Frank DuVal

Good write up Bloo, but... I disagree with: They are perfect for many many applications. And they hardly ever fail. When you see one in the typical tube radio, you do not change them until you know it is bad, maybe less than 0.1% of the time, unlike electrolytics and paper that are typically replaced without testing.

Oh like me, you are misinformed! I was traveling in southeast Virginia for work after graduating from college in the mid 70s when I came upon the Prince George Electric Co-Op building, and it said "Since 1946". I inquired and it had been charted in 1939, and only had 300 customers by the time WWII broke out. In 1946 the big expansion started. So, there were lots of farms/houses without electricity well into the early 50s in rural Virginia. And that's with the electricity actually coming from VEPCO (Virginia Electric and Power Company) which started as the Richmond Union Passenger Railway ( began electric streetcar service in 1888!) then the Virginia Railway and Power Company in 1909. SO the rural areas were really late to the party. I have talked with other people in Rural areas that did not get electricity until the mid 50s. My father's house got electricity in 1922 when he was 7 years old. But he lived on Broad Street, US 250, a major route for running wires.😉

Well, schools stopped teaching "shop" classes when the CEOs and CFOs sent all the manufacturing jobs overseas to maximize profits and line their pockets. No jobs, why teach the profession? Not much call to teach buggy-whip construction either.😉

Honest mistake, he is always yelling Aaabbot!😉

Yes, but Buick OHV 6 was before Chevrolet's OHV 6. Buick was always OHV! Walter Marr you know. He even made an OHV V-12 for himself.

"Test Prod" wire is very fine and nicely insulated with flexible insulation instead of the typical plastic style that is stiff. But, largest size is 18 AWG. I do have some 17 AWG from a foreign source, but green does not go well on most cars!🤣

Shorted condenser is same as points closed, so unless you keep the key on for a long time, no smoke, but the points will get hot after a while (key on and points closed) and that's not good either.

I see they are also at the Reston Home Depot so at that location (not the recommended location) you might get to see the Tunnel Lady buying supplies. Local story. She posted building her tunnel on Tic Tock (whatever that is😃) and now even the Herndon building department is wondering how far she has gone, under neighbor's houses?🤣 🎄🍾☃️☃️❄️❄️🍯

When I was driving in England in 1989 it was quite unnerving to get passed by one of those Reliants when I was already doing 85 to 90 MPH. Yes, MPH, not KPH! Only when I was leaving was I informed the National speed limit was 55.😮

1938 Buick had the Self Shifter. Sure, didn't sell well and most were retrofitted with a three speed manual, but ONE is showing up at Buick meets now, so they do work! Then Oldsmobile and Cadillac worked on the Hydramatic for introduction in 1940 models of both brands. It took the events of WWII (M18 Hellcat) for Buick to bring the Dynaflow to introduction in 1948 Roadmasters. Yes, Corvair, showed F. Porsche 6 cylinders would fit in the rear... Ha!🤣 And Pontiac used the Corvair transaxle (with only a few mods) in the 61 to 63 tempests! And the rope driveshaft...😉 Chrysler minivan just moved the uni-pack (engine/transaxle) up front from where VW and Corvair had it for years in their minivans. Corvair also had doors on both sides of their minivans as an option. Called the 8 door nowadays. ❄️❄️🍾🎄☃️☃️🍯🛠️

That's it! Divergent Diamond. Really helped that intersection of I-66 and US 15. 🎄🍲 🥂

Joe, you don't get out much in Virginia? Charlottesville, Zion Crossroads, Stafford, Haymarket.... All interstate exchanges. I'm sure there are more. Unless you are turning left on red from a one way street onto another one way street. I've done it many times in Fredericksburg and Richmond. Never out in the country for some reason.🤣 🎄🍲 🥂

I can't tell you how many times the cast iron fencing at Lee Circle in Richmond was taken out by drivers until it was finally taken down in an effort to save money fixing it. The circle, and the street, was paved with Belgian Block, and all the cars/trucks going down the street having to make a right left maneuver at speed (35 MPH, not "circle" rules, but traffic went around circle as if it was the straight street) dropped oil that was hanging from engine/frame/ you get it. This oil on the Belgian Block made a skating rink every time a few drops of rain hit it. I have been in the inside lane when a VW was doing 360s next to me in the outside lane! My collision repair shop was two blocks away and I got business from that intersection. Now, if a driver unfamiliar with the circle was coming down Monument Avenue at an elevated speed with some rain, boom, fence section gone, or cars parked on the circle, oh, did I not mention that?, get slammed. A famous chase ensued after a gunman killed an employee during a robbery at a fast food restaurant out in western Henrico County and the get away driver fled east into Richmond, down Monument Avenue. I was at work that night and heard the commotion. The getaway car took out 21 other cars in the intersection and along the street. Misty was the weather.

I am going on memory, 54 Lincoln, modified, Steve McQueen, Blob.

