Things DPCD got right / got wrong
#2778759
05/27/20 02:45 PM
05/27/20 02:45 PM
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 34,904 S.E. South Dakota !
bigdad
OP
Still Posting A Lot
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OP
Still Posting A Lot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 34,904
S.E. South Dakota !
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Talking about Chrysler corporation ..
Things they did, brought out you liked and our did not
To start with, I would say the word HEMI would top the list for right !
I have always been disappointed in most of the factory wheels
The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.Proverbs 18:6
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: AndyF]
#2778844
05/27/20 06:40 PM
05/27/20 06:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,122 Auburn WA
Dave_J
master
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,122
Auburn WA
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I think that using the 'on the shelf' Poly 318 crankshafts in the 273 was a big mistake. The fix for the lighter 273 piston was to add a massive wristpin to weight the piston to the Poly 318's weight. Using a stock 10.25:1 273 piston with a light weight pin you can take about 4 pounds out of the crank.
The spin off of the 1981 Dodge Charger and the Plymouth Turismo from the 1979 Omni/Horizon was one of the better ideas of the late 1970's. The 2.2 should have been dual over head cam from the get go. If they had put the 318 in the Shelby Charger like Carrol wanted it would have been a 5.0L Mustang killer.
Bellhousing bolt patterns.... Why? Make just 1 for the 904, 727 and all stickshifts. From the /6 to the V10. Same with torqueconverters, make them all neutral balanced and do the balance with the flexplates.
Retired, US ARMY 1973-1994 ASE mechanic, Electrical 1994-1997 Retired GTE/VERIZON/FRONTIER 1997-2015
Posting cheap tech help (CRAP) here since Nov 97, 1000's of posts, some may be good.
03 Suzuki Burgman 650(Burger King) Scooter 65 Formula S Cuda 78 Little Red Express Truck 98 Buick Regal (wifes car)
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: Dave_J]
#2778848
05/27/20 06:51 PM
05/27/20 06:51 PM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 15,874 Central Florida
larrymopar360
Stud Muffin
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Stud Muffin
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 15,874
Central Florida
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Mine are very broad:
Bringing the F body Aspen/Volare to market too early.
On the 3.6 Pentastar, not quickly correcting the weak point in the cylinder head/lifter tap (mostly left bank) let alone allowing to occur in the first place. An otherwise great engine developed a bad reputation for years by allowing this to continue for at LEAST four production years, and probably five. Same goes for the LX platform tension struts. Tried a slight change in geometry in '11 but early failures continued. Police cars FINALLY got solid bushing instead of hydrobushing in late '14. I don't know about civi cars. Again, an otherwise great platform develops bad reputation and many departments drop the line. Dumb, dumb dumb.
Dropping the Pentastar. DUMB marketing move. DUMB DUMB DUMB. Makes absolutely no sense. It's a beautiful symbol, immediately recognizable, and not something lame like a bow tie. Again, made no sense.
Hard to come up with things prior to these; a stand alone company with a reputation for excellence in engineering. Incredibly broad range of product. Virgil Exner's automotive designs. Powertrains that wouldn't quit.
Edit: I forgot the good!
Agreed, number one, the Hemi!
Number two, probably the slanty. Have to say the old workhorse slant six probably deserves number two at least!
Number three, torqueflite transmissions. The 727 mainly.
Last edited by larrymopar360; 05/27/20 07:07 PM.
Facts are stubborn things.
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: larrymopar360]
#2778875
05/27/20 08:02 PM
05/27/20 08:02 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,784 A collage of whims
topside
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,784
A collage of whims
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In the eyes of the general consumer, I'd nominate: The early rust-out & QC of the '57 cars, which were otherwise pretty amazing at the time. That hurt them for many years. Generally cheaper interior appearance than the competition. Sometimes too-cheap materials, like interior vinyls.
Chrysler Corp was justly regarded as an engineering-heavy manufacturer, but I'd bet there was competition among the engineers for cleverness. Some of the items already mentioned are valid, but try a '60s Ford product for weird ideas & non-interchangeable items: just nuts !
