I wish we had rules like that years ago in the States when I had my '65 Austin Healey. 
I got rid of it when it was 40 years old because I used it so infrequently. I calculated that it cost me over $50 a ride just for insurance.
9 Likes
Martin, thatâs not fair.
I donât want to rub it in, but insurance is surprisingly cheap for older vehicles here. I pay just over $100 a year each for the Volvo and the Mazda pickup. Thatâs about 12 bags of chunks worth.
8 Likes
Well I have to chime in here, even though there is no mandatory inspection on those older cars you still need to pass for example a roadside inspection by the police and if they feel it is dangerous or not roadworthy they can send you to an inspection anyway. Like for example if you used a bungeecord to strap a kitchenchair to a carframe with only the bare driveable minimum. Nice mental pic there 
I think the naive citydwelling bureaucratic idealistic thoughts were that noone in their right mind drives a vehicle that old if youâre not an enthusiast and therefor takes good care of that vehicle because otherwise you would get laughed at by the suburbian/inner city neighbours for not driving the new hip âinsert car brand/model hereâ 
Iâll stop the drivel now.
13 Likes
Austin Healeyâs with a small block Chevy were a pretty common project at one time Marty. I helped build one once. Not too much. I just beefed up the front frame and built the motor mounts and traction bars. It was a fun car. Dynoâed at 400 HP at the rear wheels. Here is a similar one from Sweden. The one I worked on didnât have the roll bars. That would have been a good idea.
9 Likes
Well, i forgot about that, @JO_Olsson , thanks for the reminder
Well, itâs safer and more practical with winter tires, so after work today i put them on (i finally found them yesterday evening)
They are much needed as i live on the countryside, itâs not as important to clear the roads there.
Three of them actually hold air, had to put a inner tube in this one.
How do you like my shiny, show-off rims?
@JohanM well said, you are not a member of society if you drive an old carâŠ
13 Likes
Hey Tom, great video. Yeah I got bored one year and put a small block high output Ford engine in mine. It was great fun to drive. I didnât push it too hard as I probably would have ended up with some big wire brushes on the rear axle. 
15 Likes
I found studded wintertires for the Volvo 850 in the barn, not sure which volvo they have been on. It is either a 145 or a 245 which means they are either from early eighties or mid eighties. Either way I sadly have to say the rims are nicer than yours but they have been stored indoors since then and the tires are rock hard and will probably never be worn down
10 Likes
It has been a few weeks and we have been busy getting ready for winter. I would think I had moved to the west side of the mountains of Washington State, from all the rain we have been seeing coming down. Lots of strong rain and winds blew my covers off and tore them tarps off my dry wood. Bummer the wood got wet on top. It has been to wet to finish blowing and mulching up the poplar and elm trees leafs in the yard. Lots of snow in the foot hills around us here in Wenatchee Washington area. I might get one more drive in the old wood burn truck before the snow is on the ground and I can not get up the hill from the house driving it to the main road. Last year the county snow maintenance quit plow by our house so it is all wheel or four wheel drive getting out of our place when the snow hits the ground.
Lots of catch up reading to do on DOW.
We are all well and doing fine. Dana and I hope you all have a wonderful up a coming holidays this season this 2024 / 25 year.
15 Likes
Those tires would be great for a woodgas-car, as they helps shaking down the chunks, anti-bridging tires
12 Likes
Haha, that would be a nice feature. Unless they crack from the added weight
There is a certain uncertainness to driving on those tires⊠âwill I be able to drive home this time or do I have to change a tireâ
@Bobmac It is too bad you canât get up the slope to do some dow in winter.
Thank you for the holiday wishes, they sound far away at the moment but we are racing towards them. I hope you have a great winter and wonderful holidays 
10 Likes
Haha, looks like they could use a quick polish. Just donât work the rag too hard. It could damage the shiny surface
10 Likes
Actually, one of them had rusted through(!), some years ago, i fixed it by lining the rim with fire-hose, and put in a inner-tube 
9 Likes
Nice to hear from you Bobmac, you have been missed.
Maybe we are going to get more updates from you, when winter time is here 
7 Likes
The majority of vehicles have stick shift over here. There are many stories about how Americans donât know how to operate them. Maybe this is what they have in mind
13 Likes
Are you sure this is a car? Not some sort of crane or tractor?
1 Like
Here I thought after 10 months using sharing my 2024 discovery.
Get and use now a battery-electric reciprocating saw.
Advice I just given to a proposed American western states traveler now we are LaNina winds and snows storming:
Accumulated two of the four downed-falls that Iâd been walking around; and clambering over for weeks. Taken care of quickly, with no noisy to neighbors disturbances.
This one was done two years ago with the gasoline chainsaw.
Why no harvesting of this wood? Far down-hill slope wood. Ainât no way 70, then 71 yearly me was wheelbarrowing that up hill. Now deep into fall-rains, too soaked wet to use for this years heating. Tracked Tote it uphill to rough split; rows stack to dry over next summer.
And all this was lenths cut with my Milwaukee one-hand Hacksall. A bit shorter stroke.
The red Diablo brand blades last 2X longer versus the white Milwaukee ones. 9 inch; 3 teeth per inch, green-wood pruning blades.
Regards
Steve Unruh
8 Likes
Itâs a MB Unimog.
I found another one that has a few extra gears
3 Likes
Anyone know where to start with this headlight problem.
In the past few months Iâve noticed that the headlights on my Dodge Dakota are being finicky. And itâs just the headlights all the other dash lights come on.
One day I go there and turn on the headlights and they light up. The next day they wonât come on at all. I play around with a few things and they come on again. Last week I came home and switched off the headlights and they stayed on and they were even dimmable with the rehostat on the switch. Fiddled with a few things and they turned off. Today is one of those days when they donât turn on at all. And nothing I do can make them turn on again.
The fuse for the headlight switch is good. I even replaced it just cause I had a spare. Checked the headlight ground thatâs all good.
Could the whole problem be a bad headlight switch?
1 Like
Yes on the switch. Especially since you stay that you could in malfunction dim the headlights with the dash light dimmer function. THAT should not be possible. The only common is that multi-function headlight switch.
Without that symptom Iâd have said the problem was most likely the headlights power relay going bad.
Iâd replace both.
S.U.
3 Likes
Been a little busy, mostly just winterizing things.
My cousinâs Mustang that needed restoration was quoted at 100,000 dollars, so he turned that down. I know the 289 in it is still good because it turns freely. Asked if he decided to scrap the car if I can pull the engine and transmission, so maybe that will be a possibility in the future. Would be a killer little engine to drop in the Mazda.
Now he got a flipping Thunderbird thatâs in practically mint condition, only issue is the power steering unit leaks. Next time he takes the cover off Iâll be sure to take some pictures.
2 Likes