I agree with Jason with respect to people who have to have the latest gadget or whatever whether they need it or not. As far as upgrades that are actually beneficial I am all for it. Building my 53 from scratch I went with an HEI mostly for simplicity sake. The 70 GS I am doing now came with points and is going to stay that way. Something was mentioned that electronic ignition created a hotter spark than points. This may be true but if I recall points can be used to feed into an ignition upgrade also. Bob H.
I should point out too that I like the old technology and that is why I choose to keep my stuff that way, my Electra IS my driver. I have no problem with folks upgrading but I have my reasons for not doing it, I find HEI to be super ugly so won't run one and I have had several Pretronix failures so Blue Streak points for me!
Your 100% right. And it doesnt matter to me. I just dont understand the mindset. Maybe its my years of working in repair shops or servicing equipment. Just because its old doesnt mean it needs to be replaced. Why replace a perfectly good water pump with a perfectly good water pump? Or replace ball joints because they're been in there for a long time. No one seems to "inspect" anything. They blindly replace parts because...The sad fact is that most of the replacement parts you get today are inferior to the original OE stuff. If something is broken, then yeah, maybe get an improved or upgraded version of the part. Or just service the original part and let it do its thing for another 40 years. Dont get me started on disc brake conversions! There's nothing wrong with drums on an old car. Yes, I can see upgrading to disc if your doing high speed stops or its a drag car. But for a "regular" car, drums work very well if properly maintained. If they didnt, they wouldnt of installed them on two ton cars right? Personally, I drive old cars because they're old. I like the fact that its got an antiquated ignition system. Or a glorified toilet bowl on top of the intake manifold. Or that the clock makes a snap noise every few minutes when the points open( yes,, even my clock has points:bla: ) . I like my fiberglass belted tires. Old cars have character. Why would you want to remove all that for? Its the simplicily of it all that I like too. I understand the whole street rod thing and adding modern convieniences. Thats cool. its just a different segment of the hobby. Yeah, the 71 has MSD in it. But thats a purpose built car to haul a** down the 1/4 mile and lay waste to non-Buicks! :laugh: Think about the 60 year old banker that bought a brand new 1970 Electra off the showroom floor. Do you think he was screwing with points on the side of the road every two weeks? Do you think the voltage regulator crapped out prematurely? No. He put the air on and drove the car. Probably for 100k miles the way Buick built it. I dont know. Maybe Im all wrong. ou:
Some Of You Guys Out There That Like Points, Maybe You Should Install 4 Wheel Drum Brakes In Place Of Your Disc Brakes. Drum Brakes Are Old Technology Just Like Points.
:TU: Especially the full size drum brakes. Buicks were renowned for their brakes. The last time I had a pair of the big aluminum drums turned, a guy standing in line with me asked what kind of truck they were off of. :laugh: p.s. It's been my experience that Bias Ply tires are quieter and ride smoother than radials.
Part 2: As I said, I'm on the fence on this one. I have long agreed that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But I guess that I'm a bit of a hypocrite; In my single-engine Comanche, when I realized that the perfectly good mechanical fuel pump had been on board for 33 years, I replaced it. In my previous post I commented that I had never gotten stuck by a points failure. That was true, but what I failed to mention was that I have been stuck twice with ballast resistor failures. Fortunately, in both instances (one a Mopar, one GM), I had a spare in the glove compartment. I don't know what fails in MSD, so I have no spare parts on board and am nervous. Still, as one who has been involved in the car business since 1959 either as a job or a hobby, I would have to unequivocally state that the newer the technology, the more reliable. I would never have a carbureted daily driver again if at all possible.
Totally agree with removing a part because its old just to replace it with a newer version of the same part when it still works fine or just needs to be cleaned up. That being said... Call this BS if it is, but I think that they used drum brakes back then because they hadn't utilized the potential of power assist. Without power assist, you have to do all the work on disc brakes whereas drums sort of build power on their own due to geometry. But when paired with power assist, disc brakes beat drums almost completely. It's not that the cars were bad, just that there are some easily implemented, better technologies available today. Some people like to personalize a car and use those technologies-or just different ideas-to make their car more reliable, safe, powerful, and/or (depending on your definition) fun.o No:
I'm doing exactly that, my 70 GS455 had drums from the factory and a previous owner converted to disks, I'm going back 100% stock on this car right down to the bias belted whitewall tires and AM radio!
I agree with you...there isn't a disc brake on any of my old cars...I run points in everything but my Mustang. I put my Skylark back to points after the Unilite module crapped out; I just like the idea of a mechanical switch. Cars didn't even have points when I was born! I like my old stuff feeling old too...just a preference. I like fuel injection, but I would never put it on an old car...
Well.... let's see..... I just pulled a perfectly good running 12 second motor out of the Riv just so I could spend 4 grand on a motor that I am confident will last me longer. So I guess I have more money than brains. Guilty!
It's what you think. I think doing concourse restos with date coding is crazy. spending 1000's on one small part that can be replaced with a $100 part. But, to each their own. My properly mantained manual drum brakes would pull in random directions in panic stop situations. On a tight 6 lane interchange system with stupid drivers with inexpensive cars that can stop in 1/2 the buicks stopping distance is not acceptable. The car was a daily driver 9 months out of the year. I was pulling the front end apart to replace the bushings and did the power disc brakes. If I must explain my EFI... it's because, I can build it. My Buick is one of my hobbies. I don't fish, I don't hunt, I don't boat, I don't ski, I don't wood work, I don't enjoy washing or polishing my car, I don't paint watercolor or sculpt in clay, I enjoy upgrading my car. To me a bad day of working on the car is better than a good day at work. (sometimes more expensive however....) It's something I do to pass the time. If it happens to be cool in the end, then great. If it sucks well bummer for me. My GN serpentine belt setup... yea it's another un-necessary but again. I like the way it works and modernizes the engine compartment and goes with the rest of the changes I've done. Again, to many, this is a hobby. It's something I do to occupy my time. In my own way it's a way to express myself kind of like art.
Lets see...my old 72 had power drums all around. Even properly adjusted, between brake fade(overheated drums) and pull, stopping was marginal at best. My 71 with power disc stopped WAY better, no pull, no fade. As stated above, the technology has advanced. As far as you guys running point distributors goes, well, give it all ya got. Change points every 3k miles, or change ignition modules every 30k. I've had a spare module in my glove box for 10 years...never needed to change it, never had to adjust my points, and if I did have to change it, I would remove 2 small bolts and plop a new one in. I wouldn't need to search under the seats for a matchbook cover to "get it close enough to run" or risk my point adjustment tool being flung at me after it touched the fan blade. If you're gonna putt around like my grandmother, sure, go ahead, leave it stock...:moonu:
Hey! We're discussing CARS here. Let's not hijack this thread or bash other people's personal tastes! Especially when you can't measure up! :moonu:
as a kid, i watched lots of movies where someone's car was disabled by popping the hood and stealing their coil wire .... now that i have a car with HEI and an inside hood release ... i sleep like a baby knowing that there is nothing that can stop that car from running.ray:
