Auto Enthusiasts/gear Heads

[Pepe']

What do you think. I know I love 'um.

I was an aircraft mechanic in the US Navy, done a little stock racing as a young guy when it was still affordable and lots of restoration and just plain old maintanance.

Getting to old for the heavy duty stuff now especially without a shop. I'm thinking that this would be a good hobby to maintain in Thailand as I'm still a pretty good mechanic.

Would I lose face and confuse Thais if I, a doctor, worked on his own rides?

[chonabot]

Nice idea Pepe ,as a fellow petrolhead I would like to give a list of my 5 fave cars and the 5 best cars I have owned....a big difference. Probably our lists will differ as I am UK based

Fave 5 of all time

1. Jaguar XJ220 ( 200mph nuff said)

2 McClaren F1 (210mph etc)

3 Ferrari Maranello

4 Original Porsche 911

5 Bentley Mulsanne

Fave 5 owned prev by Chonabot

1. Jaguar XJS12 Convertible ( Smooth, British, Bird magnet!)

2. Ford COsworth Sapphire ( Hooligan-mobile)

3. BMW E36 M3 ( German perfection )

4. Nissan Skyline ( Japanese nutter machine , 1/4 under 10 seconds...)

5. Alfa Romeo Spider ( Just bought it , pure sex...)

Over to you petrol heads , lets have a few disagreements to make this interesting.

Btw Doctor , the Holden Commodore is a fine car too btw..

[tutsiwarrior]

joselito...if you truly have medical training admiration of high performance autos should be an anathema...

what about the kind and gentle doctor riding into remote villages on a donkey?

[TizMe]

Cars never really did much for me. Now if its only got 2 wheels or even 3 thats a different story.

Cars have always just been a means of going from A to B. As long as there's enough room for my legs and the AC works, I'm happy.

But give me 200 odd HPs in a bike or sidecar, then the adrenalin rises.

Fast boats are OK too.

[englishoak]

Not into cars but bikes ahhh

Going back to uk for a while im gonna get me a thriumph rocket 2.400 cc monster as ill never afford one here.

Ducati monster 900 ( real fun)

Yamaha R1 ( bye bye ferrari )

Truimph Bonniville ( THE classic )

Harley? naa not for me and they hate rain

Triumph 595i ( lovely mover)

[chonabot]

Bikes are ok for lads , but a chap needs a vehicle where you can induldge in a 3 or 4 some.

R1 in the wet?....Naah

[tutsiwarrior]

stay indoors, play loud rock music with air guitar and relax...

[chonabot]

stay indoors, play loud rock music with air guitar and relax...

Highway Chile..........

[davethailand]

LATE 1960'S AC COBRA 427SC

NEED I SAY MORE

[taxexile]

stay indoors, play loud rock music with air guitar and relax...

drive in your car and play it even louder.

[taxexile]

the finest car i ever owned in the uk was a bmw 5 series, just a joy to drive and use. unfortunately it cost a lot to buy and maintain and when cars get to be liked too much then you start to worry about them,whats that little noise i heard,better take it in for a check, cant park it there,it might get scratched or stolen, dont put your muddy boots on the carpet and stop wiping your nose and then putting your hand on the dashboard. the car becomes your boss and the fun and practicality goes.

in the end i sold it and bought a second hand vauxhall diesel estate (an anonymous

machine totally lacking in image), i was free from the madness that is owning an expensive car and i didnt give a damm about parking,theft or snot.and i could run,service and insure the thing on small change.when i wanted to have some car fun or show off a bit i would rent a bit of flash for a weekend. it seemed a better way of doing it.

they are machines, to be thrashed and bashed. not weaned and cleaned.

oil change and service every 6 thou is all they need.

these days i read about cars, a uk mag called CAR is a good read and will probably soon buy a new pickup here in thailand (4wd,auto,fat tyres... of course.)

best (most desirable) cars around at the moment.... bentley continental,mini cooper,aston martin db9, porsche boxster and range rover.

and most cars designed by harley earl (50's g.m. americana) still look good to me.

worst cars around... all ferraris, porsche offroader thing, anything made in the usa,apart from their engines which i like,most stuff that comes out of italy.

most practical cars around.... honda jazz and a thai pick up truck.

