I was born in 1968 & have grown up with my Dad & Grandfather tinkering on cars, I think Grandpa had 26 projects around the property at one time. I now run a general automotive repair shop on little Orcas Island Washington. We work on all kinds, new old & in between. As a kid growing up you learn that the rear deck lid is called a "trunk", the floor of a car is referred to as "floorboards", the steps on the side are "running boards", thats just what their called, kinda like a board is named a board, or hammer a hammer. Or so I thought. Funny when your replacing the battery on a Model A Ford & lift up the "floor board", ahhh "floor board"!!! Or removing the "trunk" on the back bumper of an early car, ahhhh, "trunk"!!! Or standing on the "running boards" to fix the vinyl top on an early sedan, Ahhhh, "running boards"!!! Now it all makes sense. Over the years the one thing that eluded me was "throw out bearing", where the heck did that name come from, all the other car parts have a reason for being named what they are. Finally the other day I was yaking with an old timer & I asked him if he knew the origin of the term "throw out bearing"? He said yes, back in the day power was "thrown in" & "thrown out", like a mechanical winch was not clutched it was straight cut gears with the drive gear turning & the driven stopped, you didn't ease it in , you threw it in & threw it out. You would throw a electrical breaker or switch. So a "throw out bearing" throws in & out the power from the engine to the transmission. Just thought i'd share some of the funny moments of enlightenment Iv'e had over the last 44 years, Ahhhh,"throw out bearing"!!!
i am no expert in anything, but in mechanics, throw seems to be used a lot as the amount of movement a back and foward moving part has. i always thought of it like that, but i could be wrong. but i do know the throw out bearing is located in the "hogs head". that's one based onlooks, i guess.
How about "Battleship"? If you ever saw a Ford Flathead intake and carb sitting on a bench, it would be quite clear where that one came from. That is, if you know what a battleship was!
Terms change when you look around the globe. One that i have been trying to figure out is "cowl and scuttle". Ok, i know what they are, but which one comes from which country? Im sure ones American, while the other is Brittish. And my favorite term for automotive tool.............. BFH! If you dont know what that is, you havent worked on enough old cars.
The Jalopy Journal
