Things the car factories did that made no sense to you

[bandit67]

Ford and there different engine families. 289, Boss 302, 351C, 351 w, 352, a few between here and the 427, 428, 429, BOSS 429 bet I missed a few. Look at the inventory to service these engines!

And didn't many all these different Ford engines require a unique transmission? Mopar was better in that you only needed one for big blocks and one for small blocks, but GM nailed it, in that most any tranny will bolt up to any block, big or small.

 

[Photon440]

And didn't many all these different Ford engines require a unique transmission? Mopar was better in that you only needed one for big blocks and one for small blocks, but GM nailed it, in that most any tranny will bolt up to any block, big or small.

Except for the Buick/Olds/Pontiac bellhousing being different from Chevrolet.

 

[eldubb440]

hands free driving makes ZERO sense to me

 

[ckessel]

On early GM products, trim emblems and moldings. Most of them couldn't be removed from the outside as they had nuts on the backside holding them on. I put many a barrel nut in GM holes on reassembly after paint. Then there's getting at the blower motor on early Camaro's. Buried in behind the inner and outer fender. That meant I had to take off other components just to get those off and get access to the blower motor.
AMC. Worked on a Scrambler to replace the master cylinder. It's pretty much crammed in behind the shock/spring tower. There was less room in front of the cylinder than needed to get it off the studs. Had to partially move the booster which meant having to take the hood off to get in there.
European cars. Especially the teutonic trash. Any time the battery was disconnected, ALL systems had to be reprogrammed. At the time I was at the body shop, none of the scanners available nearby could reset systems. Had to get the cars towed to the dealer for reset. 4 tows involved for that! 1 round trip just to drop it off and a 2nd round trip to get the pile of crap.

 

[Dipstick]

IMO, those Matadors looked great with the bumpers removed.

 

[Ron_M]

"What did they really save by doing that?"
One perspective.
Probably to minimize fraud. If everything was the same, what's to stop someone from warrantying an out of warranty vehicle against an in warranty one? While such action didn't stop it entirely, it was a method to discourage such an action.

At the end of the day, where's there is a will, there is a way

 

[68-500]

Ford and there different engine families. 289, Boss 302, 351C, 351 w, 352, a few between here and the 427, 428, 429, BOSS 429 bet I missed a few. Look at the inventory to service these engines!

You forgot the 351m

 

[68-500]

Why did Dodge discontinue the crew cab in the 80’s then put a Cummins in the Chassis? Had they refired the Crew cab and a Cummins in the early 90’s Ford and Chevy would have basically stopped making pickups.

 

[F4R/T]

Being blessed/cursed with a curious mind, I always wonder why, what if and how come.
Companies like Chrysler always seemed to swing between being flush with cash to then being borderline bankrupt. You'd think that they would have had better control of themselves and controlled costs better by finding ways to reduce costs.
Few people liked the 1972 and later side marker lenses but they used those for MANY years. Outer door handles were also used across many models.
What confused me was why automakers made post sedans and hardtops. Why two different designs? You then have to have different glass, door frames, weatherstrips, the post models sometimes had taller windshields meaning different A pillar covers inside, different wiper arms and other parts. Why? All these different parts cost money to make.
How about K members? Why use a different K member for slant six, regular V8 and then Hemi engines? They all had different motor mounts anyway, why have a different K member? That made no sense at all. GM didn't do this stuff.
Ford was stupid in many ways. 4 lug hubs for 6 cylinder, 5 lugs for V8s? That was dumb as ****. What did they really save by doing that?

I think GM really missed the mark , yes the used different k frames but GM would use different engines across the board and Chrysler got smart long before them.. GM was a pro a bringing them selves to the brink as well, WPC saved Buick ... things really do make you wonder..

 

[Kern Dog]

GM, at least Chevrolet, used the same bell housing across the six, small block and big block engine lines. I thought the distributors for small blocks also fit big blocks? I may be wrong there.
I'm still boggled by the post and hardtop models built concurrently. What is the reasoning there?

