Maintenance, back in The Good Old Days

Since this ad is from 1949, I assume that these were the recommended services every 10k miles–or maybe even fewer miles. As a bit of trivia, the art work was done by Theodor Suess Geisel–before he gained fame as Dr. Suess.

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They’re clearly talking about maintaining the kind of car @Old-Days-Rick SHOULD buy :grinning_face: and use as his daily driver

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I actually do not remember the maintenance intervals on my 59 vw or 59 Pontiac. I know I did points every 2000 miles at the bug dealer so suspect that was the interval. I remember helping my dad with the 58 Chevy but don’t know how often, just to remember to put the drain plug back in. Lesson learned at ten years old and still don’t know how he got to the farm store for more oil. So I keep extra on hand in case of dementia.

That’s a shorter list than a 10k service on a Honda. We have better sparkplugs and ignition components since the 1970s Duraspark and HEI ignition but overall we haven’t gained much it appears.

Honda 10k service

Key Services at 10,000 Miles:

Oil & Filter Change: Using synthetic oil and a genuine Honda filter is recommended.

Tire Rotation: Essential for even wear and extended tire life.

Fluid Check: Inspecting and topping off all fluid levels (coolant, brake, washer).

Brake Inspection: Checking pads, rotors, hoses, and parking brake.

Filter Inspection: Checking the engine air filter and cabin air filter (replace if very dirty).

Multi-Point Inspection: A comprehensive look at suspension, steering components, battery, belts, and general vehicle condition.

Why It’s Important:

Warranty: This first service is vital for fulfilling warranty requirements.

Preventative Care: Catches small issues before they become major problems.

Safety: Ensures critical components like brakes and tires are in good shape.

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) adopted the name “Dr. Seuss” as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College in the late 1920’s and worked as an illustrator for many years using this moniker…

His first Dr. Seuss kid’s book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was published in 1937… Even this Ford Advertisement was signed, “Dr. Seuss”…

I never had a set of points go only 2k miles. If you ca ’t get 30k miles out of s set of points something is wrong.

IIRC from my brother’s '64 VW bug, only 2k miles for points was pretty typical. I also remember that the rear drum brake shoes wore out in about half the time of the fronts.

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When I bought my very first car in 1965 from my neighbor who bought it new, a 1954 Dodge Meadowbrook, it came with all the documents, including the optional manuals… The oil change schedule on the engine was every 5,000 miles. But it had a gaggle of other requirements… Change the oil in the oil bath air cleaner, two drops of oil in the generator bearing every 1,000 miles, But the one that I never in a 1,000 years would have thought of was the directions to unscrew the speedometer cable from the back of the speedometer, pull out the cable and lubricate it also every 1,000 miles… Oh, oh, there were also instructions to pierce the canvas covers on the rear leaf springs and lubricate the leaf springs every 10,000 miles… Mine never had the canvas covers so they had been removed or were an option not acquired…

If I didn’t change them at 2000, I’d be left high and dry. My 68 dodge and 74 olds were more like 30,000. But on those cars they’d just stumble not quit entirely. Mom was gracious enough to drive 50 mile to get me before I figured it out.

I worked in a gas station in the 50sThe spark plugs were cleaned and replaced at 5000 miles and replaced at 10000 miles. My grandmothers 1941 Studebaker got the oil changed every 1200 piles, most cars of the 50s it was 3000 miles and the oil bath air filter was cleaned and re-oiled at every oil change.every fall I tuned my car at roughly 10000 miles., I pulled the distributer, changed and gapped the points and replaced the condenser, utting a small amount of vasoline on the rubbing block and set the timing with a timing light adjusted the carb. I had friends who told me that tuning a car was a waste of money. Those were the same friends that called me at 3am from the bar in the winter because their car would not start.

Every oil change we greased the cars kingpins.(I don’t remember ball joints until the 60s.) Most cars also had gease fittings on the drive shaft and water pump and oiled every door hinge.

Trunk and hood latches were hit with white grease. We has a rotating chart on the wall that showed every cars grease fittings. I remember the 37 Pontiac had 37 of them.. My grandmother’s 41 Stude has leaf spring were enclosed in an oil filled box. I ownned a 71 VW bus that as a maintenance nightmare, you were supped to remove the oil bath air cleaner ( messy ) every month o you colud check the battery electrolyte level.