I long for the days of simple car/bike repair.

[John Schmidt]

A neighbor's son said his dad told him to come see me on how to check his coil, needed to know if it was putting out and if so was it strong enough. He has a Jeep that's a few years old, I told him to take my insulated long nose pliers and pull the wire out of the distributor. Then while someone cranked the engine, he should hold the wire near the block. Told him to start about 1/4" away and draw it farther away as the engine is cranked. If he gets a nice blue spark and it jumps quite a ways, it's good. If it doesn't show a spark, or has one but it's sorta yellow and can't jump very far, replace the coil if he's sure everything has good connections. His face blanched, then asked "that's it? I need something more specific than that."  He then takes it to a repair shop, the guy hooked up a reader and it tells him to check his coil....all for $95. I told him later he could have gone to Autozone or similar place and got the same thing for zero dollars. So, the shop guy tells him to get in the car and crank the engine when he tells him to. Guess what he did to check the coil?? The kid was kinda nonplused and all his dad would do was laugh, told him "lesson learned!"   

How I wish sometimes we could still check an ignition system with a long screwdriver. I still have my old dwell tachometer, timing light, and a few other relics of days gone by. Maybe one day I can buy that old pickup truck I want to build up, they might come in handy then. 

[Grumpy]

Me too, was just thinking, remember having to polarize a new generator before it would work. Simpler times then, never even thought about a repair shop in the 50's Most every thing could be accomplished by a shade tree mechanic.

[solo1]

Those days are long gone, John.

My son Mark has been a GM tech for many years.  He's no longer a 'mechanic' as it being a tech now requires a knowledge of all the computers in cars today.  The average guy probably can't do much repair except changing the battery and even then, it could be trouble.

The good thing is that I have installed a monitor on my Mazda that tells me what's going on with the computer.   It's interesting to watch the various parameters that are inputting into the computer.

yeah, I got a dwell meter, spark plug gapper and cleaner, etc. They're useless now.

[Tx Bohemian]

Yeah that was the good ole days, kinda.

Back then if you were looking for a used car and came across one with 75-80K you  knew it was going to need some major repairs done shortly. If it wasn't done already.

How many tune ups, or trans services, or wheel bearing repacks are done nowadays?
My manual says 100k. Except for the bearing repack.

Serpentine drive belts go 100K easily. In the past 20-30K the V-belts were frayed if not broken.

I'll agree it was definatly a simpler time back then but there has been tremendous improvements in the last 15-20 years.

Of course we all know the price has changed dramatically too!

[old2soon]

In my toolbox there still resides the allen wrench on a flex drive screwdriver you need for setting the points on a G.M. product. Spark plug gap tool feeler gauges and G.M. and Ford distibutor wrenches. Up on a shelf collecting dust is the old dwell tach and other funtions built into a black box. I have numerous cut down wrenches that i can't even remember why they were cut down. I've got old pieces of steel and aluminum that are old drivers fer-----something.   RIDE SAFE.

[fudgie]

I remember setting on the fender well inside the engine compartment to do work on my Chevy 61 3/4 Apache and 85 1/2 ton. Not anymore, barely arm room. While harder to repair nowaday, they seem to 'last' longer. 

[G-Man]

Just paid over $500 for a "tune up".  Yes you read it correctly.  Car has a transverse mounted V-6 and the mechanic told me that he had to remove the exhaust manifold in order to get to the rear plugs.  The book they use to determine hours of labor said 3 hours for the job.

[PharmBoy]

"The Good Old Days" were mainly good because we were, young, bullet proof, and had the world by the tail (we thought)...Jim  

[MNBill]

I took a step back in time to work on some of that "old stuff" 1960 Ford Falcon will be my fun car, 1965 Falcon Sprint 289 engine, C-4 Auto,  4 wheel disc brakes. Guys that put everything in it did not have a clue what they were doing, I am getting close enough to done that I have test driven it, WOW 289 in that light body, it is going to be fun. Other is a 1964 Corvair Monza Convertible. late 80's restore. After a little work I should be able to turn a few dollars on it to pay for Falcon parts.

