excpomea

This is what I use on my 98 Roadster. Maybe only gets started once a month or so.

markonline1

LOL. As I said, a ridiculous car that I’d never own personally, which is a shame, as it doesn’t look to bad for an SUV, especially from the front.

Pulaski

Some time, I think, in autumn 2019 our 2003 Accord's timing chain tensioner slipped, with the expected, ugly consequences. I parked it at the back of our drive while we worked out what to do with it. I did talk briefly at that time with the Honda dealer that serviced it, and a replacement engine, installed, at that time was going to cost $6k-$9k. At the time it had at least ¾ of a tank of 87octane gas in the tank.

Then the pandemic happened.

Three years after the motor was destroyed, we decided to see if we could give it another lease of life, meaning a third motor. I did a little research and found a Honda specialist who would install an engine for $1,600. The owner gave me some tips on possible replacement engines, and I bought an engine from an importer in NJ, who sold me a salvaged engine from Japan, reportedly with 50,000-60,000 miles on it, that came out of a 2006-2007 Acura TSX. That means it is a high compression engine, making about 44 more hp than the original engine, and requires 93 octane gas (or 91 octane if you're west of the Mississippi, roughly .... and not in Texas, or are in Illinois, or ...).

After a few issues with cracked or missing air ducts, a trip back to the shop that installed the engine, a new ECU flashed with updated software, two trips to the Honda dealer for a state inspection, and two temporary tags (it couldn't be registered without an inspection, and it couldn't be inspected without a registration ), I finally got it properly registered last week, back on the same personal registration it has been on since we first registered it in NC in 2003.

One twist to the state inspection, was that it couldn't pass the emissions test in December, and after fixing the cracked and missing air ducts, I took it back to complete the inspection in January. By then, as a 2003 model year car, it was 20 years old, and so exempt from the emissions test. .... The state of NC apparently doesn't care that the engine is only 16-17 years old, and would need emissions tests for another three or four years if it was still in the TSX that it left the factory in.

Oh, and the gas? Well I tried to get the shop that installed the engine to drain the tank and put three gallons of fresh 93 octane in the tank, but he wasn't interested/ couldn't be bothered, so for the first 350 or so miles the poor Accura high compression engine was running on three-year-old, 87 octane unleaded. I did try to spice it up with a generous addition of Lucas octane booster, but performance was still lackluster.

Once I had run the tank down low I put in the three gallons of 93 octane I'd had in a gas can since December, and WOW! What a difference!!! .... The new engine with the (very) old gas had felt no different from the previous engines, power-wise, but with 93 octane gas it really came alive.

ddsrph

Tennessee which normally charges $26 to license our cars (no wheel tax counties) has reduced the fee to $5.25 for one year starting 1 July 2022. Not sure the reason but something to do with better than expected State Revenues.

ottotheboar

Was offered a mid 60s Jaguar Saloon, rusty but that is to be expected. Saw the car it was very rusty, floor pans shot, interior and dash very poor. Undeterred I thought that the engine has a value, I opened the bonnet to see someone had fitted a 4 cylinder Nissan engine. I have heard of V8s being put into Jags but never that. The engine bay was ruined as well.

Pulaski

.... What a thing to do!

I would have guessed a Chevy V8 as it's as popular to slap one of those in your project car in the US as it is to stick a Rover V8 in something in the UK.

ottotheboar

Two of my sons were drooling over it. " sacrilege ' was a comment from one of them upon seeing the Nissan picture. Was told the V8 conversion was notorious for prop shaft vibration issues. The straight 6 DOHC with shim tappets is not for the faint hearted plus the engine is very heavy still no reason to ruin a good Jaguar.

Ling_Noi

Finally did my Behind The Wheel exam here in San Diego. I'd watched a couple of YouTube videos to see what they'd ask before we actually set off (hand signals etc).

The actual test...explains the general level of driving here. I drove about 4 blocks around the DMV before being told I'd past with flying colors. 0 errors on the sheet. The examiner said she could have taken a nap.

I am not a good driver but I think you should at least get people to reverse the car in one direction or another.

Giantaxe

It's a complete joke. I wonder what percentage of drivers here are capable of parallel parking, for example?

In reverse, many Americans who move to the UK complain bitterly about the UK test. I guess you could say it's pedantic but, as you say, at least you have to know how to reverse a vehicle to pass!

OldJuddian

In Washington State you need to be able to reverse around a corner and even parallel park. The marking is fairly lenient, but it is closer to the UK test.

excpomea

My poor wife (Bronx girl) had to the the UK test 20+ years ago when we lived in Plymouth.
She whined and whined about it, but passed first time, even at 7 months pregnant. Poor thing.

Ling_Noi

Interesting. They have an exchange in place with BC, Germany and Korea, so if you're moving from one of those, then you can avoid the test altogether.

You'd think there would be some sort of national standard. Oh well...

Pulaski

I suspect that the willingness to swap licenses is generally a two-way deal, and that, IMO with good reason, the UK is unwilling to swap a US license for a UK one, and so US states won't (with only one exception I have heard of) swap a British one for a US state license.

Nutek

Waaaaay back in 1996, CT would not swap a UK license, but NY said they would. When I told the DMV (CT) that I was thinking of going that route, they said it didn't help me as they wouldn't swap an NY license for a CT one either.

Pulaski

That doesn't sound right - I am fairly certain that all US state licenses are interchangeable, with only a few formalities, such as a computer "written" test and rudimentary vision test.

However, I have heard that even today there are hurdles to swapping recently-issued licenses in the NYC metro area (NY-NJ-CT), presumably to stop people taking a test in one state and immediately swapping it for one issued in another state.

That bit someone here on BE a few years ago when they took a "test" in NJ, and shortly afterwards made a bona fide move from NJ to NY, and found that they couldn't exchange their license and faced having to take another "test", though I would consider that to be more of an annoyance than a hurdle.