Oil changes and vehicles

I changed the oil in my '89 Ford van this morning and also added some R134A to the air conditioning - while doing that I realized that I've owned 15 different vehicles in my life time and never took one to a place to have the oil changed - always did it myself - here's the different vehicles I have owned - 48 Plymouth, 63 Jeep PU, 65 Buick SW, 72 Ford SW, 70 Fairlane Ford SW, three 79 Pinto SW, 81 Ford Galaxie, 85 Dodge, 75 Ford SW, 65 Chevy, 91 Ford PU, 98 Ford van, and a 05 Ford F350 - as you see I'm a Ford man - a change your own oil kinda guy - except for the 81 Ford - the 98 van - the 91 Ford PU and the 05 Ford F350 all the others were bought used - I rebuilt the motor in the 72 Ford SW one time - it had nearly 250K miles on it but then finally the frame was so rusted had to junk it - all the cars treated me good except for the Dodge - it was a piece of junk - a lot of those cars had so much room under the hood that you could actually climb in there with the engine and work - I remember when I bought the 81 Galaxie new it cost $2500 - and gas was 7 cents a gallon - those were the days my friend - never thought they would end -

7 cents a gallon in 1981? It was 31 cents an imperial gallon in 1965 in Canada, and only went up after that.

I do most of my own oil changes too. Every now and then Iil get rushed into a quickie outlet but it's rare. My list of vehicles I have owned is pretty short.

1996 chev 1500 sold with 425 000k on original 305.
2003 chev 2500 HD
Iil take that as a good thing.
Old girl is getting a bit of a red tinge to her now I'm looking but not liking what I see out there on the lots.

15 for me too, Joe.

A 1938 Chrysler Coupe, a 1955 Austin Somerset, a 1954 Chevy, a 1960 Morris Oxford, a 1959 Mercury Meteor, a 1966 Ford raised roof camper van (custom built), a 1967 Ford Custom (my 1st new car - $2500), a 1977 Ford Fairlane station wagon (was my Dad's), a 1976 Chevy van (I customized it into a camper van - my 2nd new vehicle - $4500), a 1978 Buick Regal, a 1979 Pontiac Grand Le Mans (really loved that car!), a 1987 Ford Ranger pickup, a 1985 Chevy Astro van, a 1989 Ford Ranger pickup, and a 2011 Ford Ranger pickup (my 3rd new vehicle - $17,000).

Prices have gone up over the years! The cheapest I can remember gas was in 1969 - 0.33 cents per gallon.

I used to do my own oil changes and whatever else I could handle - until my back got too bad.

My 1967 Ford Custom was so big I could lay down comfortably across the width of the trunk - I was 6'1". It had a small V-8 and there was so much extra space under the hood - you could actually climb in.

I forgot to add: My pre-war Matchless 500 motorcycle.

1976 Ford Ltd is what I started on. Project car for me. Came from my parents. I started to do things like replace the plugs and wires and fabricated a forced air pipe. Man what was I thinking.

After that I moved onto a Mazda b2000 that I don't remember the year and did everything on it. It was a good truck. I had to adjust the valves a few times. The only thing I sent out was for the clutch. I just didn't have the space.

After that I bought a commuter 1992 Honda civic. Slowly I started to drift from doing work.

After that an Isuzu Rodeo. Don't remember the year. Great truck and good clearance. It went to some far out places. I did no work on it.

Now I'm on a Toyota Tacoma 2005. My favorite vehicle yet. I slowly worked back to doing work like I used to. I was at first intimidated by the idea of working on fuel injected motor and felt a lot more comfortable around carbs. I have done all kinds of things now the brakes, one bearing, suspension upgrade, plugs, and in the last five years all the oil and tune jobs. I just did one at the camp this past weekend after I put a new axle on my trailer.

I use the old oil in my chainsaw or bring back the excess to be recycled. I'm sure there will be mixed opinions on this.

I enjoy doing tune ups and don't enjoy paying shop rates.

I had a 71' Ford F150 that I bought new. I changed my oil, I changed the floor dimmer switch, I changed the brake pads, I changed the inner fender wells, I changed the door hinges, I changed the tailgate hinges, I changed the two front fenders. All this before 60,000 miles.
So when the motor started to go, I changed brands.

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Originally Posted by JoePa

I changed the oil in my '89 Ford van this morning and also added some R134A to the air conditioning - while doing that I realized that I've owned 15 different vehicles in my life time and never took one to a place to have the oil changed - always did it myself - here's the different vehicles I have owned - 48 Plymouth, 63 Jeep PU, 65 Buick SW, 72 Ford SW, 70 Fairlane Ford SW, three 79 Pinto SW, 81 Ford Galaxie, 85 Dodge, 75 Ford SW, 65 Chevy, 91 Ford PU, 98 Ford van, and a 05 Ford F350 - as you see I'm a Ford man - a change your own oil kinda guy - except for the 81 Ford - the 98 van - the 91 Ford PU and the 05 Ford F350 all the others were bought used - I rebuilt the motor in the 72 Ford SW one time - it had nearly 250K miles on it but then finally the frame was so rusted had to junk it - all the cars treated me good except for the Dodge - it was a piece of junk - a lot of those cars had so much room under the hood that you could actually climb in there with the engine and work - I remember when I bought the 81 Galaxie new it cost $2500 - and gas was 7 cents a gallon - those were the days my friend - never thought they would end -

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Something wrong JoePa. The galaxie is a 1959-1974 model. A 1981 ford pinto would have cost more than $2500.

