Remember When?

Dan'l

Founding Member
Aug 2, 2001
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wisconsin
Today at work, we started talking about the cars we wish we had never sold. In general the talk was all positive. Then I started to think back on how it really was.--u-joints that went out every 15,000 miles / alternators going south every 30,000 miles / radios that were a pain to tune once the needle fell off the wire / brakes that went to the floor the second time you tried to stop from 100mph / having to decide if you were going to run the high beams or the heater fan because the el. system was so poor / "performance"flex fans that would fatique and frag all over the radiator / cast iron case borg auto trannies that started from a stop in second gear if you weren't paying attention / vacuum wipers that would stand still when you'd try to pass someone / shifting linkages that would get jammed in gear(only when you were dressed good)..... Anyone else feel free to chime in on the good old days. :(
 
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Dan'l said:
Today at work, we started talking about the cars we wish we had never sold. In general the talk was all positive. Then I started to think back on how it really was.--u-joints that went out every 15,000 miles / alternators going south every 30,000 miles / radios that were a pain to tune once the needle fell off the wire / brakes that went to the floor the second time you tried to stop from 100mph / having to decide if you were going to run the high beams or the heater fan because the el. system was so poor / "performance"flex fans that would fatique and frag all over the radiator / cast iron case borg auto trannies that started from a stop in second gear if you weren't paying attention / vacuum wipers that would stand still when you'd try to pass someone / shifting linkages that would get jammed in gear(only when you were dressed good)..... Anyone else feel free to chime in on the good old days. :(

I will chime in 20 or 30 years from now. Still have my 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th car. Do miss the 3rd car though. The way it goes.
 
When I was in high school my bud kept 3 spares in the trunk of his 64 Galaxy. We could change a tire Nascar style in under 60 seconds with a bumper jack!

The wipers in my 65 bug wouldn't work in the rain.That's ALL the time in East Texas! I pulled the radio out so I could smack the wiper motor with a tire iron when it quit!! You had to drive that car with your foot on the floor all the time,40 hp;baby!! :rlaugh:
 
Dan'l said:
Today at work, we started talking about the cars we wish we had never sold. In general the talk was all positive. Then I started to think back on how it really was.--u-joints that went out every 15,000 miles / alternators going south every 30,000 miles / radios that were a pain to tune once the needle fell off the wire / brakes that went to the floor the second time you tried to stop from 100mph / having to decide if you were going to run the high beams or the heater fan because the el. system was so poor / "performance"flex fans that would fatique and frag all over the radiator / cast iron case borg auto trannies that started from a stop in second gear if you weren't paying attention / vacuum wipers that would stand still when you'd try to pass someone / shifting linkages that would get jammed in gear(only when you were dressed good)..... Anyone else feel free to chime in on the good old days. :(
Ha-Ha My first vehicle I owned was a
'53 chevy pickup with vacuum wipers,
now those were fun,also single brake master cyl.,
I popped a wheel cyl.once..
nothing like the rush you get when you hit the brakes
and the pedal goes right to the floor!

Electrical system,..on my old truck,
on my old truck it had a generator..

at idle the lights would dim,the radio
volume would go down and the heater fan
would slow down,until you revved it up and
everything would get loud and bright.


Ha..shifter linkage..I had a '69 chevelle SS
with the stock muncie shifter..
if you didn't shift it in a precise "H" pattern,
it would lock up,then you would
have to crawl under the car and unjam the linkage.

V-Dub's:When I was in high school my dad had a '56
oval window,sliding canvas sunroof,and wheel adapters
to mount chevy chrome wheels..no gas gauge..
when you ran out,you flipped a lever on the firewall
under the dash and you had a 1.5 gal reserve.It took
5 gal to fill the tank,which was under the hood.You
propped the hood open,unscrew the gas cap and fill
her up.
Who says the old vw's don't have good heater's,my
girlfriend had a 60's vw with the heater vents along
the footwells in the back seat..Once we went skiing
and took her vw..I said we would freeze our rearends
off,but we took it anyway..I had my ski boots in
footwell behind the drivers seat next to the heater
vent...90 miles later we get to the ski hill,I went to
get my ski boots out of the back and to my horror,
the boot next to the vent,MELTED!!
Needless to say I never badmouthed vw heaters
again.



"Fill the oil and check the gas please"

AHH...now those were the days... :nice:
 
Thanks, Boss, I forgot about the seat gripping experience of the single master cyl. -- How about when the needle on the radio was way off and you cranked it against the end repeatedly till it was closer or fell off. :rlaugh: Or how about the fm converter so you didn't have to listen to your spark plugs on the am radio. Headliners that came down on your head any time you got over 80 mph. -Low back bucket seats> oh yeah, that was a good point-when you gave someone a ride and they were talking smak drop a gear, stand on it and put their head in the back window. And nothing beat the feel of a worn out reciprocating ball steering box that needed 3/4 of a wheel of play before the wheels started to turn.---My memory is still a little foggy and fond of those old cars-- Anybody else add anything I forgot. :nice:
 
I remember my first tune up on my old 1990 Nissan Sentra, the "hand-me-down" if you will, which ended up with me putting the distributor cap on backwards and a weird incident of rotating the crankshaft/camshaft (I dont remember which and cant find the paperwork for the shop :D) 180 degrees. After getting it back from the shop the car wouldnt drive past (foot to floor) 20 mph and so, instead of getting it fixed, it was thrown into the junkyard and my 88 LX took its place. I used to be such a newb...still am to a degree and Im not afraid to admit it.

EDIT: I now see that this is merely talking about older model cars, and me being only 19, wouldnt know much, but oh well, my story still applies.