I need some help...

Yeah the son of a guy I know had inherited a 79 Ford van w/a 351w. last year. I saw him a couple months ago (he's about 35ish) and he told me his van had left him stranded one day, had to have a tow truck bring it home.
The 1st thing he said was that he couldn't figure out how to get codes from it.
He threw all the spare parts at it that his father in law had bought for it years ago and figured out it was the ignition module box because that was the last thing he changed before he could finally get it to run. Thought putting that cap rotor wires and plugs in before he got to that point was a waste of time, was glad they were "free" at least
I then asked how long since the last previous tuneup had been done, he had no idea. The van only has like 80k original miles on it. Age of parts, corrosion,etc on parts replaced wasn't even an afterthought. Codes? On a carbureted '79 anything I laughed my AZZ off when I heard him say that.

And people wonder why I like driving a 78 sport fury this time of year. And am working on a 85 slant 6 powered pickup for my next daily driver to replace my 99 dakota..
I'd so much rather have those vehicles back daily in the shop at work than the overcomplicated overpriced plastic junk I have to work on all the time.