In 1973 I bought my first car that ran, 1957 DeSoto. I took the car to Schaffer's on Sunset Blvd and for $15 had the car tuned up. Back then, you could stand and watch the mechanic work and I thought to myself, "I can do this." I bought a timing light, dwell meter, feeler gauges, and have been a shade tree mechanic ever since. Although now that I'm on the road to 70 years old, it's getting harder, there is nothing as sweet as hearing and seeing your car come to life by your own hand.

I was a professional ASE certified master technician in the the late eighties until 2000. Trying to navigate that mine field totally burned me out. Computer controlled carburetors, early sketchy fuel injection systems, trying to keep yourself supplied with tools and information all while working for a guy who thought we should be able to fully service any car any time but didn’t want to step up with the equipment. He thought the world was still like you described about 60’s and 70’s. I own drive and service my own modern vehicles but my real enjoyment comes from my old cars. They just make sense.

Me too. I’m 59 now and I’ve made my life simpler. Happiness level goes up as the complexity level goes down.

I'm a 31 year old female and really believe I should've lived in the era you spoke about! I have a 76 corvette and working on it using the "old school" methods is heaven!!!

You could always tell which service item was common by the number of greasy fingerprints on that page. 😎

"You have not perfected something when you've made itt as advanced as possible, but when you've made it as simple as possible and completes the same task." - Confucius or something

My teens came rushing back. I'm 57 and these tools were in all of our tool boxes.. I cherished those years. Good vid UT :)

I am a younger guy (30) and I love this video. Would be happy to see more videos like this from you Tony. The opinion pieces are great! haha.

I'm 42. I didn't really start working on cars until the mid to late 90's. So almost everything I worked on was from the late 70's early 80's. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. I've always said that I was born in the wrong era. I should've grown up working on 50's and 60's cars. I would've been much happier

A couple you forgot would be leak down tester and a coolant pressurizer. I gave up in 2010, I got tired of chasing electrons as they always lead under the dash, a place I hate.

I remember when I started me apprenticeship you opened the hood and could climb in and work on the engine. Now it takes you hours to pull off all the crap just to find the engine to change plugs

I miss the old days when you didn't have to sit through 3 commercials to watch a 10 minute video on KZfaq... But I love your videos, Tony!!

I'm stuck back there with you, Tony. I have been a professional self employed mechanic for 51 years, & I am so glad that I'm almost done. I've just about seen & worked on everything out there, & I'm truly sick of changing parts & watching my profits go down the tubes buying electronic test scanners & all the newest equipment just to barely keep up ......

"The simple things in life are often the best." I would hear this a lot as a child, as I grow old it makes a lot of sense to me now.

I'm 67, I remember using match books to set points. All you needed was a timing light and a vacuum gauge and maybe a dwell tach if you were being fancy.

I dig out my old Kmart vacuum gauges at work every now and then. The young guys at work laugh at me . But is is the best diagnostic tool I have in my arsenal . Great video !!!!

I'm 19 and I love using my dad's 1974 Chilton's and dodge service manuals on our cars

If there is an electromagnet pulse detonation or an apocalypse. Uncle Tony will have the only running fleet in his town!

I’m there now. 31 years ago I signed up. I was working on 80’s cars. They were much simpler to work on to me. These toilets we work on today add just complicated for no reason. I’m ready to walk away and base my living on old cars. KZfaqr? Maybe. I completely understand and respect you as a mechanic sir

I'm 64 and 45 years in the game...You ticked every box there Tony...I couldn't agree more.

The best thing about the 70s and 80s was that most of the things we wanted and needed were made in America.

I'm 26 and I've always appreciated the old, simple, easy to work on vehicles, I had a 92 d250 and as much as I hated how unreliable it was, it was the easiest vehicle ever to work on, even with mpfi. Since it was made to run that big ol' Cummins, the puny little 318 that it came with left me enough room to practically crawl up in there and close the hood.

