Remember When
Quote: DieterQuote: rxwineAbout every gas station had a garage to work on cars.. Now every gas station has a store. (some are really small though)
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That kind of sounds like "service station" vs "filling station".
The shift in business model may have something to do with modern radial tires lasting 50,000 miles, fan belts hardly ever snapping these days, and ignition points not having to be set every 4000 miles anymore.
Cokes and Moon Pies have always been popular.
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Don’t forget the headlight adjusting device.
Quote: billryanMy friend's older brother was an excellent mechanic. He wanted his own shop and leased a two-bay Getty Station with six pumps. The gas attendant was in a dingy office and they had a soda machine. This was 1976. His mechanical business was great but he was barely breaking even on gas, and the station was robbed twice at night.
A few years passed, and an Asian gentleman offered to lease the gas pumps and the office for almost the total rent. Tommy had his shop and parking, and the guy had the pumps and the office. Everyone thought he'd come out way ahead on the deal. The man spent some serious money transforming the office into a mini-store with a cooler for soda and an ice cream freezer, and above the counter were racks of cigarettes, by the pack and the carton. They stayed open until midnight and were cheaper than 7-11. The two businesses thrived for a decade or so, but Tommy's car repairs went down year by year until he sold out, so the mini-store expanded to the whole business. Tommy did okay; he retired early and restores 1930s raceboats as a hobby.
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I worked at an Army/Navy store during the summer once and out of all the stuff in the store, we made the most money on cigarettes. I didn’t know until then, just how many brands there were. I suppose most were made by the same couple companies.
Quote: rxwineQuote: DieterQuote: rxwineAbout every gas station had a garage to work on cars.. Now every gas station has a store. (some are really small though)
link to original post
That kind of sounds like "service station" vs "filling station".
The shift in business model may have something to do with modern radial tires lasting 50,000 miles, fan belts hardly ever snapping these days, and ignition points not having to be set every 4000 miles anymore.
Cokes and Moon Pies have always been popular.
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Don’t forget the headlight adjusting device.
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People who didn't drive cars 50 and 60 years ago have no idea what you had to do to maintain it. I always changed my own oil, there were no cheap oil change places. You had to either adjust your headlights or change them because they were always going out. Ditto with windshield wipers. I always had to carry a tire gauge because your tires constantly needed air and every gas station had a free air hose. I usually checked the oil every time I got gas. Shock absorbers had to be changed on a regular basis. Alternators and water pumps went out. Fan belts got stretched and squealed. Antifreeze had to be flushed and changed. Batteries only lasted a couple years if you were lucky. Carburetors had to be cleaned or your car would never start in the winter. The muffler and the exhaust system went out on a regular basis. We knew how to handle most of the stuff ourselves, except for the shocks and the muffler, those had to be done professionally. And of course new tires because tires were constantly needing to be replaced. If you had a new girlfriend you better know how to work on her car because that made you indispensable to her.
Quote: EvenBobIf you had a new girlfriend you better know how to work on her car because that made you indispensable to her.
I dated a girl that was the service manager at a big car dealership. She would just take my car in and have them handle everything and I rarely got a bill for it.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: rxwineQuote: DieterQuote: rxwineAbout every gas station had a garage to work on cars.. Now every gas station has a store. (some are really small though)
link to original post
That kind of sounds like "service station" vs "filling station".
The shift in business model may have something to do with modern radial tires lasting 50,000 miles, fan belts hardly ever snapping these days, and ignition points not having to be set every 4000 miles anymore.
Cokes and Moon Pies have always been popular.
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Don’t forget the headlight adjusting device.
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People who didn't drive cars 50 and 60 years ago have no idea what you had to do to maintain it. I always changed my own oil, there were no cheap oil change places. You had to either adjust your headlights or change them because they were always going out. Ditto with windshield wipers. I always had to carry a tire gauge because your tires constantly needed air and every gas station had a free air hose. I usually checked the oil every time I got gas. Shock absorbers had to be changed on a regular basis. Alternators and water pumps went out. Fan belts got stretched and squealed. Antifreeze had to be flushed and changed. Batteries only lasted a couple years if you were lucky. Carburetors had to be cleaned or your car would never start in the winter. The muffler and the exhaust system went out on a regular basis. We knew how to handle most of the stuff ourselves, except for the shocks and the muffler, those had to be done professionally. And of course new tires because tires were constantly needing to be replaced. If you had a new girlfriend you better know how to work on her car because that made you indispensable to her.
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Modern shocks and tires seem to hold up a whole bunch better than the old ones.
A lot of headlights needed readjusting as the shocks sagged, and the car adopted something of an angle. That puts the headlight beam in the wrong spot. A few twists on a few adjusting screws, and the headlights are back to reasonably aimed - easier than replacing shocks or springs that aren't quite bad yet.
Anybody who is running a vintage car, seriously look into the conversion from ignition points to a retrofit electronic ignition. That update saved countless hours of tuneups.
I had an '80s Audi 4000SS that blew its halogen headlights every time condensation set in, and aluminum rims that couldn't handle a typical NYC pothole. Fortunately, I had an unlimited supply of both. It led to some scary driving.
