LOL, that’s funny Jason! :laughing: My dad was in an Antique Car Club when I was young, he had a 28 Ford and a 37 Cadillac… at one point we had 43 cars here on the property… everything from Nash to DeSoto to Willys. Even a 58 Cadillac ElDorado Barritz Seville, one of 843 ever made. Ground breaking for 1958, it had a 365 ci V8 that made 356 HP from a triple deuce carb set-up. Auto headlight dimming even! Hurt me deep down when he let that one go…
I started out driving a 51 Chevy Custom Deluxe. (Dad actually suggested I use the 58 Caddy’s Alcoa produced turbine style aluminum wheels to customize my 51! Only ran em on the back, 15’s in back, 14’s up front. Geesh, forever ago!) Vacuum operated windshield wipers? Horrible idea! Tube style AM radio? 6V battery destroyer! Also quite familiar with the brake master cylinder under the floor matt…
Heavy braid from the battery ground? The 6V battery? That braid that very seldom if ever got flexed? The one that turned green and corroded up something fierce? Yes, familiar. The only way it’s similar to our discussion here is that it was braided copper, much different use and demands. This ground in the cars was a densely woven thick beast, the solder wick is a very loosely woven braid designed to pull solder off a pcb, plenty of room for the solder to flow, but not good physical properties to flow current, especially when flexed repeatedly. It was talked about here, some time ago, as to how electrical current in DC form uses the outside surface of the copper wire to flow, as such, this solder wick is really a lousy form for high current needs.
Not to say large car grounding cables of modern make don’t have their own problems… my brother’s late model pick-up is sitting parked in his driveway because he’s too lazy to replace the badly corroded ground to frame cable.
Edit: We still have a 1968 Renault 10 here, with the plastic coverings still on the door panels and 84 miles on the odometer. New car smell inside. Brand new, but non running, with the original gas from the dealer still in the tank… jellied and foul smelling. Just realized, it’s still sitting on blocks to keep the tires off the ground that I put it up on when I was 16 years old! That was 39 years ago! (3 lug wheels, by the way, never seen the like… 4 cyl in the rear, horizontal sliding rear windows)
No, that is not a typo… 84 original miles. My Aunt bought it new, didn’t drive.