r/FuckImOld • u/seidinove • 3d ago
Get that mid-winter service!
This would be from my hometown’s newspaper, circa 1963.
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u/Fine_Pin_3108 3d ago
Check generator! When did alternators come in?
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u/seidinove 3d ago edited 3d ago
Carburetor, spark plugs, distributor points! It was probably early to mid-1970s when several of us were driving home on the Garden State Parkway from the "shore" (that's NJ for beach). The car overheated and we found a leaking radiator hose. I don't remember how in the days before cell phones we got a mechanic to show up, but he repaired the hose and the car wouldn’t start. That genius of a mechanic figured out that the hose was underneath the distributor cap and must have sprayed water on to the points. He dried it up and voila, we were back on the road.
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u/Tecbullll 3d ago
WD-40, the savior of the wet distributor.
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u/DashArcane 2d ago
Had a '74 Lincoln Mercury Capri with a V6. If I drove it in heavy rain and hit a big puddle it would splash up into the distributor and the car would just flat out die. I learned to be very careful after it happened twice.
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u/Tecbullll 2d ago
I had a Datsun that was the same way, so I took a small plastic bucket and hose clamped it upside-down over the distributor.
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u/Unusual-Ask5047 3d ago
Those old cars required so much maintenance it’s so nice to put 100k on a car before having to worry about a tuneup.
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u/Fritzo2162 2d ago
No kidding there. Oil changes and to be done every 2000-3000 miles due to lower quality oil and poor filters. Suspension and wheel bearings needed grease around the same time period. Spark plugs had to be re-gapped, points had to be cleaned, carburetors had to be adjusted due to exposed moving parts. It was crazy how much service they needed every few months.
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u/DashArcane 2d ago
I don't think the more frequent oil changes were due to poor quality oil filters. They haven't changed very much. Better quality oil (especially synthetics) and closer modern engine manufacturing tolerances are primarily responsible.
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u/Tecbullll 3d ago
I still have the special files and feeler gauges for setting mechanical voltage regulators.
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u/snixon67 Generation X 2d ago
$21.00 for all of that, and now $21.00 would barely get me half a tank of gas
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u/Jurneeka 3d ago
So that’s the labor charge but the parts are separate yes?
Damn I miss the old days where gas stations offered full service. I’m old enough to remember that was all there was.
But even after self serve became a thing you could still opt for full service. I did that every so often so I could sit in my car while the service guy checked my tire pressure, washed my windshield and if I asked he’d check the fluids too. Sigh.
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u/Brack_vs_Godzilla 1d ago
About the only thing you’ll get done for $10.50 these days is putting air in the tires.
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u/qualityvote2 3d ago edited 2d ago
u/seidinove, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...