MNBob's 1979 TATA 5 Speed

[MNBob]

I also got this one for my Jeep:

Digital GPS Speedometer for Car



It has been flawless, is a little easier to read, and is only $14.

[MNBob]

Subwoofer Install
I have made the decision to trade in my 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.  The Jeep used to be a second car, driven occasionally, and used for towing the boat.  But now it has become a daily driver, and the mileage is very poor.  Ironically, it had the same problem as the TA originally, too many rpm’s on the highway. 

The 420 horsepower was really nice, and this was the best vehicle I have ever had for towing the boat.  We are going to buy our first electric car, a Volkswagen ID4.

I had upgraded the Jeep sound system by installing very high-quality speakers and adding a subwoofer. The system was also the best I've ever had in a car.  So I thought why not take the subwoofer and use it for my Trans Am.

I thought about putting it in the trunk, but it would take up space, and I thought it would be better in the left rear seat footwell.  I ran the wires in the console and added about 6 feet of extra wire in case I ever wanted to move it or clean in the area.

This is not a boom out your neighbors subwoofer, but it really adds some depth to the music. The included wired remote also gives a lot of flexibility for adjustment and there are additional subwoofer controls in the Kenwood CD player.  The Kenwood has subwoofer RCA outputs.


Subwoofer Close Up on Bench


Installed


Wired Remote Under Driver Seat

[5th T/A]

It’s always nice when you can repurpose something like the subwoofer. Makes it a win/win.

[langss]

I normally just mind my own business, But I read that you were planning on buying an "Electric Car"...Based on my best friends Prius experience...and the Tesla that my Wife bought on a whim...I implore you to do your Home Work...There is in my opinion far more Down Side than any upside...When the Batteries died in the Prius...Rebuilt Batteries were over $1000.00, and the Warranty was very short. All of the Special Maintenance Tires/Brakes/Etc are pricey ... As for the Tesla... She's been locked out more time than I can remember, and the Foam Filled Tire she Punctured cost her around $500.00 after all the dust settled...She had to wait a week for an appointment to get the Keyless entry problem resolved... And I'm not sure that's entirely resolved. When the power goes off here, She can't charge the car...and so far this summer its already gone off 4 times and once for 8 hrs...I just take her to work in the Silverado... Just my .02...Regards.       

[kentucky yeti]

I like that display.

[MNBob]

langss, thanks for the input.  There are always bad experiences with any car.  My wife's daughter has had numerous Prius's and loves them.  There are Tesla's everywhere here in this suburb and Naples. 

We have done our homework on this car reading hundreds of magazine reviews, ratings, personal reviews, and personal conversations with owners.  It has all been really positive.  The car comes with an 8 year warranty on the batteries, as well as warranties on other items.

So I will report back here from time to time and let everyone know of our experience with it!

[roadking77]

Not to change the T/A subject but I would love to hear of your electric car experience when you get one. I think the idea is great and there is def a need. If I could afford one I probably would have one. I have a good customer that bought a Tesla 3 last december. He has nothing but good to say about the car. He recently took a trip from the DC area to Alabama and back up through the middle of the country, to Indiana and back home. Had no problems at all. Said the biggest things were thinking ahead about where to charge and the extended charge time once they stopped. Other than that he loves the car.

[MNBob]

Will do, I will give regular reports on how we fare with the vehicle here.  I forgot to mention that a couple from Canada at our old condo would drive their Tesla back-and-forth from Canada to Naples every year.  They absolutely loved their Tesla.

We could not turn down the value proposition offered by this car.  First off, there was a $7500 rebate that we were eligible for.  Secondly, the cost of electric is half the cost of gas, or maybe even a little less.  Thirdly, Volkswagen offers free charging for three years at Electrify America charging stations with a purchase.  We could literally drive across the country and paying nothing for it.

There is also the feel good aspects of this purchase.  We will be doing a little to help the planet.  The car is also made in the US in Chatanooga.

[5th T/A]

Bob,
Looking forward to hearing your real-world experiences with an all-electric car.

My wife has a good friend that owns several businesses in Wisconsin requiring about 200 mile round trips between. They replaced a Ford Expedition (full size SUV) with a Tesla Model 3. Just talking about charging costs, they claim their monthly expense is about 1/3 of what gasoline was for the SUV. But we are kind of talking about an apples to oranges comparison regarding vehicle size and weight. They have made several round trips to Orlando and back with friends driving gasoline powered vehicles and claim travel time was very close. My understanding is the Tesla Charging Application is very good at guiding you to a charging station with little to no waiting time. The only drawback I have heard for Tesla is the long acquisition time for collision repair parts. Long term battery life is still an unknown, but repair and maintenance should be less than an internal combustion powered vehicle. I have talked to neighbors and friends who own Tesla's, they all are very positive. No doubt the future is in electric powered vehicles. In the long run I think cost per mile will be the driving force.

