ShawnG
PowerDork
6/6/19 11:40 a.m.
Currently in the middle of tearing down and rebuilding a 1941 Lincoln V12 distributor because one side of the engine has weak spark.
Yes, it has points, two sets of them. They need to be setup and synchronised properly. It can't be done on the car, it has to be done on a distributor machine that I don't have. There is a way to set it up on the bench using a couple of machinists rulers that I do have.
As was said, not understanding it doesn't make it inferior. This thing will purr like a kitten when I'm done, using stock parts in a stock configuration.
CJ
Reader
6/6/19 11:51 a.m.
joey48442 said:
Appleseed said:
Don't show them this and ask them to make a call. You're likely to cause an aneurysm.
Jeez I’m circling 40 and we never had a phone like that I remember.
Not only did we have one of those phones, it was connected to a 'Party Line', so when you picked up the phone, one of your neighbors might already be in a call and you would have to hang up and wait...
volvoclearinghouse said:
Daylan C said:
I just like when we put a freshly built 383 in the crusty '92 RS. Pushed some buttons on the Holley Terminator then hit the key and it actually fired off on the first try and started idling like it always seems to on TV. Brand new combo started easier than my Mustang does after leaving it sit for a week.
You're comparing a brand new $,$$$ FI system with a carburetor that's likely at least 30 years old...
Mrs. VCH has a '68 Camaro, a couple of years ago I bought a new carburetor for it, a Speed Demon. Bolted it on in about 35 minutes (or 1.17 beers), turned the key, and the 350 cranked to life instantly and settled into a nice, throaty idle. 1 wire, 4 bolts, 2 cables, and a fuel line. And under $400.
Yeah I've never had that happen on any of my own projects, stock EFI or carb. And I'll probably never actually own one of the Terminator setups my buddy has because $3,000ish for TBI is dumb. It did start easy though. My '86 firebird wasn't terribly hard to start after getting fuel to the carb, and that was on a used Edlebrock, funny enough the same one I'm about to use on my Caprice. I was just impressed by the easiest first start I've ever seen from the worlds most poorly budget managed '92 Camaro.
mtn
MegaDork
6/6/19 12:15 p.m.
alfadriver said:
joey48442 said:
Appleseed said:
Don't show them this and ask them to make a call. You're likely to cause an aneurysm.
Jeez I’m circling 40 and we never had a phone like that I remember. The only one I remember was in our church lobby.
really? I'm 51 and remember using those phones in 3rd grade to each phone edicate. IIRC, we didn't have a push button phone until we moved to Idaho in 1977.
Oh, yea, that's when you were born... damn.
Born in 1990. We had one of those growing up (well, the kind you can hang on a wall, but same thing). It may even still be hooked up in my parents basement, although I'm not sure if they still have a landline or not.
mtn
MegaDork
6/6/19 12:19 p.m.
ShawnG said:
Currently in the middle of tearing down and rebuilding a 1941 Lincoln V12 distributor because one side of the engine has weak spark.
Yes, it has points, two sets of them. They need to be setup and synchronised properly. It can't be done on the car, it has to be done on a distributor machine that I don't have. There is a way to set it up on the bench using a couple of machinists rulers that I do have.
As was said, not understanding it doesn't make it inferior. This thing will purr like a kitten when I'm done, using stock parts in a stock configuration.
Yes, but it will almost certainly need attention through the years. That is what makes it inferior. I understand it. I've worked on them, although not on cars. I'm thankful we've moved on to fuel injected systems, because they work without any attention ever, unless I want to go modifying it.
Seriously, of the carb'd engines that I've owned/driven/used, 100% of them have had to have me do something to them. 0% of the EFI engines have had to have me do something to the fuel injectors.
In reply to joey48442 :
I have two of those, they are still connected but haven't been used in years. Occasionally I check to see if there is a dial tone.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I did a lot of carburetor work back in the day. Biggest problem was that they were not set to spec when they left the factory. Usually they ran without problem when set to spec. More problem was the automatic choke and the fast idle.
iceracer said:
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I did a lot of carburetor work back in the day. Biggest problem was that they were not set to spec when they left the factory. Usually they ran without problem when set to spec. More problem was the automatic choke and the fast idle.
For a while. And as long as you don't have any major altitude changes (depending on type). But eventually floats sink or gaskets leak or a backfire will disassemble the power valve and you have to screw with them. So at best, a carb will work as well as a good EFI setup for a while. Then it will work worse.
But hitting them with a hammer is a legit "repair" technique, so it's hard not to like that aspect!
Yesterday, I took a 30 year old car that's probably only seen 100 miles per year for the last three years out for a 30 minute trip down the interstate. Ran solid and strong. When I drove to Moab with Tim Suddard a few months back, he denigrated my 34 year old Honda pretty badly and then was amazed I didn't bring a tool kit. EFI and electronic ignition means my odds of a roadside repair are far lower than with points and a carb, and I know my air/fuel ratio and ignition timing will be bang on.
The cigarette lighter in my Trans Am had a really cool feature: after you push it in to heat up, it would projectile eject the thing somewhere extremely inconvenient when it was nice and hot! That made for a fun game of "let's avoid going to the burn clinic" while driving! Tons o' fun!
And on the rotary dial phones...
My parents had one when I was a kid as one of our secondary phones. I always found it fun to use. They replaced it with a touch-tone desk phone that must have weighed about 30lbs after they upgraded the main one to a cordless toward the end of the 80's. I still have a slimline touch-tone that still works kicking around the house somewhere.