 

[Photon440]

IMO, those Matadors looked great with the bumpers removed.

View attachment 1928399

View attachment 1928400

I think they would have looked even better if they didn't have those big 7" headlamps breaking up the front end. They could have used rectangular lights that were legalized in 1975, or even hideaways...

 

[Budnicks]

They would have saved millions of dollars. My father worked in the auto industry his whole life, by the end of his career he was the European Purchasing Manager for a company that supplied all manner of components to major manufacturers such as Nissan, Honda, Volvo etc.
He reckoned the car manufacturers would go through the whole car and look for savings, right down to the cent. Because of the huge volumes involved, over the course of a model's lifespan, these tiny savings add up to big dollars.

yep
all them nickels saved by one less Lugnut or one less wheel-stud
for each part added up
they do that 50+ hell maybe 100+ times on each car
(down class, lower level models)

if the engineers had their way, they'd all be way over built

it was the accountants 'bean counters' always 'won out',
for profits, CEOs were ran by their profits margins
& except for more money/extortion for Union labor,
they were hamstringed, because they had to,
I'm sure they'd have like to cut cost there too...

They need to satisfy investors/share holders & be able to show profits,
accountants spread sheets are the kings
or like we see
they (CEO CFO Pres. etc.) don't last long

 

[Budnicks]

GM, at least Chevrolet, used the same bell housing across the six, small block and big block engine lines. I thought the distributors for small blocks also fit big blocks? I may be wrong there.
I'm still boggled by the post and hardtop models built concurrently. What is the reasoning there?

the old style MkIV BBC 396-454 & 1955-1998 283-400 SBC
the distributor do also fit SBC & BBC alike
unless it's a tall deck (like 366/427 or later 8+ltr) commercial big block/truck engine block

 

[Budnicks]

& for an example;
Post coupe & HT, is price point they get way more for a hard top
even back when cars were (68/69 RR) mid year $3,500 for a HT
& decent optioned $3,200 for a post coupe/pop out rear windows 'no window mechanisms'
(or some would call a sedan, if not a muscle car)
same body different glass, made by the thousands, roof skins same,
doesn't cost much more
but get 10%+ maybe %15 more actual profit in sales, by bean counting
for the MSRP

GM, at least Chevrolet, used the same bell housing across the six, small block and big block engine lines. I thought the distributors for small blocks also fit big blocks? I may be wrong there.
I'm still boggled by the post and hardtop models built concurrently. What is the reasoning there?

Yeah
I wish the BBM & SBM would have had same bellhousing/clutches & flywheels
many have or had the same starters
It would have made a lot of stuff simpler,
they probably saved $2+ in aluminum ea.
doing the smaller bolt patterns, after millions of them made,
that is a couple million $$s more profits,
for the penny pinchers bean counters/accounting spread sheets,
it's that is what truly runs corporations

I did build a crapload of GM stuff, it was easier, in some ways
GM it's got some weird crap too,
like Olds vs Buick vs Pontiac
(all the 1st 3 had weird minor changes too, trans's & bolt or even wheels patterns etc.)
vs Opel (made for Buick) vs Chevy vs Caddy
until they went corporate & everything had a Chevy in it,
like starting in like 1993-94 (IIRC)

I'm pretty damn sure 'some bean counter' had something to do with that too

hell Canadian cars once were strange to us here,
Chevy's body platforms were Pontiac branded/Chevy bodys,
rebaged & regrilled, different trim etc. (not all but many)
but still what was our Chevy body styles in the lower 48
depends on what country they went too
some real kinky crap was going on back then

I'm sure 'some bean counter' helped make that decision too

 

[Dennis H]

A8 TorqueFlite fluid change. ONLY the Germans could **** that up so much making it a nightmare.

 

[440 4 speed]

You forgot the 351m

What family was the 221, I think the 260 family was the same as the 289.