My wife and I both have Hybrids as daily drivers. Me a 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid now with only 42,000 miles. When I retired in 2018 it had 22,000 miles. Spring Summer and Fall mileage is in the 42 to 46 MPG range. Winter time it drops to the mid 30's because the engine has to run to produce heat. My wife drives a 2013 Toyota Hylander Hybrid, it gets 28 MPG except in winter where it drops to 22-23 MPG. Her car has 144,000 miles, all I have replaced is tires, brakes, air filters, oil changes and a 12V starting battery. My wife drives with a lead foot and is hard on brakes, yet we still got 120K out of her first set of brakes. While I am all for protecting and helping the environment, I was more drawn to these cars because of the technology. Hybrid cars really shine in heavy traffic city driving. Mileage in city driving is often better than highway. On a hot summer day the AC works great, its all battery powered and engine stays much cooler because it's not running very much.

[stros]

We have about 25K miles on our 2019 Tesla Model 3 at this point.  Overall, the only 2 issues we've had are the "starter" battery going out in the first couple of months (been ok since), and one of the door window regulators also recently had to be replaced.

Ours is a base model but it's still pretty quick.  It drives and handles nicely.  I think recent year models have more range but we tend to get about 200 miles per charge.  We don't have the full self driving option but it has the standard autopilot which we rarely use as honestly I've never gained any trust in it.  It also has the blind spot warning in the same screen instead of on the door mirrors - which I also think is a mistake. 

I've grown to hate the interior (with the "Ipad" in the middle of the dash).  I prefer having gauges directly in front of me, plus a lot of basic functions take some digging.  The screen at times locks up (which renders the car useless) and needs fairly frequent rebooting/restarting.  Also you can't aim the air vents - a feature on pretty much every car in the past 100 years.  I do like the fact you can cool the car before you get into it and you can quietly run the AC when sitting and waiting for someone in hot weather (instead of having to turn your gas engine on). 

I don't take the Tesla on roadtrips as I'd rather not deal with trying to find the charging stations, but that's just me.  The service has been a bit hit or miss.  It's nice that they'll stop by your house but sometimes it takes a while to get an appointment. 

While the Tesla has been fine, for our next EV I'm thinking about going with one of the larger manufacturers. 

[N PRGRES]

My son in law just bought a Tesla 3 sport model.  It's fast but thats about all I can say good about it.  I find the styling boring as well as the interior.  For the money the interior looks cheap to me.  But, it's not my car and he likes it.  I would much rather drive my daughters new BMW 3 series which I really like. 

I am not against electric, I would own the right one but so far nothing gets me too excited.  I am not going to buy a car just to "Save the plant" especially if I find them ugly and boring looking

[MNBob]

Tesla interiors seem to have the big screen and not much else.  Most of the other EV's have a more "normal" looking interior.  As far as style, I think the ID4 looks ok for an SUV.

Here are the photos:


ID4 Interior


ID4 Exterior

[stros]

My son in law just bought a Tesla 3 sport model.  It's fast but thats about all I can say good about it.  I find the styling boring as well as the interior.  For the money the interior looks cheap to me.  But, it's not my car and he likes it.  I would much rather drive my daughters new BMW 3 series which I really like. 

I am not against electric, I would own the right one but so far nothing gets me too excited.  I am not going to buy a car just to "Save the plant" especially if I find them ugly and boring looking

Totally agree - there is nothing very exciting/engaging about the Tesla 3/S/X/Y models from a design or driver's perspective, inside or out.  The driving experience even with the fast acceleration lacks something to me still.  Now they did go more extreme with the Cybertruck design but IMHO it is too extreme. 

I am interested to see how some of the upcoming EVs like the Dodge Charger turn out to be - with fake exhausts and fake shifting.  Maybe that'll add some excitement to them, maybe not. 

[MNBob]

Totally agree - there is nothing very exciting/engaging about the Tesla 3/S/X/Y models from a design or driver's perspective, inside or out.

This is also one comments of others on the ID4.  However, we are not looking for a sports car, but a car to run errands and take an occasional trip.

Here is the summary in US News:

"The 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 is a spacious EV with a comfortable ride and good cargo room, but its driving experience lacks excitement, its infotainment system is not user-friendly, and the base model has a low driving range."

We are getting the single motor RWD Pro S model that has the larger 275 mile range and a higher trim level.

