:::Why The Move Away From Tilt Columns?

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19
Yes let's wire a high beam switch in the floor away from all the other light controls. It would make too much sense to have the high beam switch on the turn signal lever, and on some vehicles where it also controls regular running lights. We sure don't want that, or having all that on the same wiring harness.
If wiring efficiency is a significant factor, why have 4-way-flasher switches migrated far away from the turn signal switch? They used to be logically located.

Spring-balanced hood hinges were a minor convenience, but not worth their added weight, wasted space, cost, and safety drawbacks. Props aren't so bad, and are far more durable than gas struts.

 

[meep]

I'm ok with a prop rod.

1. when struts get tired, man that hood hurts the first time you learn how tired the struts are

2. when the springs get tired, have you ever replaced them? I may have left blood on that too.

3. prop rods stay much more secure than brooms.

I miss the forward ventilation window and firewall-mounted fresh air vents that could ///blast/// fresh air all over your feet at 45 mph.

I do not miss automatic chokes.
I do not miss traditional sealed beam headlamps
I do not miss lap belts
... resin steering wheels
... vacuum emissions controls
... open breather tubes


-m

 

[eyeofthetiger]

Originally Posted By: CR94
Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19
Yes let's wire a high beam switch in the floor away from all the other light controls. It would make too much sense to have the high beam switch on the turn signal lever, and on some vehicles where it also controls regular running lights. We sure don't want that, or having all that on the same wiring harness.
If wiring efficiency is a significant factor, why have 4-way-flasher switches migrated far away from the turn signal switch? They used to be logically located.

Spring-balanced hood hinges were a minor convenience, but not worth their added weight, wasted space, cost, and safety drawbacks. Props aren't so bad, and are far more durable than gas struts.


On modern cars, most of the switches just send commands to control modules. So the switches can be anywhere, even buried several menus deep on some garbage infotainment touchscreen.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: chainblu
The younger crowd won't know what I'm talking about, but remember when you had to hold the door handle button in to lock the door while closing it? I think the change was pushed by the locksmith companies, because you almost never locked your keys in the car.

Oh, I remember. You might remember the years, too, where the driver and passenger door were locked in different ways.

 

[93cruiser]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: chainblu
The younger crowd won't know what I'm talking about, but remember when you had to hold the door handle button in to lock the door while closing it? I think the change was pushed by the locksmith companies, because you almost never locked your keys in the car.

Oh, I remember. You might remember the years, too, where the driver and passenger door were locked in different ways.

I'm 44, remember holding the handle up on some older cars, like late 80's toyotas.

Confused about the driver and passenger door locking different.

I do remember two separate keys for cars, square and circle. One was for ignition, one for trunk and maybe the doors?

I also remember my grandfathers car having a needle within the speedometer that you could set to a certain mph. When you exceeded the setting it buzzed so [censored] annoying. I'm guessing it was factory, I was young.

 

[littleant]

Does anyone remember the old Thunderbird Swing Away Steering Wheel I believe the early sixty's. There have been some odd things on car's. I had a 1973 mark 4 that would turn your high beams off when an oncoming car was approaching. Problem was before the car passed you the high beams would come back on blinding the driver no mater how much you adjusted them. Yea stopped using. Tired of seeing the middle finger.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: 93cruiser
I'm 44, remember holding the handle up on some older cars, like late 80's toyotas.

Confused about the driver and passenger door locking different.

Oh, we're talking about something a little different between us. I do remember exactly what you say about the Toyotas. Other Japanese cars of the era were the same. A friend and his family had Mazdas and Nissans, and they were that way, too. Different keys could be annoying at times. GM had different keys for a long time, unless you got a police interceptor model. Ford did a bit better, with only the trunk being different for some years.

As for different locking methods on vehicles, I'm thinking much older. On some of the late 1940s to early 1950s vehicles on the farm, you'd lock the door, if inside, by moving the door handle in the opposite way to which you'd close it. On at least one example, the driver's door was locked by an opposite motion to that for the passenger door. Generally speaking, one can see the folly in this, particularly in vehicles that didn't have seatbelts. Also, some had a keyhole only at one door, like the driver's door. Unlike a more modern car, where if you were sitting in the driver's door and someone with a key locked your door, you could lift the knob, flip the toggle, or whatever, and get out, on a vehicle of that vintage, if the door were locked with the key, it could only be unlocked with the key. It was a separate mechanism altogether. The key lock outside would simply disable the push button door opener, while the inside handle would do something else.

We may complain about modern door locks and ignition switch systems, but the past wasn't always as rosy as we remember it. Heck, having a starter switch on the floor wouldn't help when people have enough trouble knowing the difference between the gas and the brakes.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: 93cruiser
I'm 44, remember holding the handle up on some older cars, like late 80's toyotas. ...

