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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / May 2008Old American Cars in Cuba.
I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. cuhulin On May 1, 1:34 pm, cuhu...@webtv.net wrote: > I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now > allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American > cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. > cuhulin no kidding. when the US finally opens up trade with cuba, between those cars and the cigars, they'll be rolling in dollars. > I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now > allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American > cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. > cuhulin Yes, some nice antiques there. I expect if we ever normalize relations with Cuba, most of those cars will be snatched up by collectors in the US and the Cubans will end up with a wad of cash and a new small car. >Yes, some nice antiques there. I expect if we ever normalize relations >with Cuba, most of those cars will be snatched up by collectors in the >US and the Cubans will end up with a wad of cash and a new small car. There might be some nice stuff there somewhere but everything I have ever seen in the media wouldn't even qualify as a parts car. They have no money and no parts so they've done whatever could be done to keep them running. I can get a good parts car right here in this country to restore for little money... I sure wouldn't pay ship freight, a wad of cash and a new car to get something that wasn't as nice. Steve B. > >Yes, some nice antiques there. I expect if we ever normalize relations > >with Cuba, most of those cars will be snatched up by collectors in the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Steve B. Don't worry, the more money than brains set will readily pay the cost and then pay even more to have someone do the restoration for them. Steve B. <none@none.com> wrote in news:1cbk14pe3efeg5ch4belkkfidf8vsocs04@ 4ax.com: >>Yes, some nice antiques there. I expect if we ever normalize relations >>with Cuba, most of those cars will be snatched up by collectors in the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > have no money and no parts so they've done whatever could be done to > keep them running. That's it in a nutshell. It's not like they have AutoZones on every corner. The stuff I've read indicates a lot of these Cuban cars are basically American body shells consisting of mostly original metal in various states of accuracy, but not much else that came from Detroit. Most engines have been replaced with Russian diesels and the like. Many other mechanical components are of similar provenance. Another interesting point I recently read that helps explain why there are so many of these still around: If a car was on the road before La Revolucion, it may be freely bought and sold. If a car was built after Castro came to power (post 1959), it is subject to stringent ownership controls. This biases the market towards trade in the old cars.  SignatureTegger >I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now > allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American > cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. > cuhulin I used to work a lot in the antarctic zone of southern Chile. At times, people would buy container loads of parts from junkyards here in the USA, and take them to Chile for repairs. The Chileans were very clever in making odd parts interchange. Alternators from Fords might be spliced onto Chevvies, etc. Necessity is a mother. > I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now > allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American > cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. > cuhulin I'm a canuck, so I can go to cuba. Went there this year, the cars are definitely INTERESTING. Never seen a 53 Buick diesel before. Apart from the body panels and some of the interior, they're not stock anymore. They've been pretty creative. Ray >> I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now >> allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American >> cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. >> cuhulin > > I'm a canuck, so I can go to cuba. Actually, a lot of Americans have gone to Cuba as well. The government doesnt like it but a lot have ignored the restriction and gone anyway. They say the fishing is really good.;>) On May 1, 1:34 pm, cuhu...@webtv.net wrote: > I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now > allowed to own their own farms and a few other things.Those old American > cars in Cuba, they sure do know how to keep em rolling. > cuhulin They are nice looking old cars, but if you look under the hood I suspect you will see all sorts of mis-matched parts pieced together. > On May 1, 1:34 pm, cuhu...@webtv.net wrote: >> I was watching some noon day tv news.Something about Cubans are now [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > They are nice looking old cars, but if you look under the hood I > suspect you will see all sorts of mis-matched parts pieced together. I read articles way back when that detailed how the vehicles were kept on the road. It seems ford and chrysler designs for engines and other vital systems (maybe a few others) were copied by the USSR and eastern european countries in metric form. So parts could be made to fit from those vehicles. Chevy designs on the other hand had no soviet bloc version and were more difficult to keep on the road. They also did some interesting things to repair vehicles. The one I remember is worn gears. Metal was welded on and the tooth profile was re-created by hand. In one article one of the articles brought with him some old Autolite spark plugs that were just sitting on the shelf in his garage. He gave them to a guy with a ford they met. The plugs were like giving out gold pieces. |
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