Old School tuners

marx404 · 07-15-2003, 11:55 PM

Ok, no slamming the old ppl here, ok?

My question is: seems to me that the typical Saturn Spotter here is around early 20's, on some Saturn forums I have met younger and older people dedicated to tuning up thier Sattys. I was wondering how many of us are over 30 here and what your thoughts are when comparing working on the old cars (pre-80s) vs Saturns.

marx404

sc2_ct · 07-16-2003, 01:47 AM

Well, I'm only 23, but I got started with the oldies and try to use many of the same techniques on my Saturn as I would use on my old 72 Camaro. Other than the EFI and the OBD-II the techniques are all the same for the most part).

marx404 · 07-16-2003, 02:35 AM

72 Camaro, niiiice. My friend had a 74 Firebird 400 we worked on. Until my last car, which was an 82 Maxima (280Z FI engine) all others were old style carbueretors, no OBD, and ugly inefficient round tin air cleaners.

I like OBDII and PCM, throttle body, etc, it really simplifies things. I hate (note I said hate) the oil filter location, what were they thinking? Im thinking relocation. My only tools I have need lately are a 10mm socket wrench and a GM code reader, lol.

sc2_ct · 07-16-2003, 03:14 AM

LOL, the 72 F-bodies were great cars with beautiful lines, but damn were they hard to get parts for. Up through 70 and then after 74 were easy to find parts, but the 71-73 were real killers. I've got one friend that's got a 70 1/2 and he's got the worst of both worlds when it comes to parts since half the parts he orders fit and the other half don't

For efficiency and performance nothing beats a good computer-controlled EFI setup, but for old-school garage tinkering, the old Holley and Edelbrock 4 barrels sure were fun (great, now I'm having flashbacks to my Holley double-pumpers on a high-rise single plane intake manifold...).

I remember making the switch to EFI 4-bangers how pissed I was about the oil filter (which I now have done at a shop since it still pisses me off), and I was livid when I had to go out and buy all my tools again, but in metric

. I swore I'd never get another EFI 4-banger, but then I had a starting problem I just couldn't figure out and the mechanic plugged a little remote-looking thing into the dashboard and had it fixed 20 minutes later and I was sold on them

mkbuker · 07-16-2003, 03:50 AM

I'm 23 and a major fan of classics. My first vehicle was 1971 Chevy C-10 Custom, I built a 350 V-8 dyno'd at 525hp 490ft/lb. My 2nd vehicle 1984 GMC Sierra 251 I-6 3-on-the-tree. Then I got my Saturn. I'm still learning how to play with a computer in a car instead of a carb. My passion is go grab a 1957 Chevy Truck to restore and show.

CelticShadow · 07-16-2003, 04:31 AM

You're in luck........Em and I just covered a show with some seriously sweet lookin hot rods and classics. There's about 90 or so pics on StreetStylez from that show.

marx404 · 07-16-2003, 02:29 PM

Sweet rides! I like the pics.
My old neighbor had a Plymouth RoadRunner and a Dodge Daytona, giant wings, pointy nose and all! My wife is a major classics fan, she just doesnt get fixing up a Saturn. She has a 93 SL1 that would be a prime candidate,

. Im working on bringing her to the 6th planet show to change her mind.

Alot of cars that my friends and I had were econo-racers: 74 Mustang II Ghia v6 dual straight exhaust, Datsun 280Z, 260Z and 240Z, Triumph TR5, (ah, the fun of trying to sync dual webers, uggg.) 76 Cobra II, OpelGT. And of course, many big block classics. But my one love was a 175hp Dodge Omni GLHS (S for Shelby) man, that was one sick car.

monkeyracing · 07-17-2003, 06:53 PM

Hi, my name is Jim, I'm 35, and I'm an alcoh......oops, wrong place.

I like working on both older cars, and SOME newer cars.

As far as newer cars go, I don't mind working on Saturns. If there's one thing they got right it was the underhood layout. It's nice and simple, everything's lightweight and easy to figure out.

I don't know that a computer is really much of an advantage as far as diagnostics though. OBD1 in particular was pretty limited, and a variety of codes could get thrown for almost random reasons.

When you've worked on older, non computerized cars enough, your ears, eyes, and experience will tell you worlds more information about what's going on under your hood than the average ECM will, and it'll do it faster.

Examples: O2 sensor can be replaced by your nose. If you smell gas at the exhaust, the car's running ruch. Knock sensors can be substituted by ears and a good sense of touch.

These old techniques apply to newer cars too. I mean, let's face it, the internal combustion engine is essentially the same as it was 100 years ago, and all the same rules apply. The main differences are in fuel delivery and ignition.

The one thing I do like about fuel injection: I never have to adjust anything, ever. I just get in, turn to key and go. It's not as much fun as tinkering, but it's nice on those cold mornings.

Jim