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Cars have majorly improved in the last 50 years. Breakdowns are not as common since technology got better and the manually operated engine
accessories became electric. For example Mechanical fuel pumps, manual cooling fans, and carburation. There are many classic car owners
who are afraid to drive their classic car because the probability of a breakdown is much greater compared to their daily driver. The main question is
whether the owner of the classic car wants to actually drive their vehicle or store it in a garage forever. I see many articles about overheating and other issues
dealing with antiques vehicles and understand the real issue which is; how much should I alter the originality of the car to make it more reliable on the street?
In my opinion, the vehicle should be able to get to where it needs to go without too much worry. There are some parts that you can get today for older cars that
that are almost unseen, such as better flowing water pumps, electronic distributors, and even aftermarket fuel injection units. The main car improvement items that I think are somewhat mandatory are, an aluminum radiator. (they're cheap and work much better than brass), an electric fan radiator setup with a fan shroud is definitely a step in the right direction 180f temp switch and a vane style electric fuel pump. In doing this, the thermostat can more effectively control the final temperature instead of remaining open all of the time and relying on the fan for the necessary cooling. And of course the improvements which I've described aren't free but they can make the difference in the quality and safety of the trip and can also protect your investment from the antiquities of past technologies. Plus of course you can always keep the original parts for the future owners.
Agreed. My vehicles with mechanical AC controls are still working fine whereas my new vehicle with electronic AC climate controls is having issues. And when was the last time you heard of manual crank windows or manual door locks failing? None of mine have, and lots of friends have had power window failures.
My comment was more to point it out. 2 people responded as if it was an actual post. Y'all need to be aware that when you run across comms like that in any form, it needs to be ignored or deleted. The red flags are: problem/solution title, vague relevance, a complete storyline with too much detail, among the standards like just joined and low post count. All it would take is clicking on an embedded hyperlink to ruin your day. Stay alert!
But even AI gets it wrong. It travels a mile around the issue to toss out a bunch of word salad that doesn't go anywhere.
"In doing this, the thermostat can more effectively control the final temperature instead of remaining open all of the time and relying on the fan for the necessary cooling."
Your pretty much stuck with old tech if your classic car came with power windows and air conditioning but what I'm talking about is engine improvements
that make total sense.
If anyone has any intelligent questions concerning classic car betterment, I will try to answer them. Hehe Is AI that far advanced? Go figure.
Yeah, sure, ok. Based on what I've seen with that spectacular punctuation, I kinda doubt it. You probably wouldn't know an Olds from a Toyota someone broke out the overhead projector and gave a class on it. I think it's doubtful we'll need any answers from you anytime soon. Thanks, but no thanks. Take care now. Bye bye, then.
Cars have majorly improved in the last 50 years. Breakdowns are not as common since technology got better and the manually operated engine
accessories became electric. For example Mechanical fuel pumps, manual cooling fans, and carburation. There are many classic car owners
who are afraid to drive their classic car because the probability of a breakdown is much greater compared to their daily driver. The main question is
whether the owner of the classic car wants to actually drive their vehicle or store it in a garage forever. I see many articles about overheating and other issues
dealing with antiques vehicles and understand the real issue which is; how much should I alter the originality of the car to make it more reliable on the street?
In my opinion, the vehicle should be able to get to where it needs to go without too much worry. There are some parts that you can get today for older cars that
that are almost unseen, such as better flowing water pumps, electronic distributors, and even aftermarket fuel injection units. The main car improvement items that I think are somewhat mandatory are, an aluminum radiator. (they're cheap and work much better than brass), an electric fan radiator setup with a fan shroud is definitely a step in the right direction 180f temp switch and a vane style electric fuel pump. In doing this, the thermostat can more effectively control the final temperature instead of remaining open all of the time and relying on the fan for the necessary cooling. And of course the improvements which I've described aren't free but they can make the difference in the quality and safety of the trip and can also protect your investment from the antiquities of past technologies. Plus of course you can always keep the original parts for the future owners.
These cars were successfully used as daily drivers for the first part of their lives, some still are. In properly maintained form, there is no reason that they are unreliable with stock components. Using aftermarket items is a choice not a necessity if the vehicle is to be used as intended. Your "solved" statement is incorrect because your post/s didn't solve anything other than some wild assumptions and accusation.
Post some pictures of your current cars, I'm sure that out of 100 cars you've owned there may be 1 or 2 left in your stable.
Last edited by oldcutlass; Jun 13, 2024 at 02:36 PM.
Newer cars require less routine maintenance, but I’m not entirely convinced they are more reliable.
