A realization...

[lloyd3]

Crazy warm winter here in Denver this year, in fact it's been almost no winter. Loaded my bride onto an airliner for a weekend visit to Minneapolis (mother-in-law) meaning...no adult supervision here for a few days (so of course I got out my car). My wife is a good sport but she does not really understand my car (or maybe she does?).

Pleasantly surprised by a number of things. 1. The battery wasn't completely dead. 2. It started right up (after a glug of gas in the carb). 3. It seems to be running allright (it didn't seem to be when I parked it in early November).

It did smoke alot ( & I mean it really smoked the place up). I've never seen it quite like this before, but after idling for a few minutes it quit (valve guides?). I took it out for a spin and it finally settled down to what seems to be it's usual state. It spits and sputters until it's warm and then it's just fine.  It's been forever since a real tune-up (10-15 years?), so this summer it's going to happen (plugs, points, condenser, maybe even wires). The 4428S carb needs bushings too.

I had something of a realization while driving it...this car is almost 60 years old now (just 2 more years and we're both there).  That of course means that I'm almost 70 now (the car is 10-years younger than me).  That shocked me a little...I guess I never expected to last this long (too-many close calls to this point) and I guess I never gave it much thought until now, but the car somehow reminded me of that on Friday when I went for a burger in it for dinner.

I had a buddy expire over the weekend, one of my brother's closest childhood friends (since 3rd grade) and one of mine as well. We all worked together in the Pennsylvania oil fields, he even lived with me in southwest Wyoming for a year (looking for work) and we've kept in touch over the years. He was involved in a bad automobile accident that killed his wife immediately (Pennsylvania roads, right?) and he lingered in a coma for the last two weeks.  He was one of my (now few) remaining connections to that world back there.

I seem to do my best thinking in this car. It provides perspective (on so many things) for me and these days it seems to be the passage of time, eh?  But...beautiful is still beautiful to me and this car still hits all of those numbers (at least for me).

It's still genuine fun for me to pull the cover off of it, and driving it is still slightly-amazing to me (for what it is, for what it represents of my history, for what I went through to get it, that I still have it (30-years this May), & that I still enjoy it).  There were lots of cars out and about here this crazy-warm weekend (middle 80s) and some of them were pretty exotic (Shelby Cobra coupes, Maseratis, other 60s muscle, even a few Mopars). Most folks don't even seem to notice it much anymore (younger Gen Xers, young women driving minivans & econoboxes, obvious illegals, etc.) but the few that do really sit-up and hone-in. 



Perspective, right?

[496polara]

Sorry about your friend.

I agree on the perspective, I am now 60 and still have the mental capacity of a 16 yo most days. Only difference between me now and me then is now I worry about being able to fix it if something bad happens. Back then we just went out and got another one. I doubt I could afford to do that these days.

[Kern Dog]

I'll tell you this....The ease to which you can diagnose and repair a classic car is amazing compared to computer controlled newer stuff.
Example?
How many of you actually snapped a throttle cable in all of your years with classics?
I'll bet it is very few. I never have. I have had some give warning that they need to be replaced but I've never had throttle one moment then NOTHING the next moment until last year.
June 2025, the electronic throttle pedal in my 2007 Dodge truck crapped out. I went to the junkyard and pulled two. I thought that they were both bad because I put them in and the same no throttle symptoms existed. I bought a NEW one, installed it and it ran fine....for about 25 miles.
I didn't know that the pedal needed to be "Calibrated". I must have gotten lucky that it worked immediately.  I had to be towed to a repair shop where I learned about the need to "recalibrate".  The whole thing still confuses me. From there it seemed fine.
THREE days ago, that pedal FAILED. I bought another, calibrated it and it seems okay again.
How did I drive this truck 410,000 miles on the original but then only get 6000 miles on a factory replacement?
I saw a video where a guy bought a door for some late model car, he got one the same color as his car, It was bought from a recycle/wrecking yard. When he tried to open the door, it refused to open AND the electronics of the car went dead. Why? Well, some late model cars have door handles that are fully electronic with no rods or linkage. They are tied into the computer and linked to the VIN. If a door handle is NOT recalibrated to the VIN, it shuts the whole car down.
That never happens with these great classic cars.

