<VV> HRPT, soft aluminum and poor designs.

[james rice]

All:  I'm coming to the conclusion some of you have to much time on your
hands.  Or maybe it is just cabin fever really setting in.

The terminal connector (HRPT) discussion is ....what's the point to the "bad
design" comments etc?  Why are we spending our time second guessing what was
designed 40 plus years ago.  Oh right!  Cabin Fever!!!  If/when any part
fails, for whatever the reason, tell us how do we diagnose it and correct
it?  There is no need to critique it or explain how you would have done
better.

The EM model rear suspension was pretty much state of the art when
originally designed. Bad design?  Nope.  In spite of Ralph's Machianvellian
machinations.

The LM rear suspension was a variation on the '63 Corvette rear suspension.
A serious cross checking of dates leads one to conclude Duntov copied the
1958 Lola Mk 1 IRS design for his 1960 CERV 1's IRS, which was the predessor
to the '63 Vette's IRS.  Of course some place in this time frame, Jaguar
copied the Lola design for the E1A and E2A prototypes of the E-Type. (XK-E
to some of you).  Colin Chapman of Lotus also copied the Lola IRS, begining
with the 1960 Lotus 18.  So we have a number of street and race cars which
use the same IRS configuration, including the before mentioned Lotus cars, a
couple generations of Corvettes and decades worth of Jaguars, beginning with
the E-type, which was introduced in early 1961.

Were all presvious IRS designs poor ones?  Nope.  Just the best they could
come up with given what they knew.

Technology makes just about everything a "poor design" in retrospect.  If
only we were as smart then as we think we are now.  Why, oh way, didn't we
think of it then?!

Some one asked what aluminum would you use today on a new Corvair heads
and/or engine.  I don't know.  But new Corvair heads aren't going to happen
because we could never agree upon which heads.  Then there is the cost of
whatever was decided upon.  Unless you can find someone with deep pockets
who wants to fund the effort, knowing full well they'll never make a buck it
isn't going to happen.  Stop dreaming.  Go check you medicine dosage.
Replace your CO monitor, as it has failed you.  Best to figure out how to
fix the ones we have, hence the heat treating questions.  Probably no money
to make there either.

But if GM wanted to start over with the Corvair, the engine would be the
flat 6 from the Subaru.  Has anybody thought of stuffing one of those into a
'Vair?  Or looked at the sohc head and/or bore spacing for a really trick
modified Corvair engine?

With modern traction control, making even a EM oversteer would be
impossible.  Were all cars poor designs because they didn't have traction
control?  Nope.

There is a reason air-cooled engine are rare today.  It has mostly to do
with consistent combustion chamber temperatures for emissions control, noise
suppression, and of course, cooling of the high HP per CID, multi-valve,
EFI, with all the computers controling the seriously wonderful engines we
take for granted today.  Of course, most of us cannot work on them....so we
stick to what we could do 40 years ago.  I'm guilty as charged.  So are most
of you.

Lighten up on our predecessors.  Take a deep breath.  Like us, they did the
best they could with what they had.  Get back to how to fix'em.

Historically Yours,
			James Rice