in case you ever wanted to know...here's a link to how to drive a hoopty...and yeah, I've totally used all these driving tips in some of my past cars:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4852392_drive-a-hoopty.htmlAlthough I'd add the following tips for good hoopty motoring:
-Take duct tape, coathangers/baling wire and needle-nosed pliers with you. If you can recover the pieces of car you lose along the way, you can reattach them using the above.
-In fact, if you've got one, take your whole toolbox. The hoopty will bring novelty into your life.
-Old pantyhose can be subbed in for a belt for a few miles(get the hoopty to the parts store)
-Carry all manner of fluids with you, check fluid levels often.
-Carry a good spare and a good tire jack...chances are the hoopty will be wearing the tires very unevenly and you may get surprise flats
-Sea breeze and motor honey are your friends.
-if the regular brakes aren't working reliably, practice braking a few times with the parking brake. It will put you into a skid, so you have to pop it on and off.
-If you have to turn the car off and coast(say, because it's overheating again), put it in neutral, and expect power steering and braking to go away.
-If you have to brake, but also give it gas at the same time to keep it from stalling, do so with the same foot.
-No tailgating. Drive slow. Carry uninsured motorist coverage. You want them to hit you.
-If you have a manual transmission and the brakes go...hey, you're okay!
-Black smoke from under the hood is normal for the hoopty. Steam from under the hood is not. And fire is a really bad sign.
-Your toolkit should include a hacksaw in case your muffler wraps around the axle when it falls off.
-Carry jumper cables. Trust me.
-Duct tape can form structural component replacements.
-Regular coca-cola can clean battery terminals.
-NEVER take the hoopty to the shop and say "just fix it!" because the bill would include your arm, leg, and firstborn child. Specify in writing what needs fixed.
-Probably better to live with any electrical problems you can't fix yourself.
-Wear your seat belt. Tightly. Do not expect any onboard hoopty airbag, if such exists, to actually work.
-Expect the hoopty to lose ground contact over bumps, meaning you won't be able to steer or brake much.
-Do not ignore damaged tie rods. Really.
-Be familiar with the sounds your hoopty makes, so that when it starts making new ones, you can tell. Squealing or grinding ones are bad.
-Probably better not to clean the hoopty too well-the dirt may be holding it together
-The Haynes Manual is your friend
-The junkyard is your friend
-Tomato cans are your friends
The hooptyest thing by far I ever drove was what I called the Jeep From Hell(it was a Grand Wagoneer with Issues)...its' fave trick was stalling out backing up.
If I was in enough of a hurry I'd forget to take it out of reverse before I hotwired it to get it started again, which involved bridging at the solenoid-under the hood...so the stupid thing would start up and start chugging away from me, necessitating me chasing it down.
All of its gauges would swing all the way to the right and then back when I turned on the headlights. One time when I had some other work done, the way the belts were set somehow caused the power steering pump to rhythmically squirt P/S fluid (flammable stuff) all over the engine compartment.
It was however, my Tercel (named Shake n' Bake for it's wobble-inducing frame damage and a tendency to overheat) that lost a turn signal housing on the freeway, and I went back and got it.
