Quoted from MrBally:That's the Sizzlers "Juice Machine".
Sure. You wedged a nickel on the side of the top of the thing so you didn't have to hold it down. Then along came the Power Pit.
Quoted from vicjw66:Geez Odin, enough with the gawdawful cars of the 70s.
We called that fine European sports car the "Crapi"
Let’s see, I’ve owned many Toyota’s.
‘75,’78,’79,’80 corollas.
‘80‘82 Celicas.
‘86, two 94 Toyota pickups
‘02,’16 Tacomas
I’m sure there is more.
22r, 22re were some of best motors Toyota ever made.
Quoted from o-din:My buddy had the "Honey Bee" version of that.
The first of my many Toyotas was one of these. 1976 though and green in color. I bought from a a guy named Ivan Ho.
[quoted image]
My first car was a '76 Corolla DX Wagon. Built like a tank. Only got 23 mpg in the city, but 33 on the highway. Moved a few pins in it too.
Moved a Space Invaders pin in it. The only thing I had trouble moving in it was a Hyperball. (folded down it was a 1/2" to high).
Quoted from girloveswaffles:My first car was a '76 Corolla DX Wagon.
Your car had that wonderful 2TC hemi engine. My Corona was sporting a 20R. Hard to go wrong with either.
Quoted from o-din:Your car had that wonderful 2TC hemi engine. My Corona was sporting a 20R. Hard to go wrong with either.
1588cc Baby! Yeah! 
Quoted from o-din:No, nothing at all whatsoever to do with the 70s, but for a spell during the 90s I was tooling around in one of these gems. Talk about good gas mileage.[quoted image]
Old School DatSun?
Quoted from Electrocute:Looks almost identical to my first car. ‘77 Datsun B210 hatchback.[quoted image]
I owned a Datsun 710 with a 5 speed manual transmission... It was yellow. About the color of a lemon. I didn't keep it very long, but it was good on gas.
Quoted from girloveswaffles:Old School DatSun?
Yep. I was working used cars at the Datsun dealer in 1991 and some guy traded it in with a blown motor. I paid $100.
Went to Watanabe, that place that used to advertise low milage Jap engines in the Recycler and they had a stack of 1300s much to my surprise. I hand picked a clean looking one and paid $75. I was now ready to live cheap and take some time off. 1970s revisited so to speak.
My first two cars were 70s era Datsuns, a ‘76 280z and a ‘79 280zx. I bought the ‘76 off of the local Chevy dealer’s used car lot with only 35k miles for $3500.
Oh man, there was a white Pantera that sat in the lot of a service station not far from my home back then. I guess they were racing it, but don’t know for sure. What a hot car!
Quoted from o-din:To be fair, the Pinto was way better designed than the standard Vega of the day, and with time would well outlast it.
Speaking of which, call it a glorified Pinto if you like, but this was one sexy looking machine when a buddy of mine showed up with one in high school. I rarely got to ride in it as the passenger seat was usually occupied by one beautiful girl or another.
[quoted image]
I always had a soft spot for that era of Mustangs. My old neighbor had one of these brand new bitd. It was all white with light blue strippings - like the one in that Farrah Fawcett photo. What makes this era of Mustangs garbage? Part of me still wants to own one eventually...
5fa5398246b24b83af668cd2c283efba (resized).jpgI recently watched '78 Dawn of the Dead. Talk about a time stamp in the late '70s era - time I recall the most. About this time was my first exposure to a mall. Replace that Penny's with Sears... and that's what the mall I remembered back then sans the ice rink. Anybody else recall a mall that had a full size rink?
Anybody know this hopped up turntable around the 1:59:20 mark?
