automotive lost arts?

pinchvalve wrote: Whatever people regularly did with points, they don't anymore.

I had one car with points. It was a Ford with the dumbass variable-dwell "feature" where the breaker plate pivoted on a tiny plastic bushing instead of a bearing around the distributor shaft. At one point, I had to tweak the points every morning just to get the thing started so I could go to work.

Points: Remember 'em fondly, but I don't miss them!

Smacking the starter motor with a hammer to start your car.

This also works well for recalcitrant fuel pumps. It's hard to get a good swing against the fuel tank sometimes, fortunately steel-tip boots work better than a hammer.

Adjusting valves. I know, or did know how to do all of those. The pouring bearings had pretty much died out but my father had a "spoon" used to fit/scrape the bearing. They used to turn a crank journal while still in the car. Bore cylinders with a portable machine that bolted to the block.

aeronca65t wrote: Adjusting brakes. Hand lapping valves (I actually don't think this is such a good idea). Changing a canister oil filter. Push starting a car. Changing valve seals without pulling the head. Polarizing a generator. Installing seat covers.

Did them all, as well as setting points with a (cardboard) matchstick.

Schmidlap wrote: Just curious, how many people on this board have never touched a carburetor? I haven't (well, I've touched one, but never adjusted anything on it). All of my cars have been fuel injected. Same thing with friends' cars. And yes, this does make me feel inadequate, so please hold off on the name-calling. Bob

The very first automotive related thing I ever did was replacing a carburetor, on Pop's '67 Mercury Cougar, when I was about 15.

The second thing I did was replace the mechanical fuel pump.

I have to point out that all local auto parts store employees near me, Autozone, O Reily and Pep Boys, do not have the slightest clue of how a vehicle works! Anybody attempt to order a part when their "system" is down and will be turned away! I had a hard time trying to find 2 stroke outboard oil. Auto Parts employees will have never heard of things like this.

93EXCivic wrote:

aeronca65t wrote: Pouring bearing (I've seen this done). Hand crank starting (for me on many, many British cars + my plane) Polarizing a generator. Installing seat covers.

What are the "newest" cars that even need those first two things? I have to ask what is polarizing a generator? And I know plenty of people who have "installed" seat covers.

I saw babbit bearings poured on an early 50s English Ford (flathead four....the engine they used before the 4 cylinder "Kent" pushrod).

"Big" Triumph built into the early 60s had hand cranks. Lots of 50s Brit cars (Austins, Morris Minors, etc) as well as some 50s French cars (Citroen, Renault) had them.
I drove a '58 TR3 to college in the late 60s and used the hand crank all the time.

If you do not polarize a generator there is about a 50% chance that it will charge "backwards" and burn up the voltage regulator. To polarize, just very briefly short out the "hot" wire on the generator. My '67 Sprite started out with a generator (since converted).

I'm old enough to know what all that has been mentioned is. Have done a lot of it in the past.
Drove my daughters stick shift Integra she had a while back and stalled it on a hill, let it roll backwards after shifting to reverse and popped the clutch to start it. She didn't know you can do that. Back then she thought dad didn't know anything about newer cars. Thought it would hurt something. I told her I once push started a 65 Chevelle with powerglide AT.
Had a couple of my daughters (boy)friends help me install the engine in my Opel GT. Taught them about points distributors on that car, they'd never seen one. They knew a little about downdraft carbs, taught them about SU carbs on my MG Midget also.

pete240z wrote:

aeronca65t wrote: Push starting a car

A 25 year old kid asked me last momnth to jump start his beater stick shift Saturn. I asked if he ever push started it; you know, pop the clutch. He never heard of this. Replied like I just made it up.

Ive done this several times through the years of owning a car. easy.....so easy

magnetos

deveous9 wrote: I have to point out that all local auto parts store employees near me, Autozone, O Reily and Pep Boys, do not have the slightest clue of how a vehicle works! Anybody attempt to order a part when their "system" is down and will be turned away! I had a hard time trying to find 2 stroke outboard oil. Auto Parts employees will have never heard of things like this.

Most have never seen or heard of u-joints meant to mate different size yokes. Last time I needed one I had to bring the spicer part number since they didn't know where to begin to look one up.

