"It's not a heap, dad. It's a classic." That's harder to justify when your classic muscle car won't start. Nothing like a high-compression V8 combined with a battery that hasn't seen a charge for a ...

When you’re trying to learn about older cars, you might as well be signing up for the debate club. Every question, especially when it comes to breaker points, electronic, and multiple spark discharge ...

In this age of electronic fuel injection and ignition it's hard to believe there are still some running around with a points-trigged ignition system. The concept of breaker-points ignition is all ...

High performance is all about horsepower. But even the ultimate in heads, compression, cam, and the rest won’t make power if you can’t light the fire. Ignition systems don’t make horsepower, but a ...

The spark plug was a key invention in the history of the internal combustion engine, allowing combustion to be easily controlled and engines to rev faster than messy earlier designs. Mid-century cars ...

If you're a follower of the "How It Works" series, you've been learning the principles of what makes a car run. You've boned up on the four-stroke cycle, valvetrains, cooling, lubrication, and ...