Back in college, a buddy & I had an old 21' 1958 wooden boat with a Graymarine flathead 6 in it.  We were enjoying a weekend out with pals and a 1/4 barrel of beer and as the sun was setting we decided to head back in. Plugs wouldn't fire and we were dead in the water miles from nowhere out on a fairly large reservoir.  We were Auto Tech guys though, and quickly determined the rotor had a nasty carbon track straight through to ground. A 2" piece of insulated 12 gauge stranded wire did the trick.  Trimmed insulation a 1/4" off one end and flatten it, and in the middle we wallowed out a hole in the insulation to expose the copper and make contact with the distributor cap's center terminal. A couple pieces of electrical tape to hold it atop the distributor's post and we were back off to the launch site. No one was more surprised than us when that old flathead popped over and got us moving...And just before the mosquitoes moved in for the kill..!          ... View more

I used solder only as well but now put a dab of soldering paste on the exposed wires then crimp on the terminal. Finally heat the terminal with a torch (for larger gauge wires) and let the solder pull into the terminal through capillary action. Reason I do this is I've seen a positive wire overheat due to a loose connection and the solder melted right out of the terminal end. Had the positive wire fallen out free from it's terminal end and fell to a ground such as the engine block or frame, the result could have been catastrophic with an under hood fire. ... View more

With 2 newly arrived kids, I sold my Jeep (smaller XJ) Wagoneer in 1990 and purchased the Eddie Bauer Extended Version Aerostar at a sizable discount because the dealer couldn't move it off his lot at end of year. Metallic Raven Black & Gold on the lower panels it had 4 captain chairs in a tan plush with embroidered pine tree accents. Also included with the purchase was a matching canvas and leather luggage set...a set I still have and use to this day. I loved it and with the third row seat folding down into a bed, it was great for trips to Florida or a guy's only fishing trip to Canada! After a few years though and the kids getting a bit older, the van had become my daily go-to-work driver, and although very comfortable, I felt like a grasshopper with that big body swinging behind me on turns. I finally traded it in on a newer 4-door XJ Jeep Cherokee and never looked back. The wife was really PO'ed with me moving back to a Jeep, but it was the quintessential station wagon/utility vehicle of the day and served us well, all the way up to the time when my, now a bit older, driving daughter used and abused it as a high school driver. Great article and trip down memory lane. ... View more

Worked for Stewart Warner-Alemite back in the 70's & 80's until they were bought out by a British holding company and broken up. Production moved out of Chicago and was farmed out to Mexico and other areas. It was sad seeing the old manufacturing building torn down but the days of a unionized labor force operating manual arbor presses had come to an end... We had tenured women on the line with their right arm literally thicker than their left from pressing the bezels onto gauges all day long for decades! Although could have been a bad case of Casino arm...Don't know what they did on the weekends... ... View more

Interesting... Years ago I did a lot of equipment installs at the Zenith plants down in Mexico. We started having quality control issues on completed circuit boards and in the end determined the Zenith plant in Chicago was feeding the Mexico plant with junk boards. The workers in Mexico seemed really proud to have jobs in the electronics industry. The women came to work on the line everyday dressed like it was a Sunday. Seems those that have a good work ethic can find jobs in Mexico, be proud and maintain a quality of life. ... View more

Putting a plant in a metro area, whether it be Indy, Atlanta, or Memphis, is a fools game these days. Poor work ethic of workers and pay-offs to city hall politicians is the norm. I've worked with major MRO suppliers and they've been moving manufacturing father out from the cities where they can hire farm boys & gals that will be there on a daily basis and put in an honest days work. ... View more

Not really... A while back I was installing electronic manufacturing equipment at 2 auto industry plants on the West Coast, one union and a smaller non-union near each other. The guys at the non-union shop had worked at the union plant 1st and did make a little more per hour, but took the non-union position 'cause it was steady work without layoffs. Seems the union plant would lay off and then bring back workers in proportion to their production levels. That's tough on a young guy or gal trying to raise a family... ... View more

I don't suspect those Cali. foundries will last the next 5 years due to continuing changes in the manufacturing "climate" out there. I have customers in the metals industry that have moved East for that reason too. My bet is on SE Tenn. or Northern Alabama for the foundries. ... View more

Had a 1971 Ford Torino 500 Coupe in a metallic medium copper brown.  Put a GT hood on it and got to work with a can of satin black.  The hood scoop, lower rockers (with a stripe above) and rear panel between the tail lights got the shaded treatment and it really set it off. On a college budget you couldn’t beat it! ... View more

I still have a couple sets of tire chains in the garage...just in case... Why??? I don't know why. I don't think there's a tire made today that they would fit...! ... View more

I remember visiting Australia back in the late 70's, and being a car nut, was struck by the "unique" look of their muscle cars. Aside from the kangaroo bull bars on just about everything I saw, the Aussies seemed to be heavy into anything that you could screw or bolt onto a car to make it look cool. Fender flares, chrome, mirrors, etc...Kinda like the Mods in Quadrophenia...Ok, maybe not quite that eccentric but still pretty funky to a kid from the U.S. This car is a prime example of what I was seeing out there at the time. Ugh... Did see a '71 right hand drive fastback Mustang though in a used lot for $4500 AUD. Coolest car I saw out there... ... View more

