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Thread ID: 103573	2009-09-28 11:44:00	Alternator question	prefect (6291)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
814808	2009-10-01 19:10:00	Many cars used to have speedometers that were really guessometers. They used to fluctuate to a great degree and a vehicle travelling at 30mph quite often had the speedo flapping round like a banana leaf in a storm between 20mph and 40mph. You then assumed that that was around 30mph. Can't remember, I think they were Smiths? Ken :banana	kenj (9738)
814809	2009-10-01 19:19:00	I rolled around on the floor laughing when I read Billy's diatribe, it is so ridiculously unrealistic. Hang about, Billy, 50 years ago, 1959, the year of the Mini, even Jap transistor radios had only just appeared. There were no Jap electronics or teles, or cars or motorbikes in the UK, I doubt there were any in NZ either. As for the unreliability of the British cars you've had, such stories seem to be common in NZ, but rare in the UK, not the norm. Dont forget cars came out here CKD, completely knocked down, and were assembled here with relatively unskilled labour, and as many locally made parts as possible....import substitution. I wonder why the Japs imported top quality British measuring gear from firms such as Taylor Hobson in order to produce their own lower quality stuff from firms such as Mitutoyo. They imported the best quality measuring gear and machine tools from where-ever to get their own machine tool production up and going. The first Mitutoyo micrometers and other gear imported into UK were a joke, their gauge blocks didn't wring properly. However it didn't take long for them to get up to speed. They used to come over in great groups all armed with cameras, touring UK factories, photographing everything in sight, went away and did their remarkable manufacturing. No one disputes the high quality of japanese made product, that was what they set out to do, and they beat everyone else, including the Americans. But to claim that everything made in Britain was rubbish is just plain silly. Edit: ...and as for complaining about rusting, the painting was done here, so blame local assembly lines. So there....:)	Terry Porritt (14)
814810	2009-10-01 19:31:00	Dont forget cars came out here CKD, completely knocked down, and were assembled here with relatively unskilled labour, and as many locally made parts as possible....import substitution. Of course Terry, us bloody colonials have a lot to answer for!! Ken ;)	kenj (9738)
814811	2009-10-01 19:32:00	And all the above from a chap with a beard,amazing.	Cicero (40)
814812	2009-10-01 20:10:00	Remember now that it took the Japs to show the rest of the world how to build an engine that didn't leak oil all over the garage floor. Right? Too right. :)	Richard (739)
814813	2009-10-01 20:34:00	Remember now that it took the Japs to show the rest of the world how to build an engine that didn't leak oil all over the garage floor. Right? Too right. :) Quote ex Ter, No one disputes the high quality of japanese made product, that was what they set out to do, and they beat everyone else, including the Americans.	Cicero (40)
814814	2009-10-01 21:29:00	Many cars used to have speedometers that were really guessometers. They used to fluctuate to a great degree and a vehicle travelling at 30mph quite often had the speedo flapping round like a banana leaf in a storm between 20mph and 40mph. You then assumed that that was around 30mph. Can't remember, I think they were Smiths? Ken :banana Not necessarily, eg. I think Morris made their own, those types were not the "chronometric" variety as used on motorbikes. As you say they were guessometers, I think they used magnetic coupling. Jaguars had a nice Smiths Chronometric, that never went wrong either. :) An even bigger joke was the manifold vacuum operated windscreen wipers as used on Fords. They use to stop when you put your foot down on the throttle. Of course Terry, us bloody colonials have a lot to answer for!! Too right.....you are hitting the nail on the head :banana In the DSIR days, I would have visited hundreds of firms, large and small, assisting with and teaching QA concepts, and sorting out production problems. Some were good, some were bad. "We can sell everything we make, regardless, we dont need the expense of quality control" was a common response in those days of import controls. Some foundaries and heat treatment plants were from the middle ages. A tremendous amount of time was spent at the car firms, interpreting for the 'locals' production drawings sent out from the UK, and inspecting their jigs and fixtures and product. A common feature of UK subsidiaries here was the lack of control by the parent companies. Local people were left much to their own devices, and probably didn't want to lose face by sending questions back to the UK. Edit: to be fair, there was more good than bad. It was a land of extremes, No 8 wire on one hand and top quality manufacturing with the latest in CNC machine tools on the other.	Terry Porritt (14)
814815	2009-10-01 21:54:00	There used to be an ad on UK TV for I think Toyota they got a bunch of builders to describe what they wanted in a van, it was very tongue in cheek what they replied as in one guy said "The gear box should be like stirring a bucket of cement" A direct dig at Ford at Fords Transit van that had a ridiculously long gear stick which made selecting gears a trial by feel. I think they were made to be used by the blind. Fords were called Dagenham Donkeys when I was a kid after the town where there main factory was based. Yes I am English by birth I can't deny that and yes some great things were achieved there unfortunately not in the motor industry. But answer me this why are all of the F1 teams based there apart from Ferrari? Odd one that	gary67 (56)
814816	2009-10-01 22:00:00	Gary, that is a very good question. The Ford Transit became an excellent van after they put the V4 I think it was (or was it a V6) in the final production run in NZ. Then they took it off the market for the Econovan! We had an excellent run with the last few Transits we bought.	Richard (739)
814817	2009-10-01 22:17:00	Edit: to be fair, there was more good than bad. It was a land of extremes, No 8 wire on one hand and top quality manufacturing with the latest in CNC machine tools on the other. An example of No.8 mentality. I used to co-own a specialist car repair business in Napier in the early 70's. My business partner was an engineer with a love of Jaguar cars. He was frustrated by the fact that Jaguar manuals used to start like this... "To replace Top Timing Chain... First, remove engine." So, we experimented on a customers 3.8 MKII Jaguar where we cut some 5/16" nuts in half and used them as locknuts to extract the camcover/cylinder head studs, then removed the front sump bolts and eased some others. This enabled us to draw the camcover forward, remove the camchain while feeding the new one tied on to the old one with thin wire. Check No.1 was at TDC and bolt her back up again with lashings of Rolls Royce compound as gasket goo. Did 3 or 4 of these jobs and cut the recommended time by more than half. Never had an oil leak from where we worked and had lots of satisfied customers. "No.8 is great" Ken	kenj (9738)
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