Auto Q & A
Auto Q & A
By: Dr. Wheels
Topics:
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 619 times
0 responses 0 comments Dear Q & A: For a long time I’ve been wanting to turn an old Volkswagen into one of those jazzy home-built roadsters you see tooling around the county. I’m finally retired and have the time and maybe enough know-how to do it, with the aid of one of the how-to kits that are available. What’s a good source of information on projects like this? I’m going to have to learn a lot before I actually pick up a hacksaw.
— Bugatti Fan
Dear BF: A magazine called “Kit Car” (P.O. Box 420247, Palm Coast, FL 32142, annual subscription about $24) is one source of info and ads for prospective project managers like you. Try to find a local group in your area, so you can share problems and find solutions. Good luck.
Dear Q & A: Some Buick Lucernes have the “portholes” in the front fenders and some don’t. What’s the difference? And what’s with those portholes anyway?
— R.T.
Dear RT: Lucernes that have the fender holes are equipped with a 4.6-liter, 275-horsepower V-8 engine; those without have a 3.8-liter, 197- horsepower V-6. Both are more than adequate for nearly all normal sedan driving, but the V-8’s greater oomph is impressive.
All model Buicks of the late 1940s and early ‘50s had fender portholes. Four holes indicated a bigger engine, three holes a smaller. The smaller-bodied, bottom -of-the-line special shared three holes with the large super model, while the small Century (then Buick’s “performance” sedan) and the large Roadmaster each had four. The whole porthole idea was intended to suggest power in those early post-WW II Buicks, reminiscent of the Duesenbergs and Cords that had wowed American car buffs in the 1930s. In those earlier vehicles, there was a functional connection, external pipes porting engine exhaust gases in a conspicuous way. But in those old Buicks, as in today’s Lucernes, the holes are for show.
Dear Q & A: My wife, when she drives, insists on using cruise control all the time for all country driving. She claims it saves gas. She read that somewhere. Is that practical and is it a safety problem?
— Side Seat Driver
Dear SSD: On some very hilly and curvy roads, cruise control can be both a nuisance and a hazard. On all but the most powerful vehicles — and even if they have automatic transmissions with more than four speeds — ATs have a tendency to downshift on uphills in situations where careful driver technique would prevent downshifts by a slight relaxation of gas pedal pressure. ATs are designed to downshift, of course. But the repeated shifting down and up entailed by sustained hilly driving in cruise control adds unnecessary wear on transmissions, besides adding the lower-gear noise that slowing by one or two miles per hour would avoid.
Curvy highway driving using cruise can put you into a curve at a speed that, while appropriate for straightaways, will make you hit the brakes in a panic save once you realize you’re traveling too fast to maintain traction around the bend. Cruise is best for the straight and level. Your owner’s handbook probably has some good advice along these lines. It’s worth a look.
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