Some (but not all) Studebaker's had left-handed threads --- I *think* on the right hand side.
Perhaps some old Lincolns --- or , aw forget it, I can't remember.
Then there was the weird cylinder numbering going on with V-8's.
Chevy would call number one cylinder the foremost (at front of car) on the bank or side of the engine which overlapped most forward, Ford -- began with the other bank --- or was it the other way around? Cadillac had their own little twist to the numbering.
And with International (which hasn't made light-duty vehicles for about 40 years now?) had their numbering begin from the firewall.
Reference books can help...but with the older rigs when there was a firing order cast into the manifold, and if an engine was known to be timed close enough to run, then generally a guy could figure it out with the clues present (including lifting the distributor cap and observing the rotor).
If all else failed, then removing valve covers and turning the engine over slowly by hand while watching the valves and also paying attention to the timing marks in relation to the distributor rotor also, could usually confirm which cylinder is #1 in a sequence.
A guy should be able to free-up a sticky brake caliper when on mountain roads out in the middle of nowhere,too. A small can of good penetrating oil (with a spray-straw) can be real handy. Most of the time sticky brake calipers are easy, but one may have to remove them to clean the shafts they are designed to slide back and forth on. A small pocketknife can come in handy -- just scratch off the accumulated crude without scratching the rods is all. Careful, careful...
Had a little problem with brake lights the other day. They would not turn off or shut off even with the key off.
Brake lights are by law required to bypass ignition switches -- I think...but never mind that for now, other than the brake lights (when a particular thing occurs with a wide number of models of vehicles) will stay on all the time, not only not functioning as warning as they should, but possibly draining a car's battery.
It wasn't the brake light switch itself, but was the small pad that the spring loaded throw rod in the brakelight switch would contact. When the little plastic part gets old and brittle, it can fall apart, dropping out of it's needed position which results in the clearance being too large and the brakelight switch activating rod not being forced to retract enough to turn off the lights.
Auto Part stores don't carry the item, although most of them do carry the brakelight switches themselves.
I cut a disk-shaped portion from a common paint-stirring stick, then wrapped a couple of turns of electrical tape around it, then rummaging through a collection of old screws, found a sheet metal screw which I could force to bite about a turn and a half through the tape and into the wood (the tape acting a little bit like the nylon in a nylon locknut, but only "a little") installing the jury-rigged pad in place of the original, using the screw installed from the backside of the contact plate assembly, going through the hole there which is for accepting a nipple of sorts on the backside of a the roughly 1/4" to 5/16" think circular contact "pad" which is OEM.
I just bought the real article today going to a Hyundai dealer. $2.32 for that small little thing that cost only pennies in materials and time/labor costs to make, but probably more than that to include in database and actual stock.
Everything costs...including the time of the people who have to go fetch the item. I got a full sized sheet of paper as a receipt too. The ink on that, the paper itself, the machine which printed up the 2 copies, and the girl who handed one copy for me to sign --- all of that together likely cost far more than the simple material cost of the small plastic disk -- of a certain diameter & thickness, with the protruding nipple on the backside of it, that is made to press into the hole in the contact plate, etc.,etc.
It's in the glovebox now. Later...I'd probably run on the paint-stick home-made repair till doomsday if I could get away with it. But having the part...all I'd need to be capable of doing is to again get at and SEE the damn thing. It's awkward to get at, but not impossible. A flashlight or shop light can be a big help.
And yes, I can skin a buck and run a trot-line also. Processing beef cattle in comparison to deer and hogs, is a LOT of work. Better have some space, plenty of containers, all nearby and ready.
Could you imagine what it would be like for the old cowboys that would stop if they needed to tend to a horse that was hopelessly injured (among the remuda they had for traveling) which they would put down and then convert into jerky, right on the spot?
We have it easy today, even though "things" can be more complicated.
It's been so long I can't remember.