I lived near Clearwater for a year, a mall in that area had a full size rink. They did both open sessions and ice hockey if I remember correctly. But it’s been 25 years
I used to play golf alot at Hillcrest CC in Beverly Hills as a guest. Movie stars all over the place. After Jack Nicholson took a golf club to someone's car he started driving a beat up looking 70s Datsun pickup truck to this super high powered club. Looked like something Axl Foley from 48 hrs would drive. We all figured it was perfect mechanically, but it cosmetically crap. And it was Datsun, not a Nissan. But he sure wouldn't have been recognized. Just like the 48 hours movie, the truck looked hilarious in the parking lot. Before one of the finals games between the Bulls and Lakers, I saw Michael Jordon and him going at it with Jack yelling at him that Magic was gonna get the best of him. Michael was playing 18 before the game. They seemed to be friendly, but not during the finals.
Quoted from o-din:[quoted image]
I was driving my Grandfather to Sevierville in the mid 70's. We stopped in traffic and Paw says" What is that smell?". Paw that car in front of has a catalytic converter on it. Paw says " I don't know what that is but I think it needs to take a crap."
Quoted from Schusler:What makes this era of Mustangs garbage?
You would need to have lived in the era to understand fully.
In 1972, you had this.
Screen Shot 2019-10-13 at 11.53.43 AM (resized).png
and this
Screen Shot 2019-10-13 at 11.54.24 AM (resized).png
in 1973 you had this. Notice the bumper?
Screen Shot 2019-10-13 at 11.54.48 AM (resized).png
1973, and the 70s, and some of the 80s were bad years for cars.
In 1972, you could buy a monster Corvette with a 454 engine and gobs of horspower. In 1973, the Vette you could buy was a watered down version of its old self. The 427's and 454's were gone.
1st up: The insurance companies were leaning hard on the car makers to make cars that could withstand minor bumps with out costing fortunes to repair. So, to answer the insurance companies monetary and political pull, the car makers installed larger bumpers that "stuck out like a sore thumb". The red Mustang and gold Chevelle had bumpers that weren't cutting it and the huge bumper on the black Chevelle was Detroit's answer to satisfy the insurance companies . The bumper on the black car looks quite normal now, but at the time we thought they were ugly. They took a little bit to get used to.
2nd up: We went thru a gasoline crisis with shortages, gas lines, and increased gas prices. And the car makers were dealing with how to control automobile emissions.
What worked in 1972 did not work in 1973. The cars made were uglier, some were made smaller, and they were all underpowered. Plus President Nixon, in an effort to maintain some kind of control of energy usage cut the speed limits, nationwide, on all highways, to 55 mph.
The cute little Mustang II was introduced in 1973. It was underpowered and loaded up with pollution control crap ( witness, I am not anti-pollution control, but it took the car makers a few years to start making good pollution control equipment for cars). And it had those huge bumpers.
Add in that with the increase in gas prices, people started buying the Toyotas and Datsuns and were finding out they were reliable, cheap driving cars and the little Mustang II did not have much of a chance.
Basically, the 70s and the early part 80s sort of sucked for car selection.
Cadillac entered the small car, economy car market with this beauty:
The Cimmeron. Which was just a Chevy larded up with all of toys a Cadillac was expected to have, and with a Cadillac badge slapped on. And a Cadillac price.
Screen Shot 2019-10-13 at 12.23.51 PM (resized).png
All of the US cars were junk back then. There was the Chevy Vega, which if you left the east coast with a new car you arrived on the west coast in a bucket of rust.
There was even a 60 Minutes interview with Henry Ford II saying, " We build lots of lousy cars."
The mustang II was just not born at a good time.
Eventually, Detroit got its act together but there was a big change that allowed that to happen.
In 1983 or 1984 you could walk into a dealership and buy a new car for $3995.00. In 1984 or 1985, the same car would cost you $14,999.00. It was called "sticker shock". Overnight, from one year model to the following year model, Detroit jacked it prices. OMG, $15,000.00 for a car? 4 years earlier I paid "only" $33K for my house---which I could have bought for $15K four years earlier. $15K for an average Joe Suburb kind of car? GTF outta here !