I miss those days too. In 1970 I was 13, I learned on a 1966 Chevelle, straight six, points distributor, NO ECMS, no special tools. just a feeler gauge, dwell meter, tach and a timing light to tune it. My neighbor Mr.Jack, who taught me just needed the feeler gauge. His ears were his tools. People would bet him he was off on timing or idle speed, his response was "betcha 20 bucks I am dead on", and they would lose 20 bucks cause he was dead on target and proved it. Went in his house and came back with a timing light, tach and dwell meter. Dead nut on target. He was the guy who lit the wrenching fire in me. I had one of those dwell meters. Good times. Been wrenching on my own junk ever since.

I was a mechanic from 1982-2019 and I saw the automobile go through more change than the previous 7 decades. I think each era had plus and minus. The complexity of today’s cars are astounding. They are a marriage of machine and computer. People have unrealistic expectations of what car repair entails. I will say OBDII can be in your favor in diagnosing problems. Racing against the clock is very stressful when performing repairs these days. Great segment UT.

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

I'm only 35. I work in a fleet shop working on tractor trailers, forklifts, pickups ect. I still use all that stuff minis that fancy tester. Plus an old school VAT. They wonder how I figure out stuff the modern guys can't.

Remember the old "Motor" books? Hardcover. They were like Chiltons but way thicker and covered all kinds of makes and models.

I agree! the best way to learn how to work properly in cars was reading service manuals, we don´t have them any more, and internet is not the same.

I remember the Keith Black Elephant Engines from the old days. (On UT's T-Shirt) I grew up in the 60's and 70's. I feel a bit bad for the young folks that have never seen a dual point distributor, or set one up, or a carburetor, or rebuilt a carb or tuned one. I never once, not a single time, EVER got stranded in any of my 60's or 70's vehicles. Did they never have any problems? Sure they did BUT, nothing that could not be fixed on the side of the road in 10 minutes and, they always got me home. Even when traveling back and forth to college 900 miles away. (1800 mile round trip and I made that trip over 35 times with no problems at all.) Now, you get a check engine light and the car shuts off even though it had been running fine 1 minute earlier. So, you get towed to the dealer and they scratch their heads and can not figure out what happened and tell you to just drive it...and if it happens again...bring it back. It did...got towed again and they STILL have no idea what is wrong. I am selling it and getting an older car or truck.

... and that is why I listen to you... you're so full of old school knowledge. Thank you so much for sharing.

Tony, I am 65 yrs old & I miss the old days. YES , we had it GREAT. I , too, still have ALL of my old school analyzer, timing light and so on. Back in the day, we diagnosed, trouble shot, & then removed , rebuilt & replaced the part. Nowadays, they just replace parts until they solve the problem. Usually, they don't resolve the issue at hand. We do not realize how much we have truly lost. Thank you for posting this. STAY REAL!

I was lucky. The first car I fixed was my mothers VW Beetle. The engine flooded because it was 100F. She wanted to go home and was going to find a payphone and call Dad. I told her to wait a second. I got out, lifted the hood and stuck the carb wide open. I told her to keep cranking till it started and not to touch the pedals. After the 6th roll she slowly caught, then i pulled the throttle open and it went to idle. I closed the hood. I was 9 or 10. I had spent the summer working on a 58 - 1200cc. I never looked back.

Lol, my son, ( hes 31 ) went with me to an old car lot with a 62 buick with a tiny 6 banger in it. I opened the hood, and he was going nuts asking where was the computer, the serpintine belt, and the sensors. I told him we didnt need shit like that back in those days.

That’s stuff I learned with and still have it, I worked 50+ years in the field until trucks went to 3 to5 computers and couldn’t afford the equipment to scan them.

You’re a man after my own heart! I’ve been working on cars since 1969 and have modern tools and test gear, but long for the simpler days of what you’re describing in this video. A tach/dwell meter, a vacuum gauge, a test light, your ears and your eyes were all you needed to diagnose pretty much any problem in a vehicle back in the day. I miss that!

