Back in the 1940s they were basically poking a turbine into a crank and hoping the air would follow. No computer, no precise mapping, just a hand‑wound blaster and a guess at boost. They were learning the fundamentals the hard way, which is fine, but you could say they were more lucky than tuned. Those early turbos were like a wild cat—fun to watch, but you had to trust the engine not to throw a tantrum. If you’re going back to that era, you’d have to keep your tools close and your head steady, because the only tuning they did was tweaking the wastegate position and watching the boost gauge dance. In short, they were pioneers who didn’t know the difference between a good knock and a good performance tweak.

Yeah, you’d be staring at a crank that could spit out a cylinder like a prayer, so double‑check the plugs, keep the air filter cleaner than a preacher’s tongue, and watch that boost meter not go bonkers. If you pull a clean filter in ’48, you’ll have the engine breathing easy and the whole workshop breathing a sigh of relief. You’re basically a time‑traveling tuner, but just make sure the old boys don’t think you’re messing around with a pipe bomb.