Who will buy, maintain, and restore solid axles when the folks who worked on them when (at least relatively) new are gone?

I've been thinking about this a lot. In the NCRS, we've done a decent job of codifying how these cars should look and perform, but the knowledge about how to maintain them seems fairly ephemeral. An example:

A couple of years ago, I was at the NCRS national convention near Boston. There were six or seven newly or recently restored 1953s and 1954s, with the "Blue Flame" in-line six and its three side draft carburetors. None of them was running worth a darn, despite the cubic dollars that had been thrown at them.

A friend of mine (Dick) went back to his 1957 fuelie and got a screwdriver. He went up to one of the 1954 owners and asked him if he could give the engine a try. The owner, who sounded desperate, said yes.

Dick spent about 10 minutes on the carburetors, while a crowd gathered. When he was done, it was running quietly and smoothly and revving freely. He ended up "fixing" every Blue Flame six out there.

Dick beat cancer a few years ago, but I'm increasingly aware of his age. Knowledge transfer to paper comes from him but it's got to be (maybe) about 1% of what he knows. What happens when him and the folks like him are gone? Will these cars ever run right or will they just become sputtering, flighty museum pieces?

Indeed, synchronizing multiple-carb setups used to be an art, even when they were more common. The generation that is used to computer-managed engines has got to feel a little helpless around those nowadays.

You would think there's enough carb guys out there to keep them running. WOW

Corvettes and carburators are part of history.

Perhaps NCRS or other Muscle car or HotRod clubs should put manuals together to show people how to do it right. It's no substitute for experience, but it's a start.

You think that's bad, envision what happens when all those old timers are dead and gone and those cars are in the hands (or storage sheds) of a new generation of car buffs that grew up in the days of the Honda Accord and Ford Taurus.

I don't think any kids these days know a damn thing about carbs or really appreciate anything circa 1950.

I consider myself young at 28, and am learning about carbs for the first time, and am also dumping my 69 for a 55-58 bel air. But these older cars are only really collectible to those who grew up around them and drooling over them at the magazine rack. Nobody younger than 50 is going to have that experience, nor do these cars have the same performance as anything from the 70s, 90s, and today.

Don't be surprised when the value of these vehicles starts dropping, if it hasn't already.

John, what's an unrestored '57 fuelie rolling chassis worth, including motor?

I know of one laying around. Back in the 70s the owner chopped up the fiberglass body to convert it to an offroad buggy and it's sat ever since.

I think part of the deal is people can't remember how they were supposed to run, so the owners just assume that's how it was. The funny thing is that the Blue Flame six was actually one of the better sorted components in those early cars.

Of course, the other thing is that there may not be too much glamour in working on a 150 bhp (gross) engine...

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CC, if the motor and tranny are original it's worth something to somebody. The sticking point might be whether the VIN is still around or is at least known. Values for a solid axle rolling chassis are over the place - I've seen 7k, but I've also seen 60k...

Man, I don't know if I should feel young or old. I am 39 and all four of my cars are FI but I have no real experience working on them(fuel systems that is), everything up until now has been carburated. I have ran mostly Pontiacs using the Tri-power and dual quads and it did take some work to make them run well. I have been reading up on fuel injection so I can work on my 92 but at the moment I have no hands on experience. No answer needed now but I am clueless when everyone talks about 32# vs 36# injectors but by paying attention to the threads and reading a few books I'll get it. I think forums online will keep the knowledge alive.

People are out there and will continue to learn. It may not be in the masses it was before, but they're out there. I watched a show on speed not too long ago about a young kid (around 18) who built a sweet rat rod the old school way with his bare hands and a little (seemed like very little) help from some older guys. He was piecing together parts from junkyards, mixing and matching, etc. Stuff I could never imagine. Good for him.

There will always be an interest. Might not be as strong, but it will be there.

Matthew

I think you're going to see the earlier Vette's modified and upgraded (restified) as the old timers start dying-off. There will be more resto-rod type builds and late model drivetrain swaps, kinda like you see among the tri 5 Chevies.

As far as carb tuners go, there aren't a lot of competent shops out there. I've had to unfugg a few cars for friends that some higher-end hot rod shops managed to screw-up.

I'd like to learn to rebuild and service the Rochester injections. Very few left that can...

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That is very true!

I'm seeing a big surge in Rod & Customs.

People rebelling against all this computer stuff.

Especially Rat Rods

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Well John, it's been like this for a long time. I vaguely remember a guy doing some carb adjustments on another guy's car at a Delaware Valley Chapter meeting 30 years ago.

Guys that were experts on carbs were few then just like guys who are experts on programming proms are now, fairly few. Even back then, finding a shop that could "do it right" wasn't easy.

Knowledge will be passed on to the next generation ad a few (very few) will become the next experts.
A guy I race with manages a car collection. 2 of his 8 techs are in their 20s, learning Duesenberg/Packard restoration.
Another friend's into "Live Steam", volunteers at a locomotive restoration museum. There's a couple of young guys working there too.

The shop that's doing my blower install is also a NCRS shop.

They have everything from carb'd '53's to fuelies in there as well.