From: "Gary Wiltshire" 

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 11:02:08 -0400, Frank Haber  wrote:

> Might I remind you youngsters that the average big-engine American car
> in the
> 1940s needed a ring job at 65,000 miles?  And that was with much lower
> temperatures everywhere hot, and a vented crankcase.  Why?  Metallurgy,
> Dustin, metallurgy.
>
> For the Brits, I'll just breathe the name "Lucas," and mention carbon
> throwout
> bearings.  How many miles could an Austin 7 or Ford Popular run before
> overhaul, at 40 mph on crowned roads?
>
> The only thing I think we've lost is shade-tree repairability, which
> hurts.
>

Yeah.  I'm mechanically inept, yet kept first a VW Beetle and then a
Karmann Ghia running with a wonderful book called "Fix Your
Volkswagen." Not much under the hood I feel competent to deal with
now.

--
Gary Wiltshire

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