Struck out at the jy today. (+ Renault 5/LeCar discussion?)

[mvusse]

Just got back from Dave Worshil's in Canton, OH.

 

They had an 86 MJ 4x4 lwb, all banged up. Motor, grill and hood are okay, rest of body and interior are shot. Did not get to see what the gas tank was like because of the plastic cover, but guessing from the body rot, I imagine it won't hold gas any better than mine.

 

It has a 2.5, 5 speed.

 

Also 4 4.0 HO engines, 3 in XJs, one in a ZJ, and a boatload of XJs with the 2.8, some with the 2.5.

 

Wanted $35 for a track bar which is what a new one costs, $20 for the bracket :nuts:

But looking at the brackets, as well as I could get access to them to look, I think mine might be bent. That might explain the 3/8 side to side axle offset.

 

No usable fenders, no tow hooks, and the MJ had a bench, so no lower bucket seat frame. Guess I'll email Davey's Jeeps with my shopping list. I do know he has fenders, but no gas tanks.

[beaterjeep]

Hey, you may have not found anything useful, but isn't that half the fun of it? Almost like a flying blind feeling; the adrenaline rush of not knowing if you'll land it in amazing fashion, or if you'll crash and burn.

[a1awind]

i know the feeling. 90% of the boneyards around me tell me they won't get MJ's because they don't sell. and ones that do come in get crushed quickly. one of the boneyards that said that had a renault Le Car!!!!! :headpop:

[voltageyz0]

the junck yard by my house has two mj's, both 4wd

[mvusse]

Ahhh, yes, the good old Renault 5, which is what it was called in Europe.

 

They also had a "Super5", most of which came from the factory with a body kit, including wing, low profile tires and sportier interior. Also a transverse engine, where the older 5 had a longitudinal engine. I guess that means it went from rwd to fwd at the same time. I remember they recalled ALL of them after a few years because of the key breaking off in the ignition!

 

Quality craftsmanship there in France.

 

Then again, my dad's Citroen CX was awesome with it's air suspension.

 

But my mother's Citroen 2 CV (Deux Chevaux, or 2 horses), nick named "The Duck" by everybody was the worst 2 cylinder piece of crud I ever rode in.

 

Never did own a Renault, though, just Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot, a VW Passat and a slew of VW Jettas.

 

Is it called a hijack if you hijack your own thread?

[a1awind]

naaahh, then its called changing the subject! :D

 

they also (and ive seen one in person) imported the renault super 5 turbo which was mid engined and turbo charged to the tune of 400bhp!

id own one of those!

 

french cars are not exactly known for reliability. although i have heard some love stories about the 80's puegeot 505 diesel .....some people looove these cars. but then again somone, somwhere is looking at this website going..."its just a crappy old pickup truck".

 

anyway ...funny story about the 5.

was talking with the transportation director for the Pittsburgh film buerau a while back.

 

(we frequent the same hobby shop) and we got to talking about odd cars. he recalled having to find a couple renault le cars for ..I think the film wonderboys...he said the scene involved one of the le cars driving out of control down the street bouncing off parked cars. he said the first two made it halfway before they died. the third made it. and the other two were then used as run-a-bout's on set. due to the lack of functioning dome light the crew would just leave the doors open when they would stop somwhere. once, both doors were left open overnight. when the crew returned the next morning they found that the car had bent in half.

[robfg67]

Since I picked-up my current MJ, I have been to 4 area junk yards & called many others. None of them have MJ's. It would be interesting to know how many are actually registered. There can't be very many.

[WahooSteeler]

i remember the super 5 turbo, or more specifically the race versions. it was wicked looking. ahead of it's time almost in that you could see some kid today taking a stock 5 and throwing the body kit on it and "tuning" it. i just remember how cool the big meats looked on the back.

 

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[Eagle]

My ex-wife had a Reneault Le Car back in 1980. We bought it for the gas mileage, and because it was cheap. The gas mileage wasn't great (around 30 MPG highway), and we quickly found out why it was cheap. It was possibly the worst car I ever drove. She loved it, though.

 

The Honda 1300FE we bought in 1982 got 40 MPG highway, rode better, drove better, and was big enough for me to fit behind the steering wheel. It's a puzzler to me that, if Honda was able to make a civilized car 26 years ago that got 40 MPG with a gasoline engine, why aren't they making cars now that get 50 or 60 MPG? The only answer has to be -- because they don't want to.

[mvusse]

The American public is obsessed with performance. Especially "off the line" performance. To get that your design the engine for good low end torque, but that comes at the expense of high end hp as well as fuel economy. If you compare foreign made cars made for the domestic market, to the same car made for export to the states, you will notice the hp and fuel economy rating for the US models are lower, but 0-30 acceleration is much higher.

 

Put an American driver behind the wheel of a JDM Honda Civic in city traffic and he will complain about lack of power. But on the freeway it will blow away a US civic engine while getting better mpg.

 

There are exceptions, though, like the Subaru WRX which makes 238hp but you need to shift all the way down to 1st every turn you make because 2nd doesn't have the guts accelerate from 20 back to 35 without lugging the engine, or even my old 1990 Geo Prizm (which is a Toyota Corolla). It got 40 mpg on a multi port injected 1.6l, but if you floored the gas from a still stand it would accelerate slowly to about 25mph, and THEN throw you back in the seat.

 

All the newer Corollas have larger engines to partly offset the lack of low end torque.

