The Lost Art Of Daily Driving A Carbureted Car

Jack Meoff

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On a morning like today I fully take in the differences between daily driving my trusty old carbureted Fifth Ave and a jellybean fuel injected gender neutral hyondayotissan. For one.....my car has personality....a personality that makes it easily recognizable as "not just another blobmobile. Even in it's day you could distinguish it from it's other manufacturers offerings. Now? Good luck.... Without seeing the badge you'd be pretty hard pressed to tell what kind of " vehicle" it was. Vehicle because we don't but cars anymore.....we buy vehicles.

I remember cars......that's all I own.

On top of the aforementioned things there's also the way you drive a carbureted car as opposed to the new vehicles.
A cold morning.....a couple of pumps and the choke snaps closed. Dial up your favorite station while she fast idles for a bit......give the pedal a little tap and she drops down to the lower position. A few minutes later give her a kick and she drops to curb idle and your ready to go.......sort of.

Still cold it takes proper feathering of the gas to prevent it from bogging....but then once fully warmed up she's rocking and rolling. "That's crazy!" you say....."I just hop in, turn the key and go.....and with my heated seats I'm warm immediately."
Yep.....that's true....but I wonder this. I'm warming my car up because the fluids are like molasses and she's cold as ice....this makes sure that everything is warmed and lubricated and conditions are right to go on my way. Although because of the fuel injection your vehicle will go right away I have to wonder if it shouldn't be allowed to warm up at least a bit to get fluids moving properly?? Regardless.....most don't do that....or even think about it. Most don't really think about anything when it comes to what is going on with the functions of your ride.
Why would they? You can't hear it, you can't feel it.....how would you know?

With my car I'm fully aware of what it's doing......if I ignore the obvious it will bring reality to my attention by stalling or bogging to the point of almost stalling. In other words it's telling me in no uncertain terms "Hey Brainiac.....I'm not ready yet!" And I can fully understand.....if someone woke me up in the freezing cold and wanted me to go right away I'd be saying the same thing.

I was up at my trailer a while back and a friend of my nephew's wanted to take my Fifth for a run around the park. I said sure....I know he's a good driver. I tossed him my keys, he hopped in and started cranking the car....and cranking and cranking. I yelled "Pump the gas a couple of times" and she fired up. He just looked puzzled.....

Just a few of the differences between new and old.
Myself? I like old. I like feeling the car. I like being in tune with what it's doing. I like having to "cooperate" with it first thing on a cold morning. In return for my patience this car has never let me down, has always run like a champ and the only time it's ever left me stranded was when the 28 year old fuel pumps diaphragm went and it leaked. Even then it probably would've don't the 150 miles but hey......I have CAA.

Keep the new crap.....I'll stick with this.
And at some point I'll be one of the few remaining guys who knows how to properly drive one of these glorious old beasts.

I'm totally good with that.
 

BHA43

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Try telling some one younger than 30 how to shift a 3 on the tree!
 

Jack Meoff

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Try telling some one younger than 30 how to shift a 3 on the tree!

Lol!!
I actually just went through demonstrating that to both my wife and a buddy who can't drive a stick in a 62 Comet.
I absolutely love driving a 3 on the tree.
That's what I learned on.

Both had the total deer in the headlights look.
 

Superpac Ninja

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I love it myself as well lotsa heads turn like they have forgot what real iron looks like ,,lol
 

Superpac Ninja

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All they know is fuel injection ,,turn the key it starts ,lol,what ya mean give it some gas?
 

Mr C

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I admit I'm a bit surprised when my 5th Ave gets attention. I drive it all the time and am "used to it" but it stands out among the jellybeans.
 

slant6billy

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78 dip.jpg
this was sent to me by one of my coworkers. It was parked right out side yesterday. That is like 100 feet from where I was doing the burnouts with my Volare by the way.

78 dip.jpg
 

Monkeyed

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I couldn't agree more!

