Manual dexterity is a dying art

AC · 17-10-2010, 03:28 PM

Thought i'd throw this up, I would thought someone else may have by now.
But hadn't, here it is...

A bit of a sign of the times thing by Jay Leno.

Quote:

Manual dexterity is a dying art - Jay Leno
October 15, 2010

What happened to the good old days when people fixed their cars themselves.

I’ve just taken delivery of my new Jaguar XJ. Something I enjoy doing whenever I get a new car is reading the owner’s manual front to back. To me it’s like a good book but over the years they’ve become less and less interesting.

I thought it would be fun to compare the owner’s manual of my new XJ to the owner’s manual of my 1954 XK120. For example, my new XJ says, ‘‘Changing The Battery: Battery disconnection, removal or replacement should only be carried out by qualified personnel. Consult your dealer!’’

Compare that with the XK manual: ‘‘Removing the Cylinder Head: Obtain a block of wood approximately the size of the combustion chamber and place this under the valve heads on the number one cylinder. Press down on the valve collars and extract the split collars. Remove collars, valves springs and spring seats. Repeat for the remaining five cylinders. Valves are numbered and must be replaced in original location. Number one cylinder being at the rear, that is, the flywheel end.’’
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Geez. Imagine seeing something like that in a modern manual. I think people were a lot smarter years ago, or maybe the car companies don’t give us enough credit.

Here’s another example from the XJ manual: ‘‘If engine warning light goes on ... consult your dealer.’’ And from the 1954 XK120 manual: ‘‘In the event you need to remove the engine, gearbox and clutch, in the event it is necessary to carry out a repair of all the above units, notice that the gearbox may be removed from the engine when the floorboards have been removed and the rear of the engine has been supported. Removal of the gearbox will give access to the clutch.’’

Remove your engine! Again, imagine seeing that in a new car manual!

I have a 1939 Ford owner’s manual and it explains how the ignition points work and gives the correct point settings; there’s a detailed cutaway. It shows how to adjust the distributor and the vacuum brake. It also says: ‘‘Your Ford dealer can make this adjustment for you but there’s no reason you can’t do it yourself.’’ Would any car dealer say that today? Not a chance!

The manual for the steam car is one of the funniest I own. Don’t forget, you’re driving a car that’s made of wood and is on fire. In the Stanley manual it says – quite calmly – ‘‘If flames start licking over the front of the hood, shut off fuel and increase speed until flames blow out’’.

I think we live in such a litigious society now, you can’t be expected to try to figure out how to do anything for yourself. If a warning light comes on, you are advised to see your dealer. There’s nothing to adjust. Obviously, the modern XJ is an infinitely better car than the 120. But it’s the idea that in the early days automobiles were bought by enthusiasts; people who didn’t mind being a partner with the manufacturer.

In one of my Vincent manuals it says, ‘‘After 1000 miles, disassemble engine, check everything, reassemble’’. That’s one of my favourite quotes.

The really fun manuals are from the Japanese. To quote from my 1960 Honda motorcycle manual: ‘‘At the rise of the hand of the policeman, stop rapidly. Do not pass him by or otherwise disrespect him. When a passenger of the foot hooves in sight, tootle the horn trumpet melodiously at first. If he still obstacles your passage, toot him with vigour and express by word of mouth warning, hi! hi! Even more importantly, give big space to the festive dog that makes sport in the roadway. Avoid entanglement of dog with wheel spokes. Your safety is our main concern. Ride, ride and be safe. Instructables can be confusables.’’
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/m...014-16knq.html

Franco Cozzo · 17-10-2010, 04:17 PM

Even things like manuals that come with video games these days are only like 4 pages long, back in the 90s they where huge, explained everything in detail from storyline to options and configuration.

glavas · 17-10-2010, 04:47 PM

modern cars are just to hard. computer this and computer that. need all the right tools. its just easier to take it to a shop. keep the economy ticking over.

fmc351 · 17-10-2010, 05:11 PM

Forget the manual that comes with the car, even the Gregories type manuals have lines in them to the effect of 'beyond the scope of this publication' or 'consult your mechanic'.

Franco Cozzo · 17-10-2010, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmc351

Forget the manual that comes with the car, even the Gregories type manuals have lines in them to the effect of 'beyond the scope of this publication' or 'consult your mechanic'.

