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The LoungeOff Topic PG-13. Warning: The Lounge may contain irrelevant and off topic discussions that may not be related to anything HHR. If you are not interested in these kinds of discussions, do not read or respond to these threads.
Hi, first post here. I don't have an HHR, but have looked at them and am here to learn.
I'm 62 and have done almost all my car repairs for 40+ years. I've had over 30 RWD GM tanks - Buicks, Caddy's and Chevy's... Caprices, Impalas and Sevilles. Because you can't find those cars here (Oahu) anymore, I bought a (grab your barf bag) 2000 Sienna about 3 years ago, In some respects it's a good vehicle - I've never seen one, even one with 300+K mi that had worn seats, a cracked dash or a saggy headliner. The engine sounds like there's no friction and at 150k mi sounds like it is nowhere near 1/2 way. In some ways it's kind of an amazing vehicle but still I hate it! The vehicle uses 10 parts to do what my old cruisers did with 2 parts, and then only half as well. Access to the firewall side of the V6 is nuts. The wiring diagram for the power locks is more complicated that the wiring diagram of a whole 1970's car. I know that these problems are not Sienna - specific, that compared to a Dodge Caravan or Nissan Quest the Toyota is a way better vehicle. Still I would like to see if there are any other viable options out there, and that's why I'm here :)
I have done some Photoshop pics of some ideas. The summer of '74 when I'd just fraduated from high school. my brother lent me his 1970 Morris Minor Traveller. In some ways I think that was perhaps the most all around perfect car I've ever driven. The steering was great. The brakes, well, not so great. It was a really, really fun car. It made me feel good. My first car, in '76 was a '68 Impala that I learned how to do head gaskets, fuel pumps and hillbilly body work on. I really loved that car and it made me feel good. The Sienna, in contrast, makes me feel ill. It has no soul.
I've attached some pics, the first is like the car my brother lent me (but not the actual car). The second is a van version of the Morris sold as an Austin, the 4th pic a stock HHR pic and the last pic a Photoshop'd version of that HHR with the Morris headlamp/turn signals Frankenstein'd onto it. I really don't like modern headlamps and like the old round glass sealed beams a lot more.
I added a hood ornament, a visor and round vintage type mirrors. One thing that always bothered me about the HHR was that the chrome strip along the top of the grille curves upward, so I changed that. I did a faux split front window which would be a chrome strip stuck on the inside of the windshield. It would have to be on the inside for the wipers to work.
Thanks! For years I'd pictured a mod for a PT Cruiser where you'd fill in the headlight areas and then use chrome pods (like they use on Harley's) for the headlights. But the PT Cruiser is, from everyone I've talked to, mechanically a disaster to work on. So that's why I'm interested in the HHR. Like I said, the Sienna is very dependable but potentially has some real nasty booby traps. I don't trust the complexity. I feel like it owns me more than I own it if that makes sense. I never felt like that with my 80's Buick Electra wagon, there was nothing that could stump me on those vehicles. My Sienna could stump me, it stumps the dealers, nobody has a good handle on how it's wired.
No I haven't been to that car show, I'm in Hawaii now but still consider Canada my home. My brother is a big Wolseley fan and although I'm more of a GM V8 RWD person I do like the old style lights the British cars had, the chrome bezels and simplicity.
Thanks for your responses! The Morris looks very Ratfink, I always much preffered the wagons, they made a convertible too. The above '53 Chevy is also a factor in what I'm thinking. The upper line of the windshield suffers from the same knitted-brow "please accept me look" as the HHR and that's why it to me begs for a windshield visor.
Yes, the posted round headlighted HHR is very similar. I like the hubcaps very much. I was never big on frenched headlights like the Lincolns had, and would prefer they were larger. They need to have some kind of partial pods, the attached first pic of a '57 Jag has great "auto-cleavage".
I've attached a couple of more pics where I added bezeled headlights to the HHR in the posted link. The last pic has the grille modified, could use a chrome hood strip. I really like the grille like that better - it stretches the hood to look like an alligator hood. The factory way always really looked like a mistake, looks like lipstick applied way high in the middle of an upper lip. It could use a hood emblem or hood chrome strip, plus visor. The turn signals don't cut it from this angle and could be better just flush mounted.
09-03-2018, 09:15 PM