As for carbs, I think the ultimate test is rebuilding a Q-jet... and getting it to run right, I never succeeded. But have done Honda, Hyundai (Mitsu), mikuni, tillotson, and others with good success.

Pre scan tool I remember in high school pulling plug wires one at a time with the engine idling to find the one with the miss. The mistake I made was pulling the wires off and replacing them at the distributor on my '77 Granada with a 302. Boy did that give me a jolt when I got zapped.

I think I still have a tach/dwell meter in the garage.

aeronca65t wrote: Reaming king pins. Adjusting brakes. Changing to "winter" oil and "winter" tires. Hand-mounting tires (I still do it). "Breaking" tire beads by driving a car over the edge of the tire. Hand lapping valves (I actually don't think this is such a good idea). Pouring bearing (I've seen this done). Hand crank starting (for me on many, many British cars + my plane) Retarding timing for starting (see above) Changing a canister oil filter. Replacing gudgeon pins. Understanding a vacuum gauge. Push starting a car. Jump starting a car by bringing the (steel) bumpers in contact and using just one cable. Ridge reaming. Working in a car from a "pit". Changing valve seals without pulling the head. Changing a "rope type" rear main seal. Polarizing a generator. Installing seat covers. Adjusting GM points-type distributor with a hex wrench.

I have done all of those myself with the exception of pouring bearings which I helped my father do. Been 40 years since I have done some of them. I have also "paddled some lead". Have done wrist pins and gudgeon pins.

4cylndrfury wrote: Stopping and putting the vehicle into 4wd...AWD is not the same thing kiddies

Shift-on-the-fly 4WD /= AWD.

4Runner can go 4WD hi while on the move up to 50mph or so. 4WD lo still requires stopping, for obvious reasions. Not having to get out on some muddy trail and lock the hubs by hand is a plus. I dont' miss having to do that, honestly.

4Runner 4WD is true 4WD, not "AWD"

hrdlydangerous wrote: Driving.

Win.

I may be over simplifying it in my mind. But here's my take on what's AWD and what is 4WD.

If there is a differential between the front and rear axles then it's AWD, whether there is a bias, part time engagement or equal torque distribution.

If both the front and rear drive shaft are always driven(when 4wd is engaged) equally with no differential between the front and rear then its 4WD.

DrBoost wrote: Checking oil or trans levels very soon.

Haha. My friend ran a parts store a few years ago. A lady pulled up with a Corolla or Tercel (long ago so I don't recall) that she had bought with 50k miles, which now had 80k on it. She complained it was making a noise from the engine.

We walked outside to give it a listen, and it was making a hellacious noise from the bottom end.

Tony: "Oh wow, when was the last time you changed the oil?"

Lady: "Change the oil?"

I'll never forget that.

As far as I'm concerned, rebuilding a carb was always a lost art, even when people regularly did it. I never had much success with it in a test environment, no way I'd bolt one to my car after I rebuilt it.

pinchvalve wrote: Whatever people regularly did with points, they don't anymore. In fact, the whole "tune-up" is a thing of the past. While not skills, I think these are lost arts as well: Smacking the starter motor with a hammer to start your car. Pressurizing the washer-fluid reservoir with air pressure at the gas station. Adjusting the manual choke. De-coking something somewhere. Getting tires re-treaded. Winding down the passenger-side window while driving.

I like this list.

I've done every one of them. Half of them I've done THIS WEEK!

Putting an eight track tape player in your car.
Even better, putting a new radio in your car...an AM radio.

I currently have 4 vehicles with carburetors. 2 have mechanical fuel pumps AND AM radios.

Rebuilding a Holley is one of those rite of passage things.

How about an English wheel?

SVreX wrote: Rebuilding a SU is one of those rite of passage things.

Fixed

Smoke wrench.

MG Bryan wrote:

SVreX wrote: Rebuilding a SU is one of those rite of passage things.

Fixed

Did it.

Hell, we should make this a drinking game. Take a sip/swig/chug/pull/whatever, for everything mentioned in this thread, that you've done (aside from the sarcastic ones).

My eyes aint that good but I'll drink anyway

SVreX wrote: How about an English wheel?

Kind of covered with panel beating/metal shaping, but yeah, I've done that. I shaped my hood on an English wheel. (then distorted it when I welded the halves together after deciding that I didn't want a hinge....still need to fix it.)