Quote: billryanI don't recall ever having to adjust my headlights.
I had an '80s Audi 4000SS that blew its halogen headlights every time condensation set in, and aluminum rims that couldn't handle a typical NYC pothole. Fortunately, I had an unlimited supply of both. It led to some scary driving.
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In Florida when they required annual inspections for all cars it was pretty much known that they would always find at least one thing that wasn't meeting code to pin you with. They would keep looking until they found something. My grandfather would purposely let air out of his two front tires so the inspectors could cite him with that and the headlights not shining out at the proper distance. The simple fix for both problems was just to put air back in the front tires.
Quote: DRichQuote: billryanI don't recall ever having to adjust my headlights.
I had an '80s Audi 4000SS that blew its halogen headlights every time condensation set in, and aluminum rims that couldn't handle a typical NYC pothole. Fortunately, I had an unlimited supply of both. It led to some scary driving.
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In Florida when they required annual inspections for all cars it was pretty much known that they would always find at least one thing that wasn't meeting code to pin you with. They would keep looking until they found something. My grandfather would purposely let air out of his two front tires so the inspectors could cite him with that and the headlights not shining out at the proper distance. The simple fix for both problems was just to put air back in the front tires.
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They tried vehicle inspections in Michigan for one year back in the seventies and dropped it like a hot potato. It was just too much work and people hated it and constantly complained so they just dumped the whole program. The problem was people were still driving cars from the 1960s and because they didn't have inspections every year the cars were all beat up and run down and every car they examined had so much wrong with it there's no way people were going to get it fixed. So they just gave up.
Quote: billryanIn NY, your local mechanic does the inspection. If it fails because the lights are not aligned, they'd fix it and just charge you for it. I'd drop it off and tell them to get it to pass inspection, then pick it up with the sticker on the car. The only thing they really cared about was cracked windshields and emissions. They couldn't fudge those results.
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PA has had the same inspections. I took my cars to a local place where emission passage was guaranteed. They guy passed me a couple times on a car I would have failed. He was pragmatic, if it was safe but missed code a little he passed it. Eventually my whole extended family took our cars there. Those places are harder to find now and emissions is hard to cheat.
May those who love us love us
And those who don't, May God turn your hearts
And if He can't turn your hearts
May He turn your ankes
so I may know you by your limp.
Quote: billryanHappy St. Patrick's Day.
May those who love us love us
And those who don't, May God turn your hearts
And if He can't turn your hearts
May He turn your ankes
so I may know you by your limp.
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I hated Saint Patrick's Day when I had the bar. We made a lot of money but all the idiots came out and got drunk and that gets really old really fast.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: billryanHappy St. Patrick's Day.
May those who love us love us
And those who don't, May God turn your hearts
And if He can't turn your hearts
May He turn your ankes
so I may know you by your limp.
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I hated Saint Patrick's Day when I had the bar. We made a lot of money but all the idiots came out and got drunk and that gets really old really fast.
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Does this mean we all forgot about Half Tau Day this year? (I didn't see any festive sales of round foods.)
The amateurs ticked off the serious drunks, too.
I remember I was having a few with the usual group at a usual place, when some guy dressed as a leprechaun burst in, along with some guy playing bagpipes. The amateurs were amused and sang along.
We did not.
Quote: rxwineOther than the sun coming up, most holidays are reasons for some people to drink.
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You say that as if it is a bad thing.
Quote: DieterQuote: EvenBobQuote: billryanHappy St. Patrick's Day.
May those who love us love us
And those who don't, May God turn your hearts
And if He can't turn your hearts
May He turn your ankes
so I may know you by your limp.
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I hated Saint Patrick's Day when I had the bar. We made a lot of money but all the idiots came out and got drunk and that gets really old really fast.
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Does this mean we all forgot about Half Tau Day this year? (I didn't see any festive sales of round foods.)
The amateurs ticked off the serious drunks, too.
I remember I was having a few with the usual group at a usual place, when some guy dressed as a leprechaun burst in, along with some guy playing bagpipes. The amateurs were amused and sang along.
We did not.
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The serious drinkers in a bar are the regular customers and they are your bread and butter. They know how to behave when they're drunk because they know they will get kicked out if they misbehave. Amateurs have no idea how to behave in a bar when they're drunk so they have fights, they have arguments, they scream and yell at each other, especially drunk women. Drunk women are the absolute worst nightmare because they have no inner brakes that say stop, you've gone too far. And they know you can't physically touch them to throw them out. So they abuse the crap out of it.
Quote: billryanIn the 1980s, only NYC and a few surrounding counties tested emissions. I'd bought an old Dodge Dart as a knockaround second car, but it didn't pass the emission tests. I decided to drive the car upstate and get an inspection done there. I drove up to Greene County and picked a random garage to get the inspection done. Mission accomplished, I started driving back to NYC when the engine experienced a problem that made me pull over. I let it cool down, but it wouldn't start. As I was on a controlled highway, I had to use their tow service instead of AAA , and it was late in the day so the garage wouldn't look at the car until the next day. For brevity's sake, I'll just say I blew the engine, the car was a total loss and my scheme to avoid emissions cost me several times what I paid for the car.
