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[TheBoy]

Some rose tinted spectacles there I think.
Modern cars still breakdown but the failures tend to be either electrical or major mechanical ones, neither of which are fixable at the roadside. The AA, RAC, Greenflag, National Breakdown etc are just as busy as they always were, and that doesn't include the smaller more recent providers.
Anyone who has worked for manufacturer's warranty providers will tell you that they're busy too; the company I worked for had at least five people on the road, and meeting colleagues at main dealers happened every week. We were at Maidstone Mercedes so often that they told us to just unload cars without checking in first!
You could proably convince me that cars designed in the 90s and 00s  were better than ones from 20 years earlier, but the increased complexityand cost of getting work done means that we've gone backwards; for instanc3 the cost ofa replacement clutch can easily kill a £1000 everyday car

I think some of the breakdowns on modern cars are down to the owners just not bothering with the basics...   ...and a proportion of the rest being dealer servicing.

I reckon cars have generally got more reliable, but old school mechanics/tecnicians can't learn the new skills needed, and instead go for a random part swap regime.

The difference being that an ignored problem on a modern car will often lead to a complete breakdown, whereas ignoring a fault on a carb'd car will just mean its runs rougher and rougher until the owner gets annoyed with it enough to get it sorted.

[Nick W]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

[TheBoy]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

[Lizzie Zoom]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

[TheBoy]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

I good mate of mine, now sadly lost touch with, used to do "legal" road rallies, and was always adjusting and balancing his Webber 45s' with just his ear to the engine.  With a fag on the go at the same time, obviously.

[Kevin Wood]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

I good mate of mine, now sadly lost touch with, used to do "legal" road rallies, and was always adjusting and balancing his Webber 45s' with just his ear to the engine.  With a fag on the go at the same time, obviously.

Yes, balancing them and adjusting the mixtures was Ok, but then you needed a whole drawer full of jets and emulsion tubes to change anything else.

[TheBoy]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

I good mate of mine, now sadly lost touch with, used to do "legal" road rallies, and was always adjusting and balancing his Webber 45s' with just his ear to the engine.  With a fag on the go at the same time, obviously.

Yes, balancing them and adjusting the mixtures was Ok, but then you needed a whole drawer full of jets and emulsion tubes to change anything else.

Or a full boot, as was the case here

But he was pretty spot on by ear though, which I was always stunned by.


I work with a guy who used to build F1 engines, then had a business remapping and uprating cars.  He's another who can do shit by ear, despite usually having an array of sensor feedback to guide.  God knows how/why he got into servers.  Well, apart from the fact he blew his unit up one day

[Shackeng]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

I good mate of mine, now sadly lost touch with, used to do "legal" road rallies, and was always adjusting and balancing his Webber 45s' with just his ear to the engine.  With a fag on the go at the same time, obviously.

They were great fun. I won a special stage in a 6v 1172cc VW Beetle in one, (the prize being a pint pot, which tells you the standard of rally. ), and still have my RAC rally licence in the drawer. I don't suppose it is much use at my age!

[TheBoy]

Round where I was brought up, the "legal" ones tended to have a jam sandwich chasing some of the competitors due to speeding.

And the crowd used to cheer when the jam sandwich ended up in the ditch .  Evil lot, us Buckinghamshire Boys

[Nick W]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

I good mate of mine, now sadly lost touch with, used to do "legal" road rallies, and was always adjusting and balancing his Webber 45s' with just his ear to the engine.  With a fag on the go at the same time, obviously.

Yes, balancing them and adjusting the mixtures was Ok, but then you needed a whole drawer full of jets and emulsion tubes to change anything else.

Jet,. emulsion tubes, chokes etc are one offs. My first car had DCOEs from the factory, and I found the linkage needed frequent adjustment. This was because its main design criteria seemed to be the use of the same throttle cable as a 1300 equipped with a single Zenith carb. Once I replaced it with £70(29 years ago) genuine Weber linkage, those problems disappeared: I'd check the balance and mixtures at a service, but they no longer needed adjusting.


And setting mixtures and timing by ear/smell is like doing V6 cam timing without the setting tools: possible, but extremely unlikely

[Andy B]

.....

I work with a guy who  ..... blew his unit up one day

In good company then ......   

[TheBoy]

.....

I work with a guy who  ..... blew his unit up one day

In good company then ......   

Strngely, he's the only one who doesn't really take the piss from my misfortune...   ...because he did a proper job....   ...and bankrupted his business in the process.

[TheBoy]

And setting mixtures and timing by ear/smell is like doing V6 cam timing without the setting tools: possible, but extremely unlikely

I would tend to have to agree.  But he managed to get it pretty damn close when subsequently tested on a decent analyser, consistently.

He did have a Halfords type exhaust analyser, but rarely ever got it out, as he thought it was a bit inaccurate.  Which it probably was, bouncing around in the boot of an RS2000 with plod chasing you over the level crossing

[Andy B]

.....


Strngely, he's the only one who doesn't really take the piss from my misfortune...

Who else would possibly take the pi55? 


 

.....
 ...because he did a proper job....   ...and bankrupted his business in the process.

Oh dear! 

[Raeturbo]

I reckon a lot of the breakdowns on older cars without engine management were down to the ongoing tinkering that owners indulged in!
How many people have you seen adjusting ignition timing without a strobe? Or turning carb screws 'an extra half turn?' Worn rocker arms set to specified clearances without allowing for the wear?

I'd hazard a guess most enthusiasts could get mixture and timing "good enough" by ear back in the day.

Ah, but that was never good enough!  I spent hours adjusting the two screws, checking the timing, but there always was "just another tiny adjustment"!!  When you were working on a 10 year old engine on an old banger with worn carburetor parts, it was a never ending job.

I good mate of mine, now sadly lost touch with, used to do "legal" road rallies, and was always adjusting and balancing his Webber 45s' with just his ear to the engine.  With a fag on the go at the same time, obviously.

Yes, balancing them and adjusting the mixtures was Ok, but then you needed a whole drawer full of jets and emulsion tubes to change anything else.

Jet,. emulsion tubes, chokes etc are one offs. My first car had DCOEs from the factory, and I found the linkage needed frequent adjustment. This was because its main design criteria seemed to be the use of the same throttle cable as a 1300 equipped with a single Zenith carb. Once I replaced it with £70(29 years ago) genuine Weber linkage, those problems disappeared: I'd check the balance and mixtures at a service, but they no longer needed adjusting.


And setting mixtures and timing by ear/smell is like doing V6 cam timing without the setting tools: possible, but extremely unlikely