The Good Old Days?

[LTVibe]

A page from Ford Motor Co.'s maintenance guide for 1949 models:

photobucket

Change oil filter when it clogs?

The complete manual:

http://www.tocmp.com/manuals/Ford/1949/MechanicsHandbook/index.htm

 

[MN Driver]

Wow, I didn't know they specified 20 weight back in the day for summer weather. It seems very vague on the OCI.

If I had the car, I would find how soon it would be when it clogs, and change it before that happened. ...I'd really prefer to just change the oil, wouldn't want varnish and/or sludge, but who knows those engines were considered lucky if they got to 100,000 miles without being overhauled.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by MN Driver:
Wow, I didn't know they specified 20 weight back in the day for summer weather. It seems very vague on the OCI.

If I had the car, I would find how soon it would be when it clogs, and change it before that happened. ...I'd really prefer to just change the oil, wouldn't want varnish and/or sludge, but who knows those engines were considered lucky if they got to 100,000 miles without being overhauled.

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Having had a couple of Henry's flathead V-8s, I would say extreme luck combined with better than owners manual maintenance would be required to go 100k without internal engine work. Back then sludge monsters were the norm.

You would probably want to add a full flow filter too.

It would be fun to see how long one of those engines would last with modern oil, good oil and air filtration and replacement parts like pistons, rings, bearings, etc made from high quality modern materials.

They were actualy pretty good engines for their time. They would take lot more abuse than a Chevy Stovebolt six. Chevys had overhead valves but splash lubrication and babbit bearings in 1949!

 

[Steve S]

I worked on alot of forklifts with
continental flathead engines. These engines are very well built .The engines were on a 100 hour scheduled oil changes using HDEO's straight 30wt.the engines had bypass filtration. The problem with these engines were with the crankshaft and connecting rod bearings. The Bearings would wear out first due to the bypass only filtering. I would like to see a full flow filter setup ,which would most likely double the life of these engines.

 

[mechtech]

Those forklifts probably ran on propane, and are easier on oil than gasoline engines.

 

[Steve S]

quote:

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Originally posted by mechtech:
Those forklifts probably ran on propane, and are easier on oil than gasoline engines.

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yep. some were on gasoline also .Still the engines were high quality. they stood up to lots of abuse.

 

[pajim17057]

I like the 10w plus 1 pint of kerosene.

 

[Jimbo]

Kerosene was the 1940's "pour point depressant" additive!

 

[Vuarra]

Oil vapour? And I just came from a thread where a turbine was using air as a lube. I didn't realize that Ford was so technically advanced

 

[TheTanSedan]

Cars really weren't very good what with pre-war metallurgy and design. Took until the early-mid 1960's before the whole vehicle stood a good chance of lasting over 100m with ordinary owners and book service. Some exceptions of course. Beter oil was a big help, but design and materials made the most difference.

The bad part of all of it was that folks got used to buying another car pretty often, a habit that has persisted long past viability. Pretty much anything made past 1965 -- American domestic, again, with some exceptions -- is able to run for fifteen years.

 

[LubeOiler]

I like the oil bath air cleaners. I had one on my 50 Merc. The 283 chevy a rebuild job lasted about a good 30K. My friend's dad had a 49 Chevy that made it to 100K but the care he took was not done these days. Even the manual clutch lasted that long it did slip however. We took it into Auto Shop a few times a blast to work on so much room.

 

[Cornbread]

My earliest oil "awareness" occurred at age 5 in 1958. My older brother and my father pulled the valve covers off the "Rocket V-8" in our 1949 Oldsmobile. It was nasty with black sludge. My father used 30W Quaker State exclusively, probably non-detergent, and changed it whenever. It was not until decades later I learned the moniker "Caker State". To this day I cannot bring myself to try Quaker State; but then I was also frightened by "Blackie Carbon" and "Clatterbad Clara" in the old Bardahl commercials back then. Strange, but "Sticky Valves" didn't bother me! Guess a psychologist could explain it...

 

[kingrob]

quote:

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but then I was also frightened by "Blackie Carbon" and "Clatterbad Clara" in the old Bardahl commercials back then.

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Bardahl- that's a name that's dropped off the map. I remember their marketing was pretty good back then, heck even I used to use it. I see they still sell a lot at Wal-mart but I remember folks used to equate it with a poor man's STP. FWIW the Bardahl no-smoke/stop leak stuff never worked in the slightest.

 

[moribundman]

Bardahl seems to be still big in South America.

 

[Shannow]

It's making a comeback downunder, taking up ever more shelf space.

 

[LTVibe]

The good old days, Chrysler version-1946:

"If this pressure indicated on the oil guage drops to 35-45 pounds, the filter element is plugged and should be changed"

The complete manual:

http://www.tocmp.com/manuals/Chrysler/1946/owners/index.htm

 

[Ignatz]

I was just doing a job at a tractor/farm equipment dealer in Intercourse Pa. While killing time, I was looking at a Ford 8 or 9n on the used lot and the oil filter cartridge said " Change filter element when oil darkens". It did'nt say anything about changing the oil!