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This guy did not buy the sniffer, which was $10,000 plus in those days. He had a garage down the street would clean-pipe. IOW, just stick it in a car that they knew would pass. When that guy was busy he called a second place. At first I asked how my car was passing, he said it passed. Then one day I caught what was going on. Of course nobody cared. Now the car checks itself and the emission controls probably actually do something.
This song was huge when I was just barely old enough to understand pop music. It was everywhere: on the radio, in malls, and probably on TV specials. A #1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and country charts in the U.S. and Canada.
Bad speed sensors say they are going 158 mph, so if you replace them they should say 0 mph again. But there's a thing called wheel tone rings that the speed sensors read off of and they get damaged or rusty and that can cause a bad reading. Mechanics usually replace the whole rear axle if the tone rings are beyond repair.
There's also the AWD Module that can go bad that might need to be replaced. There's also the rear differential that may go bad.
All of this can add up to an expensive repair and might even total up to a combination of all of them in the thousands of dollars.
My rear axle was replaced under warranty and everything seems fixed, but I was quoted $1000+ for the repair and I don't know if that included the 3 hours of labor at $160/hr or not, probably not. There was another 3 hours of labor in the previous 1 visit that failed to fix the problem. The first time they cleaned the connectors and thought they fixed the problem and gave the car back to me after 2 hours. I drove half a mile down the road and all the error lights came back on and I lost my power steering so I turned around and told them it wasn't fixed. They spent another hour on it and said they'd have to order a new rear axle and to come back the next week. They could give me a loaner vehicle but not my model much less my year. I turned them down on that and kept driving this thing that probably should have been left at the shop.
I got valet service over an hour late to go home for the scheduled 3 hour repair for the axle, and I was picked up around 5 pm when some of their mechanics clock out.
Actually the very first visit was to get an appointment for the next week, so that was 3 car trips to the repair shop. Now I see there's some kind of recall on my doors that need some welding attention and I'll have to schedule that in for some other time. I also have to pass inspection in 2 months and change the oil and reregister the car; so maybe I'll fix the doors after that, idk. I've only got 23.5K miles on the car, so how the tone rings went bad is the stuff of northeast winters, or solar flares messing up the magnetism.
Here's a video showing tone rings collecting rust particles on magnetic surfaces.
The stations I listened to were more music-focused than DJ, but when John DeBella left WDRE to move to a bigger station in Philly, he was booed and chased out of a festival he was co-hosting.
Quote: billryanIn the early 1980s, a former disco station switched to an all-rock WAPP, no-ads, and no-DJ format. It was interesting, but regular listeners quickly picked up on patterns. They would repeat whole blocks of songs several times a day. It was a big hit initially, but within a few months, they brought in both DJs and ads. A few years later, they changed the format entirely.
The stations I listened to were more music-focused than DJ, but when John DeBella left WDRE to move to a bigger station in Philly, he was booed and chased out of a festival he was co-hosting.
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In the late-90s a country station in my town went to alternative rock. No DJs for the first month or two, which meant more music. They even had a commercial for some concert promotion that made a gag out of it. Then they got mileage by saying DJs were coming.
If you're 50 years old in Michigan you don't remember when there was no bottle law. I remember when there were no plastic bottles in the 1950s. Everything came in glass, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, 7UP, everything was in a heavy non-returnable glass bottle. So was milk. Didn't start seeing plastic till the 1960s.
Quote: AZDuffmanRemember when you knew the DJ on your local radio station? And the team that did the morning drive was a huge thing? The morning competition thing used to be fierce in some cities. I so rarely even listen to regular radio now it is hard to remember back when this was a thing.
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Sure, and as a teen, I remember individuals and groups of teens would identify themselves by what radio station they listened to. It was shorthand for your other social attributes, especially rock vs. disco.
I've always been and still am a radio fanatic. Mostly AM and shortwave. As a kid sometimes I would sit in the attic with a transistor radio and listen for stations 1000 miles away. Different accents, cities I've only read about, ads for places I've never heard of. It was like a little vacation I could take myself.
Quote: AutomaticMonkeyQuote: AZDuffmanRemember when you knew the DJ on your local radio station? And the team that did the morning drive was a huge thing? The morning competition thing used to be fierce in some cities. I so rarely even listen to regular radio now it is hard to remember back when this was a thing.
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Sure, and as a teen, I remember individuals and groups of teens would identify themselves by what radio station they listened to. It was shorthand for your other social attributes, especially rock vs. disco.
I've always been and still am a radio fanatic. Mostly AM and shortwave. As a kid sometimes I would sit in the attic with a transistor radio and listen for stations 1000 miles away. Different accents, cities I've only read about, ads for places I've never heard of. It was like a little vacation I could take myself.
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That is neat and a forgotten thing. When I would travel around the east at night I would always try to see if I could pick up KDKA. Way back it was a clear channel (not the company) station, nobody else on that frequency. I got it pretty far away though I forget how far. Last year I sold my grandfathers old radio with like 8 bands including shortwave. It looked cool but I own too much junk,trying to clear it away late in life.
