History Things that worked, until someone in modern times decided they don't. Photo tread

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/larry-dixons-car-snaps-half-300-mph-scary/story?id=29661554

 

Tried to open the usatoday thing. All I got was USA Today trying to sell me a subscription to their site.

 

I am right with you there. I have 2 modern cars and I never have the a/c on, don't even know if it works in one of them. But yet, I had to pay for something that added big bucks to a vehicle that I did not want and do not use. I even special ordered a new 84 T-Bird with the optional wind vents. And I have never seen another one with them. If you see one, it may be my old car.

 

Does 'forbidding' riders in the the back of a pick-up truck count ?
For MANY years it was perfectly OK to ride in 'the-bed'....until it wasn't!!
(Maybe stupid parents allowing the youngsters to stand up while the truck is cruising down the
freeway....or perching their boney asses on the sides at highway speeds contributed to the cause...?)
I can't count the times I rode 'in-the-bed' on a hot & DRY day.
OK...Granted....it's somewhat safer to be inside but no where near as much fun!

STICK WELDING !!!!!.... Countless submarines were stick welded and descended below ....(a bunch!) of feet.
MIG is faster&easier.....not necessarily better.
6sally6

 

That reminds me of my youth when putting up hay. We'd ride from where we met up, to the hay field(s), do the bale bucking, and ride back to town. The trip from and to town had some folks riding in the cab of the flatbed truck and the rest of us standing on the bed while holding onto the front rack. Sometimes this was on Interstate 70 doing over 70 mph. We never even considered that this might not be totally safe. Everyone wanted to ride on the back 'cause by the end of the day we were drenched with sweat, and it felt really good to be in the wind. I'm guessing many of you can share the very same stories.

 

Yeah.... I can remember the day when I was doing that...standing tall...holding on to the front rack...when one of those big-a$$ North Georgia BUGZ smashed into my head and I said to my self...."self...what-if that BUG
(capital because it was BIG) hit you in the eye ?!" I set down .
6sally6

 

Where I grew up, riding on the hay wagon was only dangerous if you fell from the top, cause the old Ford 8 or 9 N tractor was only capable of about 7 or so mph from our fields up the road to the old farmer's barn. Like Edith and Archie sang, "...those were the days..."

 

I think you'll find insurance companies killed off all the fun stuff. Sitting in the back of my Grandfather's Holden ute on top of a load of freshly cut firewood getting sawdust in the eyes and nose.

 

Sorry man. I have edited it out of my post.
Did the other link work?

You can just do a search for Larry Dixon crash.

 

Thankyou

Cheers,
Harv

 

Well the problems I've read and been told about points, is not the original design or concept, but the quality of replacement points available that do not last and cause issues.

 

I got my first lesson in aerodynamics at a early age riding in the back of a pickup. That lesson has stuck with me for 65 years as I have never again tried to pee over the tailgate at 65 mph!

 

Carburetors

 

Man I know it's not really a car part, but I'd like to find whoever invented self venting gas cans and kick him in the shin at least two times...

 

Leaded Gasoline.
Politicians could fuck up a bowling ball in a sandbox. However, they might have gotten one thing right regarding leaded gasoline. I know our exhaust valve seats loved it, but there is a counter point.
I live in the air basin they used to call "The Big Valley" back in the good old days. The prevailing winds drive all of SF's pollution down into the Valley to mix with ours. That's a lot of pollution for an area that is not densely populated. It was a mess in the 60s and 70s. Particulate driven fog (tule fog) was a huge and dangerous issue. I remember driving home and getting lost in my own neighborhood. You couldn't see over the hood. You couldn't see the curb. It happened frequently. Now, that rarely if ever happens. I don't recall dense fog in decades.
UC Berkeley did a study. The headline is "Falling levels of pollution drove decline in CA tule fog."
https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/1...lution-drove-decline-in-californias-tule-fog/
Without catalytic convertors and unleaded gas, I think we'd be in a heap of trouble around here.

 

Rear View mirrors VS backup cameras.

 

Best way to get close and personal with your favorite squeeze... ie wife, girlfriend etc..