The cars are better now. Yep. They don't make them like they used to. Used to be if got 50,000 miles out of your car you were doing real good. Many were in the salvage yards at 50K miles. Nowadays, 250,000 miles and more is the norm.
But I digress
The little Mustang II was born at a bad time. And the blue and white Cobra paint job was about all you got; A ho-hummer with a super paint job price. I suppose the other book end would be the under-powered, overheating Pontiac Fiero 
High priced gas. 55 mph speed limits---and CB radios (Radio Shack loved 55 mph. You have not lived if you never walked into a Radio Shack and saw three walls in the store covered up with CB radios in all brands and styles).
You can talk about the Magical 70s, but in the automotive world there were some dark days ahead.
I often use bad language when I get a check engine light on my modern cars and find out that is an emissions related problem (P0401 for example). I think that should be illegal to turn on a check engine light for that crap. The check engine light used to mean you had a serious engine problem (Heat, Oil pressure, coolant temp, etc), not some stupid emissions problem. I think manufacturers should have to provide a 2nd light that indicates an emissions "alert", which you could then ignore until you have time to find out what might be the problem in a controlled environment. An emissions alert generally is not a major problem and does not damage the engine, from what I have seen. Generally, they are just a pain in the nether region. Most times, they don't even affect engine performance.
Quoted from Dent00:I often use bad language when I get a check engine light
Glad to hear you are not a total prude I use bad language all of the time. One well placed four-letter word can eliminate paragraphs 
Quoted from Dent00:check engine light
I had a "check engine" light on my way to a pinball show. Lost 1/2 a day. Sucked. Turned around and went home to my mechanic. He checked it, and said my GF didn't tighten the gas cap enough. SMH. I have since bought a reader for my port, and can check the code on the road now if it ever pops up again.
-mof
Cant believe that Spider-Man #148 got a dog ear....
People actually used to read comics... Not just put them in plastic
Quoted from mof:I had a "check engine" light on my way to a pinball show. Lost 1/2 a day. Sucked. Turned around and went home to my mechanic. He checked it, and said my GF didn't tighten the gas cap enough. SMH. I have since bought a reader for my port, and can check the code on the road now if it ever pops up again.
-mof
This is exactly the type thing that I am referring to. Exhaust gas purge, insufficient EGR flow, oxygen sensor malfunction.. All emission related BS. Should be illegal to turn on a check engine light for those things that have really nothing to do with the engine. 9 out of 10 times, this is what I have seen. It happens so much, that I think a lot of people just ignore the check engine light now. I see people all the time that just ride around with the check engine light on and have no idea what is happening. It used to mean a serious problem that needed immediate attention, but no more... I also carry a OBDII reader in my vehicle for this reason.
Quoted from Dent00:All emission related BS. Should be illegal to turn on a check engine light for those things that have really nothing to do with the engine. 9 out of 10 times, this is what I have seen.
I think the original purpose of the CE light was to highlight when the emissions were not working properly. The CE lights tells you if you have a misfire and are sending unburned gas into the atmosphere. Which can also destroy your other pollution control devise called a catalytic converter.
It used to be a regular thing to see come big old car with a bog old V-8 running on 7 cylinders belching out smoke and unburned gases because the poor bastard driving the car was either and idiot or too broke and could not fix his car correctly. Unbelievable, but I still see a car every once in awhile running on 7 or 5 cylinders clogging up my breathing air with the eye burning gasses.
The O2 sensors sends feedback to the intake air that the exhaust gasses are to rich and sending unburned gas into the atmosphere. Or the intake air is too lean which can make your car run hot and destroy other things.
I'd have to research it for sure, but I do believe if it was not for government mandated pollution control required on automobiles then there would be no CE light to begin with.
Quoted from cottonm4:I think the original purpose of the CE light was to highlight when the emissions were not working properly. The CE lights tells you if you have a misfire and are sending unburned gas into the atmosphere. Which can also destroy your other pollution control devise called a catalytic converter.
