Modern technology friend or foe .

[sports racer]

I agree that old cars are a pain and really old cars should only be brought out on Sundays but there's a sweet spot around 1990 - 1995(depending on manufacturer) where they were reliable and easy to work on.

My MK2 Golf was my daily right up to when I hit the back of a truck last year and it did over 1000 ks a week. Sure it occasionally gave me grief but nothing that I couldn't fix and it never stranded me on the open road. Parts were cheap if you knew the right places to look and it was fun to drive.

When was the last time you got out of your car with a grin from ear to ear?

[Idle]

I'm old enough to remember having to clean the points on a fuel pump in the boot in the rain to get my car working again. Or parked at the side of the road pulling the tops of the webbers to blow out the main jet so it wouldn't cough and splutter in traffic. Both times I fixed it myself.

Fuel pump in the boot wasn't so bad — I had a Rover with it by the left chassis rail.
When (not infrequently) the points stuck you gave it a whack — to whack it you often lay in the gutter.

Eventually got sick of that and replaced it with a locally-made pump and a bit more tubing; Once I could reach it from under the bonnet, it never stuck again.

Actually I quite appreciate a lot of modern technology (not all, tho') — but then I don't need to keep cars for 20 years any more...

One of the tech marvels I don't really get is the one in my current Golf that might whack the brakes on after the prang; Do VAG have interests in panel shops?

Tuning twin carbs? I used a couple of feet of garden hose and usually contrived to get them pretty close — SU's were among the easiest.

There's some "silver"ware hidden away in a box somewhere to prove the point.

[Greg Roles]

At least with old cars when your engine blew you you just bought a bigger capacity one and dropped it straight in, and connected about 10 pipes. I also loved how your tools / bolts when dropped actually got to the floor.

[Bug_racer]

From an engineering perspective I think technology has improved our cars. When was the last time you sat on the side of the road trying to repair or replace points? Sure, if a modern car breaks down it is going to be a tow to repairer job, but on the whole they are way more reliable. And how often do you pull the heads off for a de-coke? Not every 10,000 miles I'm sure.

I pull my manifold off every 3-5k kms and do a carbon clean (2011 Golf R)

[theresanothersteve]

I pull my manifold off every 3-5k kms and do a carbon clean (2011 Golf R)

Bit of a difference between a manifold and a head...

And does it make that much difference? I can remember when porting and polishing was all the go until someone discovered a rough surface gave better performance so polishing was out and bead blasting was in (inlet side).

[Greg Roles]

Absolutely. That gunk and carbon buildup is at the narrowest part of your intake - the inlet port / valve. Buildup there is as bad as it gets.

[Bug_racer]

Bit of a difference between a manifold and a head...

And does it make that much difference? I can remember when porting and polishing was all the go until someone discovered a rough surface gave better performance so polishing was out and bead blasting was in (inlet side).

I pull the manifold off to get to the back of the valves and intake ports to clean them .
Does it make that much of a difference , Id say so given I have the fastest unopened stock turbo Golf R in the world and the fastest (currently) Golf R in Australia over 1000m which is faster than the next 3 Golf Rs which are all big turbo cars

[Bug_racer]

Absolutely. That gunk and carbon buildup is at the narrowest part of your intake - the inlet port / valve. Buildup there is as bad as it gets.

I agree on TFSI engines but experience has shown on a lot of FSI engines the build up is worse at the throttle body

[ian]

My first car was. A Austin A40. Devon top of the range heater and a sun roof. Had to replace the fuel pump with an electric one which went tick tick tick. When you turned the key Had to pull a knob connected to the started to engage the starter motor. And if the battery was flat there was always the crank handle. And you had to get out to turn on the tail lights. As there was a switch near the tail lights. The joys of modern motoring.

[sports racer]

I pull the manifold off to get to the back of the valves and intake ports to clean them .

Why are you taking the manifold off?

Disconnect the air filter and get the car idling. Trickle a small stream of water into the intake and set it up so the engine sucks it up for around 30 minutes. The water breaks down any carbon build up in the intake and exhaust manifold as well as the head and top of the pistons.

It's an old trick but it works.

You can buy aftermarket products to do the same but water works just as well.

Cheers

Paul