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Why Some People Are Stuck In the Past

As much as I've had issue with Tony in some of his past videos, this is one I agreed with (and made
comments on, in fact).
He can use his channel to do a lot of good for the hobby - he certainly is a fountain of knowledge -
if only he'd stop being so click-baity and trying to generate false drama in order to get viewers.
We already have plenty of that in the hobby (looking at you, Worman).
 
I disagree the assertion that the large Sun Diagnostic Testers were for show only. We used one in highschool, and at the craft shop in the military, and they were very useful if you knew how to use them. It was that not every one could afford a piece of test equipment that cost over $100k in their home shop.
 
I disagree the assertion that the large Sun Diagnostic Testers were for show only. We used one in highschool, and at the craft shop in the military, and they were very useful if you knew how to use them. It was that not every one could afford a piece of test equipment that cost over $100k in their home shop.
You're right. It took 2 minutes to hook up a Sun Oscilloscope and if you had a miss in the engine I could tell you what cylinder it was on, whether it was a bad spark plug or spark plug wire or whether you needed to dive deeper into the engine to find the problem.
 
Big part of the reason why i only drive classic cars ^^
 
I really wish I had an old Sun distributer tester and oscilloscope. Things are expensive.
 
I really wish I had an old Sun distributer tester and oscilloscope. Things are expensive.

oscilloscope is great when diagnosing electronic ignitions, dash regulators, and other pulsed type signals. You learn a lot looking at the waveforms too
 
I disagree the assertion that the large Sun Diagnostic Testers were for show only. We used one in highschool, and at the craft shop in the military, and they were very useful if you knew how to use them. It was that not every one could afford a piece of test equipment that cost over $100k in their home shop.

If you don’t understand what you are looking at they are useless. If you do then you can deduce all sorts of information.
 
I think the guy just likes to hear himself talk too much
or see himself on camera talking...
(like most/others with youtube channels do too :poke: )

some of the old diagnosis equipment
were great for the time
even still good today, still useful

10 min.'s I will never get back

I do love my 68 Plymouth Factory Service Manual too
 
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I am sorry because I know some here like this guy but I think he is a blowhard. Obviously he likes the past, just look at his pony tail... Seriously though, you had thousands of dollars of test and diagnostic equipment and you "threw it away"... yeah right.

Even a classic car with points and a carb can benefit significantly from an O2 sensor and gauge. I've been working on cars since I was about 1974 so it occurs to me that this dude either is afraid of new technology or just doesn't want to learn it; it is not that hard especially today. For you old guys; remember when you were a kid and had to go to the library to look something up in a manual because they cost a fortune? I surely do and I spent what I could to photocopy pages I needed only to find out I needed more...

Believe what you want, enjoy whatever era you want but I do know one thing; some guys are getting 800 HP out of a 4 banger and you are not tuning that with a tach/dwell meter. I love the classic cars as well, but I love modern tech almost as much. Personally I think this guy is a hack.
 
This guy may overly dramatic at times but I find him to be a excellent mechanic, the. kind that takes things down to basics.
You didnt need a lap top and the software to diagnosis a car problem back then like you do now
I dont agree with him on a Sun scope but I think its more to the point that it wasn't needed to diagnose and tune cars back in the day. More of a time saver
He's probably eccentric and thats fine by me
 
@HALIFAXHOPS owns and sells those scopes. Yes the giant machines were a sales tool for the service department but they got big enough they weren't portable anymore and they had to be big so you could see them from many feet away.
 
Maybe it's just me, but being from those times ,60's thru the 80's and working on cars, what he showed is all you really needed.
I worked with a guy the tuned carbs with a glass of water on top of the air cleaner. Now that's old school !
I was a graduate of Denver Automotive and Diesel Collage. When I got the job at a Dodge Dealership the shop foreman would say,when I asked a question,"What's the book say ?" Now he worked from the early 50's to the late 70's at he dealership,sadly he passed away at home from a heart attack at 60. To this day I still hear his voice when I open a service manual (You know the kind that is made of paper):)
 
Ive got a few old Snap on meters, tach and dwell, ohms, volt, a cylinder shorting meter and another one I forgot what it is. They are from I assume the early seventies. They all work great, the cylinder shorting meter with the tach is really handy. Have a good vacuum gauge and a good timing light
I do have a carbon pile, volt and amp meter. Im looking now for a old one.
The reality is with a small investment I have every meter for working on pre computer cars with carbs
 
There is no doubt whatsoever that the some of real old school guys were magicians, however they were not nearly as plentiful as we would like to think today. All of test equipment came a long to help more and more people diagnose/tune with a greater degree of efficiency and success. It is admirable to want to become really good at tuning, however the truth is that testing tools and equipment make it much easier and successful.

Some of the "old school" guys would say you only need a flat tip screwdriver and a wrench to loosen the distributor hold down to tune a car, but others will add the compression tester and vacuum gauge and others will list all that and the analyzer, and so on.
 
Not many guys that actual know how to use the old tools either. Sounds like Steve has a good knowledge base on it and actually can use a cyllendar shorting meter, the next best tool to a scope, will definitely get it down to the cyl. You have no idea how many times I would not sell a meter to someone because they would get hurt, seriously!
 
In my experience without question the old sun scope was the stuff. You could see everything going on in the engine. As technology progressed that got lost and was monitored by the engine pcm. That meant the mechanic had to progress with it for testing. Some did some didn't. But there is no way a 60s to 80s production car is going to do what today's cars do.
For instance my late model challenger makes that much HP gets 20 mpg and will last 200k miles or more. No cylinder wash or oil dilution or ignition damage
Difference now is the test equipment can be held in your hands
This is not a knock against Tony but sometimes some new stuff is better
 
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