When things were simpler but worked

[tom2207]

But, it was an quick and easy job , to take a cylinder head off a lot of modern cars is a major job.
I worked with a guy that had a 1600;x flow in a Mk 3 Cortina who was going on holiday to Cornwell , at least a 600 mile round trip , he was checking the car over on the Friday lunchtime and found a major problem, The engine was out , stripped and on its way to our local engine machine shop by 2 pm , at 5pm it was back in our workshop having been reboored , new cam ,bearings and followers , crank reground with new bearings etc new valve guides, re-cut seats and new valves etc with everything cleaned . At 7pm it was rebuilt, run up to temperature and the head retorqued ready for his trip. How many modern vehicles would that be possible on?

I once changed pistons on an Avenger estate on the hard shoulder of the M6 ,,, I was going to do the job when I got home , but the car had different ideas , so I had all the gear in the car to do it ,, two wheels on the grass and two on the hard shoulder , and off I went , the hardest part was taking the sump off without spilling the oil , as I had no spare oil ,,, but slow and steady did it , as luck had it on the Avenger you could take the sump straight off ,,, those were the days , no one bothered about sitting on the hard shoulder and AA membership was only for rich folk ,,, I filled the radiator from a cattle trough in the field beside me using an old pop bottle ,,,, try telling that to the kids today.

 

[tom2207]

I once changed pistons on an Avenger estate on the hard shoulder of the M6 ,,, I was going to do the job when I got home , but the car had different ideas , so I had all the gear in the car to do it ,, two wheels on the grass and two on the hard shoulder , and off I went , the hardest part was taking the sump off without spilling the oil , as I had no spare oil ,,, but slow and steady did it , as luck had it on the Avenger you could take the sump straight off ,,, those were the days , no one bothered about sitting on the hard shoulder and AA membership was only for rich folk ,,, I filled the radiator from a cattle trough in the field beside me using an old pop bottle ,,,, try telling that to the kids today. Life as a skint squaddie wasnt all glamour ,,, trade travel excitement and adventure , as the old advert used to say.

 

[RWD3M]

Not in quite the same league but I did a clutch change on a Mk2 1600E in a car park opposite Perth Police station back in the late 70's. And that was just after they had given me a cell for the night (the car broke down late the night before) and taken me to the nearest motor factors to pick up a clutch kit!

Edit: Life as a skint blue job!

 

[Cobbler]

I rebuilt a Morris Minor series 2 gearbox on a campsite in the New Forest, bought the spares, found they didn’t fit, BMC had changed the ratios at some time, found an A30 box in the scrappy, thinking it was the same, but found the tail shaft was shorter but identical inside, so rebuilt the innards of the A30 onto the Minor shafts & refitted it. People used to come round to look how we were doing …. Much sucking through teeth ….. you will never sort that out comment, but we proved them wrong. It was a job getting the A30 case into the rubbish bin though

 

[tom2207]

I rebuilt a Morris Minor series 2 gearbox on a campsite in the New Forest, bought the spares, found they didn’t fit, BMC had changed the ratios at some time, found an A30 box in the scrappy, thinking it was the same, but found the tail shaft was shorter but identical inside, so rebuilt the innards of the A30 onto the Minor shafts & refitted it. People used to come round to look how we were doing …. Much sucking through teeth ….. you will never sort that out comment, but we proved them wrong. It was a job getting the A30 case into the rubbish bin though

As my grandad used to say ,,,,, Have to makes a hard master.

Its amazing the things you can get done when your backs against the wall and folk depend on you , rather than yer asre on a seat telling folk what cant be done.

 

[bricol]

But, it was an quick and easy job , to take a cylinder head off a lot of modern cars is a major job.
I worked with a guy that had a 1600;x flow in a Mk 3 Cortina who was going on holiday to Cornwell , at least a 600 mile round trip , he was checking the car over on the Friday lunchtime and found a major problem, The engine was out , stripped and on its way to our local engine machine shop by 2 pm , at 5pm it was back in our workshop having been reboored , new cam ,bearings and followers , crank reground with new bearings etc new valve guides, re-cut seats and new valves etc with everything cleaned . At 7pm it was rebuilt, run up to temperature and the head retorqued ready for his trip. How many modern vehicles would that be possible on?

How many modern cars would you need to?

How many people would want to take even an as new Mk3 Cortina to Cornwall today? After being amazed by the all round visibility, just about everything else would be found a little lacking . . . especially if you tried to keep up with todays traffic in the rain (every single time I've been to Cornwall, it has rained . . . )

Someone somewhere might be though - I just sold a pair of Mk3 Cortina/Capri dash eyeball air vents

 

[Red'n'Black]

As my grandad used to say ,,,,, Have to makes a hard master.

Its amazing the things you can get done when your backs against the wall and folk depend on you , rather than yer asre on a seat telling folk what cant be done.

Yep. Had a few episodes like that.
Shonky old Chevette, small hours of the morning, M4 somewhere in South Wales. Heater hose developed a pinhole, sprayed water all over the spark plugs. Sudden loss of power was quite exciting while overtaking an artic
Hacksawed the holed bit off and refitted the hose, only trouble now was half the coolant had gone AWOL. No AA membership or anything, too skint in those days. Put the contents of the plastic jerry can in the tank, then scrambled down the embankment with it in the pitch dark, made my way towards the nearest lights which turned out to be an industrial estate. Security guard let me fill the can with water, by the time I got back to the car the cops had shown up. Fair play to them, once I'd filled it up they just sent me on my way.

Probably wouldn't attempt it these days. I don't miss cars like that at all.

 

[BarrieJ]

How many modern cars would you need to?

How many people would want to take even an as new Mk3 Cortina to Cornwall today? After being amazed by the all round visibility, just about everything else would be found a little lacking . . . especially if you tried to keep up with todays traffic in the rain (every single time I've been to Cornwall, it has rained . . . )

Someone somewhere might be though - I just sold a pair of Mk3 Cortina/Capri dash eyeball air vents

We did 113,000 trouble free miles in a Mk2 1600 Cortina, it let me down at that point when the cable to the starter motor worked loose.
Somebody punted me into another vehicle during a snowy spell, I re-shelled it and sold it on.
Never knew I needed automatic windscreen wipers, parking assist, remote central locking, electric windows, air conditioning, sat nav, etc., etc.
Didn't need it because, none of it existed.
Several times did Milton Keynes to Falmouth and back in a day, 1987 Volvo 240 GLE estate; 286 miles each way.
Currently have a Mk1 Honda CRV, 21 years old on 112,000 trouble free miles. There's a lot it doesn't have but it's reliable transport, which is all that concerns me.