[Pepe']

tusi,

Actually I got my medical license in a box of Cracker Jacks. Fortunately they used real good paper and no one really noticed.

Kind and gentle is as description that has only been approprate the last few years.

"###### on wheels" was probably a better description for most of my life.

Ah testosterone. Gimme a shot

chonabot,

Wow talk about nice rides!!! M3's are about as exotic as I get.

I always went for good old American muscle cars but in college got into MGs, Triumphs and Austins that were alot of fun. The English ones were a pain in the butt to work on as I remember.

I did have several bikes and the Triumph Bonneville was a favorite with the girls.

Darn thing did lose a nut or bolt from time to time.

I prefered the American engine compartments that I could climb into with my tools, lunnch, beer and still have room to stretchout and take a nap if I got tired while working

To me Thailand really sounds like the wrong place to have an exotic car

[davethailand]

never owned anything exotic, but worked for dubai royal family and father has arab clients so i managed to thrash their cars around.

bentley continental t, <deleted> amazing

porsche 959 (unregistered, never driven before only test milage) me and a mate, sunday morning, 100mph bayswater rd, trying to avoid the old bill, a bit silly i know but could,nt resist it.

bmw z1,m3,m5

s500's, 600 mercs etc

audi, s4,s6,s8 all great

rollers, bentley rt's etc

favorite all rounders have to be the audi v8'quattros.

dream car as said before ac cobra 1965 427sc

[terdsak_12]

Well ladies lots of talk about what you drove in the past, but what are you driving now???

[djinn]

As a previous silly racing driver (production cars in the 70's) I drove BMW 2002 gr4,VW Golf,Simca 1000 R2,Talbot,Nissan.....

As an antique freak I was lucky enough to own some Mustangs.Best one was a red 1969 Mach1 ;5,7L engine completely rebuild by her previous californian owner.

Won some elegance competition (the car not me ) in France and Belgium.

Ferrari 328 GTS and Lotus Elan 4S were very funny but not exactly reliable.

Now I am very happy with my small new Toyota VIOS in the crowded streets of Pattaya.And the teinted windows help me to avoid the tea money bribes

Still have an old Chrysler Stratus Cabrio in Europe.Goood for birdies there

[davethailand]

10 year old black toyota truck, (with nice wheels and 24v, 6 cyl, 210 bhp lump in it. not a boy racer its just how it was when i bought it.

[chonabot]

Well ladies lots of talk about what you drove in the past, but what are you driving now???

Raed my post again and there's your answer bitch....

[davethailand]

does anyone here own a honda jazz, if so how much and what are they like.

cheers

[Insight]

My 1997 Mini Cooper S. God, how I wish I could get it imported here (at a reasonable price)...

[chonabot]

My 1997 Mini Cooper S. God, how I wish I could get it imported here (at a reasonable price)...

That would be nicked within seconds I reckon

[taxexile]

My 1997 Mini Cooper S. God, how I wish I could get it imported here (at a reasonable price)...

it wouldn't last ten minutes in this heat.

[Pepe']

Currently driving a 1997 M3 automatic, sedan deluxe package.

One sweet ride.

Occassionaly I drive my neighbors 1966 Chevell. 502/500bhp 4 speed Muncie trans. Insanemobile!!!

Last week I laid down about a 60 foot patch..I hadn't done a burnout like that since high school. The cops drove around later. I guess someone called them wondering why they hadn't been told that NHRA was holding trials in the "hood"

PSAny thoughts on bringing tools to Thailand. Again is it worth it?

Are there good quality tools around at good prices?

[Crash999]

Would I lose face and confuse Thais if I, a doctor, worked on his own rides?

