|
The 122s are sexier but I got a soft spot for the 140s.
Most of the problems I had had with my '84 240 was in the wiring, the connectors tend to corode in Oregon, and the starter eventualy died at 300K miles so I drove it for another year by parking only on hills.
The 2 140s I've had are great to work on once your knuckle callouses come in.
There is very little to go wrong with the electronics because their aint any and most parts are priced reasonably.
The B20 engings in the 140s have a high nickle concentration in the cylinder heads and wear extremly well. When I parted out my old '69 142 w 250K miles on the clock, I found that the cylinder walls had the origional factory honing marks on them, so that part of the legend is true.
I think the only soft spot on the engines are the cams, which can wear "premeturly" at 150K or so.
The early 145's interior is no mini-van, but is roomy. There is enfough room for me to sleep in the back with the rear seat folded down.
The interior is also a lot more spartan than the 245 with a lot of painted sheet metal, but easy to clean :)
Common rust areas are the rear floor pans, and the bottoms of the fenders.
The manual tranny is as close to bullet proof as you can get. Figuratively speaking, you can look at it as a solid chunk of cast iron with to shafts poking out that Magicly turn in relation to each other.
All of the 140's have 4 wheel disk brakes with 2 hydrolic circuits in case one fails.
The 122s have the added feature of having the cool split tailgate with the hinged license plate mount so you can have the tags visible when driving around with the tailgate open. Its a neet conversation piece and also a common rust area as I understand it.
With either the 122, and the 140s, its important to keep in mind that they are not leaking, rather they are just marking their territory.
--
'70 145, Webber converson, trying to keep it stock other than that.
|
