Was watching an old episode of RoadKill last night and the two dudes are road tripping a '39 Ford from Georgia to Texas. These guys aren't youngsters but not old timers either. They ended up having to change a generator on the car in a parking lot. You could tell by watching them that they had no clue about flashing a field on a generator. Makes me wonder what other obsolescent automotive knowledge is dying out.
The loss of automotive knowledge of past technologies.
- Thread starter sloinker
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My vote goes to:
"How to change a tire on the side of the road".
I had to look up what "flashing a field" was myself...but I know how to rebuild an engine, set timing, rebuild a carb, rebuild a tranny...
Oh, how about:
-Using a dwell meter to set ignition points
-Adjusting carburetor mixtures
-Setting the automatic choke
-Using a timing light
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How many youngsters today would have any idea what the dashpot is on my MG or why it's important?
-Using a dwell meter to set ignition points
-Adjusting carburetor mixtures
-Setting the automatic choke
-Using a timing light
Edit:
How many youngsters today would have any idea what the dashpot is on my MG or why it's important?
I had to look it up myself as well. It sounds cooler than it is; like restarting some sort of sci-fi shield generator out of Star Trek before some Borgs come out of hyper space and start assimilating everyone.
It was called 'exciting the field' at the dirty school I went to.
I missed the Sesame Street episode on SU carbs.
I missed the Sesame Street episode on SU carbs.
Easily 25-30 years ago I had a sales territory calling on body shops. I got an education from a then old timer on using lead and how the factory did it. I can't imagine too many people are using lead today.
I still have a timing light and a dwell meter.
all the above plus setting mixtures, synchronizing carbs and topping off lever shocks.
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Years ago I owned a Datsun which probably had the same type of carburator as you're talking about (I think it was just called an "SU" carb). I remember it having oil in it, but I have no idea why.
I also don't know what that thing about the generator is (or even the difference between a generator and an alternator).
I'm going to try to learn though, since my 18 year old just bought himself a 56 year old Volkswagen that I need to help him keep alive.
The awesome thing is that the internet is here to help people figure out anything they could ever need to figure out. And it's always at their fingertips, and for the most part is completely free!
Back when I was his age and owned the Datsun, there was no such thing as the internet. I had a Haynes and a Chilton's book, and that was about it. Not everything could be figured out by reading those. That's probably one of the biggest reasons I could never get it running very good and eventually gave up on it and had to sell it.
Those SU carburators were the bane of my existence. It had 2 of them, and if they both weren't exactly dialed in just right it would run like crap, which it did for most of the time that I had it.
Granted new technology is usually much better than the tasks it replaces. Alternators on cars are better than generators, Fuel injection, electronic ignition, disc/antilock brakes....the list is endless when it comes to automobiles. It is still nice to have the knowledge just in case.
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I had an SPL311 with the Hitachi/SU carbs; I used a couple of methods to sync the carbs and it ran just fine.
True enough. The Soviets until fairly recently built their fighters and bombers with ancient technology to survive EMP.
Also its the tossing words around now as well. The average home or back yard mechanic can not "Rebuild" an engine.
They can "Over haul" or "Refresh" it though. Takes thousands of $ of machinery and space to "Rebuild"and then the cost of proper inspection tools as well.
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That is what is accomplished when flashing. In the utility industry with many megawatt, three phase AC generators, the DC field that controls the output is controlled by the regulator. Regulators usually have a field flash circuit onboard which is used after maintenance or excessive down times.
the good old days...I enjoyed working on engines back then..
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