Preach it, Brother Tony! I enjoyed the hell out of this video. Many a year ago I tuned up my dad's old Chevy pickup with my timing light and dwell meter. The tune-up kit was like $5 and you got a distributor cap, rotor, points, grease capsule, and condenser. Even though I was and am a complete clod when it comes to fixing things that old truck made the long trip perfectly and got good gas mileage to boot. How satisfying that was. Now it's 500 smackers every time my Subaru goes down. To quote Sir Alfred Tennyson: "O death in life! The days that are no more."

My 81 slant 6 lean burn D150 is still my daily driver to work everyday, ok not points or ECU but nonetheless, I got the oldest vehicle at the stoplight most of the time. It's paid for.....that goes a long way with me.

That's Incredible reminded me of Real People. I had a crush on Sarah Purcell.

As a professional mechanic, starting at 16 yrs old. my career was mostly spent working on European luxury cars, but My passion has always been classic American cars. Nothing beats an old classic for my money. I have a 1976 Camaro and I am just starting on a 1936 Chevy 2dr sedan. The oldest car I've diagnosed was a 1905 Ford model F. It can't be overstated how awesome old cars are!

Headlights went out at 60 MPH on a dark highway one night in my '61 Biscayne. I diagnosed it while I was driving. The chrome ring that threaded onto the headlight switch felt warm so I tightened it up and the lights came on. Never even took my foot off the gas.

As a twenty year old trying to live before my time. I love these videos!

The past is like pizza, even when it sucks it's still pretty good.

LOL, I was in HS mech shop 1977 and 78, we had that giant Sun "engine analyzer." We just used it to show off. Dang near every engine tune we did was done by ear, listening and getting it close. Then follow-up if we had to with some sort of gauge or meter. Fast forward, I now have "another" 69 Camaro and am so grateful for my two years of HS auto mechanics. Sometimes take a minute, but it all comes back... except for weird new stuff, like Comp Cams Anti-Pump Up Hydraulic Lifters. Those threw me a inside curveball.

Thanks for making me feel so Damn old! I'm so old that I have owned and repaired cars that came with owners manuals that told you how to adjust the valves. We recently bought a used car for my girlfriend and had to get an owners manual for it. In it it tells you not to drink the contents of the battery. Now there's a handy bit of information right there.

I miss those days of manuals and dwell meters!!😁😁😁

Love the Ramones.

I'm 27yo and drive vintage Mazda cars. I can learn anything at incredible pace and used to have a shop with a buddy of mine. Always hated dealing with connectors, excessive wiring, sensors, scanners and the overall constrictive nature of modern cars. Here in Ecuador the compact car is the norm, ergo, hatchbacks with fuel injected transverse mounted engines and wrong wheel drive. Hate them. Hate the lack of room to work, hate the fact that most are serviced by hack mechanichs and everything's butchered. So I left the business, and stuck with my '74 Mazda Capella, gifted my '80 626 to my sister, bought a '71 R100 and now I'm on my way to get a '71 1300 station wagon. Happy dealing with carbs, points, and the simplicity of the analog life. I feel you.

On my 1970 440 Plymouths, (I had 3 of them back in the day) you had to disconnect and plug the vacuum line to the advance diaphragm on the distributor to accurately set the points gap/dwell.

I have all of those tools..man!! They are great!!

I thought I was alone in this mindset until I found your channel!!! Thank you for just being there to prove someone else sees what I see!!!

I started my apprenticeship in 1973 with VW in Calgary and retired 20 years ago. I also just bought a Sears Engine Analyzer off flea bay just because. Looks just like yours. My timing light is long gone so that's next up. A nice chrome Sears one. I don't even have a car to use them on so guess I should address that problem too. You're right Tony, great times, simpler times.

I was broke high school senior in mid 80's and my car was running rough. Local shop wanted to run a full diagnostic with his new Sun computer. Forgot how much it was but it was out of my budget. A friend looked at it, found a disconnected vacuum line, stuck a screw in it, and the car ran great.

Proud Boomer here! Thank you, Uncle Tony for the wide smile I am no wearing!

Could not agree with you more 👏

35 years old and WITH YOU 100%!! I miss the old 1970s cars I had in my 20s, I changed out alternators, fuel pumps and other various things which broke down in 1-2hours max (without any guides/internet) and cost me next to nothing! I miss that life....