Official Honda workshop manuals are very vague on a lot of things too, and thats for the mechanics. I was asked to bring in a V6 Accord Luxury and change the parker globe, which sounds simple, except the parker was in a stupid spot, right behind it was the battery, getting the workshop manager over, we both struggled for about 30 minutes but we couldn't get our hand in there to change it, so we got out the workshop manual which said "turn counter clockwise to remove parker globe", it didn't mention anything about the battery having to come out in advance and everything else in the general area.

FGII-XR6 · 17-10-2010, 07:20 PM

cars are far more complex today so many repairs need specialised equipment. I don't think it is a loss of base skills so much as base skills being inadequate for the complex nature of modern cars.
the cost of specialised equipment needed for home repairs makes many repair jobs uneconomical for the "enthusiast"
so our choices are to either enjoy the technological advancements we now have ( delivering power unthought of in road cars of 20 years ago)or return to points and carbys. I know which one I would choose

MAV50L · 17-10-2010, 07:29 PM

The manual for mine would be a crack up.
For all repairs minor or major an angle grinder , mig welder , 2 hammers (both large and small) and a bottle of jack daniels is required.
If this does not help kick it and yell at it until some form of result is apparant.

xy500 · 18-10-2010, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by au3xr6

so our choices are to either enjoy the technological advancements we now have ( delivering power unthought of in road cars of 20 years ago)or return to points and carbys. I know which one I would choose

name one common affordable car that makes more power than any car made in the 60's and 70's. Its the economy and efficiency that has improved, not so much power.

f1tzy · 18-10-2010, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xy500

name one common affordable car that makes more power than any car made in the 60's and 70's. Its the economy and efficiency that has improved, not so much power.

XR6 Turbo?

FGII-XR6 · 18-10-2010, 11:38 AM

The XB standard 351 (not GT) produced 260 BHP (193.96 KW) from 5.8 litres. The FG 4.0 I6 NA produced 195 KW from 4 litres .
The XB GT produced 223.8 KW and the FG XR6 turbo produces 270KW from 4 litres with a turbo
The 4.1 Litre 6 produced115.63 KW

Quote:

Originally Posted by xy500

name one common affordable car that makes more power than any car made in the 60's and 70's. Its the economy and efficiency that has improved, not so much power.

Iggypoppin' · 18-10-2010, 02:31 PM

The really fun manuals are from the Japanese. To quote from my 1960 Honda motorcycle manual: ‘‘At the rise of the hand of the policeman, stop rapidly. Do not pass him by or otherwise disrespect him. When a passenger of the foot hooves in sight, tootle the horn trumpet melodiously at first. If he still obstacles your passage, toot him with vigour and express by word of mouth warning, hi! hi! Even more importantly, give big space to the festive dog that makes sport in the roadway. Avoid entanglement of dog with wheel spokes. Your safety is our main concern. Ride, ride and be safe. Instructables can be confusables.’’

xy500 · 18-10-2010, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by au3xr6

The XB standard 351 (not GT) produced 260 BHP (193.96 KW) from 5.8 litres. The FG 4.0 I6 NA produced 195 KW from 4 litres .
The XB GT produced 223.8 KW and the FG XR6 turbo produces 270KW from 4 litres with a turbo
The 4.1 Litre 6 produced115.63 KW

so.. like i said, efficiency (volumetric efficiency) has improved. The 265 made 300bhp in the 70's, 351's can make over 400bhp with reasonably affordable parts that were available in the 70's.
The power and reliability combination is better now, but the power or the reliability was just as good in earlier cars.

FGII-XR6 · 18-10-2010, 10:53 PM

I was comparing standard cars with standard cars, with your logic an XR6 turbo can produce far more power with nothing more than a flash tune, add some readily available parts and the skys the limit.
Don't get me wrong I still like old school cars but when it comes to performance todays cars win hands down.
The sort of power available in the F6 and the new 335 GT were unheard of in australian built cars in the 60s and 70s but today we have real performance cars of the showroom floor. we even have an NA6 that equals the power of a 70s 5.8 V8, thats real progress in my opinion

Quote:

Originally Posted by xy500

so.. like i said, efficiency (volumetric efficiency) has improved. The 265 made 300bhp in the 70's, 351's can make over 400bhp with reasonably affordable parts that were available in the 70's.
The power and reliability combination is better now, but the power or the reliability was just as good in earlier cars.