# Maintenance, back in The Good Old Days **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796 "2026-01-10T20:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/1 "2026-01-10T20:01:44Z")
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_. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/2/3/23ee444ee6449456e28788b538a87e2f6d4f3a81.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/2 "2026-01-10T20:41:32Z")
They’re clearly talking about maintaining the kind of car @Old-Days-Rick SHOULD buy 😀 and use as his daily driver ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/3 "2026-01-10T22:04:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Old-Days-Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7feea3/32.png) [@Old-Days-Rick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Old-Days-Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/4 "2026-01-11T00:12:27Z")
> [@db4690](#): > > They’re clearly talking about maintaining the kind of car @Old-Days-Rick SHOULD buy 😀 and use as his daily driver 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. ---
**Author:** ![LoudThunder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/loudthunder/32/27769_2.png) [@LoudThunder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LoudThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/5 "2026-01-11T00:13:49Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > before he gained fame as _Dr. Suess_ 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”… ---
**Author:** ![Old-Days-Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7feea3/32.png) [@Old-Days-Rick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Old-Days-Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/6 "2026-01-11T00:15:32Z")
> [@bing](#): > > 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 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. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/7 "2026-01-11T00:33:17Z")
> [@Old-Days-Rick](#): > > I never had a set of points go only 2k miles. 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. ---
**Author:** ![LoudThunder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/loudthunder/32/27769_2.png) [@LoudThunder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LoudThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/8 "2026-01-11T00:48:47Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/9 "2026-01-11T01:52:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 7:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/10 "2026-01-11T07:21:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![glasspilot](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/glasspilot/32/27886_2.png) [@glasspilot](https://community.cartalk.com/u/glasspilot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/11 "2026-01-11T12:25:32Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > 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. My last car with points was a 1969 Datsun 510. I was driving from Rochester to Kalamazoo. I got west of Detroit and the car was running worse and worse. It finally quit. I knew what it was right away. I took the rotor cap off and I could tell the point gap was gone. The rubbing block had a felt piece you were supposed to keep lightly oiled. “DOH!” I simply opened the gap a tiny bit. The engine started right up! Got me the rest of the way to school! (Western Michigan Univ). ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/12 "2026-01-11T13:44:21Z")
> [@oldtimer-11](#): > > My grandmothers 1941 Studebaker got the oil changed every 1200 piles, most cars of the 50s it was 3000 miles My recollection is that a 2k-3k oil change was the norm, back in the '50s. When Chrysler introduced their extended oil change interval in 1963 (along with the 5 year/50k engine warranty), they specified “Every 3 months or 4,000 miles, whichever comes first”. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/13 "2026-01-11T13:50:18Z")
I remember my ‘64 Pontiac’s points would never last 30K miles. But I had a giant Accel coil on my 6 cylinder and it tended to burn points. The moment the car would not start, I’d sand the tips and plan to change them within 2 weeks. A carb rebuild happened about once a year, oil and lube job every 3000 miles or so. I ran across a 1914 Buick owners manual a while back with all its recommended service intervals. The list of daily, monthly and yearly service is enormous. I can list them if anyone is interested. ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/14 "2026-01-11T14:03:33Z")
Not sure if anyone noticed, but no parts are replaced in that ad, only cleaned, adjusted, tightened or checked, so labor only maintenance… ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/15 "2026-01-11T14:27:31Z")
Yes, but it was also _gratis_. I’m sure that they were hoping to upsell customers with plug replacements, but as Nancy Reagan used to tell us, a customer could “just say no”. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/16 "2026-01-11T15:12:22Z")
> [@oldtimer-11](#): > > We has a rotating chart on the wall that showed every cars grease fittings. I remember the 37 Pontiac had 37 of them. The Service Manual for '49-'51 Fords shows 36 lube points. It also specifies an oil change every 3 months/2k miles. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/a/a/aacd725865b9ab25f57640b64f2ac6c7393bfb25.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/17 "2026-01-11T15:24:43Z")
Yeah, chassis lube. All sealed bearings now. My grease gun is only used for trailer bearing buddies now. Oil changes every 2k to 3k miles and the oil was black by then due to larger clearances and combustion blow by. Had a media blasting plug cleaner- see above 😄 Points were a PITA; filing, adjusting, lubricating… Distributor caps, wires, plugs a common service to perform as well. High beam light switch in the floor where salt infused snow would corrode them after a couple years. Exhaust systems would be literally falling off after a few years. Someone mentioned lubricating speedometer cables. That was always fun to do. I could go on but the idea today’s cars have the similar level of maintenance requirements is ludicrous from my recollection… ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/18 "2026-01-11T15:32:32Z")
> [@TwinTurbo](#): > > Someone mentioned lubricating speedometer cables. That was always fun to do. It was even more interesting to see what could happen when that maintenance procedure wasn’t done. I vividly recall riding on the NJ Turnpike, in a friend’s 1962 Pontiac Tempest. First, the speedometer needle began moving left & right like a pendulum–even though he was traveling at a steady 55 mph. Then, the speed of its swaying began to increase, until it was–literally–slamming itself from zero to 120 at a **very** fast rate. That continued for a minute or so until the cable snapped and the speedo returned to zero–permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/19 "2026-01-11T15:55:23Z")
Buddy said his 71 montecarlo ran like ■■■■. I DO recall changing the points and setting dwell but have no recollection of what other things we looked at. ![IMG_0262](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/9/19e6c36bfc1dcc81f6a8d1ff02c1e310207de9dc.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Old-Days-Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7feea3/32.png) [@Old-Days-Rick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Old-Days-Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796/20 "2026-01-11T16:03:31Z")
> [@glasspilot](#): > > My last car with points was a 1969 Datsun 510. I was driving from Rochester to Kalamazoo. I got west of Detroit and the car was running worse and worse. It finally quit. I knew what it was right away. I took the rotor cap off and I could tell the point gap was gone. The rubbing block had a felt piece you were supposed to keep lightly oiled. “DOH!” I simply opened the gap a tiny bit. The engine started right up! Got me the rest of the way to school! (Western Michigan Univ). The golden age of motoring! Nowadays it would involve a tow and expensive engine work. Probably lifters after the 0w20 oil destroys them. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/maintenance-back-in-the-good-old-days/204796.md?page=2)