angelsmith00

Yea... so I went out to my car last night, and unlocked it from the passanger side door because the lock is broken and the key won't open it. So I crawled over to unlock the driver's side door manually, but instead the whole **** pulled out. So now my door doesn't open at all. I got in, tried to adjust my mirror, but I've done that more than twice now since I last tightened it, so it fell down so it's facing the floor. I go to back up, and its dark out, which sucks because my reverse lights don't work. I pull out onto the highway and my car dies becuase I hit the gas too hard... and it always dies when I do that. Later, I make a left turn and and get all confused because everytime I make a left turn, once the turn is over, the blinker lever goes too far and puts on my right blinker. And last but not least I'm driving down the road with my brights on and accidentally blind someone because my leg is too short to find the button in time. I want to know that I'm not alone, whiat kind of crazy quirks do everyones' cars have?

Markstang1969

First time I drove at night, I realized I had no dash lights.

When I roll down the driver side window, the glass falls out of the scissors and makes a clunk. Both door windows rattle, cause there's no guides, inner or outer weatherstripping.

Clock doesn't work.

Wiper nozzles are not even connected to the pump

My turn signal holds itself for left turns, but I have to keep my hand on it when I make a right turn.

No dome lights or interior lights.

When I open the glove box it falls all the way open, because the cable isn't connected inside. It taked 3 or 4 tries to get it closed again. Oh yea, and I don't have a key for it.

I have 3 keys for my car. One for the doors, one for the trunk, one for the ignition, none for the hood lock or the glove box.

WHen I turn the wheel all the way to the left, the steering starts vibrating and squeaking like crazy.

Any time I hit a bump, the rear end squeaks

I got tired of the headliner falling on my head and ripped it out.


I think that's it for now....

angelsmith00

Haha that makes me feel better. I had some of the same problems when I got my car too. The dome light didn't work becuase the button in the door was missing to make it shut off when the door was closed, so we just left the blub out. I didn't have dash lights either for six months because it finally took us digging into the wiring and finding that someone had grounded the radio to the dash lights wire to figure out why the fuse kept blowing. Heh and don't even get me started on my suspension... I think it's all 40 years old, it's the bumpiest loudest ride ever. I avoid backroads like the plague. And my wiper fluid only comes out on the right side. Oh and I forgot this one... for some reason my alternator goes up and down exactly 1 volt. So all my lights are constantly dimming and brightening when they're on.
And you have a clock? Mine didn't come with one adn they're so expensive! I've heard they never really kept time well anyways.

68FastbackGT

For the longest time I did not bother taking the key out of the ignition because the care was basically un-drivable to those that it had not trained yet.
To turn the key on, you had to hold and giggle the key just right. Failure to do so would cause the ignition switch to bind up and it would take a wrestling match to get it free.
Once the key was turned, you had to use just the right number and cadence of pumps of the accelerator petal to start the engine. Failure to do so would result in the battery dying or the engine becoming flooded.
Once the engine was started, the shifter had to be moved just right to get it in a gear, any dear. I had a T grip so I could twist and push the shifter with just the right motion. Failure to shift correctly would result in the shifter binding up in-between gears. I carried a floor jack and a long boxed end wrench just to unbind it.
Whenever you came to a stop, you would have to hold your toe on the brake and role the side of your foot onto the gas to keep it from dying. Once again failing to do this many times would case the battery to quickly die from trying to start the car.
When it rained, I would have to stuff a rage in the shaker hood scoop because it was wired open. Nothing like running water through your cylinders.

I have fixed these things over the years, some of them twice, but I do romantically miss the car as it was when only I could drive it. Ya, I know, I should get a life.

Soaring

Sounds like you guys have projects that need attention.

1fine69

mine dosent even run yet:

angelsmith00

Hah, nah, just projects that need funding.
Hah and I know this is a lame question, but I'm too embarrased to post a whole topic about it, so I'm hoping somebody jsut stumbles upon this... how do you get the inside panel of the door off on a '68? I assume you take off the armrest, and window crank... which I know how to do, but how much more is there to it? is there more to it?

DSMtuner

On my year (65) , you just take off the door handle, window crank, armrest, and there were a few screws around the perimeter. Then I just pulled the whole panel up, and off. I would assume yours is very similar.

As for quirks, I just fixed the idle set screw that kept poping off.. My passenger window fell off the frame, I dont know how to fix it, so if its cold when I go driving, too bad! If its raining, I jam it up with a massive screwdriver inside the door. Everyone and a while, I loose all gears. I just have to keep trying different gears, untill it pops into gear.

Dan66

Sounds like a frustrating evening alright; but nothing that couldn't be fixed in an afternoon...

Door lock: take 2 minutes and pull your door panel off. Odds are some graphite would work wonders. The inside lock probably stripped its plastic threads.

Rear view mirror: Invest in a decent set of allen wrenches and snug it up really tight. Shouldn't run you but a few dollars.

Back-up lights: Could be as simple as the bulbs.

Dies when you accelerate hard: I've seen this problem be the fuel filter. Again - just a couple dollars. It's at least a jumping-off point.

Turn indicator: Most likely a worn blinker cam. Not as quick of a fix as the other things, but still very do-able.

Windshield squirter: replace those rotten rubber lines and worn nozzles. Will take no time at all, and virtually no money.

Lights going dim and bright: Sounds like the voltage regulator to me. Less than $10 to buy and 2 minutes to install.

Legs too short for dimmer switch: Can't blame that one on the car's age!

I'm not meaning to belittle your problems; but even those of us with the most humble of finances should be able to fund these minor repairs. I would think you could fix every one of those problems for less than $50 combined. You just can't expect a 40 year old car to be as maintenance-free as a newer one.

angelsmith00

Oh I wouldn't expect it to be, and it's true that most of what is wrong with my car is very fixable. I'm a 17year old chick who jsut got into cars a few years ago, and knows very little about how to fix her old mustang. Everything we do except add oil is done by the shop or a boyfriend. Bah... that reminds me my car goes through a quart every two weeks and it's time to add again. Aside from the oil leak/burning the quirks dont bother me too much. I find humor in warning people about what to expect with my car.

The reverse lights.. there's water droplets you can see on the inside. And when we worked on the transmission/ gear box last year we didn't see the wiring for the reverse lights either. Hmm...................... The previous owner admitted to us that the car had pretty much been built up again. One of my doors is a '67 and the pretty paintjob they put on the car right before they sold it is bubbling up all over. Hah.. and my interior used to be blue, so they spray painted all the metal black, and put in nice new seats. The black paint is chipping up all over though, showing the blue underneath.
Man we got so screwed on this car... I love it to death... but I can't afford to give her the care she needs.
One step at a time I guess.