45 years ago our University sponsored autocrosses on Saturdays in our Arena parking lot.  No car classes...Just run what ya brung.  Everything ran from hopped up Chevy II's & Mustangs via the guys in Automotive Technology to VW Bugs.  Saw a Porsche 914 flip on it's side once but those Bugs always had the last laugh.  On that tight course, they were unbeatable...   ... View more

Safety Reminder:  Stay way from metal containers.  A retired engineer at work got tired of hand pumping up his old steel herbicide sprayer.  He installed a schrader valve, as in the story, pumped it up from his air compressor and blew his head half off.  A sad ending and although we're not dealing with high pressures in this story with an open tube, putting a control valve on the outlet and not monitoring pressure could lead to catastrophic results...     ... View more

       It was 1980 and I was on business down in McAllen, TX.  Driving my rental one evening I passed a used car dealer and there under the lights was a beautiful yellow De Tomaso Mangusta. I’d been out of college a few years and was working, so I had some investments and a worn ’68 GT350 and a ’70 E-Type back up North and had run out of garage space.  I anguished how to quickly pull together the $20,000 asking price and then get it back to the Chicago area...And then where to garage it. The logistics of it all got to me so I relented and sadly walked away and never saw it again. Later, I got married and the new, and future ex-wife, “advised” she would be taking up a spot in the garage and one of my cars had to go.  The Shelby lost the toss and headed out the door for $2,500.  Granted it did need work but had a beautiful redone NOS interior.  I had bought it in college for $2500 though and at the time I thought at least I broke even. Luckly the Jag roadster still holds a spot in the garage and it’ll never ever be leaving regardless of anything or anyone who holds also may hold a place alongside it in my heart...   Never mind the “aging gracefully” silver Gullwing I once saw parked near a Shelby meet back in the day.  The owner’s price $60,000.                ... View more

Hey Sam, I understand your enthusiasm for the Corvair.  I was 6 yrs. old when I saw my first one parked on the curb next to my house.  Shiny Black, Red Interior and Louvers all down the rear deck lid.  I was young and had never seen anything like it!  At that age, I literally didn't even know it was a car till a week or so later when I saw tires on it...  My family was still driving a '48 Plymouth and the neighbors were still stuck in the '50's as well as we lived in the big city where nothing changed quickly. Fast forward to college and I had a number of buddies into Corvairs.  Great in Chicago snow storms and you should see them hill climbing!  They'd run straight up dirt hills right on the tails of motor bikes...of course bottoming out all the way.  Go to a few club meets and get to know the local guys.  They'll steer you right and probably have connections that can get you into the right car.  And like most Corvair guys & gals, most have spares lying around in their garage that they'd be happy to donate to a young guy like you and your project.  Good Luck!  And as my College Auto Tech Teacher once said...You may want to, But don't spend every last dime on your car...You have to eat too!     ... View more

Bamboo Skewers.  1001 uses...Great for getting into nooks & crannies when cleaning carbs, detailing around trim on your car or anything where you wouldn't want to score the metal, vinyl or painted surface with a metal object.  Skewer points are great for touching up those small road paint chips by affording a lot more control over the amount of paint needed to just fill the chip hole.    ... View more

Maybe many already know this trick, but all those magnetic screwdriver bits seem to slide out at the most inopportune times. (I avoid using this type screwdriver for that very reason, but if needing a specialty torx bit or other, then you're stuck.) To hold the bits in place better, I simply take a **bleep** off of a plastic grocery bag and shove the butt end of the bit into the piece of plastic as I push it into the screwdriver's opening.  I also use it on 1/4" drive sockets when I don't want to lose a nut or again am using a screwdriver bit in it.  Great for tight spaces or on a boat when everything heads for the bottom of the bilge once on the loose...    ... View more

Back in the day, I was at my local import dealer picking up parts for my aging e-type and saw a brand spanking new light metallic blue Jensen Healey on the showroom floor, top down.  It was beautiful with it's throwback British styling and I thought to inquire on the price, however, being a college kid, I knew it was out of my range... Then I walked up toward the front and squeezed against the glass showroom windows to get a peek at the front end.  I came away somewhat disappointed and thought maybe they were just trying to hide it a bit...? I still think the JH had a great looking rear in that light metallic blue, but ended up keeping that old $2500 Jag through all the years of college, a marriage, divorce, two kids and 4 different jobs.  Today I can say I made some pretty good choices along the way and just glad the Jag was just another old car sitting in the garage at the time of the divorce!         ... View more

I've thought many a time to walk down through Porche Park at Road America and say: "He Kids, Look at All the Karmann Ghias"...   ... View more

Back in the mid to late 70's a lot of what are now investment grade cars needing a bit of cleanup were affordable.  I picked up a 68 Shelby GT-350 and an E-Type roadster for $2,500 each.  At the time, I was just a college age kid taking a year here and there to work, but could see the potential.  Had to sell the GT-350 after getting married for garage space, but have had the Jag ever since... ... View more