine, wheel bearings multiple times, interior would come off in your hands.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
OT but here's a story.
Mark's Dad had a pink 57 Pontiac with a giGANtic antenna insulator on the rear for his amateur radio antenna. If it wasn't this one it was similar. Thing was about a foot tall. AND the car had his Dad's amateur call letter plates. Point is, VERY distinctive
Anyhow, one day Mark had his Dad's Pink Poncho and we were driving around "at noon." Mark came up behind some guy at a stop sign and, what does Mark do?
Why Mark, the idiot, eases up behind the guy at the stop sign and touches bumpers, and then POWER BRAKES the damn thing!!!
I have no idea why that guy didn't get out and beat the livin' crap out of Mark, but he finally got a break in traffic and just drove off!!!!
Mark's Dad was an absolute expert in my town for automatics He worked at "the Pontiac garage" and knew those hydros inside and out. Mark managed to screw that thing up at least once, maybe twice doing "J hooks."
Mark's Dad had a pink 57 Pontiac with a giGANtic antenna insulator on the rear for his amateur radio antenna. If it wasn't this one it was similar. Thing was about a foot tall. AND the car had his Dad's amateur call letter plates. Point is, VERY distinctive
Anyhow, one day Mark had his Dad's Pink Poncho and we were driving around "at noon." Mark came up behind some guy at a stop sign and, what does Mark do?
Why Mark, the idiot, eases up behind the guy at the stop sign and touches bumpers, and then POWER BRAKES the damn thing!!!
I have no idea why that guy didn't get out and beat the livin' crap out of Mark, but he finally got a break in traffic and just drove off!!!!
Mark's Dad was an absolute expert in my town for automatics He worked at "the Pontiac garage" and knew those hydros inside and out. Mark managed to screw that thing up at least once, maybe twice doing "J hooks."
inkjunkie
Well-Known Member
......old :fart: I was only a year old in 67......Buddies 68 Camaro. Beautiful car but what a mismatched nightmare for a driveline. 3:1 gears, tall tires, 4 speed with a stockish 283 with a GIGANTIC double pumper....750cfm....that Mike refused to listen to me about it being way too big for the rest of it. Spent days messing with it. Tossed the ring & pinion out of it, put 4:56's in it. Got it running reasonably well....until a rod felt the urge to see day light....Ended up with a 377, 350 crank in a 400 block, that ran much better....until the trans let loose. He ended up with a 69 Road Runner after that, had a 440/Hemi 4 speed/Dana 60 in it....He was working on the karbanator, had a small fuel leak develop and found out he apparently had some arcing plug wires.....hell of a fire...what a shame...
GaryS
Well-Known Member
My first...a 1941 Chevy 2-door sedan...Southern California car, cherry inside and out. My dad bought it for me to drive 12 miles to school, since there was no bus service in those days. After a week, it began a nearly daily breakdown of every system and part in the car. Brakes, clutch, door handles, door locks, window track, radio, lights, transmission, shocks, trunk latch, hood latch, speedometer, and windshield wipers are the little things I recall. The big things were a tie rod falling off while driving, the seatback breaking at 50mph...that was fun...and the grand finale, it overheated and left me stranded five miles from home, at night, in -20 temps. I parked it behind the hill on the farm and used it for target practice every time I walked by with my .22. I still hate that car!
The '48 Plymouth that replaced it was bullet proof and I've driven nothing but Mopars since I got it that day in 1955.
The '48 Plymouth that replaced it was bullet proof and I've driven nothing but Mopars since I got it that day in 1955.
Frankie
Member #9641
I've got sox older than you.
dartman1965
Well-Known Member
I had a Renault Douphine(sp) given to me by a neighbor.I think it was a 1959.Real piece of crap.
Mine was a '57 Ford Fairlane. What a piece of crap! Burned oil and had the worst engine ever. A 292 cubic inch bomb! Drove it to school every day for about a month before it threw a rod through the block. What a fricken mess. Another reason I won't own a Ford to this day.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Friend of mine lost some "big" money to a 57 Ferd
Don was a true hotrodder. Back then he had a 48 Ford pickup with a Chev 283, 3 speed, Hurst "misery shifter" and 411's. He'd scared up an old 'Vette dual quad built for WCFBs and adapted larger AFBs to it with much grinding "For what it was" it was pretty fast.
Now Don could 'ha beat the "57 Ferd crowd" any day of the week. And "they" hassled him and picked at him until he agreed to a race.
Put some money on it, and REALLY tuned up the 283
Dropped the rear U joint right on the pavement, right THERE.
================================
Neil Kincaid had bought a brand new 350 Camaro. I don't remember if it was a 67 or 68 Neil and Don decided to race "just for fun." This was just about this very time of year, we had had a "early melt" and the highways were bare. So, Jan-Feb of 67 or 68. Don had built headers, but had no collectors. They were just open tubes, hose clamped at the bottom.
We went chuggin out of the service station, around the hospitol, tryin' to get out of town and avoid the one Sunday afternoon cop. Bloopety Blap. Didn't work. "Officer Bourassa" came around the corner just as we did. Don killed the power and coasted over. Art was stupid, or didn't care. On his way to coffee. Just thought it quit, I guess.
So we finally made it out past Dover. Don's 48 ran out of gas!!!!! Kincaid had to run back into town and buy Don enough gas to race with!!!!
So Don has a cheap DIxco? tack about 6K. Winds that ***** up and dumps the clutch. Winds it up until the tach needle is bouncing down in the bottom of the tach, then just winds it some more!!!! It finally floated either the valves or points, I don't know which, so he shifted into 2nd.
The mystery shifter was not long enough!!! for a pickup, so Don had welded about 6 more inches to the lever. That thing had a throw that was unbelieveably long.
'Tell ya. He beat that Camaro!!!!
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