[V8] On leaking racks and other fun drippings...

[Roger Woodbury]

Sometime ago I wrote an outline...maybe it was actually to this list...in
which I described the way to get a first class V8 to have and to hold.  It
involved buying an otherwise clean car of relatively unimportant miles for
very low dollars.

Take the car to the wrench...or if you do it all yourself, install it in
your garage.  

Remove the engine entirely, and do a complete reseal, and while you are
there, whatever else the engine needs to have done...valves, and such. A
complete rebuild?  I dunno:  maybe.

And while you are there, replace all the suspect hoses, plastic containers,
and assorted other rubber gizzies, including the steering rack because you
will never have another opportunity to walk right up and pluck it off the
carcass.

Once reassembled, the working pieces of the car will be as new, and you can
count on the best part of 100,000 miles without finding strange orange,
yellow or red pools underneath the car in the morning.

That idea came about when V8's were still reaching toward twelve grand or
more.  Now really nice looking ones are on dealer's lots for less than seven
grand with few miles. 

I guess the "formula" still works, if having one of these cars forever is
something of interest.  It is for me, as try as I might I have seen nothing
on the road, in the mags, or on line that I would rather have than my V8.

When my wife and I went to North Carolina in the early spring, we rented a
Ford somethingorothers...medium sized car about the size of a V8.  Sticker
price was around $28,000.  It was ok for cruising down the Interstate.

Yesterday I drove to Portland and back, which is about 300 miles round trip.
The V8 was smooth and quiet.  I remembered the same drive in the Focus...the
V8 was way better for a total investment to date of $20,000 less.

Roger