[Gene-73]

Good to see people starting to come around to electric vehicles. If this discussion happened here even a couple years ago there would have been a lot more hate in this thread. Pretty soon we'll be reading about folks here doing an EV swap into their Trans Am. 

We bought a Kia EV6 last year and I absolutely love it. We also have rooftop solar so zero fuel costs for us. I tell everyone that is shopping for an EV that the most important thing is to get one with DC fast charging. Most people will do >90% of their charging at home at level 2 but when you have to top up on the road, level 3 fast charging makes a huge difference. In the case of our Kia it can charge from 10-80% in 18 minutes.

Another upside is our Kia acts as a battery backup for our house for when the power goes out as it has Vehicle to Load. Had a gas generator but got rid of it since the car does it better.

[N PRGRES]

This post needs to get back on topic.

[MNBob]

Gene, thanks for sharing.  I am glad to hear you are satisfied with the EV6.  They are the top rated EV SUV.

That fast charging rate is really fast.  The spec for ID4 is a half an hour.  I think when you travel with a EV, it is a little diferent mindset.  It is ok to stop for a break, or get something to eat, or explore a little.  You just have to allow a little more time.

That is interesting about the solar.  How long could the car power the house?

I am super excited about getting this car (mid August) so this discussion is fine with me.  Thanks to all that have shared.

I have no new TA accomplishments because I am rehabbing our deck.

[Gene-73]

A friend of mine has the ID4 and really likes it. We were able to get the federal tax credit on the EV6 but unfortunately that's not available anymore for Hyundai/Kia.

Regarding the Vehicle to Load feature, the king of this technology currently is the Ford F-150 Lightning which can provide 9.6kW 220V output in a true Vehicle to Home configuration. The Kia on the other hand can only output 1.9kW 110V but that's more than enough to run the refrigerator, computers, and a bunch of LED lights. It's not enough to power our central A/C but it is enough for a small window A/C unit. It's also enough to power the blower on our gas furnace if we need heat during a winter outage. With a full battery the EV6 can provide that power for over 40 hours.

It sounds like there are a few people interested in EVs here so I'm going to start a new thread in the Lobby on electric vehicles so we can continue the discussion.

[MNBob]

That is a surprising amount of power for the house.

Thanks for starting the new thread, I will share my ID4 experiences over there.

[MNBob]

It is hard to believe that it's been almost 2 years since my last post.  When we left off, I was going to replace my Pontiac 400 with a big block Chevy 502.   Well time has passed and I have had second thoughts about that project. For a lot of reasons, I think I want to keep my Pontiac all Pontiac.

The most pressing issue with the car right now is the control arm bushings. They are cracked and 46 years old.  I can no longer put this off and at the same time I would like to improve the ride.  So I am going to replace the control arms and put in springs with lighter coils.
 
At the same time, I might as well upgrade the front brakes.  The CPP front 13 inch brake kit looks good to me, comes with new spindles, calipers, hubs, etc.  Alternately, you can get brackets and cut the existing spindles to use the C5/C6 12.8” rotors and hardware.  So, I need to decide what to do.

[N PRGRES]

Sounds like a fun project!

[roadking77]

Good to hear from you Bob, I often think about your car and had hoped that you were doing well. Sounds like another decent upgrade to me!

[stros]

Regarding the CPP brake kit - I had that and the bearings failed on me multiple times.  They didn’t fail under very demanding driving conditions either. 

The hubs and bearings are known weak points on them.  I ended up retaining the CPP spindles (though I did have to paint them as they were getting surface rust) and attached Wilwood C5/C6 brakes to them and a C7 ZR1 hub kit.  Maybe they’ve resolved the issues since I had them but I’m not sure.

[MNBob]

It is good to hear from you guys.  I guess I've been off in housing repair land.

Darryl, I have read your posts about the CPP kit and I am aware of the issues you've had with the bearings.  I've also read on the Internet many posts about this.  I think CPP has moved on to use the C7 bearings, but if I purchase from them, I would call and ask.  Right now, I am leaning toward purchasing the CPP spindles and sourcing all the other parts on my own.

I have gone back-and-forth about using the CPP spindles versus the traditional bracket method for adding the C5 stuff.  Since I already have a set of hubs, I could do the bracket approach for less money.  But I think in the long run, the CPP spindles are heavy duty, use a grease-less hub and look better.

[N PRGRES]

I have gone back-and-forth about using the CPP spindles versus the traditional bracket method for adding the C5 stuff.  Since I already have a set of hubs, I could do the bracket approach for less money.  But I think in the long run, the CPP spindles are heavy duty, use a grease-less hub and look better.