You're 100% on point. My father wasn't handy when he and my mother first got married in 1965. My mother commented, "We're trying to buy a house and it's getting expensive to get that car (a 1963 Sport Fury) tuned at the dealer all the time..." My father said, "I'll teach myself". Back then, you could go to Kmart, Sears, or anywhere and get yourself a Chilton manual and some Sears Craftsman tools and equipment. That is what my father did and taught himself. I learned from him before he passed away. The tools, books and equipment are still in my garage in working order. The Actron meter you showed is a version of a similar series that they made for Sears under the "161" model prefix. They were sold under the Sears, Penske and later Craftsman name, but Actron was the supplier. Also, Peerless Instruments also supplied Sears with products over the years, and eventually they were bought by Actron. Peerless units produced for Sears had a "244" model prefix. Actron is owned by Bosch now and does not support the old stuff. But prior to the Bosch take over, I had found a 1980 Sears engine analyzer thrown out on top of a trash can on recycling day. It was complete, down to the instruction book. It was missing maybe one or two small pieces. I called Actron and they gladly sent it to me. A friend of mine had test equipment and said to me, "If you can get me the schematics and specs, I can tune this thing very accurately". I called Actron and they mailed me a copy of the schematics and actual blue prints for the unit. My friend put it on his equipment and tuned it. Back in that era, a trip to the Sears automotive department was all that you needed and for reasonable cost, you could equip your home shop to be pretty well set up. With that being said, a friend of mine gave me his late dad's 1968 Sears 1.5 HP twin cylinder oil lubed air compressor. It looks to be in pretty good shape and with some TLC, I hope to have it running in the future.

Amen. I’m 15 or so years younger and grew up in the 80’s. F this world. Where’s the EMP!?

Right on. Back then we were real mechanics. When we diagnosed a vehicle, we were in touch with that vehicle. We were using all our scenes to feel the vehicle on a level not to be seen these days. Keep up the good work brother.

I went to autozone a few months ago to buy a timing light. So I go up to the cashier and ask what isle the timing lights are on, and they looked back at me with a confused expression. They had no idea what a timing light was!

Preach it Father Uncle Tony! I see the exact same thing in the HVAC field. The Gubiment mandated higher efficiencies on furnaces & AC units. As with cars that meant more complicated systems, that break down more often. The $$$ you save in fuel/operating costs is more than gone with one out of warranty repair. At least there are still older vehicles out there that can still be put on the road. My favorite vehicle right now is my oldest and it is my boat! It's a 1974 with a ford 302 I/O and OMC 'stringer' sterndrive. I can do almost anything on it myself with basic tools and almost all parts are available and affordable! One factory manual (not even half as thick as that Plymouth one) covers the engine & outdrive and has everything I need to know! Good times!

A good way to show noobs how cars have changed is to make them read through the owner's manual for a 50-year old car and a new car. The old one tells you all you need to know about maintaining the car...changing fluids, tuning it up, repairing this or that. The new one simply tells you to take it to the dealership when anything is needed. I would love nothing more than daily driving an old car...I just don't have as much courage as Uncle Tony to do so, lol!

At 23 I’m the only guy in the shop arguing about how points ignition and drum brakes are better than this new shit. No one questions my authority on old shit .

I think Uncle Tony is my spirit animal.

I'm just happy that my dad raised me on old cars. He drove an 84 Capri as his daily for years and years. We always were working on the cars grandad bought new, like his 72 furys, 2 door and 4 door. Now I'm 23 and I daily drive grandads 4 door fury. I've got an 86 s10 blazer for winter and hauling but nothing beats the feel of that land yacht!

I was born in the early 90s so i arrived late to the party, however i can say without a shred of a doubt that if i could i would grab a one way ticket and ooze my way back to the 90s, because i was a kid and didn't have much of the responsibilities carried by an adult it's easy to see things with tinted glasses but i'm viewing things in an objective manner, for instance i miss the times when society moved slower, people were more relaxed, computers and the internet was in it's early phase for the home average user, we actually lived in the moment before all the technofreaks took over our lives. Also taking into account the perspective of my older family members, at least in Norway the 70, 80s and 90s period were magic in their own ways and is sorely missed not only by me. The way i see it, technology was just about right and well balanced, it wasn't too intrusive, it was there if you absolutely needed it but that's about it.