I noticed my $600 5th will get more attention than even the 84 vette I paid over $9,000 for after my insurance settlement from my motorcycle accident. that thing is pretty plain jane sitting in a parking lot, unless someone notices the 315 tires, it would go under the radar. I'd usually have to do something impossible in it to get a second glance. the 5th just stands out so much more

the best thing about a carb is I can tell my insurance with aa straight face that, yes, it is equipped with an anti-theft device. It came equipped from the factory with a mechanism that cuts off fuel flow to the engine unless specific steps are taken.
 

Jack Meoff

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I noticed my $600 5th will get more attention than even the 84 vette I paid over $9,000 for after my insurance settlement from my motorcycle accident. that thing is pretty plain jane sitting in a parking lot, unless someone notices the 315 tires, it would go under the radar. I'd usually have to do something impossible in it to get a second glance. the 5th just stands out so much more

the best thing about a carb is I can tell my insurance with aa straight face that, yes, it is equipped with an anti-theft device. It came equipped from the factory with a mechanism that cuts off fuel flow to the engine unless specific steps are taken.


Lol!
Never thought about that part.
More like an anti idiot device....
 

compubert

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I know it doesn't get "cold" down here but Betsy reminded me today that my drive is much too short, choke stayed on till I pulled in the parking lot at work... ;-)

On a morning like today I fully take in the differences between daily driving my trusty old carbureted Fifth Ave and a jellybean fuel injected gender neutral hyondayotissan. For one.....my car has personality....a personality that makes it easily recognizable as "not just another blobmobile. Even in it's day you could distinguish it from it's other manufacturers offerings. Now? Good luck.... Without seeing the badge you'd be pretty hard pressed to tell what kind of " vehicle" it was. Vehicle because we don't but cars anymore.....we buy vehicles.

I remember cars......that's all I own.

On top of the aforementioned things there's also the way you drive a carbureted car as opposed to the new vehicles.
A cold morning.....a couple of pumps and the choke snaps closed. Dial up your favorite station while she fast idles for a bit......give the pedal a little tap and she drops down to the lower position. A few minutes later give her a kick and she drops to curb idle and your ready to go.......sort of.

Still cold it takes proper feathering of the gas to prevent it from bogging....but then once fully warmed up she's rocking and rolling. "That's crazy!" you say....."I just hop in, turn the key and go.....and with my heated seats I'm warm immediately."
Yep.....that's true....but I wonder this. I'm warming my car up because the fluids are like molasses and she's cold as ice....this makes sure that everything is warmed and lubricated and conditions are right to go on my way. Although because of the fuel injection your vehicle will go right away I have to wonder if it shouldn't be allowed to warm up at least a bit to get fluids moving properly?? Regardless.....most don't do that....or even think about it. Most don't really think about anything when it comes to what is going on with the functions of your ride.
Why would they? You can't hear it, you can't feel it.....how would you know?

With my car I'm fully aware of what it's doing......if I ignore the obvious it will bring reality to my attention by stalling or bogging to the point of almost stalling. In other words it's telling me in no uncertain terms "Hey Brainiac.....I'm not ready yet!" And I can fully understand.....if someone woke me up in the freezing cold and wanted me to go right away I'd be saying the same thing.

I was up at my trailer a while back and a friend of my nephew's wanted to take my Fifth for a run around the park. I said sure....I know he's a good driver. I tossed him my keys, he hopped in and started cranking the car....and cranking and cranking. I yelled "Pump the gas a couple of times" and she fired up. He just looked puzzled.....

Just a few of the differences between new and old.
Myself? I like old. I like feeling the car. I like being in tune with what it's doing. I like having to "cooperate" with it first thing on a cold morning. In return for my patience this car has never let me down, has always run like a champ and the only time it's ever left me stranded was when the 28 year old fuel pumps diaphragm went and it leaked. Even then it probably would've don't the 150 miles but hey......I have CAA.

Keep the new crap.....I'll stick with this.
And at some point I'll be one of the few remaining guys who knows how to properly drive one of these glorious old beasts.

I'm totally good with that.
 

Superpac Ninja

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i like that ,,i had a buddy that had a hidden choke pull switch and if you didnt use it the car wouldn't start ,,or wouldn't start for long enough that he could get outside and thump the poor soul that was trying to jack it (it was a fire chicken though)..not really relevant !!!:eusa_whistle:
 
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