What Would Paul Do?

[84mpg]

I’m probably by myself, but I sort of miss the distributors, points, plugs, carbs, etc. I wouldn’t mind am/fm only.... and crank windows. My kids have never seen , much less owned a vehicle without PWs.

Compared to all of the over loaded, bloated rolling computers we use as vehicles - the Elio is about as KISS as we’d ever see in the US.

 

[Samuel Gompers]

I’m probably by myself, but I sort of miss the distributors, points, plugs, carbs, etc. I wouldn’t mind am/fm only.... and crank windows. My kids have never seen , much less owned a vehicle without PWs.

Compared to all of the over loaded, bloated rolling computers we use as vehicles - the Elio is about as KISS as we’d ever see in the US.

Perhaps you should explore the classic car/truck/bike market. There are lots of old-school / low-tech vehicles out there, especially if you have the talent or money to keep them in good condition. Your fuel economy and emissions will suffer with carbs and points. I've rebuilt carbs within the past few months, but it's probably been over 30 years since I set points.

 

[Ty]

Perhaps you should explore the classic car/truck/bike market. There are lots of old-school / low-tech vehicles out there, especially if you have the talent or money to keep them in good condition. Your fuel economy and emissions will suffer with carbs and points. I've rebuilt carbs within the past few months, but it's probably been over 30 years since I set points.

LOL.. points. My 1965 Mustang (sold it in '89...) used to have a habit when I stopped for gas of not starting occasionally. This would then require me to pop off the distributor cap, adjust the points so they would break contact when the distributor spun, and then replace the distributor cap. I had the process down to a couple of minutes and ALWAYS had my toolbox with me.

 

[RSchneider]

LOL.. points. My 1965 Mustang (sold it in '89...) used to have a habit when I stopped for gas of not starting occasionally. This would then require me to pop off the distributor cap, adjust the points so they would break contact when the distributor spun, and then replace the distributor cap. I had the process down to a couple of minutes and ALWAYS had my toolbox with me.

I don;t miss those old days. My old Z4 got me tons of miles and the engine never missed a beat and the only major job on it was the coil packs (which BMW replaced in 10 minutes for free). No adjustments of anything. It started at 15 below or 100 degrees. Just like my VW. In 30K miles it's got three oil changes and that's it. Nothing else. Honestly I have no idea what the i3 will ever need. It just goes.

As opposed to the good old days where you had to change points, do a valve adjustment, adjust the fuel mixture, adjust the choke and change spark plugs every 10K miles. I miss the days of vapor lock (when was the last time you heard that phrase). My brothers old AMC Pacer used to blow the distributor cap off of it. That was because the vacuum advance would rupture the diaphragm, then fuel from the carb would find it's way into the distributor. Next time he's start it up, the spark in the distributor would ignite the fuel. my old 911 would "blue the points" (where the points would get a blue haze on them and then the engine wouldn't start). So all you needed was a $1 bill and a screwdriver. Open the points, rub the dollar bill through them and thus it would fire back up.