Whatd'd ya do Frank, close down the local High School auto shop?
Ya don't need a vacuum gauge, just turn on the wipers!
Yes, it's nice knowing exactly what's goin on inside the cooker. The new cars are so bullet proof, that we've gotten used to driving them 100K without opening the head. At the family gatherings the twenty year olds listen in amassment when I tell them about, new tires at 15k and tune-ups every 10K, a grease job at a 1,000 and oil every 2000. Just finished lubin’ the 3604 and If I counted right, I had 21 grease fittings, then distributor cup and felt, starter and generator and all the linkage. Yep, there's a lot goin on with an old bolt, nice to take the guesswork out of it.
The PO had the truck for a little over two years, said it was a daily driver. It looked like it hadn't been lubed in 20 years, all the fittings were totally covered with red clay/grease and when I pulled the fittings to clean things out the old grease was like dry pie crust.
Fine tuning does pay off, like you say, run them rich and your just washin’ down the cylinders, makes for a short life span. Get the timing off a couple of degrees and it makes a goodly difference on the dyno. That said, the inliners will do their job pretty good without all that much tuning.
Denny G