... I do remember exactly what you say about the Toyotas. Other Japanese cars of the era were the same. A friend and his family had Mazdas and Nissans, and they were that way, too. ... On some of the late 1940s to early 1950s vehicles on the farm, you'd lock the door, if inside, by moving the door handle in the opposite way to which you'd close it. ... Also, some had a keyhole only at one door, like the driver's door.
Pulling the handle up and out (as on my '81 Mazda, for example) is easier than pulling straight out (as on most recent cars) unless you're short. Lazily pulling up and out on a handle designed to be pulled straight out can't be good for the mechanism. I've had both those types, plus the pushbutton type, and dimly recall the even older type in which you had to twist the outside handle to enter. AMC had an early version of the pull-up type while GM and Ford were still using pushbutton releases.

It used to be typical for basic models of pickups to have keyholes on only one side. That was simple cost-cutting. From the inside, they locked by simply turning or pushing the handle the opposite direction from the direction to open the door. (Not clear if that's what you were trying to say...)

 

[Garak]

Yes, you got what I was trying to say, for sure. My dad never had much in the way of 1960s trucks, but there were 1940s, 1950s, and then a jump into the 1970s, so I never got to see what was going in in that regard in the 1960s. He bought a 1974 GMC 3/4 brand new, and it had keyholes on both sides. By then, I suppose that cost cutting measure had mostly disappeared.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: Garak
... My dad never had much in the way of 1960s trucks, but there were 1940s, 1950s, and then a jump into the 1970s, so I never got to see what was going in in that regard in the 1960s. He bought a 1974 GMC 3/4 brand new, and it had keyholes on both sides. ...
My parents had a '55 Chevrolet pickup and a '66 Ford F-100. The Ford has that type of lock and single-side keyhole. I believe the Chevy did, too, but am not certain. Higher-trim versions may have had lock cylinders on both sides back then.

Ironically, with the rise of electronic key fobs, we're back to single-side mechanical keyholes in cars lately, my Prius for example.

 

[Garak]

Yes, the older Chev at the farm was similar, but the newer ones were on both sides. Now that you mention it, my G37 has a keyhole on only the driver's side.

 

[Warlord]

My van has the floor mounted light switch and the little triangle vent windows. The hood is a prop but the rod is attached to the hood and swings down which I don’t much care for. I like giving the gas a
Couple pumps before starting. Gets me ready for adventure.

Also long live the tilt wheel!

 

[artificialist]

The thing that annoys me the most is how stereo controls work. Many cars have replaced buttons with touch screens or joysticks and they aren't nearly as easy to use. More expensive cars have voice commands added, but that can still be inconvenient.

By about 1981, each car had a digital stereo with an easy to use set of knobs and buttons. More expensive cars had the same set of buttons, they just looked nicer and were larger.

In addition, I don't like when the car stereo isn't a double-DIN type with 4 speaker outputs. Music formats change so no stereo is future-proof. Also, if the extra complex stereo fails, it gets really expensive to replace.

 

[Win]

Quote:
I miss the hand crank starter!


Why not a cartridge starter? Think of how much less traffic there would be on the roads if people had to handle a scary looking cartridge, and pull a trigger to drive.

Quote:
Does anyone remember the old Thunderbird Swing Away Steering Wheel I believe the early sixty's.


My father had one.

 

[zzyzzx]

I miss manual crank windows. Those never went bad.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I miss manual crank windows. Those never went bad.
I've known of two that did, on a Hyundai Excel and a 1997 Mazda 626. My older Mazda had a better type of mechanism, and never failed.

 

[CorvairGeek]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
The thing that annoys me the most is how stereo controls work. Many cars have replaced buttons with touch screens or joysticks and they aren't nearly as easy to use. More expensive cars have voice commands added, but that can still be inconvenient.

By about 1981, each car had a digital stereo with an easy to use set of knobs and buttons. More expensive cars had the same set of buttons, they just looked nicer and were larger.

In addition, I don't like when the car stereo isn't a double-DIN type with 4 speaker outputs. Music formats change so no stereo is future-proof. Also, if the extra complex stereo fails, it gets really expensive to replace.


Besides going for somewhat period correct, the lack of tactile feel in car audio is disturbing to me. An aftermarket would have been far easier in my '84 Caprice (w/ real tilt wheel, unlike the '84 Crown Vic), than the mid 2000s Buick only, serial bus radio.

 

[ffhdriver]

Originally Posted By: Win
Quote:
I miss the hand crank starter!


Why not a cartridge starter? Think of how much less traffic there would be on the roads if people had to handle a scary looking cartridge, and pull a trigger to drive.

Quote:
Does anyone remember the old Thunderbird Swing Away Steering Wheel I believe the early sixty's.


My father had one.
My '67 Mustang had one.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I miss manual crank windows. Those never went bad.




Yes they had their issues too. I knew of cars where a person had to crank while another pulled up on the glass to get it to close. Mechanisms rusted up inside the door though it was easier then to open the door panels.

 

[Garak]

Yes, they did go bad. It wasn't as common a problem as you'd see with early power windows, but believe me, in taxi service, you'd see crank windows fail, and from wear and misuse, not rust.