First of all, if you are a decent mechanic, you should be able to work with the best tools available when repairs are necessary. I ran two distribution centers, each with a small fleet of a dozen+ trucks. At about 5 AM one morning, one of our drivers called in. His truck had stopped running, and he was stranded at a small truck fuel stop up in Georgia.
Took another driver/truck and followed in my car. The load was transferred into the running truck and the driver continued on his route. Before calling for a tow truck, I took a look at the diesel engine and quickly saw that the nuts had backed off the studs for the exhaust manifold with half completely missing.
The best tool I could find at this little ... you could not call it anything except some gas pumps with some lights ... station was a set of water pump pliers .... the absolute worst example of the breed. No locking channels which gave the "tool" the proper name of slip joint.
I tore the palm of my hand up pretty darn well.
I would have loved to have had a crescent wrench.
The truck made it home without any more problems.
About computers in modern cars. I've seen a lot of posts here from guys with all kinds of problems with flatheads ... and read the guesses that dozens of folks offer. Most of them wrong, of course (can't all be right.)
I sorta like plugging in the code reader when the engine starts missing and get a message that says, "Number 5 plug not firing."
A tool is a tool, and a mechanic is a mechanic. And I know some young fellows who are really good mechanics.
Every generation has its share of knuckleheads as well as its share of mechanical wizards.