I have that very same dwell meter, I bought two of them new from Sears at the same time a vacuum gauge, a timing light and a compression gauge. Somehow I lost one of the dwell meters! :( I still use all of these today, along with both a digital and analog voltmeter and last year I bought my 1st dial-back digital timing light.

Well needed lecture------ THNX I'm 76 and still a "Back/Yarder lol

The world needs more people like you Tony to teach us younger guys under 50 to perserve and restore these great old american cars and enjoy them the way they were ment to be. I am 43 years old and should have been borne in your generation Tony👍

Wish I could be at the UTG open day at the new shop, but I am 8000+ miles away from USA :( Hope you live stream the whole event!!!! I am a Kiwi like your buddy kiwi, hope Kiwi will be there to represent all us Kiwis :) Kiwi down a Speights for all us kiwis at the UTG grand opening :)

The fact that my Plymouth bible is front and center on my bench right now kinda gave me a feeling of pride. Then I realized when he said "you younger guys" he didn't mean me. Lol!

I love my 83 300D Mercedes diesel. 410,000 miles and still going reliably every day. Nothing complicated it just works. It makes me happy to know some sensor failing is not going to leave me stranded sometime.

I'm 48 Just got into classic cars this year. I have a 58 Bel Air and all the tools I need for the vehicle fits into a carry around Craftsman tool box. Love it!! I've done every repair job on the car since owning it in February. I have the passenger car shop manual and GM build manual that's all you need.

I still have and use that exact Seats dwell meter. Great video!

My boss still pulls out his old snap on oscilloscope on 80s-90s vehicles. It will show you what is wrong ignition wise if you know how to read a firing line for the specific ignition setup.

My 1st car was a 69 Roadrunner. I was 16 and I drove it hard. A lot of the older hot rod guys would give me advise, and I learned and loved every minute of it. God I wish I still had that car!

I absolutely agree with Uncle Tony. I started wrenching on cars with my first car in 1967 (a 1960 Corvair). I still have all that equipment he displayed. Loved those old factory manuals. The Corvair manual was excellent, taught me basic auto repair. I'd go back in a heartbeat!

Grew up in the 80s and I also felt like the last gen had it better, I never realised how great I had it until it was gone

I totally get it👍

I bought a 69 Z/28 for $4,500 in 1984. I was 19..I got Craftsman tools, timing light, dwell meter, compression tester etc & a Chilton's manual...put a Jenson super tuner III, new tires & shocks, and I was a street hero..in my mind🤣.. early 80 we're a wierd time ,you could still find muscle cars ,but they weren't $50,000-$100,000

I am 72 and I still have those easy to use tools , became an ASE master "tech" trouble shooter for computerized engine controls , carburators , fuel injection, plus the "normal" mech repairs . SO glad to be retired ...kept my 68 Charger my 57 Chev pickup and my 78 shovelhead . 42 years as a wrench twister I learned to value the past . I remember if we diagnosed your starter bad I took it off & rebuilt it including turning the armature as with all the other stuff great profession , never out of work unless you wanted to be. love the old stuff

The old days meant you had one paycheck a month for play. Now it's about one day's pay a month.

I still have my Craftsman timing light, tach-dwell meter. Boomers rule!

Damn God called you out by starting that air compressor!!! You are the Mopar Messiah!!

I am SO glad I got to live through those heady days. My first car was an AMC Gremlin. Straight six, Drum brakes all around. Learned everything on cars and motorcycles from the 60s and 70s...The modern stuff just leaves me cold...The horespower numbers and track times...YAWN....The Old stuff was/is ALIVE!!! And the RAMONES were the greatest RoCK n RoLL band, EVER! I'm turning 59...Wouldn't trade my experiences with any phone luvin' one of you young pups

CULT LEADER UTG!!!

