I miss the old days of working on your car

This might get deleted ,Anyway I was working on a 16 year old car today,The harmonic balancer seal is bad ,Here I have to take the pan off and oil pump out as its part of the seal. All day long I wanted to work on my A. I just wished they would build cars the way they used to........

 

Any professional mechanic older than 30 would agree with that one; friends of mine in the auto industry and parts business have told me through the years that it's been a deliberate, graduating effort by the manufacturers to make cars with far less durability, harder to fix and more high-maintenance, in order to soak more dough out of the customer.

Less competence, and more just plain greed. Maybe we'll both get deleted...

 

i wouldn't go that far. maybe back in the 90's but the big 3 are building some pretty good shit nowadays...they just might be a paint in the ass to fix

 

I agree that the older cars were easier to work on....but, as for durability, I dont agree....Cars these days regularly go 2-300 K......never did that in the old days.....100 or so, they were done generally

 

Old stuff had to be easier to service because they need regular service.I have personally seen new stuff go 300K miles with no more than a water pump,if anything at all besides spark plugs and oil changes. No one is forced to drive a modern vehicle.You can drive a stock Model A every day if you want.

 

At least back in the day, there was not one single example of a car that required that the engine be pulled to change the water pump.

 

Would that be a front drive shitbox? Don't buy vehicles that can't be serviced by reasonably normal means.You do have a choice.

 

or the intake pulled to change the starter......

or the cab pulled to change a head gasket...

or tool box with $25,000+ of special tools and diagnostic equipment (in two drawers)...

 

True on the mileage part although I contend durability and reliability aren't the same thing. New cars are more reliable that's for sure however they are made to be disposable. Old cars (especially 50s and before) are durable. They are made to be repaired. Parts come apart to be serviced. An old car can sit for 20,30,40 years or more and still be brought to life using nothing more than a points file and a screwdriver (and maybe a new coil). I doubt folks 40 years from now will be able to drag a 2011mobile and dump gas down the intake and have it fire up.

 

my new driver is a 78 ford Granada its a 250 six fair on gas runs 75 all day long and cheap to work on. what my son payed for a new trans for his Jetta I can rebuild my running gear

 

This is an argument no one can win. I'm thinking Truckedup has the right idea- do what you want. You really do have a choice.

 

I have been into cars forever and wouldn't swap my new GMC for some old beater just so I could work on it. The days of rolling around under a car are over except for my 55 Chevy. Reliability and changing the oil are good enuff for me.

 

Well I am going the opposite direction. I've gotten rid of my last newer vehicle (1984) and sold it to buy a 1969 Chev Suburban. I don't mind working on any of the old ones, but the newer cars and trucks just frustrate the heck out of me!

 

That's pretty timely John as I just sold an 88 Cadi front wheel drive car because I didn't feel like fighting with pulling the timing cover off to replace the leaking (coolant) gasket and replacing thee motor mounts on it. Put it on Craigslist last night and had a buyer 30 minutes later. Paid 300 to a tweaker for it, wife drove it for a year 70 miles a day and sold it for 200 so it wasn't a bad deal.

I love building and working on hot rods and customs but hate working on a car or truck just so I can drive it to work.

 

I'll agree that most of the new stuff is a pain to work on, but likes been said most of it is pretty bullet proof. The first of the computer cars are probably the biggest headaches that needed the most work.
And anyone that thinks all old cars are easy to work on has never had to drop the exhaust to pull the starter on 348's or put a set of plugs in an early big block Mustang.
Larry T

 

hate to sound like an old fart , but when i was growing up , pop tried to teach us a bit of everything , he said take care of your stuff and it should last you a life time , friends at work used to laugh because id spend my extra money on the snap on truck an they would party their dough away , ive still got my tools bet they dont have their beer , i miss being able to sit on the fender of my old pick up and work on the engine , i cant even get my hands in where the engine is on my daily driver ,

 

I like new cars, all the people that can't or won't work on them for themselves pay me lots of money to do it for them......then I spend it on hot rods. Double win for me.