Later on, the crap MP stuff, and their lack of support for their iconic older cars (vs, say, Chevrolet) has marginalized them.
Nevertheless, there's so much great stuff they did, I'd use a few paragraphs to list it all.
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: topside]
#2778878
05/27/20 08:18 PM
05/27/20 08:18 PM
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 52,972 Romeo MI
MR_P_BODY
Master
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Master
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 52,972
Romeo MI
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Some dont realize that 99% of the calls came from the top.. I worked in a few labs at Chrysler for 35 year.. one lab we came up with electronic ignition and the transverse torsion bars and a few others but each time they would try to cut money out of each project or dropped some good ones and some should have been the transverse bar should have but they wanted to stay with what Chrysler was known for.. a coil over would have been far better which they did go to later.. to them it was always about the stock holder
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: Jjs72D]
#2778903
05/27/20 09:24 PM
05/27/20 09:24 PM
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 52,972 Romeo MI
MR_P_BODY
Master
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Master
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 52,972
Romeo MI
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I'll agree that the small bolt pattern in A body cars is a bad idea but Ford used 4 lug hubs. We did do for the small cars till we found they were cracking wheels.. the small the pattern started out for the slant 6 but then they got the idea for a V-8 in it
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: MR_P_BODY]
#2778927
05/27/20 10:30 PM
05/27/20 10:30 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 31,036 Oregon
AndyF
I Win
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I Win
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 31,036
Oregon
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Two things I hated what they did was the left handed lugs on the left side and all the bell housings but the lug thing was logical but we never had a problem Yeah having a bunch of different bolt patterns for bellhousing wasn't a good idea. Chevy was much smarter about that kind of stuff.
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: AndyF]
#2778935
05/27/20 11:15 PM
05/27/20 11:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 70,126 Here
DirectSubjection
Tacohead. The First and Only
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Tacohead. The First and Only
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 70,126
Here
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+ Deep skirt big blocks for strength and ease of oil pan removal in cars
- Having to remove the heater hose to remove/install the water pump housing, especially when its an old vintage housing
Ride eternal, shiny and chrome
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: DirectSubjection]
#2778941
05/27/20 11:43 PM
05/27/20 11:43 PM
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,235 Phoenix, AZ
Jjs72D
Deep in the closet
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Deep in the closet
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,235
Phoenix, AZ
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I have wondered strictly from a common sense standpoint, why so many differences? Bolt patterns for wheels. Bell housing patterns.
Why did they built post hardtops and pillarless coupes of the same car? (Dart/Valiant, Belvedere/Coronet) What sense did it make to build 2 sets of doors, roof structures, different windshields, back glass, etc ? I know that other manufacturers did this but I've yet to meet someone that could explain it well as to why it was done.
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Re: Things DPCD got right / got wrong
[Re: Jjs72D]
#2778944
05/28/20 12:15 AM
05/28/20 12:15 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,820 Between Houston & Galveston TX
SattyNoCar
Smarter than no class Flappergass by a mile
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Smarter than no class Flappergass by a mile
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,820
Between Houston & Galveston TX
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While I won't argue the bellhousing thing is annoying (especially now wanting to put OD behind a big block) but Mopars always had a vast interchangeability across the board A lot of the mechanical bits don't care if its on an A-body or a D100, its all the same. Aside from stuff blowing up, that was one of the big things that turned me off of Fords, they have so many different designations for one engine size (for example) and NONE of it interchanges even though its the same CI. Chrysler was always on the verge of bankruptcy, so they had to save money somewhere, and the mechanical bits were it.
That being said though, I also think that's what held them back too. If you bought a Pontiac Grand Prix in the '70's, it had a different dash from the same year Monte. With Chrysler, the dash was pretty much the same all the way across the different models. Why would you pony up extra money for 'class' (Cordoba) when grandmas Fury has the same dash?
I know what I'm trying to say but I'm tired so I hope this made some sense.
John
The dream is dead, long live the dream.......😥
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