Old Enough To Remember?

I remember a project in Popular Electronics magazine to build a dwell extender, that would electronically reclose the points faster than they would actually close, for greater coil saturation at high RPMs.
 
Did anybody else learn to hate condensers as much as I did? However, while living in Spain in the 80"s, I made a good bit of pocket change from people who tuned up a barely running car with rotor cap, button points and plugs. Then car would have same problem a few days later. I would replace condenser, file points, reset dwell, charge $10.00. took about an hour including buying parts.
 
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Stylo Steve said:
WOW! I thought they all folded up. I used to love going to Gibsons and the Motts 5&10. Well I'm glad that there are still a few Gibsons Stores out there.
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I grew up in Uvalde and there used to be one on Main street.
 
red one said:
Or the windshield washer pump that ran off the air from the :)spare tire.
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My old 57 Mercedes 190 had a rubber bulb mounted on the floor that you stepped on and squished to make the windshield washers squirt. I used to turn the squirt nozzles around on the hood so I could squirt kids crossing the street at the crosswalk when I was in high school.
 
diferg said:
Did anybody else learn to hate condensers as much as I did? However, while living in Spain in the 80"s, I made a good bit of pocket change from people who tuned up a barely running car with rotor cap, button points and plugs. Then car would have same problem a few days later. I would replace condenser, file points, reset dwell, charge $10.00. took about an hour including buying parts.
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When I was a mechanic back in the 1970's, when the parts guy was out to lunch, I would take all the condensers out of the parts box and charge them up off an old ignition tester I had in the shop and place them back carefully back into the parts box. I waited for the parts person to return and then would ask him for that particular condenser. It was great fun to listen to the sounds similar to a bug zapper along with the yell when he reached into the box to retrieve a condenser.
 
bdalameda said:
My old 57 Mercedes 190 had a rubber bulb mounted on the floor that you stepped on and squished to make the windshield washers squirt. I used to turn the squirt nozzles around on the hood so I could squirt kids crossing the street at the crosswalk when I was in high school.
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We used to do something similar with our late 70's Honda Civic. The hood opened backwards and there was a release lever inside. We'd pull up to a traffic light, I'd release the hood and my high school buddy in the passenger seat would reach out his window and lift the hood 6" or so, enough to direct the stream over the roof and onto the car behind us. This was all fun and games until a very irate lady jumped out of her car with the expletives flying and threw her lit cigarette in my lap. Don't think we did it again after that. :doh1:
 
bdalameda said:
When I was a mechanic back in the 1970's, when the parts guy was out to lunch, I would take all the condensers out of the parts box and charge them up off an old ignition tester I had in the shop and place them back carefully back into the parts box. I waited for the parts person to return and then would ask him for that particular condenser. It was great fun to listen to the sounds similar to a bug zapper along with the yell when he reached into the box to retrieve a condenser.
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You were Evil! I like it! Similar to the spark plugs in the end of my dual exhausts. Very effective for tailgaters!
 
bdalameda said:
When I was a mechanic back in the 1970's, when the parts guy was out to lunch, I would take all the condensers out of the parts box and charge them up off an old ignition tester I had in the shop and place them back carefully back into the parts box. I waited for the parts person to return and then would ask him for that particular condenser. It was great fun to listen to the sounds similar to a bug zapper along with the yell when he reached into the box to retrieve a condenser.
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Years ago, a mechanic I knew tried to hand me a condenser. I told him to touch the wire to the can first.

He was impressed that I knew enough about electricity to even suspect that the cap might be charged.
 
I've got a 389 with the original distributor; stock base engine, made a million of them, got it at 68,900 now [eighteen years later] 71,100[?] low horespower; 254 [rated] 2 bbl single exhaust, but still 10.25:1 and 425 lb/ft @ 2,400 or 2,800 [can't remember] I've never [even] used a dwell meter [which I know is the correct way to set points], I think they were expensive back [close to fifty years ago] when and I just got used to setting them up with a feeler gauge, then plus or minus a bit based on ping.
I was surprised a couple years ago to be able to get replacement points and condenser on Rockauto, but after I changed the plugs / wires / cap it ran perfect so they're still in the box.
The transmission is an ST400 with the switch pitch converter [one of the last before the turbo 400]
I would like to put a dwell meter on it before and after replacing the points; what's the old adage, if it works...
 
Chris09 said:
I've got a 389 with the original distributor; stock base engine, made a million of them, got it at 68,900 now [eighteen years later] 71,100[?] low horespower; 254 [rated] 2 bbl single exhaust, but still 10.25:1 and 425 lb/ft @ 2,400 or 2,800 [can't remember] I've never [even] used a dwell meter [which I know is the correct way to set points], I think they were expensive back [close to fifty years ago] when and I just got used to setting them up with a feeler gauge, then plus or minus a bit based on ping.
I was surprised a couple years ago to be able to get replacement points and condenser on Rockauto, but after I changed the plugs / wires / cap it ran perfect so they're still in the box.
The transmission is an ST400 with the switch pitch converter [one of the last before the turbo 400]
I would like to put a dwell meter on it before and after replacing the points; what's the old adage, if it works...
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If the engine runs well I wouldn't dwell on it.
 
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