[hubcapsc]

Every couple of months when my early 70's model Honda Civic would start running
bad, I'd pull off the distributor cap and adjust the points "by eye" and go on down
the road.

The Mini never starts running bad 

-Mike

[Robert]

When you have to hook up a computer to your car to tell it you changed the battery you know its not going to be easy. When there is no thottle body anymore but you accelerate by opening and closing the valve height in relation to the gas pedal, you know its not going to be easy.  When you can hook up a computer to your car and do everything from opening the windows to starting and turning on the a/c you know its not going to be easy. When you have no distributor no wires you know well you get the idea. 

[klb]

Still keep one of the simple one's alive. 1969 ford 429-4V.

[BF]

Every couple of months when my early 70's model Honda Civic would start running
bad, I'd pull off the distributor cap and adjust the points "by eye" and go on down
the road.

The Mini never starts running bad 

-Mike

I used to do that with my old '66 MGB that I used to own in the late '70's. 

I still have my dwell meter and timing light (Craftsman) in the lower drawer of my tool box.  Have no idea what to do with them. 

The last time I used either of them was on my old '64 Chevy Apache stepside with a 283 in it that I used to have back around '80 or so. 

[Hoser]

A neighbor's son said his dad told him to come see me on how to check his coil, needed to know if it was putting out and if so was it strong enough. He has a Jeep that's a few years old, I told him to take my insulated long nose pliers and pull the wire out of the distributor. Then while someone cranked the engine, he should hold the wire near the block. Told him to start about 1/4" away and draw it farther away as the engine is cranked. If he gets a nice blue spark and it jumps quite a ways, it's good. If it doesn't show a spark, or has one but it's sorta yellow and can't jump very far, replace the coil if he's sure everything has good connections. His face blanched, then asked "that's it? I need something more specific than that."  He then takes it to a repair shop, the guy hooked up a reader and it tells him to check his coil....all for $95. I told him later he could have gone to Autozone or similar place and got the same thing for zero dollars. So, the shop guy tells him to get in the car and crank the engine when he tells him to. Guess what he did to check the coil?? The kid was kinda nonplused and all his dad would do was laugh, told him "lesson learned!"  

How I wish sometimes we could still check an ignition system with a long screwdriver. I still have my old dwell tachometer, timing light, and a few other relics of days gone by. Maybe one day I can buy that old pickup truck I want to build up, they might come in handy then.  

You need one of these, John.  I got all those old tools and methods of keeping it running.  Good excuse to use your old tools and skills.  

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Set many a set of points with a match book cover. I also remember what it was like to slip a feeler guage in between the points with the key on. It only takes once.

[old2soon]

Set many a set of points with a match book cover. I also remember what it was like to slip a feeler guage in between the points with the key on. It only takes once.

Lighting coming out yer a$$ WILL get your attention.  Old guy i used to work for a LONG time age told the story of a know-it-all that hung around another shop his dad had. They convinced him to stand barefoot on the bumper of a Model-T with the engine running and piss on the spark plugs. Said after that he weren't so much of a know-it all anymore.  RIDE SAFE.

[czuch]

Still have em, still use em, my windshield control is on the dash.
I dont have a "Windshield cleaner". I have to get out and clean it.
I saw a Timing light at a yard sale last weekend. The guy wanted 30.00 for it. I asked when he used it last and he said its an antique. They dont make em anymore. I said they do and have em at the parts store. I'll give you $5 if it works. He was amazed at the Galaxie, but wouldnt let it go.

[shortleg]

   I loved this old Cat with a 421, I was able to put Tri power
on it in about 2 hours.
         Shortleg[Dave]

[Tx Bohemian]

Just paid over $500 for a "tune up".  Yes you read it correctly.  Car has a transverse mounted V-6 and the mechanic told me that he had to remove the exhaust manifold in order to get to the rear plugs.  The book they use to determine hours of labor said 3 hours for the job.

