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Why GenX Are Tough!

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  • Author
16 hours ago, birdguy said:

I installed seat belts on my car(s) before they became mandatory.

I also adjusted the brakes, changed the oil, and tuned the engine of my '52 Ford.  Anyone here know what a timing light is?

Noel

 

Did you mean timing belt, Noel. Yep, used to do lots on cars, brakes, cam belt, servicing etc. Too much like hard work though, dirty, smelly back aches, elbow aches, knee bruises. 😁

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  • Matthew Kane
    Matthew Kane

    The best was riding in the back of a pickup truck with about 10 kids, we even rode in a flatbed pickup truck on the back with about 7 kids and our friends mom driving, on a flatbed you had nothing to

  • I was born in 74. Growing up in Australia we hardly ever used sunscreens. I am paying the price today as every year I get a skin cancer removed.

  • Nowadays Generation X sounds more like what Musk would call the kids he fathered with all those different women. The mother of one of my neighborhood's friends had an early-to-mid 1950s Buick.  T

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

Too much like hard work though, dirty, smelly back aches, elbow aches, knee bruises. 😁

Yeah, but it was a lot of fun and a swell way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The timing light was used to adjust the distributor.  You made a chalk mark on the fan belt and then rotated the distributor until the timing light flashed on the chalk mark.

Noel

The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

  • Administrators

@birdguy A timing mark is an indicator used for setting the timing of the ignition system of an engine, typically found on the crankshaft pulley.  Never heard of making your own mark on the belt!

Charlie Aron

AVSIM Board of Directors-ADMIN/Moderator-Registrar

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1 hour ago, charliearon said:

@birdguy A timing mark is an indicator used for setting the timing of the ignition system of an engine, typically found on the crankshaft pulley.  Never heard of making your own mark on the belt!

You're right. That's how you set the timing on modern vehicles using a strobe light.

Noel's right too. The distributor had a set of points within it and was belt driven, often by the fan belt. When you knew where TDC on the engine was - where the points closed and a spark was created - you could mark that on the drive belt and set the points correctly.

  • Author
3 hours ago, birdguy said:

The timing light was used to adjust the distributor.  You made a chalk mark on the fan belt and then rotated the distributor until the timing light flashed on the chalk mark.

 

Oh yes, I'm with you now. Timing strobe/light.

Have done such a thing on my first car, including changing the distributor points too. I recall fitting an electronic ignition kit to my distributor to get rid of the points.

Edited by martin-w

4 hours ago, birdguy said:

The timing light was used to adjust the distributor.  You made a chalk mark on the fan belt and then rotated the distributor until the timing light flashed on the chalk mark.

That's how I used to do it, I had one for years wire it into the first lead from the distributor, my old 1980s model Honda's used to have the TDC marked out or the factory for you which was convenient. I miss the old Honda's you used to just put regular old 5W-30 in the transmission as well, they didn't have transmission fluid until the 90s. they were very simple up until around 1990 and reliable.

My grandfather was a Ford guy too because he was a Farmer and had many Fords over the years, but he liked the Honda engines too because there would be a few around the farm, generators or lawnmowers etc, so he took an interest in my Honda cars back in the 80s

I did drive a 1989 Honda Civic up until 2018, that was the last one from the 80s that I had and was sad to let it go, we have young kids so my wife wouldn't let me put the kids in it so I sold it to a neighbour down the road. even that car being 30 years old still ran like the day it came off the line, I love those 80s model Honda's

Matthew Kane

I'm Dyslexic, what's an error to you is not to me 

Timing light for the points. Feeler gauge for the tappet clearance (MGB roadster).

5800X3D, RTX4070, 600 Watt, one or two 1440p 32" screens, 64 GB RAM, 4 TB  PCle 3 NVMe, Warthog throttle, VKB NXT EVO stick, Honeycomb Alpha yoke, CH quad, 3 Logitech panels, 2 StreamDecks, Desktop Aviator Trim Panel. Crystal Light VR.

 

GenerationX also did stuff like this...

 

Matthew Kane

I'm Dyslexic, what's an error to you is not to me 

  • Moderator
On 2/18/2025 at 11:38 AM, birdguy said:

Anyone here know what a timing light is?

Raises hand slowly. I still have a timing light, somewhere in my shed. 😉

Fr. Bill    

AOPA Member: 07141481 AARP Member: 3209010556


     Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator

1973, I'm smack in the middle of GenX, right?

Rhett

7800X3D 96 GB G.Skill Flare  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB

On 2/26/2025 at 4:19 PM, Mace said:

1973, I'm smack in the middle of GenX, right?

Yup, I'm a 71 kid so at the beginning of it. I always laugh when a kid with a Nirvana shirt says 'OK BOOMER' to me, I just tell him 'We would like our T-Shirt Back, and while we are at you can give us back your iPhone too' 😁

Matthew Kane

I'm Dyslexic, what's an error to you is not to me 

GenX is anyone born 1965-1980 or so (it isn't like there's any kind of authority that decides these things, but that's the general rule).  

-------------------------

Craig from KBUF

11 hours ago, Matthew Kane said:

Yup, I'm a 71 kid so at the beginning of it. I always laugh when a kid with a Nirvana shirt says 'OK BOOMER' to me, I just tell him 'We would like our T-Shirt Back, and while we are at you can give us back your iPhone too' 😁

Yeah a lot of Millenial/GenZ mistakenly call us "Boomers".  I don't know if they're tryin to be cute or what, but Boomers are born 1945-1965 and in my view we GenX are not similar to Boomers in any way.

Rhett

7800X3D 96 GB G.Skill Flare  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB

3 hours ago, Mace said:

we GenX are not similar to Boomers in any way.

We each get a year older approximately once every year.

Hook

Larry Hookins

 

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

1 hour ago, LHookins said:

We each get a year older approximately once every year.

Hook

ha ha!! Yes, yes we do.  And I was pretty good up until a few years ago.  Now I get up in the morning and wonder what will hurt today.

Rhett

7800X3D 96 GB G.Skill Flare  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB

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