Tom,
Wouldn't the driveshaft have to be shortened for the overdrive?
On a different subject, one thing I find amusing about english cars is the necessity for BRACKETS ... they are everywhere. The Italians cast just about everything and usually include these things in there castings ... but the English have to have plates or brackets bolted to everything ... It seems to be the way they think as I worked with an English draftsman and all his designs had many many wonderful little brackets ...
Keep up the good work, I am sure you will return to your expected traffic once you start the interior of your Ferrari.
Pete
Alpine driveshaft
Hi Pete,
You are correct. The driveshaft for the overdrive is shorter, so when I bought the overdrive, I got the driveshaft with the unit. When I wake the Sunbeam up from its winter sleep, everything should be ready for the transplant.
Maybe British engineers wanted a universality to their products, and using brackets was better than casting mounts into their units? An engineering (or psychological) thesis can be written on British engineering!
Tom
You are correct. The driveshaft for the overdrive is shorter, so when I bought the overdrive, I got the driveshaft with the unit. When I wake the Sunbeam up from its winter sleep, everything should be ready for the transplant.
Maybe British engineers wanted a universality to their products, and using brackets was better than casting mounts into their units? An engineering (or psychological) thesis can be written on British engineering!
Tom
Brackets
Tom,
Yes you would be right, universitility would be their reason, but it don't half look ugly ...
There are a few really great English cars ... but this penny pinching attitude is what killed their industry in the end, i.e. making something to fit everthing and making an inferior product to save . The Japanese, instead of trying to save 10c per item, made sure they engineered things correctly to maintain their products high reliability. They saved money by investing in clever and advanced manufacturing techniques ... and their expanding market share meant that they could keep investing in their future.
An example of this short sightness and penny pinching is the carbon clutch thrust bearings used in the MGB. This design of thrust bearing is designed to wear out and have to be replaced on a regular frequency by the owner and also has an unsatisfactory use anyway (ie. it slows the motor down when the clutch is depressed, and the driver to get decent use out of this component has to develop a habit not to sit at the lights with the clutch depressed). I guess they saved 50c per car ... but was it worth it. I think not, and is a weakness on a fairly good car (brackets included :) ).
Pete
Yes you would be right, universitility would be their reason, but it don't half look ugly ...
There are a few really great English cars ... but this penny pinching attitude is what killed their industry in the end, i.e. making something to fit everthing and making an inferior product to save . The Japanese, instead of trying to save 10c per item, made sure they engineered things correctly to maintain their products high reliability. They saved money by investing in clever and advanced manufacturing techniques ... and their expanding market share meant that they could keep investing in their future.
An example of this short sightness and penny pinching is the carbon clutch thrust bearings used in the MGB. This design of thrust bearing is designed to wear out and have to be replaced on a regular frequency by the owner and also has an unsatisfactory use anyway (ie. it slows the motor down when the clutch is depressed, and the driver to get decent use out of this component has to develop a habit not to sit at the lights with the clutch depressed). I guess they saved 50c per car ... but was it worth it. I think not, and is a weakness on a fairly good car (brackets included :) ).
Pete
Hi Pete,
Don't get me started on foresight! $0.50 per car @ 20,000 units, and an accountant saved the company $10,000 bucks, that's how they justify it, but simultaneously destoying an industry. You can imagine it still happens to this day at Ford or GM where their production runs are in the hundreds of thousands, only they have to be more careful what they cut. Competition offering better products is the only reason why companies can't get away with crap like that anymore.
Another example I use all the time about cheap British engineering giving Lucas a bad name is the way the turn signal housing is attached to the body. Sunbeam used a body clip that uses a self tapping screw to hold the whole housing to the body where other manufacturers uses machine screws with nuts and lock washers. The turn signal assembly uses this connection for its ground path, and as the car ages, dirt, water and corrosion weakens this path for ground. Soon the signal lights fail all together, and the owner curses Sir Lucas, but who really is at fault? It's small cost cutting measures like these that causes a society to loose faith in an industry.
Tom
Don't get me started on foresight! $0.50 per car @ 20,000 units, and an accountant saved the company $10,000 bucks, that's how they justify it, but simultaneously destoying an industry. You can imagine it still happens to this day at Ford or GM where their production runs are in the hundreds of thousands, only they have to be more careful what they cut. Competition offering better products is the only reason why companies can't get away with crap like that anymore.
Another example I use all the time about cheap British engineering giving Lucas a bad name is the way the turn signal housing is attached to the body. Sunbeam used a body clip that uses a self tapping screw to hold the whole housing to the body where other manufacturers uses machine screws with nuts and lock washers. The turn signal assembly uses this connection for its ground path, and as the car ages, dirt, water and corrosion weakens this path for ground. Soon the signal lights fail all together, and the owner curses Sir Lucas, but who really is at fault? It's small cost cutting measures like these that causes a society to loose faith in an industry.
Tom