Werner - your right - my mistake - it was a 1961 Ford Galaxie Hard Top that I bought for $2500 - and the gas was about 17 cents a gallon at the time - at the time when you stopped at a gas station an attendant would pump the gas - clean your windows - give you a glass and maybe some green stamps - and a free road map if you wanted one - and checked your oil - compare that to today - some difference -

All the seats in the cars were bench seats - so when you dated a girl she could sit next to you - reminds me of a story from back then - this guy is driving somewhere with his wife and the wife says to him - Joe remember when we were first married - how we would sit next to each other when we were driving somewhere - how nice it was - after a short pause - Joe tells her that he is still sitting in the same place -

I thought there'd be more reaction to your thread, Joe. Where's all the other old guys with their lists of vehicles?!

We didn't have "green stamps" where I lived but the Supertest gas station gave out coupons that you could redeem for milk at the store next door.

Yes, bench seats were convenient. No seat belts and no child safety seats either! It's a wonder any kids survived!

Ok here's my list in order of acquisition.
72 Ford Cortina, 73 Lincoln Mark 4, 74 Lincoln Mark 4, 85 Mercury Lynx, 85 Suzuki Samurai, 89 Pontiac Sunbird, 81 Mercury Zephyr, 98 Ford Taurus, 96 GMC Jimmy, 02 Ford Explorer, 11 Toyota Yaris, 12 Toyota Matrix, 14 Jeep JK.

Cars: 1969 montego cyclone; 1975 Gran Torino; 1972 Maverick; 1979 Mustang; 1975 Monza; 1980 Capri; 1984 T/A; 1994 Sunbird; 2003 Impala; 2010 Impala

Trucks: 1986 S15; 1998 K1500

1962 Beetle, 1972 Datsun 510, 1972 New Yorker, 1976 Fury, 1972 Dodge D100, 1976 Parisienne, 1981 Colt, 1984 Ranger, 1987 Jimmy, 1992 Protege, 2007 Ram 3500.

Up until the 07 all oil changes and routine maintenance myself. 2 engine changes on the beetle in auto shop at high school. Good times.

I just can't justify doing my own on the diesel with the Wally World here getting me out the door for about a hundred.

80 Monte-Carlo, 91 Chev S10, 92 Suzuki DR350S, 90 Ford Ranger and now 2010 Gmc 4X4 pick-up. Do most of my on work as it's what I do for a living. Last oil change was just over 3 months, just under 1000kms and the truck said I still had 93% oil life remaining. I got to get out on the road fishing more LOL.

77 toyota corolla Bought in 87 for $200 then spent another $300 in bondo... It finally rotted away to bad. 89 jeep comanche ( pu ) 91 jeep comanche 93 toyota extended cab pickup Great truck , 2000 s-10 zr2 .. Pile of junk. 05 silverado crew , 07 sierra crew . 10 sierra crew now a 15 silverado crew

After 55 years of DIY, my dil's Dad has his own shop. He's 20 years younger than I and more than happy to work on my vehicles at a very reasonable price. He is a Ford/GM man so likes to work on a quality Chryco for a change.....:rolleyes:

There was a time when I had 3 kids driving to school and work so I had to have a lot of old cars around for them - but yes bondo was a life saver - some of the cars had as much bondo on them as metal - back in the 40s and 50s if you got 40k miles out of a engine you were doing good - valve jobs were a common thing needed - there were a lot less women driving in those days because the automatic shift wasn't invented yet - some gals really had a hard time with the clutch - I still have a lot of old shop manuals from the cars that I owned - often wondered if they are worth anything -

When I got a new to me car I would spend the $60 for a shop manual as well, plus my Dad taught auto mechanics at a Toronto Tech school (Northern) Now I also have a shelf of books for vehicles I wish I still owned...

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Originally Posted by Pat32rf

When I got a new to me car I would spend the $60 for a shop manual as well, plus my Dad taught auto mechanics at a Toronto Tech school (Northern) Now I also have a shelf of books for vehicles I wish I still owned...

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And I bet you won't throw those books out will you? ! lol

Old shop manuals must have some value - just a case of finding the person who wants them - kinda like an antique -

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Originally Posted by JoePa

Old shop manuals must have some value - just a case of finding the person who wants them - kinda like an antique -

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Mine for an old Ford Ranger and an old Jimmy were sort of go to buddies. Flip through them once in a while. Sort of a "what will it matter in a 100 years" reminder.

Hmm I only had a license for 15 years but I went through a few cars myself. Cheapest gas I ever tanked was in 1998 for .70 cents... *sigh* I did most of the oil changes myself except for my recent car, when it came to tranny or engine issues unfortunately we didn't have the garage or tools for it. Learned a lots thanks to my dad.

1992 Toyota Corolla LE, 1990 Toyota Corolla SR5, 1992 Mazda MX6 Mystere, 1990 Mazda 323, 2003 Hyundai Tuscani Limited Edition (Tiburon GTS debut year), 2003 Mazda B4000, 2013 Hyundai Accent (hatchback)

Motorcycle: 2004 Kawasaki 500EX (4 seasons put on 60,000 km on it. plenty of road trips out east)

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Originally Posted by poltrojan

Hmm I only had a license for 15 years but I went through a few cars myself. Cheapest gas I ever tanked was in 1998 for .70 cents... *sigh* I did most of the oil changes myself except for my recent car, when it came to tranny or engine issues unfortunately we didn't have the garage or tools for it. Learned a lots thanks to my dad.

1992 Toyota Corolla LE, 1990 Toyota Corolla SR5, 1992 Mazda MX6 Mystere, 1990 Mazda 323, 2003 Hyundai Tuscani Limited Edition (Tiburon GTS debut year), 2003 Mazda B4000, 2013 Hyundai Accent (hatchback)

Motorcycle: 2004 Kawasaki 500EX (4 seasons put on 60,000 km on it. plenty of road trips out east)

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With your taste in cars oill and filter changes is pretty much all you will ever need to know !