It used to be a regular thing to see come big old car with a bog old V-8 running on 7 cylinders belching out smoke and unburned gases because the poor bastard driving the car was either and idiot or too broke and could not fix his car correctly. Unbelievable, but I still see a car every once in awhile running on 7 or 5 cylinders clogging up my breathing air with the eye burning gasses.
The O2 sensors sends feedback to the intake air that the exhaust gasses are to rich and sending unburned gas into the atmosphere. Or the intake air is too lean which can make your car run hot and destroy other things.
I'd have to research it for sure, but I do believe if it was not for government mandated pollution control required on automobiles then there would be no CE light to begin with.
The irony of the situation on the check engine light, is that if you have a cylinder misfire, like a bad spark plug, spark plug wire, or ignition module problem, you get no alarm until the problem is so bad that the vehicle almost will not run. In contrast, the vehicle ECM immediately detects an oxygen sensor malfunction to make sure that you don't damage the stupid catalytic converter. I think it is a ploy to get more garage time for repair shops to fix emissions related problems. It also comes up in some states when you have your vehicle inspected and a check engine light due to an emissions problem that you are then required to fix immediately. It should be illegal in my opinion. Should be a 2nd light to give you an emissions warning and manufacturers should have done it a long time ago.
Quoted from Dent00:I think it is a ploy to get more garage time for repair shops to fix emissions related problems.
I won't say you are wrong with this thought but it might a bit of stretch. But I'm fairly sure the car makers make things difficult in an effort to put Joe Shadetree and mom and pop out of business in an effort drive all repair work back to the dealership.
There is a situation with farm equipment (John Deere) with all of the sensors and software that farmers are having to shop for bootleg troubleshooting software just so the can repair their own combine broken down on the far side of the field. Some laws were/are being worked on that require the farm equipment makers to provide the farmer with the repair software he needs. I don't know where these laws stand now, but IMO, this JD shit is what happens when Wall Street is pulling strings in the back ground for ever increasing earnings.
I guess I am one of those rare people, that as long as I am physically able to turn a wrench, I want to fix my own vehicles. I just don't trust most repair shops to be honest about what is really required or what they did. They also charge a lot more than I think is justified and I guess I am just a penny pincher. But, I also don't like being cheated. I can easily see what parts cost online and they will deliver directly to my door, free of charge most of the time. I don't even have to go to the local Autozone and buy parts. Even Autozone is high when you compare to Ebay or other online outlets for parts. I just see the cost difference and what most mechanics charge by the hour and I just cannot justify going to a repair shop with a minor repair that I can do myself, especially if it is some stupid emissions alarm that turns on my check engine light for no serious reason.
Quoted from cottonm4:The mustang II was just not born at a good time.
Lee Iacocca was spot on with the Mustang II. With the fuel crisis and emissions regulations the 1974 Mustang out sold many of the previous years Mustang sales. If the Mustang II was not built, the Mustang would of grown again, to a full size car, then failed, then killed off by 1978 or so.
On another note the Cimmeron was the only J-Car with a V-6. GM missed on this one as it should of been an Oldsmobile or a Buick not a Cadillac. If it would of been an Olds or Buick, GM would have sold them all. Not to many Cadillac owners at that time cared about buying a smaller car.
Quoted from Darcy:On another note the Cimmeron was the only J-Car with a V-6. GM missed on this one as it should of been an Oldsmobile or a Buick not a Cadillac. If it would of been an Olds or Buick, GM would have sold them all. Not to many Cadillac owners at that time cared about buying a smaller car.
My 1st car was a 1968 Plymount Valiant with a slant 6 motor. It leaked oil, a lot. My dad didn't like it leaking all that oil and sold it out from under me and gave me the old family car, a 1982 Oldsmobile 98 with green velvet seats and a 455 Rocket V8 engine. I hated it and it got about 10-15 miles to a gallon, sometimes on premium gas. Had electric windows, power seats, spoked chrome hubcaps and one cylinder that needed a new spark plug about every 5000 miles. But, when you pushed the accelerator to the floor on that land boat, it would run like a scalded dog.
