Have things changed that much?

L

Lee Young

Member
Have spent a small fortune on stuff ready to pretty much rebuild my Zed. It's my retirement "Toy" for when I get back to Spain. Really looking forward to getting my hands dirty.

Now my question... When I was much younger I, like many folk, did all my own servicing and repairs. Rebuilt engines/gearboxes/diffs/the lot. That's just what you did back then. Also Had to make do without any specialist tools or stuff often up on bricks. You'll all be too young to know this. Now, Have cars really changed that much that they now need such things as coolant and brake oil changes every couple of years? On the other hand, oil used to be changed every 3,000 miles some did it even more often! Has oil technology improved so much that you can leave it for lots of miles and/or 2 years? Don't get me wrong I'll be doing all my changes as least as often as recommended but I do question our obsession with these things.

Cheers and enjoy.
 
Been wondering exactly the same things myself since buying the Z, I'm a few years into retirement so spend most of my days fettling with the car or bikes and riding them (If I can keep out of the way of housey stuff when the missus finds me). I did all that stuff when I was younger as well, I rebuilt a few MGs and bits of other stuff but there seems to be less to do on modern cars now as the dealers like you to use their agents so have turned everything into a, "Black Art" Blind every bugger with science then they can charge a fortune. When you can do the jobs yourself they come with caveats like the Bimmer - correct oil is of paramount importance for engine g/box and diff etc but nowhere in the owner's book does it tell you what grades to use, just BMW LL01 or LL04 for the engine so then you have to go Googling it! We used to just pop down to the local car shop, pick up a gallon of Duckhams 20/50 and a Fram oil filter and we were sorted.

It's what they call "progress" .... and nobody seems to want to get their hands dirty these days. We're breeding a nation of wimps! :)
 
Yep they have changed that much. The days when you could strip an engine a rebuild it, with a couple of spanners and a Haynes manual are gone for new cars. Even the E85 has so much tech on it, that I can't see any long term future for them, once the spares are gone from the shelves. Would be a shame, but it's what I think will kill these cars off, long before the Stags and Heralds of the world are gone. :cry:
 
The only thing that has really changed is the need for a laptop, cables and diagnostic software.

Get your oil from somewhere like Opie Oils and they'll be able to recommend stuff that matches all the specs from BMW too.
 
Jonny essex said:
Parts can be made by hand with a skilled person, no car is beyond upkeep even decades later, theres cars that over hundred years old that work, simple yes but in the future wont Zeds be "simple" :)
Click to expand...


Good point JE :thumbsup:
 
Jonny essex said:
Parts can be made by hand with a skilled person, no car is beyond upkeep even decades later, theres cars that over hundred years old that work, simple yes but in the future wont Zeds be "simple" :)
Click to expand...

Yep but the digital displays are another matter. Hopefully there will be enough Zeds around, for many years, to make it worth while for some one to tool up and make copies, but it's not like you can stick a lathe in your shed and make them your self, like you could with cars pre the sixties. Ultimatlely I think these parts will kill modern car off, whilst the older one survive. :(
 
The ///Ms definitely are of an analogue era, they are proper mechanical beasts that love regular maintenance, perfect for a good solid DIYer... i love tinkering with mine.
 
I first got into cars in the 80's, I have changed engines, gear boxes, sub frame etc, on a modern can even changing the plugs is a daunting task :thumbsdown:
 
When i started as a mechanic i was renovating and rebuilding Mg's,Rovers and Jaguars at a garage that did resto's as well as day to day servicing and repairs to more "modern" cars... SD1 Rovers,XJ's,Granada's and Cortina's where aplenty then.
Servicing and repairs was fairly easy.... Carbs where tricky on some,and we specialised in Borg Warner Auto's.... They where a bit tricky,but once you had your head in gear,they where fine.

I then worked in main dealers,became a head tech and a Rally engineer for a main dealer in Lancashire.. All upto speed with latest tech.


Been an Indy now for 15 years and things move so quickly its very hard to keep at the forefront of technology. We do a lot of diagnostics for other garages that have simply given up trying to repair cars.

I would have thought in another 15 years (when im ready to give up hopefully) things will have pushed forward massively again. Hybrid technology will be in full flow and the technicians job will be totally different again..

Honestly chaps i have tales about modern cars that would make your hair curl.In the main they are not for DIYers anymore..
 
But what about reliability and performance? I can't believe that today my Zed had a really great workout (we're talking some serious roads here 150 miles+) and it always shrugs it off - my wife will be using the Zed for work tomorrow - no maintenance and fettling needed like the 'old' days when it was essential to have a set of points and spanners condensers and the like.

Amazing progress in reliability and performance - that ability to provide such thrills time after time with what is very little maintenance is frankly incredible.

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
Whilst i dont disagree... The cars are no more reliable than 20 years ago,less so in some cases..

Now 30-35 yrs ago... different story..
 
Jonny essex said:
Parts can be made by hand with a skilled person, no car is beyond upkeep even decades later, theres cars that over hundred years old that work, simple yes but in the future wont Zeds be "simple" :)
Click to expand...

Be kind to Machine Monkey ! ...
He is our future !

Bumpy :driving:
 
tooling costs alone will be astronomical for many parts just look at the costs of clear hockey sticks.
some of the mechanical parts maybe, but i would guess that many require specialist castings etc.
then there are simply the parts that cannot be made by hand. id love to see someone make a hall sensor by hand
 
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