Old cars required annual dwell and timing adjustments, and frequent plug changes. While breaker points require maintenance, the system is about as simple as it can get.
Since most classic cars are t used as daily drivers, it might be a decade of short cruises before point replacement is needed. If you can’t find the time or money to replace points every few years, this more than likely isn’t a good hobby!
These cars didn’t overheat when new. It’s my opinion a lot of overheating issues are owner induced, or owner ignorance. People throw away or fail to replace neglected seals or baffles around the radiator, or panic when they see the temp gauge go warmer than they think it should, or just start replacing parts because they think they need it. Most aftermarket electric fans are cheap and borderline useless. Good electric fans are expensive, and take some serious current. It’s hard to beat factory engineering.
About a 1/3 of automotive enthusiasts are scared of electrical work, another 1/3 think they know what they are doing, but clearly don’t, the other 1/3 understand electrical theory and proper wiring practices. If you can’t read a schematic or understand a diagnostic trouble chart, or attempt to repair a malfunction by throwing a bunch or parts at it, you’re in the first 1/3. If your idea of proper electrical repair involves cheap crimp connectors and electrical tape that sticks to nothing, your in the next 1/3.
I could go on, but before modifying or repairing something, you probably need to understand how it’s suppose to work.
My comment was more to point it out. 2 people responded as if it was an actual post. Y'all need to be aware that when you run across comms like that in any form, it needs to be ignored or deleted. The red flags are: problem/solution title, vague relevance, a complete storyline with too much detail, among the standards like just joined and low post count. All it would take is clicking on an embedded hyperlink to ruin your day. Stay alert!
Oh believe me I thought it was AI generated gibberish. I posted to back up OLDSter Ralph and make a point to anyone reading (and might believe that AI word salad) that older mechanical systems are vastly more reliable than newer electronic systems.
If you aren't here seriously, you appear as a troll.
Your thread & associate posts contribute absolutely zero, nada, zilch to this forum. I have elected to report your posts as dubious & suspicious trolling. It would be far better for you to receive a warning and/or be banned from this site as opposed to see this thread continue until it's most likely demise of being closed by a moderator. Please grab a cookie on your way out the door.
Why did you answer the post? If using manually operated Flintstone technology excites you, stay with it. My car stays at 185f all of the time regardless
of the outside temperature. I thought I would try to help people here. I see most of those here are narcissistic psychopaths who are more interested in their
own idiotic egos than they are about improving their vehicles. As a member of many automotive groups this is notably the worst. I'll have to think twice before
giving more meat to the jackals.
Look! I got fan mail in my PMs. (see screenshot below). Yeah, ok, I suck, you suck, your father sucks, your sister woulda sucked too but I didn't have 5 bucks.
People might listen a bit more if you actually had put any meat to the bones of your AI-generated, insipid posts. Not one mention of Oldsmobile. Since this is an Olds site, how is anything you posted so far 1) New information and 2) Specific to Oldsmobiles? Calling me names isn't going to make me fall in love with you. Wonder how many other Valentines you dropped off in other people's PM inbox?
Advice: Please dispense with the jibber-jabber and post some accurate, factual information that's useful. You can't just wish it to be and claim that it is. If you spent any time on this site at all, you'd find there are many who WANT to continue with how the cars came from the factory and not modify them. And the ones that have upgraded has all your stuff (and then some) covered already. All the correct information, anyway.
My car stays at 185f all of the time regardless of the outside temperature.
OK, I have time to feed the troll.
What is your outside temperature? Mine is in the 43-48 C range, and my car runs at thermostat temperature with the A/C on in rush hour stop-and-go traffic, all while blowing 2-3C vent temperature. And it does this with archaic, 50 year old, non-electronic technology. Gee, who woulda thought something so old and outdated would work so well? Not you, apparently.
So no actual response to my question? Sure, if you live in the frozen tundra of the north your engine will run at thermostat temperature with no issues.
As said, mine does it in 48C temperatures.
With the AC on.
In stop-n-go traffic.
With original 50 year old technology.
By your reasoning in the posts above, this is not possible.
Yet here it is.
And this is your response. Very convincing argument.
Hey, look at that. Who woulda thought I could elicit such a refined response in rebuttal to my factual post with a single, simple question. And on the bot’s 13th attempt at seeming human. It must be from New Yawk.
Why you have a stall converter with that camshaft is perplexing. Having a small cam with low compression, it's no wonder you have an easy time keeping it cool. Maybe if it had 10.5. -10.75.1 and a cam getting near 300 duration at over 500 lift it would be a different story.
Overheating Problems from Classic Cars (SOLVED)