Quoted from Dent00:I guess I am one of those rare people, that as long as I am physically able to turn a wrench, I want to fix my own vehicles. I just don't trust most repair shops to be honest about what is really required or what they did. They also charge a lot more than I think is justified and I guess I am just a penny pincher. But, I also don't like being cheated. I can easily see what parts cost online and they will deliver directly to my door, free of charge most of the time. I don't even have to go to the local Autozone and buy parts. Even Autozone is high when you compare to Ebay or other online outlets for parts. I just see the cost difference and what most mechanics charge by the hour and I just cannot justify going to a repair shop with a minor repair that I can do myself, especially if it is some stupid emissions alarm that turns on my check engine light for no serious reason.
I completely agree and do whatever work I can physically perform. I do not trust anyone to work on my stuff as I have had problems from prior experience. I also find it rewarding to learn what is going on under the hood, so to speak. I have a cheap obd reader that Bluetooths to my phone and as paid for itself many times over. It can also clear any code.
Quoted from D-Gottlieb:It can also clear any code.
Yes, exactly.. Clear off those stupid emissions alert codes that turn on the check engine light for no good reason.
Man it seems like you crusty old bastards have been going on about the 70s since the 70s!!
Let me know when we roll into the 80s. We need a fresh shitty decade to endlessly glorify!
Quoted from electricsquirrel:In 1977 I had this.
Wish I had a COE these days!
Quoted from electricsquirrel:I had this
Mobile hot tub is the potential I'm seeing.
-mof
Quoted from Atari_Daze:Wish I had a COE these days!
Plenty of old International tractors that are COE.
Quoted from o-din:I opened up a box last night.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
1968 called. They'd like their Disneyland map back.
Quoted from girloveswaffles:1968 called. They'd like their Disneyland map back.
I recall having that exact map when my family visited Disneyland. I was the youngest in the group and I became the navigator at the park for my dad, mom, older brother and sister with that map. It is long gone now, by that photo reminds me of what it actually looked like.
Quoted from girloveswaffles:1968 called. They'd like their Disneyland map back.
Yep, you nailed it. It says copyright 1968 on it although I believe I acquired it in the early 70s.
My friend and I were looking at it and discussing how much better Disneyland was then. When I had that on my wall, we wondered how that space port and rocket ride would be and how the cars or trains would run through all those tracks coming out of the top of the building.
Quoted from o-din:Yep, you nailed it. It says copyright 1968 on it although I believe I acquired it in the early 70s.
My friend an I were looking at it and discussing how much better Disneyland was then. When I had that on my wall, we wondered how that space port and rocket ride would be and how the cars or trains would run through all those tracks coming out of the top of the building.
They kept selling that version of the map up until just after Bear Country opened (1972). For some reason, they didn't even update the Haunted mansion as being opened in 1969 until then.
I've got some pretty early memories of the land going as far back as 1964 when I was only 2 getting scared I was going to fly out of the Astro-Jets, to the next trip being bummed they had removed the Midget Autopia and some new attraction was being built there, to walking into Tomorrowland and being wowed after the 1967 makeover.
I've got a friend a few years older who actually rode the short lived Flying Saucers.
In the 70s it was more of a teenage hangout and not as well kept up as it is today. Prices were much cheaper to get in too. There are some pretty neat details on that map of a lot of the things that are no longer there.
I was not impressed at all when they opened the freshly revamped Tomorrowland in the late 90s. They more took a bunch of stuff out, than significantly added anything new.
Quoted from o-din:I was not impressed at all when they opened the freshly revamped Tomorrowland in the late 90s. They more took a bunch of stuff out, than significantly added anything new.
But do you think that might have been because you were older and less easily impressed? I know for me so many things are deflated now that I have an understanding of how things work (damn TV show).
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