Hmmm...

I'd have to check into that...

Back in my mechanicin' days for GM (of course it's been 20yrs by now) when you'd have a transverse V6 there usually was a provision provided  to access the rear plugs.

Usually disconnect the torque mount (dogbone on front) and tilt the engine forward and this would give you almost enough room to get to the rear plugs.  A long extension  and a couple of swivels would do the trick.

But again, as stated earlier, it's been 20 yrs. I'm sure things have changed since...

[f6john]

     I like the old days myself and still own some cars from the forty's and the sixty's. I can't speak four every new model out there but I don't find the new computer cars all that difficult. Of course a lot of sensors can go bad which can affect operation but once you get to know your vehicle you can almost guess what's going on. My favorite 4 wheeled toy is my 99 Corvette. It has as advanced electronics as anything on the road. What is really neat about the system is the system will display any trouble codes right on the instrument cluster, no reader to buy and plug into the car. The engine and the rest of the drivetrain are as simple as anything that's been made in the last 50 years. For me, the cars and trucks of the late 70's and 80's are the real nightmares. The factories were dealing with emissions and the solutions were crude and created a tangled mess of vacuum lines with no provision for performance.

[Jess Tolbirt]

you guys just reminded me of when i used to take a condenser and charge it up by grounding the body of it and putting the coil wire on the lead wire of the condenser and turning the engine over a few times and then holding the condenser by the body only and tossing it over to one of the new mechanics and holler,, here get me one of these,, when they would catch it, it would discharge on them,, funny as helll

[G-Man]

Just paid over $500 for a "tune up".  Yes you read it correctly.  Car has a transverse mounted V-6 and the mechanic told me that he had to remove the exhaust manifold in order to get to the rear plugs.  The book they use to determine hours of labor said 3 hours for the job.

Hmmm...

I'd have to check into that...

Back in my mechanicin' days for GM (of course it's been 20yrs by now) when you'd have a transverse V6 there usually was a provision provided  to access the rear plugs.

Usually disconnect the torque mount (dogbone on front) and tilt the engine forward and this would give you almost enough room to get to the rear plugs.  A long extension  and a couple of swivels would do the trick.

But again, as stated earlier, it's been 20 yrs. I'm sure things have changed since...

Used to sell Pontiac in '89 - '90.  That's when they came out with that 3800 tranverse mounted V-6.  There was an "eye" on the front half of the engine that a "hook" would go into and, yes, they would disconect something in the rear half and crank the "hook" and the engine would tilt forward.

This car is a 2006 Merc Montego.

[Master Blaster]

you guys just reminded me of when i used to take a condenser and charge it up by grounding the body of it and putting the coil wire on the lead wire of the condenser and turning the engine over a few times and then holding the condenser by the body only and tossing it over to one of the new mechanics and holler,, here get me one of these,, when they would catch it, it would discharge on them,, funny as helll

Beat me to it, thought this was the ultimate Gotcha, and even some that knew better would just reactively catch it. 

[KG]

Me too, was just thinking, remember having to polarize a new generator before it would work. Simpler times then, never even thought about a repair shop in the 50's Most every thing could be accomplished by a shade tree mechanic.

Did that on a 1970 onan with the magniciter the other day. The young guys in the shop had fooled around with it all week and couldn't fix it. They could not believe I fixed it with a 9vt battery in 10 min.

I miss the vacuum gauge. You could set the timing and adjust a carb so easy with a cheap vacuum gauge.

http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/186.cfm

A vacuum gauge and a test light and you could diagnose most problems.

[John Schmidt]

As a know-it-all teenager, an uncle gave me an old Model T truck engine/tranny along with the coil box and a couple other pieces I don't recall just now. He had a farm and it was just sitting out in the grove, had been "laid to rest" after serving him well. Toward the end of his use of it, he used it to pull the hay forks up into the haymow. Anyway, he helped me load it in the trunk of my old '48 Dodge 4-door sedan where I left it for that following winter. I never got stuck once with that weight over the rear axle that season.

