New to me PT Cruiser

[beachcomber]

Nothing special for you guys out there, but Cruisers are quite a rare sight on the roads in the UK and still a bit of cheap fun. 2.2 CRD with the Merc diesel powertrain makes it practical and hopefully reliable.

The Blue one is my last one I had 4 years ago - lowered and with MG ZT 18" wheels

 

[Rider52]

Dodge played around with offering a V6 model. They really missed the boat when they didn't. They were very popular around here for several years. I've been told parts are now very difficult to get in the US. When I bought my 2002 Dodge truck, my wife took a test drive in a PT. I had to pry her out of it. I really needed a truck and she really wanted the PT Cruiser. LOL!

 

[cbrianroll]

My mom has a standard us model, despite everyone saying they are junk, it's been a really good car.

 

[Turnturtle]

My 2003 PT has 220k miles and is still running. It's my wife's favorite car.

 

[beachcomber]

Somehow they seem like a bit of a toy - not in a derogatory way. Most peeps here in the UK use them as a blank canvas for chrome, murals and light shows !

There's a very active and sociable club here and I've been on several of their "picnics".

There are plenty of spares here in the UK - new and secondhand - and CHEAP.

My Blue one had 50mm / 55mm lowered via springs and ran 8" x 18" MG ZT wheels all round. By a strange quirk of fate the current owner took the wheels and adaptors off 2 years ago .... and has just offered them to me ! £200 the lot - I paid that for the wheels and powder coating 4 years ago.

There's a guy here that's a bit of an electronics wizard and has devised a "Gizzmo" to bye-pass the EGR while maintaining MOT specs. An extra 15% power or saving in consumption - not both at the same time !

A tip for those opaque headlamp covers .... Colgate toothpaste. 10 minutes with a damp cloth then buff up. Perfect every time.

 

[teazer]

And to think that we used to put a 1/4" ball bearing in the vacuum line to the EGR to block it from operating..

 

[beachcomber]

You can't beat the shade tree mechanix !!!

 

[teazer]

And that was back when I worked in the Auto industry with access to people who knew about that stuff. Not saying that I ever did such a dastardly deed. I just knew someone who said he heard that someone had done that mod.

I used to have a 351 company car and remember being stopped for speeding one fine day and the cops were most interested to know what they could do to make their cars as fast as they claimed mine was going. I have no idea what they were talking about. I never speed....

 

[ex119x]

Back when I worked for Marietta Motorsports on of the Cobb County motorcycle cops use to hang out at the shop. They had KZ1000 copsickles and were limited on topend. We pulled his carbs apart to take a look and found they had extra bleed holes on the slides and would be uncovered at about 3/4 lift, limiting throttle opening. I guess his may have gotten plugged with something while we looked at them since afterwards his bike was way faster than his fellow cops. I have no idea how some epoxy got in there.

 

[Maritime]

Awesome.

 

[Redbird]

A tip for those opaque headlamp covers .... Colgate toothpaste. 10 minutes with a damp cloth then buff up. Perfect every time.

My Dad used to preach that. Before plastic headlight covers though... for polishing minor paint blemishes.

Nice get on the PT. Although, everytime I see one, I think of my younger Godchild. When she was a toddler, she'd call the Petey Shroozers

 

[beachcomber]

Nothing new under the sun eh Red ?

 

[beachcomber]

Well I got the wheels back and that included the spacers, nut and lock nuts - in fact everything I need to fit them. There were a couple of kerbing scuffs on the fronts and I've just spent a n hour with the Dremel and a fine burr and some 600 wet and dry and all back to normal. I decided to spray the wheels as the cost of having the tyres taken off [ and put back on ] stripping and powder coating would have been over £200. Gone up considerably in the past 4 years since I had them done. Fortunately the rear wheels are not marked, so I'll just rattle can all 4 to get them the same colour. Cost ? £9.00 !!

I'm looking for the Chrysler coloured centre cap emblems that I had previously - unfortunately they didn't come back with the wheels. They were self adhesive, but I can't find them now.

 

[Rider52]

Looks great! I saw a blue PT convertible yesterday. Such a lovely little car, its' a shame that they stopped making them.