Personally I blame squirrels

I was going to school to become a mechanic and take over my uncles shop when he retired but so many old school mechanics and mechanics at the time told me to get another career so thanks to them I chose another career to get into because with being a mechanic now days you have to keep going back and upgrading and you need big money to have the software to service the cars of today. I'm so glad I did not follow through with it because there is really not much money in it after all the upgrading you have to take and the money you have to spend to have a updated shop capable of working on all the cars of today.

Ah the old dwell tach. Man you just jogged my memory Uncle Tony, I got outta high school in 72 and worked in service stations through high school. I worked on my own cars back in the day, still do at times. One of the stations I worked in had the old Sun machine, I never saw it hooked up. The owner was a great mechanic who was old school and he taught me an awful lot. Back in the day, I used to go to the library in my home town and get the Chilton manuals. I got hired by the power company and became a lineman, that’s when I slowed down on working on cars. I’m Originally from central Jersey and the muscle cars of that era were all over the place. We used to hang out in Tottenville back then…… memories. Thanks Uncle Tony!

I'm a "boomer". The 60's were fantastic. End of story.

Plan Z!!

I spent about 45 years in the car repair biz. I still refer to my old blue 1967 Motors repair manual. When I found myself overthinking the new stuff, I went back to the rock botton basics. Worked like a charm every time.

Im 22, just bought a ‘79 I4 Turbo Foxbody. Totally understand where you’re coming from. It’s so much easier to work & diagnose this car than the modern vehicles my parents have. Thank you for your videos, properly tuning this carb is going to be so much easier thanks to you

I was born in '89, but my first car was a "67 Valiant with a slant six and a three on the tree. I sold that car when I was like 20. Almost immediately regretted it, told myself if I ever found another one I would keep it forever. I have owned a '68 Valiant with a slant six and a 4-speed for almost 10 years now, it's my daily driver 9 months out of the year. I have a really cool Dad for letting me have that as my first car.

I obtained my ASE certifications in the early 90's, and had been around service departments since the early 80's. Uncle Tony is the embodiment of nearly every guy I knew and worked with back then, and I really do miss those days now! Currently not working on cars anymore, have thought about going back....

I'm a little younger(Gen X) than Tony, but I am with him 100%. I refuse to own newer cars, my Chevy van is 2002 as I needed AWD and I had little kids, but my dailies are 1987 Mitsubishi Montero, with a carburetor and a 1983 BMW, with a Weber 2 barrel. Engine engineering peaked in the 1990s insofar as durability, reliability and ease of repair. My 70s cars have all been simple BMWs and Mercedes, these cars were made to be repaired, not replaced.

24 years old here. Own a 78 trans am. I gotta say, I get it. However. I’ve experienced both sides to the argument and I gotta say, I much prefer pushing buttons on a tablet than rejetting a carburetor. Mad respect to the older guys out there and the old tech, but I like my computers lol

The “old days” were indeed much a better time to work on cars and be a mechanic. People make fun of my old cars, and just stare from under their hood, when trying to figure out which wire/sensor/ground has killed their car. I love the smell of the big old blue “Motor “ shop books, of which I have several. Nothing like having a book in hand to look at. I just picked up an old sun machine for tuning. An old friend and are are going to start tuning up the old carb cars as a side gig. In a crazy way, old cars are a sort of time machine.. keep up the great work! Cheers!

Man can I relate! And to be clear, I never got to live in those glorious times. I'm 31 years old and always talked mad shit about the old guys and their cars... because you're absolutely right. I didn't get it, I had no reference to how easy it was. I grew up with a mountain of tools and test equipment and thought this was normal. Then I got an 80s truck... omg it changed my life. So Damn Easy!! I tore half the thing apart with a screwdriver and a wrench. My eyes are finally open, old cars are where its at, carburetors and minimal wiring! Woo!

If you can get one of the old thick hardcover Motors service manuals with the beautiful lithograph pages grab it! I have a 1953 and 1966 one. And those covered just about every make out there with all the specs!

Ya, he,s so right, those where the days, new cars today cost a small fortune,and don't hold up nearly as well,so yes this man has my blessing.