Come spring, I decided to get it running if possible, it took some doing but I was successful. I won't go into all the "getting it running" details, just know it cut deeply into my time escorting various lovelies around town.    I set it up on a couple sawhorses next to the garage, set a gas can on the roof with a gavity feed to the engine. Had to use dad's portable compressor with an elec. motor on it to spin the engine enough to get it running. Had to fab a belt system to do it but I prevailed. That thing sat there and was just going chugachugachuga and rocking back and forth on the sawhorses. Dad suggested I kill the engine and make it more stable before the whole thing fell off. So, I grabbed a screwdriver and reached over to ground the magneto connection. It was so noisy I didn't hear dad yell at me. That mag developed a marvelous wallop, felt like my arm was being yanked off at the shoulder.

What dad was trying to tell me was ground the tip of the screwdriver first, THEN touch the mag connection. I was holding the screwdriver near the blade and it jumped from the blade to my hand, ripped my arm off at the root and threw it over the garage(that's what it felt like), passed through my body causing inaudible screeches on its way to the ground I was standing on....which had just been watered.

I put the fool thing back in my car and drove it over to my cousin's welding shop where he stored it for the next 20 yrs. To this day, I think that's why my right shoulder still gives me trouble from time to time. I've been hit with jolts while working on aircraft systems in the Air Force and none hurt like that one did. Until the day he joined mom on those streets of gold, he would get a good belly laugh just reminding me of that day when I learned how to ground out an ignition system.

[Grumpy]

John, I can relate to the mag. We had a McCormick Deering tractor, inline 6, started on gas, then ran on kerosene. I cannot remember the year, but built some time in the 30's . It had a morse impulse mag on it. The kind that has a spring loaded trip over. About once a year, had to remove it to replace the points. Dad taught me to ground the shorting switch, as it had a habit of firing when you were trying to set the timing. I got in a rush one year, and neglected to short it to ground, The SOB tripped with my hand on the out put leads. Knocked me flat on the ground, and as you said it hurt like sin. I never forgot to ground it after that.

[Jess Tolbirt]

hey guys, a magneto will knock your socks off!!! used to run them on the old buick offy 4 cyl midget,,,

[tonyfan70]

Well, even though the book may call for these extended service intervals....take them with a grain of salt. My Grand Prix GXP has an all aluminum 303hp V-8. I will bet money that if I left the plugs in for the 100,000 miles they say they are good for, when I take them out the threads in the cylinder head will come out as well.

Sometimes improvements suck. Same car, the serpentine belt requires the engine to be lowered by dropping the cradle. Improvement?    My "old" 97 S-10 with 172,000 miles has more grease zerks than I can count. I dutifully grease them every 3,000 miles. The result? 1 bad idler arm and 1 bad ball joint. Care to guess how much suspension has been replaced on my girlfriends van with the "lifetime" sealed suspension?

Hell you can't even adjust timing now and havent been able to for quite some time. Change it and the cars computer will change it back on you.

I mean sure some of it's great. My 07 Grand Prix is the (stock) fastest, quickest, best handling GP that Pontiac ever made. Gets 22 mpg to boot.

But I sure do enjoy working on my 1971 Mustang Grande that my Grandmother bought brand new. I can fix that car, not that anything is wrong with it, but you all get my point.

That is a great deal of why I left the auto repair biz. I used to be a tech at a Ford dealer back in the early 90's. Good Lord, the money they wanted me to spend on tools pretty much equaled what I made. And it wasn't that I was lacking in tools...just every time a new model car came out I needed new tools. Especially stuff that involved electronics which was everything it seemed. Part of the problem was the dealer I worked at was super cheap and didn't want to buy anything to update the shop....make the techs but their own. Hell, our alignment machine was at least as old as I was. Anyway I could see what was coming down the pike and I left.

BTW I have a Sun machine in my mancave. Quite the little beast, vacuum hookups, built in timing light, dwell meter, the works. I can't even remember the last time I used it, but it looks cool and is a good conversation piece.