Signs of the times..

SuperDave

Recently I was troubled to find that we only have one radiator shop left in the county.. (Brevard County FL.)Then last week I needed a couple Ford 292 heads surfaced. I had to make a 80 mile round trip to get it done. Everything seems to be "exchanged for a remanufactured" or throw away. Only a few years ago we had a half dozen  auto machine shops within 5 miles. The price for surfacing has gone up over the years too!. Back in the70's it was about $4.00 per cylinder. $16.00 for a Model a Ford head. These two heads ran about $87.00 for the pair. I envy the guys that have full access to a local machine shop.

I don't know the answer other than "do without".

Hudsonrules

It is unfortunate that just about anything to do with auto/truck self repair is becoming obsolete. I had to travel 30 miles one way to get my radiator repaired. There used to be thee radiator shops in town, now none. Most auto parts now atre new, not remanufatured. Many parts stores have "clerks" not real knowledgeable parts people. If these new breed "parts people?' can not see it on there computor, they do not want to be bothered helping you. They do not know how to use books or interchange numbers. I think we are in a throw away society.This comment applies to Hudson' as well as other makes. All us old car nuts are in this together.The weather is changing for the better, so get the iron out and drive it. Arnie in Nevada

 

 

lostmind

I was a parts counter man in the 60's . We were an ignition / electrical shop. Almost daily we would get someone with a part that asked us to " match this up with something you've got"

And we usually did!  Today , the NAPA store wouldn't consider even trying , partly because of liability of giving you the incorrect part for the " application". Partly because they are lazy and they "don't get paid to do that".

There are a lot of things future generations will never understand when they read about it. Guess it's an era you have to live through. Glad I didn't miss it. I'm sure I can still get along quite well without the computers and cell/smart phones. I wonder if they'll have books in 25 years?

Radiator shops are about gone here also , along with the muffler shops. You have to drive 40 miles for custom exhaust work. Mechanics that can rebuild things are scarce. I worked with certified master techs that asked me to rebuild their Quadrajet carbs because they were to complicated.

Hudsonrules

The above is why in another twenty or so years, most of our Hudson's plus others will be trailer queens and transported to car shows or marque meets, only driven on or off the trailer. Too bad for the future generations. I am glad that I have been able to enjoy my Hudson's. Cars being built today will not last twenty years due to plastic and non available parts. My two cents worth. I admit, many cars of today are pretty neat, but are throwaways.

 

SuperDave

I just gave my first car away. It was a 1931 ford Model a Tudor. Bought it in 1956 with $ earned from mowing lawns and delivering papers.  Gave it to my son who just turned 50. I told him to USE IT!  . Quickly,.... because the time will come.. in his life time .. where it will be illegal to operate it on the public roads. It's already dangerous due to the high speed traffic. He understands. He got his drivers test in the same car when he turned 16. Soon it will be an illegal relic. I think I'll drive the hell outa my 49 Hudson until it's outlawed, or just plain impossible to repair it. 

Geoff

It's an unfortunate fact of modern life, that everything  is "throw-away".   Modern cars are wonderfully built, and incredibly efficient compared to the dinosaurs we drive, but at least we could fix our cars ourselves.   I lift the hood of our "modern" car, and there is no distributor, no carburettor, a sign saying "Do not attempt to adjust idling speed".  I can change the coolant, the oil, the plugs, and that's about it!  The computer is hidden somewhere in the side panel.  Being automatic, you start it, and point it to where you want to go, and that's about it for driving skills.  Sort of takes the fun out of driving.

hudsontech

I remember when I had to replace the upper trunnions in a 69 Rambler wagon I had at the time (1990).  The young fellow (almost younger than the car itself!!!) at NAPA started searching his catalogs (this was before computers).  He looked and looked and finally asked me if the Rambler had been built by Chrysler.  The interesting thing was they had the upper trunnions - but not the lower ball joint assemblies.  The trunnions were used on a fork lift!!!!

Geoff, my theory is that the automobile companies figured out there were a lot of shade tree mechanics stealing money away from the car companies by doing their own work.  So the started building the cars you see today.  I used to say I'd work on just about any car up to the mid-70's; from there until the early 90's I'd open the hood; after that I don't even want to open a hood any more.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Hudsonrules

That is providing we can still open the hood. It is scary what you see when you do open the hood, mounds of plastic and cables, wires. It is called planned obselesents. These vehicles are so expensive that many of them are in a recycling yard be fore they are even paid for. The owner manual in my Titan states to change a headlight bulb, take it to the dealer as they have the right tools to remove the complete headlight assembly. Headlights used to be $6.oo now to let a dealer to it your probably talking $3-4 hundred bucks. What a rip. Read somewhere where Gm was trying to develope a  sealed hood, which could only be opened by a GM dealer. That would be the end of mechanics and parts stores. Can you imagine no parts available for that GM brand after five years. Sorry for getting off Hudson's.