Does anyone remember when car & boat engines only had.

[cyclops222]

A simple carburetor, and a magneto to trouble shoot.

 

[Lou C]

Well yes, my first vehicles were air cooled 1200 cc VWs with simple points distributors 1 bbl Solex carb & 6 volt generator.
The boat I still have isn’t much more advanced with a Prestolite points distributor 4 bbl Quadrajet; about equivalent to a late 60s Chevrolet. Just the way I like it. If I lived in a no rust state I’d drive only vintage vehicles. No desire for gov mandated nonsense on my machines….
When I was tuning the VWs all I had was feeler gauges & 6V test light (to set timing) and a set of Craftsman metric sockets (still have). Set mixture & idle by ear. You also had to set the mechanical valve clearance periodically (.004” intake & .006” exhaust). That’s one thing I loved about my Chevrolets with hydraulic lash adjusters set it once & done!
A big deal was when I actually upgraded to a tach/dwell meter and a timing light!

 

[BWR1953]

 

[dingbat]

Well yes, my first vehicles were air cooled 1200 cc VWs with simple points distributors 1 bbl Solex carb & 6 volt generator.

Same here... had 4 bugs all told. 1963, 67, 70 and 72 convertible
1600 bugs went to 2 barrel bug spray

Hard on points.....had to stop in the mountains on the way to my grandparents to adjust the points (match pack) more that once.

 

[cptbill]

Way back when I had a jeep CJ3A keep 2 tools on a magnet on the dash. 1 to adj the points and 1 to adj the voltage reg.

 

[FunInDuhSun]

My 1970 Chevy C10. Upgraded to electronic ignition, serpentine belt system, and R134. Yes, the A/C works. Single Holley 600.

 

[topgun3690]

My 1970 Chevy C10. Upgraded to electronic ignition, serpentine belt system, and R134. Yes, the A/C works. Single Holley 600.View attachment 399591

View attachment 399590

Very nice truck......

 

[tpenfield]

I remember . . . Actually my 1969 Mercury outboard . . . still running today . . . is magneto and carb. I took it out yesterday on my pram dinghy . . . started first pull.

I don't mind the electronic engine controls . . . but some of the stuff that the auto and boat companies do with electronics tends to go too far.

But to fix stuff . . . mixing old diagnostic methods on new technology tends to get folks into trouble.

 

[Lou C]

What I try to explain to people is this:
Yes, modern computer controlled engines are more reliable than old school engines BUT:
With modern computer controlled engines
there are many more possible points of failure which can make troubleshooting & repairs more difficult when something does go wrong. Repairs on old school engines are simple if you can adjust breaker points & clean & rebuild carbs. Because of the classic car hobby, parts are widely available for most old school ignition systems & most older carbs. I can find any part I need for a Quadrajet 4 bbl that is 36 years old!

 

[briangcc]

My 78 Trans Am....Holley Carb, HEI Distributor. 469cui of 1970 455 v8 goodness. Which my kids keep reminding me I need to get back on the road.

 

[tphoyt]

My 78 Trans Am....Holley Carb, HEI Distributor. 469cui of 1970 455 v8 goodness. Which my kids keep reminding me I need to get back on the road.

I had a 79 and it was one of my favorite cars.
Lots of fun times in that car. It was a Canadian model so it didn’t have all emissions required in the US. When I took it for a test drive and reached 70 in the blink of an eye I was so surprised. Then I realized the seepdo was in kilometers and I was only doing 43 mph.
It had some balls but of course I had to make it faster and it was know as the Flaming Chicken.

 

[aspeck]

My 76 Trans Am 50th Anniversary addition. Needs a few things to spruce it up and just haven't had the time or ambition to get-r-done. Maybe one of these days I will find a buyer who appreciates that they made approximately 1800 of these bad boys and they will make me an offer I can't refuse ... until then, I will keep enjoying the "old school" power.

 

[1960 Starflite]

Here's mine, 48 Pontiac. Simple everything but, where is the starter switch?

 

[DeepCMark58A]

A simple carburetor, and a magneto to trouble shoot.

Sure, they didn't have cruise control, power steering, air conditioning, climate control, noise cancellation etc, oh and they required much more maintenance.

 

[racerone]

Starter switch might foot operated , right above the gas pedal.----My 1940 Plymouth was like that.----Dimmer was also foot operated on many cars.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, along with that simplicity of points/coil ignition and carbs came new spark plugs at least twice a year, new points at least 1/year and rebuild carbs every 3 years. Spark plug wires, rotor and cap every couple of years, grease the steering fittings, new antifreeze every 4 years, and other stuff I choose to forget.

My current car has a 10 year life for spark plugs, no points and no carb. Most times the OBD system will tell you exactly what is wrong with the car, if there is trouble. So far in 10 years, I changed a broken coolant sensor once and the oil 1/year. I did need brakes and tires, though.

 

[1960 Starflite]

Starter switch might foot operated , right above the gas pedal.----My 1940 Plymouth was like that.----Dimmer was also foot operated on many cars.

Correct, many riders say "how did you start it?"

My Merc 300 and 650's are magnito driven. Parts are $$$ and hard to find, especially the points.

 

[racerone]

Have a set ( NOS ) of those points right here.

 

[cyclops222]

Most boat had converted auto engines. The engines had a sparkplug wrench and 3 spare plugs. Coil, Distributor that had points pre adjusted with a dwell Meter or set up on a SUN Machine. new H V wires in place with cylinder # on tape at plug ends. A small dowel to get cylinder #1 to TDC. Might take 2 cranking tries to get to compression peak. WE cleaned & grease pencil marked the the pully at TDC. Distributor was actually run & white grease paint to line up distributor at TDC point. and a preset carburetor to swap out. Worst case ??? Just keep changing to spare parts until engine was perfect. We never had other engine or transmission parts fail. Life was very confident.
WE all followed paths to certain areas and were back by agreed times.
most male & female teenagers could swap out any spare parts.

 

[tphoyt]

This was mine.