Thread: Soul Wreck = $ 1000.00 damage

Originally Posted by dmwagner

... and you used to jack your car up by the bumper and attach your ball hitch by screwing it through the hole in your bumper.

Exactly! There was nothing better than the bumper jack - you didn't even need to look under the car, and you could get the car 2 feet off the ground in 30 seconds. And that large foot made it almost impossible to tip the jack over.

See, changes like that have been for the worse. There's really no reason they couldn't have the cars of today - with fuel injection, electronics, etc - and still have some of the advantageous things of yesteryear like bumpers that actually prevented damage and jacks that don't make you cringe when you think about using them.

.................or hoods that stay up on there own

Originally Posted by conwelpic

.................or hoods that stay up on there own

My pickup's hood stays up on its own, but yeah, nearly all cars had hoods that were spring loaded. Economy cars, though, even "back then", used a prop rod. So did utility vehicles like my old Ford van.

They don't make cars like they use to thats for sure. But the damage didnt look super bad so that's a plus and its glad to see you are alright.

Originally Posted by PhotoSoul

They don't make cars like they use to thats for sure. But the damage didnt look super bad so that's a plus and its glad to see you are alright.

Mechanically, I'm certainly glad for that! The cheapest car today is more reliable and will mechanically last longer than the best cars from even 20 years ago, much less older. When I first started driving, only poor people had cars over 100k miles because you didn't expect a car to go much further. Anyone with any kind of money - mostly middle class - traded their vehicles in at 60 or 70k miles. And this was prudent, because 100k miles was a marker. As an example, I had an old GMC pickup that I bought with very low miles, used. By the time I got to 100k miles, I had the differential, transmission, engine and carburetor rebuilt, and a few other things were getting touchy. This wasn't at all unusual.

What is disappointing is that they dropped the worthwhile stuff - real bumpers; real jacks; body panels that won't dent if you look at them wrong - most people don't know this, but until about 25 years ago there was no such thing as dentless repair because there was no such thing as dings. Body panels were solid enough that you either dented a car altogether (not easy to do), or you did no harm to the panel itself. There was no such thing as hail damage 25 years ago, other than to a convertible roof or broken windshield if it were big enough. And cars didn't suffer anywhere near the nicks they do now, because the paint was thicker and more solid.

Originally Posted by jdmartin

What is disappointing is that they dropped the worthwhile stuff - real bumpers; real jacks; body panels that won't dent if you look at them wrong - most people don't know this, but until about 25 years ago there was no such thing as dentless repair because there was no such thing as dings. Body panels were solid enough that you either dented a car altogether (not easy to do), or you did no harm to the panel itself. There was no such thing as hail damage 25 years ago, other than to a convertible roof or broken windshield if it were big enough. And cars didn't suffer anywhere near the nicks they do now, because the paint was thicker and more solid.

Can't agree with that, it must have been very light hail where you were located. I was in the automotive and RV business in the mid 70's to late 80's (in Alberta) and believe me there was serious hail damage to vehicles. It used to keep many business going through the winter months fixing them.

Originally Posted by TPH

I have been hit from the rear at least 5 times. Good to hear no one got hurt. TPH

Have you removed the bullseye on your tailgate yet?

Originally Posted by conwelpic

Can't agree with that, it must have been very light hail where you were located. I was in the automotive and RV business in the mid 70's to late 80's (in Alberta) and believe me there was serious hail damage to vehicles. It used to keep many business going through the winter months fixing them.

I meant in the lower 48 Anyone who lives where you can have double-digit negatives in the winter and triple-digit positives in the summer (Fahrenheit), all bets are off. And Alberta has some of the most horrendous weather on the planet, at least in inhabited lands!

Originally Posted by jdmartin

Mechanically, I'm certainly glad for that! The cheapest car today is more reliable and will mechanically last longer than the best cars from even 20 years ago, much less older. When I first started driving, only poor people had cars over 100k miles because you didn't expect a car to go much further. Anyone with any kind of money - mostly middle class - traded their vehicles in at 60 or 70k miles. And this was prudent, because 100k miles was a marker. As an example, I had an old GMC pickup that I bought with very low miles, used. By the time I got to 100k miles, I had the differential, transmission, engine and carburetor rebuilt, and a few other things were getting touchy. This wasn't at all unusual.

What is disappointing is that they dropped the worthwhile stuff - real bumpers; real jacks; body panels that won't dent if you look at them wrong - most people don't know this, but until about 25 years ago there was no such thing as dentless repair because there was no such thing as dings. Body panels were solid enough that you either dented a car altogether (not easy to do), or you did no harm to the panel itself. There was no such thing as hail damage 25 years ago, other than to a convertible roof or broken windshield if it were big enough. And cars didn't suffer anywhere near the nicks they do now, because the paint was thicker and more solid.

I have to disagree about the bumper jack, the most unstable jack ever and my 41 year old son still owns his first car a '65 Buick Skylark convertible, it was outside during a hale storm and suffered significant dings on the hood and trunk.

Originally Posted by jdmartin

I meant in the lower 48 Anyone who lives where you can have double-digit negatives in the winter and triple-digit positives in the summer (Fahrenheit), all bets are off. And Alberta has some of the most horrendous weather on the planet, at least in inhabited lands!

I will agree that you can't stand on the hoods without serious damage like you could on the old vehicles (but then again they weighed over two tons), but new vehicles are designed totally different to absorb impact. Check out the difference between a '59 Chev Bel Air vs a '09 Chev Malibu.
Crash Test 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu (Frontal Offset) IIHS 50th Anniversary - YouTube