On Tue, 31 Jul 2001, joe wrote: There was a time when frequent car maintenance was easier and more convenient for Americans who aren't shade-tree mechanics. What I'm referring to is the scarcity these days of convenient places to get a tune-up, grease job and oil change. Places like Jiffy Lube don't count, as they're as likely to damage a car as they are to change the oil, etc. properly. Not so long ago, there was a higher percentage of corner gas stations, with more than one mechanic working in them, to cars. One could often just drive up to a service station, pull into a bay, and get a car repaired without having to drop it off or make an appointment. Even finding a mechanic who can perform a tune up is becoming difficult; many don't know how to adjust points or carburators, and one can forget about having the dwell adjusted or getting a distributor curved; one shop that I called about the later had no idea as to what I was talking about. If they'd get all these new cars with ridiculously overly complex engines off the road and put carburators and distributors with points back in cars, people would have fewer problems with maintenance and finding parts 20 years later. Of course, Big Brother wouldn't like that, as the old cars can't be stopped by a high-energy blast that makes electronic components in the new engines break down. -- Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other

All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above

rdd(a)rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to