3 ms·

One can only imagine the strange wonderful world we might inhabit if steampunk/clockwork tech became the dominant player in all industries.

stickfigure 5y ago
I think we got a taste of that in the late 70s when the engine bay of every automobile was a dense nest of rubber vacuum hoses.
- KingMachiavelli 5y ago
  What about late 70s engine bays needed having (more?) vacuum hoses? Is there a vehicle that's a good example of this?
  - sterlind 5y ago
    not 70s but my Mercedes 300TD from 1985 made extensive use of vacuum hoses to power lock doors, run pumps and even to turn off the engine (it's diesel so no spark plugs.) I think it was built that way because electronics were more expensive? the engine was a marvel of engineering. I got it to 400K+ miles (odometer eventually broke), and I could drive just fine even after my alternator broke and I had no electrical power whatsoever. I also could (and did) do extensive maintenance myself because there were no computers to fiddle with and everything was modular.
    - MisterTea 5y ago
      > I think it was built that way because electronics were more expensive? Mercedes has been the king of Rube Goldberg vehicle systems for ages. Anyone I know with one has had numerous electrical and other reliability issues. Shame as they used to make decent vehicles that actually lasted but boat anchored them with technological clown circus.
  - rootsudo 5y ago
    Any carb car, or even plans. Though you can argue an array of vacucum lines exist in 90's-current cars today because of emissions. There's also the car community idea of a clean engine bay, or wiretuck. https://preview.redd.it/3ddncz8e2ao21.jpg?auto=webp&s=e75f4ae4de546a77a75c76d7bdbeebd33c00ab20 https://preview.redd.it/3ddncz8e2ao21.jpg?auto=webp&s=e75f4a... to https://imgur.com/nuZGt https://imgur.com/nuZGt
  - tsomctl 5y ago
    The federal government had super strict emission laws for vehicles starting in the 70s. This was before computers were cheap and reliable enough to stick in average vehicles, so the way automotive engineers got it to work was to have vacuum lines to send signals to the carburetor and distributor. They probably could've done it with analog electronics, but you already have a free source of vacuum (the intake manifold), and there isn't an simple way to convert an analog voltage to a linear position, while you can do that with a diaphragm and vacuum. For a good example, any American V8.
    - stickfigure 5y ago
      Peak insanity might have been this mid-80s Honda: https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/but-wait-theres-more/a1850371/wait-theres-more-1850371/ https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/but-wait-theres-more/a1850... Especially this picture: https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/03-mid-eighties-honda-cvcc-hell-boxes-photo-by-murilee-martin.jpg?resize=980:*&keepGifs=1 https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/03-m... Eventually the rubber hoses would get old, crack, and leak vacuum. Now your car starts running wonky and diagnosis is pretty much impossible.
      - mikestew 5y ago
        Thanks for illustrating the nightmare that three decades later will still roust me from a sound sleep. Back in my pro wrench days, I had to remove-and-replace the head on one of those Hondas. What should have taken an afternoon soon turned into a hellish day-and-a-half of squeezing a vacuum tester.

stickfigure 5y ago

I think we got a taste of that in the late 70s when the engine bay of every automobile was a dense nest of rubber vacuum hoses.

KingMachiavelli 5y ago
What about late 70s engine bays needed having (more?) vacuum hoses? Is there a vehicle that's a good example of this?
- sterlind 5y ago
  not 70s but my Mercedes 300TD from 1985 made extensive use of vacuum hoses to power lock doors, run pumps and even to turn off the engine (it's diesel so no spark plugs.) I think it was built that way because electronics were more expensive? the engine was a marvel of engineering. I got it to 400K+ miles (odometer eventually broke), and I could drive just fine even after my alternator broke and I had no electrical power whatsoever. I also could (and did) do extensive maintenance myself because there were no computers to fiddle with and everything was modular.
  - MisterTea 5y ago
    > I think it was built that way because electronics were more expensive? Mercedes has been the king of Rube Goldberg vehicle systems for ages. Anyone I know with one has had numerous electrical and other reliability issues. Shame as they used to make decent vehicles that actually lasted but boat anchored them with technological clown circus.
- rootsudo 5y ago
  Any carb car, or even plans. Though you can argue an array of vacucum lines exist in 90's-current cars today because of emissions. There's also the car community idea of a clean engine bay, or wiretuck. https://preview.redd.it/3ddncz8e2ao21.jpg?auto=webp&s=e75f4ae4de546a77a75c76d7bdbeebd33c00ab20 https://preview.redd.it/3ddncz8e2ao21.jpg?auto=webp&s=e75f4a... to https://imgur.com/nuZGt https://imgur.com/nuZGt
- tsomctl 5y ago
  The federal government had super strict emission laws for vehicles starting in the 70s. This was before computers were cheap and reliable enough to stick in average vehicles, so the way automotive engineers got it to work was to have vacuum lines to send signals to the carburetor and distributor. They probably could've done it with analog electronics, but you already have a free source of vacuum (the intake manifold), and there isn't an simple way to convert an analog voltage to a linear position, while you can do that with a diaphragm and vacuum. For a good example, any American V8.
  - stickfigure 5y ago
    Peak insanity might have been this mid-80s Honda: https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/but-wait-theres-more/a1850371/wait-theres-more-1850371/ https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/but-wait-theres-more/a1850... Especially this picture: https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/03-mid-eighties-honda-cvcc-hell-boxes-photo-by-murilee-martin.jpg?resize=980:*&keepGifs=1 https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/03-m... Eventually the rubber hoses would get old, crack, and leak vacuum. Now your car starts running wonky and diagnosis is pretty much impossible.
    - mikestew 5y ago
      Thanks for illustrating the nightmare that three decades later will still roust me from a sound sleep. Back in my pro wrench days, I had to remove-and-replace the head on one of those Hondas. What should have taken an afternoon soon turned into a hellish day-and-a-half of squeezing a vacuum tester.