Cars of Technology

The gas tank in your collector car is a gasoline storage area. It’s also a really bad storage area. If you would drive your car more often storage wouldn't be an issue. That's not going to change so we now have to figure how bad the gasoline in your car actually is. G asoline is a highly refined substance with complex molecular bonds. Over time these bonds break and the fuel reverts back to an earlier unusable state. As the molecular bonds break the octane rating falls to the point where the gasoline is no longer able to produce the energy required for effective internal combustion. It’s not unusual for highly refined premium gasoline to lose significant amounts of volatility within 90 days. This is especially true if you use the ethanol-enhanced gasoline from your neighborhood gas station.             The variety of chemicals used to create gasoline do not all react to air in the same way. The lighter chemicals evaporate first with...

Nobody gets their old solid-axle Corve tte aligned. Hey, we don't even drive them that often. If we align them once a decade, it's a big deal. I decided to get four wheels on my '58 pointed in the proper direction for the first time in 20 years. There was no sense in ripping up all that BFG radial rubber I just installed.  Now came the task of finding  someone who knew how to align these early Corvettes. When my '58 left the St. Louis plant the average alignment mechanic was about 30 years old. Those guys retires about 25 years ago. No one has taken their place. At least no one with their knowledge of 1950s Chevrolets. This is no problem. I still have my contacts at one of the largest technical training schools in the United States, Lincoln Technical Institute. I know these people. I've worked with the people. The result? No one had a clue about how to set the camber and caster on my car. Six different highly skilled people looked at my old Corvette and arrived at s...