 

And on another somewhat related topic, flex fuel is not the answer to the fuel problem. Diesel is. So what if your car has a top speed of only 85 mph, a Mercedes 300D does have tremendous low end torque AND gets 50 to 55 mpg. Old VW Jetta TDIs used to get 55+.

 

Someone did the math, and using the ENTIRE us corn and grain production, leaving none for food and livestock feed, would still only provide 30% of the ethanol needed for all E85 instead of gasoline.

 

And E85 gets worse mileage than straight gasoline, while being more corrosive to the fuel system and engine parts. Cars manufacturers are loving it, though, as there are minimal changes needed, and shorter engine life equals more new cars sold.

 

But I believe I'm ranting again.

[Twisty]

I love diesels! If I could get my hands on a diesel XJ or MJ, I'd be one happy camper!

 

I'm totaly blown away by the fact that you can run those things on olive oil...amazing!! Why diesel isnt more popular is beyond me.

[jared]

My ex-wife had a Reneault Le Car back in 1980. We bought it for the gas mileage, and because it was cheap. The gas mileage wasn't great (around 30 MPG highway), and we quickly found out why it was cheap. It was possibly the worst car I ever drove. She loved it, though.

 

The Honda 1300FE we bought in 1982 got 40 MPG highway, rode better, drove better, and was big enough for me to fit behind the steering wheel. It's a puzzler to me that, if Honda was able to make a civilized car 26 years ago that got 40 MPG with a gasoline engine, why aren't they making cars now that get 50 or 60 MPG? The only answer has to be -- because they don't want to.

 

american cars get smaller with smaller engines, while japanese cars have gotten bigger with bigger engines. thats why gas milegae is crap.

 

if honda still made comuter cars like pre 92 they would be getting easily 50mpg. my friend had a 90 crx hf with aftermarket ac installed. he got 48mpg highway with the ac on. i would get 37 city in my old 90 hatchback.

[jtdesigns]

Honda is still in the race for mileage,,, they make a few hybrid cars, civic,accord,crv,insight,, they have the sub compact car called the fit, another lil suv called the element.. I don't know why you's think Honda only make huge cars now?? :dunno:

[aemsee]

meandering thread alert!!!!

[Kenosha Warrior]

I'm waiting for the snow to go away to drag home an old Honda CVCC thats sitting at the JY. I'm using the motor and trans for a buggy project for the gf.

[a1awind]

JT,

my mother has an element (kinda odd for a 53 yr old woman ). and it doesnt get that good of mileage. she get 16-18 city 20-22 hwy

 

diesels arent more popular because GM made the worst diesels ever back in the 80's the olds diesel self destructed around...what... 50k. they were awful, unreliable, slow, noisy, and smelly.

[dragonrider477]

My ex-wife had a Reneault Le Car back in 1980. We bought it for the gas mileage, and because it was cheap. The gas mileage wasn't great (around 30 MPG highway), and we quickly found out why it was cheap. It was possibly the worst car I ever drove. She loved it, though.

 

The Honda 1300FE we bought in 1982 got 40 MPG highway, rode better, drove better, and was big enough for me to fit behind the steering wheel. It's a puzzler to me that, if Honda was able to make a civilized car 26 years ago that got 40 MPG with a gasoline engine, why aren't they making cars now that get 50 or 60 MPG? The only answer has to be -- because they don't want to.

 

american cars get smaller with smaller engines, while japanese cars have gotten bigger with bigger engines. thats why gas milegae is crap.

 

if honda still made comuter cars like pre 92 they would be getting easily 50mpg. my friend had a 90 crx hf with aftermarket ac installed. he got 48mpg highway with the ac on. i would get 37 city in my old 90 hatchback.

yes,the older jap stuff did get better gas mileage.but since 1990 i am sure that crash survival on small cars has increased tremendously.all that safety stuff and more stiff structural construction makes cars heavier.heavier cars need more power to have equal performance.more power=less gas mileage.my d/d is a suzuki sx4 which strains to get 30 highway mpg.i like the safety of its heavier construction and the 6 airbags.i don't mind using more gas if it means i might walk away from a wreck rather than riding in an ambulance.i drove tow trucks in the 80's and 90's and i can remember some pretty twisted up jap cars where the occupants did'nt fare too well.

[mvusse]

JT,

my mother has an element (kinda odd for a 53 yr old woman ). and it doesnt get that good of mileage. she get 16-18 city 20-22 hwy

 

diesels arent more popular because GM made the worst diesels ever back in the 80's the olds diesel self destructed around...what... 50k. they were awful, unreliable, slow, noisy, and smelly.

 

That's why GM bought Isuzu which then designed and built the 6.6l Duramax for them. Best diesel available in a US truck.

 

I think it's the only time in history a car company bought another car company just for it's diesel technology.

[a1awind]

yeah but the isuzu pickup was a decent lil truck till GM got into it. I'm talking pre hombre/s10/sonoma. no doubt the isuzu diesels are awsome. we ran a 16' NPR cabover at the produce market i worked at in college... it had a 4.9ltr 4 cyl turbo diesel and on an average run (mind you the truck was stuffed to the gills with fruits and veggies) the truck got 15 mpg! Our 1 ton chevy with a smaller box and 454 v8 (man that truck had BALLS!!!!) got 3mpg when it was almost empty ..now mind you it was set up to be a dump truck not a box van.

who wouldnt want that tech? Espescially when ford had the most reliable /powerful diesel and dodge had the Cummins name.

don't get me wrong the 6.5 wasnt too awful.