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Is there a "Weird Award" for engineers?

pffog,
Your note reminds me how spoiled I've become since moving south 25 years ago. Had just about forgotten how many totally rusted bits I had to cut off machines when I lived in upstate NY. Don't ever have that problem here in NC, forgotten where my nutcracker is, etc etc..
My metal saws get little use here and I haven't had to replace a rotted body panel on anything either..

But you guys sure have nicer weather in July and August...
 
racer7 said:
....................
But you guys sure have nicer weather in July and August...
Click to expand...

True, and pretty much free of destructive natural disasters like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, sink holes, forest fires, earthquakes etc. When I travel and tell people I am near Buffalo, many comment it must be terrible. That Blizzards are so bad, I usually reply, yea the last one we had in 1977, I got stranded at my girlfriends (now wife) place for 3 days. Had to snuggle a lot and have a couple glasses of wine.

Snow melts and your property is still there. Now if we could do something about the taxes.
 
pffog said:
Obviously you live in a temped climate, through the N and NE the tons of salt applied to the roads for ice and snow, will eat any ferrous materials, and set up electrolysis with several other materials. Only plastic is safe.

And of course to disassemble anything under a car gets interesting when the former hex head bolt looks more like a rivet head once the rust is removed, and everything is seized. Mechanics in the N should make 2-3 times/ hr, what one in AZ makes, if being paid via flat rate.
Click to expand...

Well, I was born in Alaska, have a home in BC as well as California. But I take your point, and would never work as a mechanic in the NE.

I was 14, doing a tune-up on dad's '68 Bronco with leaky valve cover gaskets when I decided that working on other peoples' filthy cars was not fun. Since we're talking about doing our own work on our vehicles here, I only offer this advice: keep 'em clean. I'm not driving an E-Type Jag in the snow and salt (or a 6-wheel Tyrell F1!), that's what my $1 1993 Explorer is for. And even that gets pressure washed when I get home. It's much easier to keep them clean in the first place, and mechanical things last much longer that way.

Cheers!

John
 
We've had a particularity cold and early winter here in central Minnesota, but the trusty Brick starts up on command and motors down the road while many others puzzle over computer commands. The colder the temps, the better I like it. Bring it on, winter that is, no problem and the sweeter is spring. Bike is up on the lift getting the usual hands on updates anticipating the international rally in St. Paul this summer. Cheers.
 
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36654 said:
View attachment 42993View attachment 42994View attachment 42995

Let's say, we just disagree......
Click to expand...

Yes, I guess we do. While I can certainly find three vehicles from any manufacturer that don't meet my desires, that was exactly my point. And out of the three you picked, you probably couldn't do better in 1974 than a 304-powered Gremlin X (certainly as much power as Corvette of the same year, and way ahead of any Mustang/Camaro). The Pacer actually had an amazingly ingenious bit of engineering: a short driver door, since most of us drive alone and it made it easier to get in and out of the car in tight spots, and a long passenger door to make easier access for passengers to get in the back seat. What it didn't have was any sense of style.

Not too bad for a company breathing its last. And they were still competently engineered; you just don't want one. Cool.

Cheers!

John (Off to go search for a Gremlin X to restomod)
 
BC1100S said:
To the best of my knowledge, the P34's never had inboard brakes. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if I'm gonna have a Tyrell, that's the one I want. And I still won't drive it in snow!

:brow

Cheers!

John

Your Sunshine Coast occasional neighbor.
 
My brother had a Pacer, bought new...we jacked with him all the time...laughed big time when Wayne's World came out:groovy
Had friend with a Gremlin X...yes, fast, however the interior fell apart everytime he punched it. Another carpooling buddy I had to ride with had the 70's Javelin...just dang UGLY in and out. The interior in it also fell off regularly.

This was the badass American Motors car that had a cult following in the late 60's-early 70's. The AMX. Fellow in the neighborhood had a heavy modded one that caused my mom's TV to have interference from it's magneto as it roared by...she ran out as she heard him coming...not cool mom!

AMX engine.jpgAMX 1968.jpg

.
 
The Pacer (different size doors left and right; "The first W-I-D-E compact car") , the AMX (I liked the look and they did OK at racing, considering the lack of factory support) and the Studebaker Avanti (multi award- winning Raymond Loewy design that still looks contemporary today) show what happens when you dare to be different.

pete
 
na1g said:
The Pacer (different size doors left and right; "The first W-I-D-E compact car") , the AMX (I liked the look and they did OK at racing, considering the lack of factory support) and the Studebaker Avanti (multi award- winning Raymond Loewy design that still looks contemporary today) show what happens when you dare to be different.

pete
Click to expand...

My mother liked the Pacer and my brother and I bought her one (very inexpensive used car). The right door was longer than the left and it made getting in the back seat much easier. It was about as wide as it was long which made it surprisingly roomy for a short car (it wasn't really little, just short). It had a very short turning radius and would turn around on a 2 lane road with no problem. It had a tried and true power train and the engine was used in Jeeps for decades. The engine protruded back into the firewall to where the rear of the engine was very near the radio. We wondered how anyone would ever reach the rear plug to replace it. Other than the interior falling apart and breaking, it was a pretty good little car.

My cousin had a AMX and it was a performance car much better than much of the competition. The Mustang was still a glorified Falcon at the time.
 
osbornk said:
My cousin had a AMX and it was a performance car much better than much of the competition. The Mustang was still a glorified Falcon at the time.
Click to expand...

Not knocking the AMX, but every vehicle from every American manufacturer shared components across model lines, including AMC. For that matter, most AMC four-barrels from the time were made by Autolite (Ford).

Here is my glorified Falcon. Bone stock, except for tires and aluminum radiator. 428SCJ, top loader, 31-spline nodular, staggered shocks. Ready for anything Wisconsin ever made.

And like everything the UAW made in the late 60's or 70's, assembled by people who just didn't care.

Cheers!

John
 

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36654 said:
But, the Board of Directors gave a crap?
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Oh, there's plenty of blame to go around, I suppose.

I worked for Ford in the 1970's both at the dealer and the corporate level. You could blame the executive management team (although not really the board, it's not their job) for not adapting to the changing markets rapidly enough and clinging to the "it's a passing thing, things will get back to normal" mindset.

But Dearborn, Detroit and Kenosha lost middle America because as it was aptly put earlier "however the interior fell apart everytime he punched it. Another carpooling buddy I had to ride with had the 70's Javelin...just dang UGLY in and out. The interior in it also fell off regularly." (Thanks, Henzilla!)

You only see pictures of my Mach 1 from the driver's side because the lead seam on the right quarter is just flat embarrassing. The headlight extensions don't fit. The gas crisis and federal emissions standards all contributed, but in the end, the public got tired of bits falling off all the time. And it didn't turn around until Ford and the UAW joined together for the "Quality is Job 1" program.

BTW, the Ford board did do its job well enough; the only US car company that has never had a bailout.

But, in reference to the original topic, none of this has anything to do with weird engineering.

Cheers,

John
 
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