Mrkim Report This Comment Date: May 26, 2008 01:18PM
May be simpler quasi but I don't miss nasty/messy oil bath breathers and
cartridge type oil filters. carburetors that needed adjustment any time the
weather changed or you took a trip where a big change in elevation was involved,
resettin the point gap and dwell angle every month or so and then changin 'em
out every few months, spark plugs that only lasted 20k miles or so before needin
changin, same with the plug wires/cap and rotor, non detergent oils that led to
severe internal engine sludging in well under 100k miles, engines that didn
typically live much over 100k before needin a rebuild from all the above and
most of all today .... I sure wouldn't miss that great 8-15 MPG these things
yielded
I'll take computer controlled fuel injection and crank/cam triggered waste-spark
high voltage ignitions where most of the components are good for at least 100k
miles, spin on oil filters, drop in air filters, higher quality lubricants, the
huge increases in power and performance these all add up to give ya with almost
no maintenace and with far better fuel economy to boot, the vast improvements in
steering/suspension geometries that allow things to take bumps in the road and
curves waaay better and brake systems that don't fade to 1/2 or less of their
capability if ever needed to be used hard in more than one instance at a time.
I'll take all the new stuff, and not just any day but every day, over the old
"simpler" stuff like this old truck had
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 26/05/2008 01:25PM by Mrkim.
quasi Report This Comment Date: May 28, 2008 12:35AM
At least when it needed servicing or repair an average guy could probably do it
himself without calling in a "tech". Computers are great but our
reliance on them will be our downfall. House of cards, man, house of cards.
quasi Report This Comment Date: May 28, 2008 12:40AM
It has crossed my mind to take an old IH truck and cram a powerstroke diesel in
it, though. That would be acceptable, an International in an International.
quasi Report This Comment Date: May 28, 2008 12:52AM
[
www.plus613.net]
True love requires that we accept the shortcomings of the objects of our love as
much as we adore their strong points. It's been nearly 30 years since I owned an
International truck, but I was born in an IH town and it's in my blood. I love
'em, truly.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: May 28, 2008 12:30PM
In truth quasi I find the newer stuff is actually simpler to work on in a lot
of ways compared to the old stuff and most everything is just plug n play. One
of the biggest advantages overall from my view is that most of what was
considered routine maintenance (and of necessity an ongoing process) is now
unnecessary with a greatly extended service interval today than what the older
stuff had.
While it's true that one often will need to put a car on a diagnostic 'puter to
chase down a problem, from there it's usually a simpler process and
troubleshooting is greatly simplified in this way .... some times
I think a vast majority of people are overly mystified by the new technologies
unnecessarily. One of the best pieces of advice my old man ever gave me about
mechanics was "Boy, everything mechanical goes round and round. While some
things go around one way and others do it another way, it all still just goes
round and round."
In actuality there is a short list of mechanical principles and once one
understands them it removes a lot of the mysteries, no matter whether you're
workin on a washing machine or the space shuttle
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 28/05/2008 12:35PM by Mrkim.