19VAC30-70-470. Steering. (Vehicles over 10,000 GVW) Inspect for and reject if: 5. Any modification or replacement has been made to the steering wheel which affects proper steering. It shall be rejected if it is of a smaller size than the original factory equipment. And for under 10,000 pound GVW vehicles a similar rule: 14. Any modification or replacement has been made to the steering wheel that affects proper steering. The steering wheel shall be rejected if the outside diameter is less than 13 inches unless original factory equipment. I think this is the rule that can be applied to make them have to be removed. Now, these laws change, so it may have been mentioned in prior years as spinners, I doubt ever the term necker knob was used in legal papers. Ha!😉

Not quite, Joe, EVs pay an annual Highway Users Fee of $123.98, which, if my math works, is more than the gas tax a 30 MPG vehicle would pay to Virginia in gas tax in 12,000 miles. More like 14,000 miles. And, vehicles that weigh more than 4000 pounds pay more for license plates. That has been true since before I started driving! And in those counties or cities that also sell "licenses", the over 4000 pound extra fee is common. Now, the powers to be have enacted a Highway Users Fee for everyone, sounds OK, sort of like Joe mentioned was a good idea. But, of course a committee must have been involved, as it is a fee based on a car driving 11,600 miles a year and gets better than 23.7 MPG! Yes, they charge more for us having a fuel efficient vehicle! But, the WRONG part is the charging by a fixed miles driven, not actual miles. My wife's car drives less than 11,600 miles every year. Here is a hint, it is a 2015 model, bought new, and has lees than 40K on it. We are being way overcharged! I have called and written complaints. Deaf ears. "but we do not know how many miles you drive a year" What? I get a state safety inspection every year and they write down the milage. "but the State Police (who administer the inspection program) know that number, not us", What? If I get tickets the State Police tells the DMV right away for my driving record! 😖 Sorry for the rambling.😮 www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/documents/HUF-2023-2024.pdf

I can't keep Evaporust in a system year round, as the garage is not heated and freezing is an issue! Freezing point is 32°F, hmm, same as water. Why do you think water jackets in blocks are cracked?

Divergent Diamonds are very common up here now. Very easy to navigate, if, you don't look at the traffic and just follow the signs. Really really have fixed heavy traffic standing still issues, typically at Interstate interchanges. Not nearly anyone talking about them being a problem, like they talk about disliking roundabouts, which are also being installed on rural but now overcrowded roads. They too solve traffic standing still issues on two lane intersections. Traffic, yep, from all the people trying to get to work. Funny thing, you bring jobs to an area and suddenly people complain about all the traffic. Well, why are YOU here? To get a job of course! And that brings more jobs to provide services to the people who came for jobs. If you want a nice highway with no traffic, well, no Northern Virginia traffic, move near Glenn, US 58 is 4 lanes in a lot of places and not many vehicles per day. Oops, sorry Glenn, now they will come! Oh, just don't employ them, they will leave.🤣

Interesting, but no. We call those plates that rotate in a radio "tuning condenser". They tune AC aka RF signals. Also hear automotive people use condenser (and that is an AC circuit, as it is in the primary of a transformer [the coil]) and electronics people use capacitor, then there is that tuning condenser term again! OK, let's just call them the original term, Leyden Jar. 🤣

ANY coil and capacitor forms an L/C circuit, whether the parts are in series or parallel. This is a tuned circuit. Not a variable tuned circuit, just tuned. This one is tuned for best high voltage output of the coil. f is frequency in Hertz, (little 0 indicating fundamental frequency), L is inductance in Henries and C is capacitance in Farads. BTW, a coil of wire wrapped around a form with an iron slug inside is a coil, aka inductor, not a capacitor. If the iron slug moves, it is a variable inductor. Commonly used in auto radios, aka permeability tuned, more stable under rough riding conditions. A capacitor is "plates" separated by an insulator. The common tuning capacitor being the aluminum plates separated by air, half of which rotate through the other plates, varying the capacitance. Small capacitors are a roll of very thin aluminum foil wrapped up with an insulator, typically plastic (Mylar [Polyester] being very common now), in the old days it was paper and wax as the dielectric (insulator). The paper gets wet from humidity in the air, causing electrons to go through the insulator, aka "leaks" through, becoming a resistor in parallel with the capacitor, upsetting the circuit. This is a common failure of automotive condensers. Now that you all are asleep from reading about electronic theory in an automotive forum....🤣

Even non-polarized (i.e. not electrolytics) capacitors can be charged to give a shock. Electrolytic just is a description of what the chemicals are inside, they are still layers of foil with insulators in between. A .22 uF charged to 400 to 600 VDC will give quite a shock! Just use one of the old Sprague or Heathkit Capacitor checkers. Google TO-5, IT-22 or C-3. SImilar to one posted earlier. Today with modern insulators they make large value capacitors which are not electrolytic in small physical size that 50 years ago could not be made except using the electrolytic method or gargantuan sizes.

If the condenser shorts, then the points electrically never open, so no spark, since the condenser is in parallel with the points. If the condenser opens then the spark is weak, as the tuned circuit of the coil/capacitor (L/C circuit in engineering speak) is out of tune, you might think of it as turning your radio knob off station, radio is working, but not delivering the expected result. Way simple explanation, but lets run with it. Same with change of capacitance, out of tune.

Paramount screwing up Showtime also, but I digress, as this is a car thread. Season 2 Episode 14. Used car dealer Harvey Hunnicutt can only tell the truth due to a Model A he put on the lot. Titled "The Whole Truth". I just checked, still available on Paramount Plus (with subscription...).

Electric fuel pump, has a red and a black wire on it.😉 The AC Delco EP90 is similar to the picture, but not exact. I have used several EP90 pumps over the years. One on my diesel Seville so I could get the air out of the fuel filter when I changed it with out cranking forever. ❄️☃️🎄🍾🍾🐖🍯

A hack for using the "Tiger-Hair" (one brand name for long strand fiberglass filler) is to lay it on plastic film/wrap, mix it and then lay the patch over the hole/area and smooth it out as best you can so there is way less sanding involved. Let the filler dry. Peel the plastic off. Yes, you do still need to sand all the surface to get the next layer, regular filler, to stick. Back in the 90s I used the plastic coated masking paper by 3M to do this trick. The paper made it stiffer and the plastic side just peeled off the Tiger-Hair (or the short fiber version). ❄️☃️🎄🍾🍾🐖🍯