Originally Posted By: meep
Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
Oh the days of points, plugs, rotor button, and condensers tuneup kit with 8 plugs,,,20 bucks maybe..
It is really to bad in some ways that cars today are front wheel drive==Why, glad you ask. In another life time,way back in the 40 50 and 60's, you could change out engines reasonably easy. Chevy's old 283 comes to mind, small space needed and it adapted to many different cars then.... old fashion you say! I guess so, there were no computers, way to many belts, aw, but an old fashion 2 bbl or 4 bbl carb or 3 deuces..someone in here remembers those days. Yes, by today's standards those rides were costly to run. The next time you go to a car show, see whats on the lot, 50s / 60s rides, not many 68 Datsuns, there now, was there? Did I mention 3 speed shift on the column? Now, where are my glasses and teeth?
rose colored glasses? I owned a 283. We had to pull it and bore it out .040 at 84,000 due to loss of compression. HUGE ridge on the tops of the cylinders. Until we rebuilt it, it was a finicky engine, stalled often, fouled plugs later in life, it just required more love and care than modern cars. I loved it when it ran. smooth, solid, silent--- just a whisper unless you got on it. Water pumps--- I think it had two replacements, not unusual for the era. Blew lots of oil-steam, lots of blow-by, and plenty of july days were spent scraping grease off that thing. This car went from great-grandma, to granddad, spent some time with both my mom and her sister, then was given to us. It was maintained regularly by the book.
Simple motor, yes. Something special about it? definitely. Low maintenance--- for the big parts, yes.... but daily use---- when was the last time you jumped in a mazda and knew you'd have to be careful because rain would often make the car stall? Idle speed by oem was 450rpm. not a lot of room there for a hiccup!
the small v8 in my truck reminds me of the 283. while it's far more reliable, I certainly agree-- it was just the right size. Cheers
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Thanks for posting, nice to see someone still remembers.