 

I agree. Cars now go 200-300,000 miles. Before efi anything over 100,000 was on borrowed time. I still remember the 70s/80s when 350 Chevys came in with cam lobes gone at 40,000 miles. The alloys are much better than 20-30 years ago. I still like mine easy to work on though and don't drive the newer stuff that takes high dollar scanners ect. to troubleshoot.

 

my wifes car is a 07 mustang GT, other than oil changes,spark plugs,tire rotation it has been trouble free. and one sweet ride!!! however, I look under the hood and cringe to think of doing any real service work under there.

 

Eh, i don't really mind my newer car for maintenance. My Porsche has actually been quite reliable even with 200k+ on it, that said i have been replacing a lot of worn parts. The car was designed to be repaired, even the WP/TB service wasn't that bad and only required 2 special tools (one to retract the TB tensioner and the flywheel lock). I had to do the TB/WP on my GF's 2000 passat, and that was worse as i had to pop the front bumper cover off and move the entire radiator support into a "service position". Had to rent some specialty tools for that one too.

I'm 31, and the new stuff doesn't bother me that much. I like that i don't really worry about the Porsche stranding me (much). My old cars faired worse on that front and im taking steps with my 58 to try to make sure that doesn't happen to me as much. I've adjusted enough points in the freezing ass cold in a dark parking lot to never want that "fun" again.

 

True most modern cars will go for many many more miles than older cars but all those pieces that "never" need grease or adjustment. Well when they do retire and the parts are no longer available or "dealer" items thats where I get frustrated. A simple U-joint goes out and the entire axle needs to be replaced because the U-joint is sealed and part of the shaft for example.

 

People tend to forget some of the problems of the good old days. I don't miss replacing the drive cables on a 57 Chevy wiper system or replacing frost plugs in the back of the heads on Chrysler V8s when you either pull the heads, the motor or put a hole in the firewall to do it. I don't miss changing plugs, points and condenser in a slant six. [Why couldn't Chrysler put the distributor and spark plugs on the other side of the motor?] I don't miss changing pistons in Pintos and 351/400 engines. I really don't miss changing spark plugs in 400 or 460 Ford engines in cars with air conditioning.

 

The one that got me was an Audi that came into the shop a few years ago. He wanted us to change the trans fluid and filter. Sure! Drained the pan and replaced the filter started to refill it and my guy comes in and says where is the dip stick? We finally called the dealership and was told that there is no dip stick you need a special factory computer to change the trans fluid. A COMPUTER! to change the trans fluid??? Yep.

 

Problem of overheating was traced to a Plastic fitting coming out the back of the head with 2 hoses (same location as that impossible to get at freeze plug). Of course its a dealer part and near impossible to get at. Oh and the freeze plug is right below it, cant wait till it goes out.

 

My daughters Pontiac Grand Am doesn't have a transmission dipstick either, same deal.
Larry T

 

Try putting a timing belt in an 80's MR2

 

Very true. Done in the name of longevity. The problem is that as time goes on the owners will not do the maintenence. Instead of being able to check and add trans fluid manually, it is left up to a computer, and we all know how reliable they are. Some high buck BMW's do not have an engine oil dipstick. What dipstick thought that would be a good idea? Teams of techno geeks design cars now. Modern vehicles have computers to control simple things like wipers. Hopefully old cars won't be outlawed before I am too old to drive.

 

I agree. My old man (40+ yr mechanic) always bitched that the brand new 57 Ford he bought was worn out at 20K. Of course he drove it another 100K. I wish I had that car now 57 Ford Del Rio Ranch wagon.

 

A friend of mine on here told me some of the new Fords don't have dipsticks. I don't know if that's true or not, and I don't care for myself, because I've been driving older cars. But I told my wife I'll never buy her a car that doesn't have a dipstick.

 

never been about the cars, its always been whats good business. No one would buy a cheep ugly piece of crap in the 50's. They wanted style and quality...I guess people have changed.