Does PTFB offer anything that would do the same thing?

[MNBob]

I am not sure, but at this point I am really zeroed in on the CPP spindle solution.

[stros]

I like your plan for the brakes Bob.  PTFB does offer some spindles now but I think the CPP spindles are fine (especially for the price).  They are very heavy/solid pieces.  Other than needing a nice coat of paint I haven’t seen any problems with those nearly after 10 years now.  The only minor issue I think is the lack of a steering stop. 

Here’s a link to the PTFB ones but it mentions compatibility with 88-92 f body brakes.

https://www.pro-touringf-body.com/product-page/1le-spindles

[FormTA]

Good to hear from you again. Breakes are a interesting thing to me. I understand wanting to upgrade them but I feel the stock fronts are pretty good as it. Could they be a little better sure but probably wouldn't notice the upgrade unless autocrossing your car. Now the rear is where you will really feel/notice the upgrade. I have the 4th gen rear disks on my car and I have the 17x9 snowflakes with pretty wide tires compared to stock. The braking ability it really awesome in my opinion with just the rear disk upgrade. My car stops on a dime. I'd almost say better than my wife's Acura or daughter Lexus.  Not that those are sports cars but it's probably the best stopping and brake feel car we own (and we have quite a few vehicles).

I'm just saying for minimal investment you can get 95% of the way there. Use the saved money for some other upgrade.

[N PRGRES]

I also second this.  Toss some dual piston calipers on the front if that's an area of concern and you'll get a lot more performance for a lot less money.  Not sure how fast you want (need) to stop but my Wilwoods will drop speed in a hurry

[MNBob]

I totally agree with you.  When car was new, I was involved in several chain reaction slow downs and found the car stopped really good.  The only problem was there was a lot of older cars on the road and you had to worry about the guy behind you.

There are a couple of things that motivate me here. The first is the originals had a hub and rotor together and it just seems like such an old time concept.  If you need to replace the rotor, you also need to replace the hub.  Second, I have already invested in 17 inch wheels so I have a lot of space and I might as well use it.  And yes, I think you can say it's a little bit for show.

There was a definite improvement when I went to the Blazer rear disc brakes.  I guess you could argue that I had been lazy and not kept the factory rear discs properly adjusted.  At some point, I'll probably upgrade those to 13” as well because all I need is a bracket and I can keep the Blazer parking brake.

[N PRGRES]

I totally agree with you.  When car was new, I was involved in several chain reaction slow downs and found the car stopped really good.  The only problem was there was a lot of older cars on the road and you had to worry about the guy behind you.

There are a couple of things that motivate me here. The first is the originals had a hub and rotor together and it just seems like such an old time concept.  If you need to replace the rotor, you also need to replace the hub.  Second, I have already invested in 17 inch wheels so I have a lot of space and I might as well use it.  And yes, I think you can say it's a little bit for show.

There was a definite improvement when I went to the Blazer rear disc brakes.  I guess you could argue that I had been lazy and not kept the factory rear discs properly adjusted.  At some point, I'll probably upgrade those to 13” as well because all I need is a bracket and I can keep the Blazer parking brake.

Not here to tell you what to do, but how much driving will you be doing that you have to replace the hub/rotor as opposed to what a conversion would cost?  I guess if you're looking for cool things being the wheels or bragging rights, then thats cool.  I've thought of cool thinks to do like a 5 speed swap and other stuff but decided in the end, the gain wasn't worth the cost.

[FormTA]

Ya, totally not trying to poopoo your build or anything. Just money is tight for everyone in this hobby and if you could save your money for subframe connectors, solid body mounts, drop spring/GT type suspension, better steering box ect. 

Anyway, just keep up the forward momentum!

[N PRGRES]

Ya, totally not trying to poopoo your build or anything. Just money is tight for everyone in this hobby and if you could save your money for subframe connectors, solid body mounts, drop spring/GT type suspension, better steering box ect. 

Anyway, just keep up the forward momentum!

Same, Not sure what your end goal is but IMO there are alot of more beneficial mods for the money but in the end it's your car and you know what you want

[MNBob]

Thanks for all the comments.  It is probably not what I need, but it is what I want on the car.

[N PRGRES]

Thanks for all the comments.  It is probably not what I need, but it is what I want on the car.

Then go for it!

[scarebird]

Ya, totally not trying to poopoo your build or anything. Just money is tight for everyone in this hobby and if you could save your money for subframe connectors, solid body mounts, drop spring/GT type suspension, better steering box ect. 

Anyway, just keep up the forward momentum!

Best mod on my TA:  Delphi box.