 

We have a thread going on this currently........ but it deserves a mention here, too.
'Full Service Gas Station attendants'.
With the current generation of drivers who never open their hood, often even if a warning light comes on, it never hurts to have a breathing, thinking human in the loop. I know that gas stations don't fix 'em anymore, so checking the usual suspects doesn't generate business for the station, but "attendants" did serve a useful function until it wasn't "profitable" anymore.

 

First one that came to my Gasser mind is sky-hi front ends. I love 'em but they were a band-aid on lack of traction in the old hard recap slicks. That design gave a slight traction advantage but the disadvantages, wind resistance, instable aerodynamics at speed, unstable high center of gravity, etc., far outweighed the advantage. Once a good tie came out, the cars slammed to the ground. Same time, pony cars started invading gasser ranks which killed spectators interest. Watching a grocery getter cruise safely down the track, couldn't compete with a Willys, wheel standing and barely missing both guard rails down the track on route to a 160mph blast. They quickly morphed gassers into Funny cars to recoup interest.

Glory days


Warning call.


The end.

 

If they had full service attendants with today's youth understanding of how an engine works:

 

Another loss of an entry level job where a kid with a little initiative and trustworthiness could work his way into helping with repairs and gain experience. Or find out this wasn't what he really wanted to do for the rest of his life.

 

+1 - I wish I could have a bench seat in everything I drive.

 

You really need to have massive blowby, to make some power by switching to a PCV setup.

 

Free air at the gas station... now paying for air. and some only take credit cards.....oh well..

 

I live in a small town and I graduated high school with the fella that owns the last family owned gas station/repair shop in town. Still have free air for tires, and they'll repair any car, even classics. They also will pump your gas if you're old and can't do it yourself, but no full service for people that are able. They don't charge for full service for the older folks either. Owner is a good egg....

 

nope, nope, nope.....I really don't want some untrained, minimum wage, dumbass under my hood trying to sell me an oil change, A/C refrigerant, or blinker fluid.
I didn't like it back then, would hate it more now.

 

Maybe you should have gone to a better class of stations instead of the ones who hired minimum wage dumbasses. I worked at a few full-service stations and the station owners made sure I knew what I was doing before they turned me loose on the customers. It was required that I ask the driver if he or she wanted me to check under the hood. The majority said yes but if they said "No", that was the end of it. It was normal to find low fluid levels, worn belts, rotted hoses and leaking connections. After showing the driver the problem, there was usually a sale and repair. Same with checking tires and washing windows. Most drivers didn't bother doing those things themselves and relied on me to do it for them. It was surprising how many wiper blades and tires I sold because the drivers never looked to see if the tires were low or damaged, or the wiper blades had fallen apart. I saved a lot of people a lot of money by finding problems while they were on the fuel island instead of them finding they had a problem while stranded on the side of the road.

 

Lots of people seem to be okay with things as long as they are kind of working, even if they can se things are coming apart or rattling when they should be quiet they seem to just accept it and go on with their life. If there weren't annual inspections some people would literally drive their cars until the wheels fall off, rather than finding someone to fix problems that should be obvious to anyone above the age of 7.

Was at someone elses place fixing something some years back, and a few holes had to be drilled in flat bar. He had a second hand drill press, cheap but good enough, and he used that. Any time he applied pressure the belts started slipping so it was a long process of light drilling, releasing so it started spinning again, and so on. When he walked away to cut off another piece of flat bar or something like that I took a look at the drill press, and tightened the belts in less time than the previous hole had taken. After that you could actually drill properly with it, finishing each hole in seconds.
Can't figure out why he hadn't tightened those belts long ago, but he could still kind of drill anyway so perhaps it didn't seem to be necessary?

 

when you have to order sheet steel on the line and it is listed in a metric form due to where you live in the world......
they list it at 2.5mm and 3mm
when actually it is
2.657mm at 12 GAUGE
and
3.038mm at 11 GAUGE

so
2.278mm is 13 GAUGE

so EVEN IF I ordered 2.5mm - they send you 11 GAUGE at 3.038
ffs

 

Bet you weren't in Hot-lanta !.. Drive & PARK a classic car AND leave the window cracked !!
(I'm originally from Ga. so I get to say this!)
IF it was Atlanta bet you had plenty of security & cameras & enclosed parking lot & guards &......
Usta be a nice city to live & work in.
ANYHOW....looks like one-more-sweeet Willys you have there !!
6sally6