[lloyd3]

Thanks Folks.

KD is right about overly complicated vehicles. Looking for a replacement SUV for the wife lately was quite an education (things have gotten quite expensive and very complicated in the "newer vehicle" world).

I had been contemplating replacing my 2001 Dodge Off Road Package 4×4 truck with something "more modern" but...after lots of hard thinking (& aided by my bride's always insightfull input) I've come to the conclusion that because of how I tend to use a "truck", newer, pretty, "techy" (& "softer") wouldn't necessarily be the better option for me.

Used mostly for hunting, fishing and the general  hauling of stuff, this now 25-year old truck still serves admirably.  So...instead of trading it in for a newer & much fancier version this Spring when our son graduates (as I have long planned), I finally let my local shade-tree mechanic fix all the little niggling problems I had been ignoring for so long (they replaced the AC compressor, the radiator, the water pump, and the heater core [all still original btw]) so I can now drive it around without much worry or discomfort. By my reasoning now, 2001 just wasn't all that long ago anyway (by the general standards we seem to operate by here) and... because I've owned it since new there simply aren't any big mysteries about it for me.

So...I now have two (2!) older, slightly beat-up, low-tech pick-up trucks (a '97 Ford 150 4x4 in Nowhere, MN and this '01 Dodge) that I can keep running with minimal cost and effort. Both serve comperable missions (basic transport, great off-road and in bad conditions, and shockingly still quite dependable). They are arguably both "forever trucks" (a term you see regularly on YouTube now) meaning that from the late 80s thru the early 2010s, trucks were still very simple and practical things.

What modern trucks have become lately is something of an abomination (IMHO). Not that I wouldn't mind having one, but any inevitable fixes won't be simple (or even remotely reasonable) for any of these now much-bigger "monsters" anymore.

High-tech, computer-screen controlled vehicles simply can't age very well at all (by my admittedly humble estimation).

[John_Kunkel]

In a lot of ways, newer cars are easier to diagnose...with the introduction of OBD2 the car tells you what's wrong with it, all it takes is the right equipment. Some will argue that that equipment is too expensive but OBD scanners are coming down in price.

[Kern Dog]

To a degree, yes.
I admit to preferring old non computer controlled cars because they are a lot simpler. There are fewer things to skew the diagnosing process. A hand held code reader is great but in my limited experience with them, a code just points you in a direction that can still send you down a rabbit hole.
I never had a 727 just fail but the 545 in my 2007 truck puked two transmission control modules which made me lose 1st and overdrive. Rodents chewed wires in the wife's Honda, sending weird codes through the PCM that didn't clearly state a broken electrical connection.
It isn't all doom and gloom though. The code readers are a blessing. Imagine trying to track down a problem in miles of wiring and 8 modules hidden in the vehicle!

[Charger-Bodie]

In a lot of ways, newer cars are easier to diagnose...with the introduction of OBD2 the car tells you what's wrong with it, all it takes is the right equipment. Some will argue that that equipment is too expensive but OBD scanners are coming down in price.

This is fake news. it were true for a while,but has swung the other way. There are so many systems inermingled now that it has become a nightmare.

[John_Kunkel]

This is fake news. it were true for a while,but has swung the other way. There are so many systems inermingled now that it has become a nightmare.

Is that an opinion or a fact based on extensive experience? The introduction of the CAN BUS has made it easier to communicate with the various ECU's that control every function in a modern car. Notice the "bidirectional" in the description of the scanner.

If the units on a seventies car go haywire it's by guess and by golly if a component actually works. With a bidirectional scanner that can both read data from a vehicle's computer and send commands back to it, mechanics can perform active tests on various vehicle systems, such as activating components like fans or pumps, to diagnose issues more effectively. Think how great it would be to push a button and self-test just about every component in your sixties/seventies muscle car.

[Charger-Bodie]

This is fake news. it were true for a while,but has swung the other way. There are so many systems inermingled now that it has become a nightmare.

Is that an opinion or a fact based on extensive experience? The introduction of the CAN BUS has made it easier to communicate with the various ECU's that control every function in a modern car. Notice the "bidirectional" in the description of the scanner.

