1237cf1b6e08
tech



Hello Tom - 

MK>>> These same people buy SUVs that never see offroading,
MK>>> which is just as well as they'd kill off all the wildlife
MK>>> that gets in their way. They are idiots plain and simple.
MK>>> I apologize if this offends but that is the impression. 

->> Truth is a Cadillac was always a fat Chevrolet and the
->> Lincoln is a fat Ford LTD. People have always paid a
->> premium to have a larger automobile than those they share
->> the highways with. At one time I was seriously thinking
->> about buying a used stake truck to drive back and forth to
->> work to stop the little rice-burners from cutting me off
->> all the way there and back. Even the terrible gas mileage
->> would've been worth having dual wheels and the size. 

TW> Many years ago there was a REAL differnce between those
TW> cars. Not much so now days. Althouhg Cadillac has steped
TW> back into the past with their "Northstar" engine. Although
TW> manfacturing tollerances and quality control have advanced
TW> enough that it dosen't have a large advantage over the
TW> typical Chevrolet engine. 

Manufacturing has always had the tools and the ability to do QC
regardless of what they worked on. It seems that engineering
(design) is where the real differences are for both good and
bad. 

My personal experiences working with engineers from Volkswagen,
Ford, Pontiac, BOC (Buick, Olds, Cadillac), and Chrysler for
auto body models reflected back the same information I had
gotten as a young man from other older men. 

Volkswagen had many who were so underqualified that it was
embarassing at times. One who tried to check a model that had
never been finished struggled for three days until I finally
couldn't take it anymore and told him at the coffee machine to
avoid embarassing him in front of the other 'checkers' why he
wasn't able to 'find' what was on the blueprints - it wasn't
there. He spent 3 more hours verifying that what I had told him
was true then stormed out in a huff. 

Ford had promoted people beyond their abilities based on who
they knew, not what they knew. Ford people would sit and draw
naked lady pictures all day long (seriously) and then just sign
off on work without checking it. Ford had the Mustang designed
with half inch measurements and half metric which made things
confusing for me and I'd guess for assembly and parts
manufacturing as well. 

Pontiac fussed over the paper work even though the models for
the actual tooling of parts were second rate and Chrysler
engineers would scribble out anything on the drawing that was
too difficult for them to interpret. At one point a group of
Chrysler design engineers showed up and I recognized one of the
voices. He had been my sweeper just 2 or 3 years earlier in
another shop. I was shocked but didn't let on that I recognized
him. 

Olds was being forced to reuse old Cadillac tooling but didn't
trust Cadillac QC so that every one of these previously checked
models had to be re-checked. Olds was right, 100% were wrong
according to the blueprints. I gained a great deal of respect
for the Olds team of engineers after seeing the time and effort
($$$) they put into correcting Cadillac engineering mistakes. I
can only assume that engineering is a top down structure and if
the right person is in charge you get quality? 

The best all around automobile I have ever owned was a '72
Oldsmobile. :-) 

I think Buick, Olds, Cadillac was combined to 'fix' Cadillac
not the other way around. 

If engineering creates poor designs then fumbles the QC at the
design stages there is no opportunity for manufacturing to
'fix' the mistakes. At one time fenders were 'force fit' to the
cars because nothing lined up. If substandard electronics and
mechanical design is selected for the manufacturing side of the
business to deal with the drive train and the body of the
automobile become what the engineers have "wrought" in their
respective philoshpies. 

>
>        ,                          ,
>      o/      Charles.Angelich      \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >          USA, MI           < \   __\__
 

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... DOS the Ghost in the Machine! http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/

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