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There is of course the apocryphal story of Henry Ford and the junkyard analysis[1]: "Ford sent a team of agents to tour the scrap-yards of America in search of

by shabble 14y ago

There is of course the apocryphal story of Henry Ford and the junkyard analysis[1]: "Ford sent a team of agents to tour the scrap-yards of America in search of discarded Model T Fords. He told them to find out which components never failed. When they returned they reported failures of just about everything, except the kingpins. They always had years of service left in them when some other part failed irretrievably. His agents wanted to hear how the boss would improve the quality of all those components that failed. Soon afterwards, Henry Ford announced that in future the kingpins on the Model T would be engineered to a lower specification." [1] http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/fordpart.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/fordpart.asp

thaumaturgy 14y ago
Heh. Not to take the fun out of the story (and it might be true!), those kingpins -- along with a lot of other Model T parts -- are still in use and on the road today, almost a hundred years later in some cases. Good Model T enthusiasts and restorers try to use as many original parts as possible, not just because it adds to the vehicle's antiquity, but also because the old parts actually seem to be more reliable than the hundred-year-old parts. For example, during Model T production (I don't remember what year), Ford engineered a rear axle shaft that would twist under extreme stress instead of breaking, helping mud-stuck T's get out with less risk of an expensive repair. (Hill climbs are still a popular hobbyist thing with these cars.) Typically it's the sheet metal on a T that is in the worst shape -- lots of blister rust, pinholes, dents and warps and so on. Even then, an accomplished welder or backyard blacksmith can have a fender fixed up in about an afternoon and ready for its first finishing step. Paint, too, was different. Certainly it was a bigger environmental problem, and we've switched paint formulations and techniques for good reason; still, you never see paint coming off of old Ts in flakes and chips. Instead you'll see a spiderweb series of cracks and a sort of a lackluster dull finish that can sometimes be spiffed up with a few hours of buffing and polishing. Intellectually I get why the automotive industry has moved the way it has -- modern cars are safer, more comfortable, and much more efficient -- but it's also easy to see why old car guys are so annoyed with modern vehicles. I seriously doubt there will be even one slightly "original" Honda on the road in a hundred years.

by shabble 14y ago

thaumaturgy 14y ago

Heh. Not to take the fun out of the story (and it might be true!), those kingpins -- along with a lot of other Model T parts -- are still in use and on the road today, almost a hundred years later in some cases. Good Model T enthusiasts and restorers try to use as many original parts as possible, not just because it adds to the vehicle's antiquity, but also because the old parts actually seem to be more reliable than the hundred-year-old parts. For example, during Model T production (I don't remember what year), Ford engineered a rear axle shaft that would twist under extreme stress instead of breaking, helping mud-stuck T's get out with less risk of an expensive repair. (Hill climbs are still a popular hobbyist thing with these cars.) Typically it's the sheet metal on a T that is in the worst shape -- lots of blister rust, pinholes, dents and warps and so on. Even then, an accomplished welder or backyard blacksmith can have a fender fixed up in about an afternoon and ready for its first finishing step. Paint, too, was different. Certainly it was a bigger environmental problem, and we've switched paint formulations and techniques for good reason; still, you never see paint coming off of old Ts in flakes and chips. Instead you'll see a spiderweb series of cracks and a sort of a lackluster dull finish that can sometimes be spiffed up with a few hours of buffing and polishing. Intellectually I get why the automotive industry has moved the way it has -- modern cars are safer, more comfortable, and much more efficient -- but it's also easy to see why old car guys are so annoyed with modern vehicles. I seriously doubt there will be even one slightly "original" Honda on the road in a hundred years.