What I Miss Most About Modern Cars...

[Hallabutt]

I'm guessing that "modern car" for this discussion means anything newer then a Studebaker, so that's what I will go with. I guess that what I miss most while driving one of my Studebakers is the quiet that some cars provide. It's not just newer cars though, some period cars were much quieter then Studebaker. Some newer cars have reduced wind noise and rattles down to a whisper.

[Lark Hunter]

I know I go against the grain in posts like this... but it's just how I roll.

If you're jonesing for the amenities of a modern car, spoil yourself and take the newer car to work or run errands or whatever. New cars do everything well... and sometimes that's good. But when I'm driving something older, I just prepare myself to deal with its quirks... like just having the keys ready in one hand when I approach the car. Truth be told, it was always easier to make a couple trips from the driver's seat around to the passenger side to tweak the mirror, than it was to try and communicate to my girlfriend which way to bump the mirror while she's in the passenger seat .

Sure, you can put a lot of careful thought and effort into making your Stude have many of the conveniences of a new car, but you risk taking the charms away with it. And yeah... I am the man who called a Mazda 3 a whole string of dirty names because it wouldn't let me leave the parking lights on while parked without the engine running, then laughed at it because it couldn't dub in the synthetic turn signal "click" while admonishing you for not fastening your seatbelt (in a parking lot). Having to trick it into not spraying the headlights into the neighbor's window late at night (turn lights off, then pull the e-brake partway as you're turning into the driveway)was irritating, but the power and fuel economy were great. I'll let my Studebaker be an old car through and through .

[8E45E]

I'm guessing that "modern car" for this discussion means anything newer then a Studebaker, so that's what I will go with. I guess that what I miss most while driving one of my Studebakers is the quiet that some cars provide. It's not just newer cars though, some period cars were much quieter then Studebaker. Some newer cars have reduced wind noise and rattles down to a whisper.

Sometime in the late 1970's, I had a neighbor who mentioned he didn't miss opening vent windows once he owned a couple of cars without them. He said they always made wind noise, even while closed.

Craig

[Felix]

For gas smell, install a charcoal canister, of 1970s-80s vintage. Available for cheap, on eBay. I vacuum line runs from the carb to draw the fumes from the can and into the intake; a vent line from the fuel tank filler neck pipes the fumes to the can, and drawn there be the carb vacuum line. Works well.

I might try that. Is seems like a simple enough deal but knowing how much vacuum and from where, or the carb port, are answers I would like to know.

Anyone playing with carburetors on cars back in the pollution era will know what ports on the carb, or elsewhere, this would attach to. I, for one, will have to do research but it will be well worth it.

[Studedude]

It breaks my heart that they won't sell me an extended warranty on my old Stude.

[Hallabutt]

Sometime in the late 1970's, I had a neighbor who mentioned he didn't miss opening vent windows once he owned a couple of cars without them. He said they always made wind noise, even while closed.

Vent windows are definitely one of those love/hate items.

[StudeRich]

QUOTE=mw2013;n1910671]trunk poppers are cheap, powerful and simple to install, mine is hooked up to my alarm with keyless entry, no more fumbling for keys in the dark, it will modernize your Stude and allow you to drive it more with less drudgery/Cut/[/QUOTE]

Yeah, like everyone needs a mess like this under their Dash!

[Skip Lackie]

I'm guessing that "modern car" for this discussion means anything newer then a Studebaker, so that's what I will go with.

No argument with the definition, but then I have two "modern" cars (70 Camaro and 78 El Camino) that don't have right side mirrors at all, and never had them. And remote-control outside mirrors -- what a concept! I'll have to investigate that idea further.

[mw2013]

QUOTE=mw2013;n1910671]trunk poppers are cheap, powerful and simple to install, mine is hooked up to my alarm with keyless entry, no more fumbling for keys in the dark, it will modernize your Stude and allow you to drive it more with less drudgery/Cut/

Yeah, like everyone needs a mess like this under their Dash!










[/QUOTE]

lol, my part of the mess is controlled the studebaker part not so I know where everything is, but i wouldn't want to trip on anything down there, you can do the trunk release without the alarm, just a push button

[Noxnabaker]

What I seriously miss the most is that nothing is waisted.
& as for vent windows; I rather have them than not, I like the feeling of driving with windows down & fresh air coming in, but without vent windows it's hopeless without having a storm in the car. & if they make noice closed it's usually because the rubbers are dried out & you can(!) replace these...

Josephine's vent window on driver side is lexan, handle is missing & a part high up has earlier been bended the wrong way so it won't lay "on the inside" of the window/lexan bit, but I used the kind of black "rubber" filler/glue & forsed it to stay in its old possition while closing the window & now that's good. That stuff is also quite usefull when windshield & rear window rubbers are cracking...

[Buzzard]

Bill,

I'm guessing that "modern car" for this discussion means anything newer then a Studebaker, so that's what I will go with. I guess that what I miss most while driving one of my Studebakers is the quiet that some cars provide. It's not just newer cars though, some period cars were much quieter then Studebaker. Some newer cars have reduced wind noise and rattles down to a whisper.

Bill,
On my '57 Packard Clipper Wagon I completely covered the interior roof, floors, side panels and inside all the doors and tailgate with a product like Dynamat.
What a difference in sound levels and reduced road noise. It was a pain but well worth the effort. If I ever strip out the interior (unlikely at my ripe old age) of my '63 GT Hawk I will do the same thing as it made such a difference.
Cheers,
Bill

[bensherb]

Bill,


Bill,
On my '57 Packard Clipper Wagon I completely covered the interior roof, floors, side panels and inside all the doors and tailgate with a product like Dynamat.
What a difference in sound levels and reduced road noise. It was a pain but well worth the effort. If I ever strip out the interior (unlikely at my ripe old age) of my '63 GT Hawk I will do the same thing as it made such a difference.
Cheers,
Bill

Bill I take it your Clipper wagon is in BC and not AZ. I found that the Dyna Mat stuff from Eastwood will melt in the temps I have here and fall off. So under a headliner would be a messy nightmare. Under the carpet is ok.

[Buzzard]

It was actually a self adhesive home insulation product. The car is in Arizona where the government says I am not allowed to interact with it!