If the units on a seventies car go haywire it's by guess and by golly if a component actually works. With a bidirectional scanner that can both read data from a vehicle's computer and send commands back to it, mechanics can perform active tests on various vehicle systems, such as activating components like fans or pumps, to diagnose issues more effectively. Think how great it would be to push a button and self-test just about every component in your sixties/seventies muscle car.

As a shop owner for 24 years ,im telling you this as fact.

[Kern Dog]

I have a fairly inexpensive Innova 3100 code reader that I bought maybe 15 years ago.
It clears codes but I'm sure it is limited in what else it can do.
Pistons are still pistons and valves are still valves. At the core, an engine is still similar to what was in our classics.
I do find it interesting how variable intake manifold runner length designs have evolved along with variable valve/cam timing. Those two things can really broaden a power curve.
The 2003-2008 Chrysler Hemi was a 340-345 HP engine but in 2009, they were upgraded with those two features and the truck engines were then rated at 390 HP with zero change in drivability. It was just more powerful yet equally smooth and reliable.
There is no way in Hades that the manufacturers could have built, sold and warrantied an 808 HP engine that met emission standards and reliability levels without computers. The Challenger Demon was the car that had that engine, a legitimate high 9 second car that you could buy and drive like almost any other car. Heck, your mother could drive it and not even know what a wild ride it really was.
I prefer non computer era cars based on their simplicity and to be fair, the styling. Very few newer vehicles have a style that pulls me in for a closer look. Aero is so much at play. (Except with pickup trucks)_

[INTMD8]

I do efi/powertrain calibration for a living. Converted my Charger to EFI but still think carbs are great. Also kept a classic engine as I like the aesthetics and the challenge.

The newer stuff with direct injection steps up the difficulty a notch.

The last thing that helps me diagnose a newer vehicle is the codes it may or may not have.

You still need to fundamentally understand the mechanical aspect as Kern Dog mentioned. Then you need to be able to understand and interpret data and the possible causes as that will tell you much more than anything else.

[Kern Dog]

I understand that with computer controlled vehicles, the importance of proper electrical grounds are exponentially crucial. So many of the aftermarket EFI systems that have been sold have problems rooted mainly in installation error, also known as poor electrical grounds.

[John_Kunkel]

This is fake news. it were true for a while,but has swung the other way. There are so many systems inermingled now that it has become a nightmare.

Is that an opinion or a fact based on extensive experience? The introduction of the CAN BUS has made it easier to communicate with the various ECU's that control every function in a modern car. Notice the "bidirectional" in the description of the scanner.

If the units on a seventies car go haywire it's by guess and by golly if a component actually works. With a bidirectional scanner that can both read data from a vehicle's computer and send commands back to it, mechanics can perform active tests on various vehicle systems, such as activating components like fans or pumps, to diagnose issues more effectively. Think how great it would be to push a button and self-test just about every component in your sixties/seventies muscle car.

As a shop owner for 24 years ,im telling you this as fact.

So, you've been at it in this century, well after OBDII? Ever get 1960's-1970's cars in your shop? What do you use to troubleshoot problems?

[Kern Dog]

Uhhh, experience? Common sense? A published diagnosis tree ?

[Charger-Bodie]

This is fake news. it were true for a while,but has swung the other way. There are so many systems inermingled now that it has become a nightmare.

Is that an opinion or a fact based on extensive experience? The introduction of the CAN BUS has made it easier to communicate with the various ECU's that control every function in a modern car. Notice the "bidirectional" in the description of the scanner.

If the units on a seventies car go haywire it's by guess and by golly if a component actually works. With a bidirectional scanner that can both read data from a vehicle's computer and send commands back to it, mechanics can perform active tests on various vehicle systems, such as activating components like fans or pumps, to diagnose issues more effectively. Think how great it would be to push a button and self-test just about every component in your sixties/seventies muscle car.

As a shop owner for 24 years ,im telling you this as fact.

So, you've been at it in this century, well after OBDII? Ever get 1960's-1970's cars in your shop? What do you use to troubleshoot problems?

i was born into the industry in 1971. worked on everything. but certainly havent seen as much as you im sure.