I can't imagine driving my 82 F100 in the UK. The expense would be intolerable.

12 US miles per US gallon... I think that comes to about 4.5 km per litre.

It isn't even acceptable in the USA, really. The transmission and gearing is one of the main causes of that. C6 auto trans will waste a LOT of fuel. I only used it originally because it would not break, and I had some hauling to do over every mountain range in the states east to west and back.

Engines, parts and tools mostly.


~Wolf

 

Yeah we're in Finland.

We have a 1989 F-150 300 EFI / 5 spd, a 1981 Econoline 300 / C6, and a 1989 Ford Aerostar AWD 4.0.

In addition to Fords we also have a 1965 442 Olds, but it's been hacked to a race car a long time ago.

Gas is appr. 1.30 Euros / liter so multiply that by 3.8 (?) to get a cost for gallon. A whole lot, anyway.

My daily commute is about 80 miles but luckily it's almost completely highway. City rush hours would kill the economy.

I became a Ford guy by an accident. I have had MoPars and GM cars all my life, but when we moved to countryside a few years ago there was this car dealer who sold only various U.S. made cars, mostly Fords.

So I got around and after having driven few of them, ranging from F-150's to Lincoln Town Cars, I kinda thought that they're much better on the highway than other marques.

Almost 10 years ago I also bought a set of 030 pistons and a cam for a 300 Ford because I had a hunch I would own one some day. These were on sale and I paid appr. 20 bucks for them total, brand new.

There are actually quite a lot of U.S. made cars in Finland. If you recall the "old world", our well known neighbour country with it's horrible society experiments was around, so in Finland I guess we felt that we need to show off that our lifestyle is different than them behind the iron curtain. Thus, U.S. made cars quite popular here despite heavy new car sales taxes and expensive gas.

Heck, even my lawn mower is made in the U.S. and our mail box is also from Ohio.

I usually say that our ole' pushrod six-bangers outlasted the evil Soviet empire, heheh.

 

Good Lord, that was funny...

And to think the soviet was finally overthrown economically!

But now is a new day, and economy is the driving force... High mileage will be the main thing in new trucks and cars from now on, or I am very mistaken.

 

High mileage, recycle-ability, longevity, quality, versatility, profitability and comfort should be, as i see it, the pillars of the auto industry of the XXI century and on.

I know it´s naive to hope to have everything at the same time, but i think we will be getting there in time, that and alternative ways of transport, because the actual model of development isn´t sustainable any more.

 

hi, i drive a 1997 4,2 f150 xlt super cab yes its a v6.
i have owned it for about a year but 6 months of this was spent rebuilding the engine. its my daily drive and weekends its used to pull a caravan.
i still get a buzz out of driving it but i am paying the penilty as petrol has hit £1 a litre.
my wifes car is citroen 1ltr ax.
this web site has been a god-send for tecnical support as i no nobody who owns a yank-tank.
regards bokker.
ps what is cricket?

 

I can only assume you are kidding...
If not, turn on Channel 4

 

Well, I am in the US, but I drive some unusual vehicles. Right now I'm just about to get my '67 Sunbeam Alpine back on the road, to drive while the Ranger's down for its engine swap. Saturday last I bought a '91 Taurus SHO (engine by Yamaha). It's primarily for my mom to drive, but she actually lets me drive it too. Yeah, granny's tooling around in an SHO! And a 5-speed yet, most unusual for for an older person in this country. And she doesn't lug the engine either. It likes to rev, and she lets it!

 

One can hopefully assume that by his name 'Bokker' might be of South African origin, NO WONDER HE DOESNT KNOW WHAT CRICKET IS

I am in the UK if you want to get in touch
UKS

 

Ouch.......

 

Hey! i´m venezuelan and i do know what Cricket is!, even though it isn´t played here.

 

I think UKSuperduty was having a quiet dig at South Africa's current standing in cricket - they haven't been overly successful as of late.

 

OK guys, back to the subject in hand (fwiw, I'm a rugby player; never did like cricket because the quality of fighting in the bar after the game was never what it could have been LOL).

We're in the NE of England and we have a '97 Vauxhall Astra turbodiesel which is our daily driver and recently bought a '97 4.0 SOHC Explorer. It was as sweet as a nut when we bought it (drove it home 250 miles and it didn't even hesitate) but has developed some faults since which the guys on the explorer forum are helping with. It has an LPG (propane) conversion as it's 1/3rd the price of gasoline and gives the car about the same running costs as the little Astra. The conversion has been very badly installed, giving us vacuum leaks all over the intake system. I've replaced the upper and lower intake seals but she still sucks. Literally.
Currently I'm also trying to source an IAC valve because that's sticking, giving the characteristic howl sound and fluctuating idle. Ford in the UK are hopeless. They've sold Explorers (including this one) in RHD format for years but their product knowledge is zero so they've supplied me with 3 wrong IAC valves despite having the VIN#. Currently it has a Focus IAC fitted with a gasket made to "convert" the port shape and size from square to round! It works, sort of. It's better than the original but I do think that it might be sticking intermittently, I'll not be able to tell 'till I've fixed the vacuum leaks. I can't put the plastic "4.0 SOHC" engine cover back on because of valve height issues but that'll sort when we get the correct valve.
If I can't find an OHC V6 in a breakers yard to scavenge the intake hoses and IAC from I'll have to see if I can get them sent over by my buddy in Troy, AL.
BUT..when we get her put right she'll replace the Astra as our daily driver. I'll have to get some photos hsted somewhere, she's pretty!

 

Hi Allan try Norman Marshall in Newcastle he had a couple of explorers in the last time I was there.

I live in Ashington with my 2000 Excursion, get in touch may know who had your explorer before you
Regards
Gary
UKS

 

hi allan1010, i too am from the northeast ,newton aycliffe, i run a f150 4,2 v6 that i am currently fitting up with lpg. i also have had facuum leaks from time to time and ended up using plastic reinforced tubing to replace the hoses that have been split.
could you please tell me is your lpg a injection type or like mine single point induction.
if it is induction propane may be getting sucked back and distroying the vacuum pipes due to the leak. this is only a guess but some thing that i have considered with my system. good luck with the fix, bokker.

 

WOW!
We've got 2 neighbours that use this forum. Whodathoughtit!
Thanks guys.
UKS, I'll try Norman Marshall as soon as I can find out who and where he is!
As you can tell, we're new to the american car scene so don't know anywhere to go for parts etc yet. We don't even know of any local meets etc.
Any ideas?
Bokker, given the choice I'd have gone for the injector type (we have a Calor Gas business in the family and we know two really good installers through trade contacts, that was what was recommended) but we bought this because it was already fitted and the price was right; sadly it was the cheaper induction version. However, it's an IMPCO system which I've found the distributor of and they seem pretty reasonable to deal with. Even through the trade I've had a hard time talking to the local TARTARINI (sp?) agent in Ripon. It's like he thinks he holds some mysterious trade secret and he'll only let his buddies know the answer! Even though the tartarini is the better known system, I feel happy about the availability and pricing of Impco parts. We expected some "issues" along the way until we get her straightened out.