Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

It occurred when we installed the Interstate highway system, cars became wildly popular, GM killed off some mass transit systems, and traffic jams became common.
So if we travel back in time and (let?s say) dispose of William C. Durant ... we rid the world of two menaces with one strike ... automatic transmissions and General Obama Motors ... sounds promising.

of course I am not serious.:|
 
Is there any point in time where there was a key moment where america decided to ditch the manual?
The point of divergence was when American cars became massive yachts and the rest of the world downsized. The American manufacturers discovered they could fit 3 abreast on a bench seat in the front - and refused to give that up for the longest damned time and for some reason gave a shit about some mythical front-seat-center-passenger's comfort.

As a result, floor shifters were out of the question - and column-shifter manuals are a right pain in the ass and an automatic is preferable to such nonsense.

Bizarrely, manual transmissions (in both floor shifter and column-shifter form) mostly stayed around in trucks - where a bench seat makes actual fucking sense and persists today (though manual transmissions are LONG gone from the mainstay "half ton" class - but lighter trucks and heavier trucks both retain them)

At that point, it became momentum. The only manual transmissions they still built were heavy reinforced units for trucks, so they couldn't slot one into a car* - the rare sports car for the US market would get an externally sourced transmission, and international divisions would either build their own or externally source one.

Fortunately there seems to be a pretty extensive demand for manual transmissions from the youth market. Hopefully we keep that up as we age.

* Okay, they could. Truck transmissions (usually automatics) periodically appeared in various high power luxury cars. But a manual built for a truck would be a pretty shit ride in a passenger car.
 
Update on my suspension clunking sound...

I made an appointment with my mechanic to take a look at it this Friday. When I explained the sound, he said that it could be a ball joint...or it could be a broken spring. WTF? How the hell would I break the spring? The spring seat maybe, but the spring itself...

And anyways, I don't think it's the spring or spring seat. I deliberately drove in some huge potholes today and nothing happened - no sound. The sound is there only when the car shakes fron left to right.
 
Broken springs are not that uncommon, and often cause a clunking sound.
 
But if the spring was broken, wouldn't I hear it all the time? Also tried bouncing on the side of the car and there is no sound or squeek.
 
The dip (ED) is not body coloured, it's a grey base primer so you have something to paint on.

I thought there was a coat added that was roughly the bodies color. Hence the engine bay and floor panels are painted the same color.
 
I just got back from shopping for relays, wire and connectors to build a relay harness for the headlight in the Mustang. Mother questioned the supplies and when I said if she'd prefer to buy me a premade harness for $150 rather than me build it that would be fine as well. She responded with "Do you need it right now?" "No." "Well don't build it."

I don't know whether to be annoyed or happy.

<_<

Now I have two gigantic spools of wire and a bunch of random small connector bits and nothing to do with them.
 
One related process that's gained some interest is the thought that one could apply a powder coat to a car that way.

My former employer actually built a facility to do that (attract the paint to the car via charging the car electrically) and it was (is) very stylish, all glass walls so you can see in during the painting process but since trials were completed it's stood deserted. I have been told the paint did not turn out well, it became too thin, extremely brittle and prone to cracking, especially in cold weather.

I hear it works well for other products so it's a bit strange why it wouldnt work for cars but the standards and tolerances in producing cars are of course entirely different from producing many other smaller and cheaper goods.

It was quite interesting to walk around in that section of the factory at night, only dimly lit, the most tranquille place you could find (well, in the paint shop at least, you can never completely escape the ventilation noise) and at the same time you knew it was the remnants of a failure. You could feel the energy they put into the design, they really thought it would work, it's too bad that it didnt, it would have been a kickass place to work in and show off for visitors.

I thought there was a coat added that was roughly the bodies color. Hence the engine bay and floor panels are painted the same color.
That is normal paint (well, one or more coats of paint) applied by spray gun, either by robots or humans. The primer (ED) is always grey, then depending on what colour the car is to be you add a base colour (if it's going to be red it can be white or pinkish) and then you add more layers of paint (and flakes etc) and then a clearcoat. It's important to cover all areas you think the customer might see, as well as wheel wells and floor panels, boot area (altough many volume manufacturers cheat on this) etc. The underside of the roof is seldom painted with more than a few whiffs though.

I'll detail our workflow (no it's not very secret ;))
ED->inspection->sealant->interior noiseproofing->exterior noiseproofing->touch up primer->base coat->inspection->polish->paint coat(s)->clear coat->inspection->polish
 
Last edited:
I thought there was a coat added that was roughly the bodies color. Hence the engine bay and floor panels are painted the same color.

That is normal paint (well, one or more coats of paint) applied by spray gun, either via robots or humans.

Generally it's just body paint without clear on it.
 
Here is a short clip of my problem:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSs70nrkq1c[/YOUTUBE]
 
But if the spring was broken, wouldn't I hear it all the time? Also tried bouncing on the side of the car and there is no sound or squeek.

Had to chime in here.

On my Taurus, I had a broken spring on the right side. It defiantly made a bad noise (clunk/squeak/thunk) when I turned the wheel, or went over a dip. But it didn't always make the noise, so I waited for a week (like an idiot) to get it fixed.

Found out it was a manufacturer defect (springs prone to rust and sudden breakage) that Ford covered up till the first 125,000 miles. But mine was of course over that. :p

Also, I was told that I was lucky the broken spring did not puncture my tire.
 
Last edited:
Remember the Pelican Bugatti owner? Well, he just purchased a replacement Veyron for $1.5M.

I got bored, so I made myself a challenge. I gave myself the same budget, and a mission. Spend the whole budget on used cars off craigslist. They had to be running (assumed running unless stated otherwise), used (mileage and price must've be listed), and a photo needed to be provided.

See what you can come up with. This is my list.

https://pic.armedcats.net/c/cr/crazyrussian540/2010/01/19/1.5M_000.jpg
 
Last edited:
Edit: nevermind, problem solved.

That's some list you got there CrazyRussian.....had some time on our hands now did we ? :p

...And now I want to do the same thing....
 
Last edited:
Dude you like doing spreadsheets way too much. I'm calling the guys in white, that's not healthy man :D
 
i would quite like to do that, what's the most expensive car on sale right now? I'm pretty sure it's not the Veyron.
 
Last edited:
Probably still someone's McLaren F1 GT or LM or GT-LM or one of those other crazyassed models. Those are always stupidly expensive.

Unless you mean *NEW* car.
 
Perhaps the Pagani Zonda F Roadster? Or actually the Zonda Clinique.

As for used collector cars, a 1961 Ferrari California was sold for $11M.

I can provide the template to that speadsheet if anyone wants. I do caution you, Excel doesn't like photos.
 
Last edited:
well if you send it to me along with instructions, I'll see what i can do with a budget of $11m
 
Here is a short clip of my problem:
...video...

Go out and look under the tire that is making the noise, check the spring, shock (look for oil), sway bar. Otherwise take it to a mechanic. We wont be able to tell you from a video.
 
Top