ShawnG
PowerDork
6/6/19 3:19 p.m.
The thing I miss the most about rotary phones is, if you slam the receiver down hard enough, you can ring the bell.
mtn
MegaDork
6/6/19 3:39 p.m.
ShawnG said:
The thing I miss the most about rotary phones is, if you slam the receiver down hard enough, you can ring the bell.
I forgot about that small pleasure. I miss that.
Crabs are semi controlled vacuum leaks.
mtn said:
ShawnG said:
The thing I miss the most about rotary phones is, if you slam the receiver down hard enough, you can ring the bell.
I forgot about that small pleasure. I miss that.
That’s exactly why I put one in my shop. Plus grubby hands and smartphones are a bad combo.
But that “ching-ing-ing” is the real reason.
mtn said:
ShawnG said:
Currently in the middle of tearing down and rebuilding a 1941 Lincoln V12 distributor because one side of the engine has weak spark.
Yes, it has points, two sets of them. They need to be setup and synchronised properly. It can't be done on the car, it has to be done on a distributor machine that I don't have. There is a way to set it up on the bench using a couple of machinists rulers that I do have.
As was said, not understanding it doesn't make it inferior. This thing will purr like a kitten when I'm done, using stock parts in a stock configuration.
Yes, but it will almost certainly need attention through the years. That is what makes it inferior. I understand it. I've worked on them, although not on cars. I'm thankful we've moved on to fuel injected systems, because they work without any attention ever, unless I want to go modifying it.
Seriously, of the carb'd engines that I've owned/driven/used, 100% of them have had to have me do something to them. 0% of the EFI engines have had to have me do something to the fuel injectors.
But what about all the sensors that make an EFI function? I've had more than a few crumble in my hands on not too old of cars. There's more to fuel injection than just injectors.
Robbie said:
gearheadmb said:
Not understanding something does not make it inferior.
Yes, it does.
How else can I logically justify distrusting other generations? (Also the opposite sex, cultures, religions, races, gender identities, etc).
/Flounder
Lmao! I love this. Probably because this is still true for too many people.
I've owned lots of carbed cars over the last 45 years. Best one was air cooled, had a points style distributor, and twin SUs.
.
Much like relationships, carburetors need occasional attention, effort, and love to work at their best.
Old verses Young is always fun. Till the butt-hurt.
ShawnG
PowerDork
6/7/19 9:21 a.m.
Self-driving cars are vastly superior in every way.
alfadriver said:
oldopelguy said:
My grandmother went into a nursing home in 1996. Not only was she still using a rotary dial phone, she was still renting it from the phone company for $6/mo. She got that phone when she got her own individual phone number instead of the party line.
Unsurprisingly, the phone company didn't want the phone back.
I had a friend just the other day ask me about the crank stub on the front of my dad's old Farmall. Since I had just shut it down and it was still warm I grabbed the handle and demonstrated it in use for him. I literally watched his jaw drop.
When he does that, remind him to keep his thumb in. Just in case.
I recently hand cranked a series II Land Rover from cold, just for the sheer bloody minded 'I can do this' factor. Bugger it was hard work. I did hold my thumb in, the only injury I received was a big old goose egg on my forehead as I nutted the inner corner of the left front fender (wing) with my enthusiastic full body swing.
ShawnG
PowerDork
6/7/19 12:47 p.m.
Choke on, ignition off.
Bar the engine over with the crank through four compression strokes to make sure you've got fuel in each cylinder.
Ignition on, choke off, add a bit of hand throttle.
Pull the crank up and over smartly with your thumb on the inside. Should fire right away.
If it's a Model T or something else with a buzz-coil ignition, moving the advance lever down will usually get you a free start without having to crank the engine the final time.
Lots of people think you crank the engine around and around until it starts but that's not how it's done. In fact, it's a good way to get a broken wrist.
Old diesels with the shotgun shell starters are awesome too.
mtn
MegaDork
6/7/19 1:05 p.m.
Adrian_Thompson said:
alfadriver said:
oldopelguy said:
My grandmother went into a nursing home in 1996. Not only was she still using a rotary dial phone, she was still renting it from the phone company for $6/mo. She got that phone when she got her own individual phone number instead of the party line.
Unsurprisingly, the phone company didn't want the phone back.
I had a friend just the other day ask me about the crank stub on the front of my dad's old Farmall. Since I had just shut it down and it was still warm I grabbed the handle and demonstrated it in use for him. I literally watched his jaw drop.
When he does that, remind him to keep his thumb in. Just in case.
I recently hand cranked a series II Land Rover from cold, just for the sheer bloody minded 'I can do this' factor. Bugger it was hard work. I did hold my thumb in, the only injury I received was a big old goose egg on my forehead as I nutted the inner corner of the left front fender (wing) with my enthusiastic full body swing.
Modern day equivalents of that that I have done "recently":
1: Taught my friend how to roll-start his car by dumping the clutch--he was shocked it was possible. I don't think he ever really understood how an ICE works, or how the wheels are connected to an engine.
2: When our outboard engine wouldn't start, shocker, I assumed it was the carb. Took the cowl off, and hey, waddya know, that looks like a a normal recoil starter on top of the "normal" starter. WOW, it has a cord too! Lets give that a shot before I mess with the carbs! started right up. I'm not sure if it is normal for outboards to have a recoil and electric starter, but this POS 1982 Merc did.
