Like all things, “it depends”. My 65 Dodge hasn’t needed much attention, nor has my 80 Toyota and both are (to the best of my knowledge) running on the exact same drivetrain bits they came with. This 100k if you’re lucky myth really isn’t accurate for all cars from the “before time”. I worry a heck of a lot more about…

Dr. Richard Daystrom: M-5 is ready to take control of the ship.

I believe I paid a princely $700 for my 1980 Wagon. All of the AE85/6 suspension bits bolt up if you can still find them, as will 14x6 rims and that 3TC motor is quite overbuilt.

So....each of these is like -10 right?

I’d be far more worried about the lunched turbo impeller bits wandering through the intake manifold and having a menage with Mrs valve and Mr piston.

If you want to daily a classic car at some point you have to decide that.

True but with the aluminum can you can wedge it inside a holed pan and get both an externally invisible repair and more flat surface area to bond to. In your case I totally see why you went external.

“the cost of car ownership (estimated to be $8k/year)“

Yes they’re pretty much all losing their jobs all at once here. In other places it may be different but in the USA it won’t be at all gradual....and also I met exactly zero ex-machinists in tech, that was just what the talking heads said would happen when those jobs got exported to team Asia...it wasn’t true.

I’ve had my recommended dose of vitamin C today but thank you for reminding me how important that is.

As a fun fact, JB + an aluminum can will instantly (well, in 5 minutes if its JB Quick) repair any hole, even large ones, just don’t apply it too thick and maybe scrape the metal shavings out first.

In that case I sincerely hope he brought along the backyard mechanics other two secret weapons...

“ it’s incredibly smooth, almost feeling more like a severely underpowered fuel-injected engine than something as coarse as a carbureted motor.”

I’ll just leave this here then...

I’m sure that’s just the main bearings/driveshaft/control arms, nothing to worry about. David brought both duct tape and a backup car.

Most people who ordered fully optioned cars perhaps, I really don’t know what percentage that accounts for. I’m not sure why people would do that since you’re not far off a used Model S at that point....but I’m not sure why people do a lot of things and my “new” car is from 1995. I do know that none of the stripper…

I get that that is the goal. I don’t care how “prudent” the drivers are.

You certainly deserve a star for that three page exposition about how wrong I am.

Yes, I’m sure 50 year old truck drivers will transition over into IT and engineering jobs just like the factory workers did when wages and environmental laws + robots made them unemployable in the early 1980s

So...if you do not add anything other than the battery it’s under 50k minus rebates? ...I mean, since Tesla is delivering their highest margin cars first.