Granted, a lot of car enthusiasts here hire people to work on their cars- but I think that's more a lack of mechanical knowledge than lack of wanting to get their hands dirty.

Three years ago I bought a Toyota Supra UK-Spec (couple of pics here and here). It was great fun and quite the rarity here, but there was always something that needed to be done with the car and as I don't have a garage I had to take it in to have a mechanic work on it.

Eventually I got rid of it because I was only driving it on the weekends and the cost-per-mile was getting a bit steep.

There is some racing taking place- the AIM group runs races under the 'Thai Grand Touring Car Championship' name at the Bira Circuit near Pattaya. I participated in their arrive-and-drive races in 2001. After that they required all drivers to purchase and maintain their cars- something that I couldn't do on my own- so I stopped. Went for a some slow laps on the Bira track in my sedan car which brought back the craving... =)

Cheers!

[Crash999]

does anyone here own a honda jazz, if so how much and what are they like.

cheers

My girlfriend is obsessed with the new Honda Jazz so we recently went to test-drive one. Overall I was quite impressed- it's well-built, very utilitarian, and the price (between approx 550k and 650k depending on spec) isn't bad. Only downside is that if she hits anything larger than a soi dog the car will probably be totalled.

Reminded me a lot of my first car- a Honda CRXsi, though without as much oomph. Apparently in Japan there's a hotter engine than the 80-odd hp version available here.

Cheers!

[taxexile]

does anyone here own a honda jazz, if so how much and what are they like.

cheers

my niece (no license or driving test) has just bought one, its a small thing but very roomy inside. its perfect for bangkok what with the parking and traffic.

Only downside is that if she hits anything larger than a soi dog the car will probably be totalled.

i would agree with that.

when she removes all the large fluffy dolls and window stickers so that you can actually see out of the thing i might have a drive of it.

[BKKdreaming]

I am 100% car nut

but I have seen very little as far as interesting cars around BKK

I am sure they are hiding and just driven on special occaasions

I have seen decent hand tools, and then the real junk China _India stuff

There is a big area , 10 blocks or so in BKK that just has motors and gearbox sales/repair

Also there are a few car magazines , but mostly Turbo stuff for Japanese cars/

Anyone know of a Vintage car club . car show in BKK ?

[KevinN]

The Big hemis of the 60s and later 60s mopar magnums were always my fav, But the bow tie 327/375 and some of the 350s were very nice,the last thing I built before leaving was a 35 ford pickup street rod with a 350/350 and a nova sub frame.

Yes you can buy hand tools here and at a very good price,But the mechs here do not use em,they have a kinda AFRO-ENGINEERING tool kit,a hammer and a rail road spike,always use a screwdriver for a chisel and prybar,

I did see a torque wrench at Honda dealer while getting the master cyl checked the other day,,it was laying on a table across the workshop from where they were going thru and engine/gearbox and installing in a Honda Civic,,never did use it tho.

I don't do to much here cause it to ###### hot and the work is cheap to have done,but don't watch them do it tho,as you will just end up crying.But then always check to see that it is safe to drive later.

I saw a guy bleeding the front brakes on our NISSAN pickup after putting in new pads,he would take the bleeder valve out,put his finger over the hole and have a guy pump the pedal and then screw the valve back in. So I had to bleed em after I got it home.

[davethailand]

dont you just love the mechanics here

[chonabot]

dont you just love the mechanics here

Agreed Dave , for most of them each day is a new learning experience.

[Guest chingy]

i wish i can buy a set of Snap-On tool, can't seem to find any, any of you guy seen any in bangkok.

labor is cheap in thailand so most people bring in their car for services, but the problem about mechanics in thailand is that they don't seem to put thing back the way they took it out, certain tool are meant to work with certain part but they use any kind of crap tool they see, a missing wire mean that you did something wrong, for them is if it work who care about the rest of the part. I usually work on my own car, even changing my own oil