My son tries to start the '64 Bel Air that we have in the barn and can't seem to get "pumping" the gas to set the choke, then "kicking it down" to lower the idle (once the green idiot "cold" light on the dash goes out). I have to tell him that this car doesn't do everything for you. You have to do some things yourself.

This one has 82k original miles.

 

Manual brakes...manual steering..3 onna tree...manual locks and windows...drum brakes..v type(sqeaky) fan belts....having to manually adjust your brakes periodically....cleaning plugs, pcv,plugged up carb filters.....Rope seals on the crank ends....clutch adjuctments...biased tires......wing windows...generators...here's one, starter switch on the floor......vacuum wipers...all those neat hings one had to know to drive?..no, to operate the car.And they complain about learning a stick!!!
Let em learn how to clean and reset some points in the middle of the nite with a nail file and a matchbook!!! Or how to bump start a car....

 

Pfft. my wrangler has no powered accesories, the brakes barely work. the 3 speed is as gentle as a gorilla raping a kitten. and my doors were considered "accesories"

sheesh. power windows werent even an option on wranglers till 2007!

modern is for wimps...

just check when the AMC 258(now the jeep 4.0) was first built... it started as a NASH 196 in the early 30's, was redesigned in 64, and has been basically unchanged since 87.

it WONT DIE.

 

Damn....Woody, you must be as old as me....Hahahahahaha

Yep, I still have my combo meter......Volt, Ohm, Dwell, Tach.

Still works......still use it....well...the volt / ohm part.

Cajun / Al

 

At least you can't say my entire generation doesn't know any of these things or maintenance routines. My truck, even only 26 years old requires quite a bit of this "old" maintenance. VAPOR LOCK, spark plug wire replacement, timing, any adjustments to the carb, choke, high and low idle, dimmer switch on the floor are some of the many things that you don't see or do anymore, but it wasn't that long ago you did.

Yet, why does it seem easier to work on old cars than new ones?

 

Ahh, the memories!
I remember having to adjust the point gap on a Chevy Impala by sight, no feeler gauge handy, and it ran!
And safety features? I had a 1960 Ford pick up that had only one visor(the passenger side was an option as no holes drilled for it), no seat belts and no turn signals standard(the look on the brake inspector's face was priceless when I showed him that one). Oh, and defrost setting was reaching under the dash and moving a lever with a knob on it.
Kids these days have no idea what they were missing.

 

And how about haveing a freeze plug work out in the winter

 

Winter...ha ha ha. Let's just say there is a reason I quite driving the truck all year long!

 

[QUOTEthe look on the brake inspector's face was priceless[/QUOTE]

I had a 67 Mustang and took it to NJ inspection. It was a young kid testing the brakes and he could not figure out why each time he pressed the "Emergency Brake" pedal the windshield washes would come one. It took him a dozen tries before he gave up and asked me. I was rolling on the floor. The 67 stang had a foot pedal pump for the washers located where now a days the parking brake would be and the parking brake was a pull handle under the dash. It was too funny watching his face each time the washes came on. ROTFLMAO