auto trivia

Right you are-next post to Camaroaddict...

What Chevrolet vehicle was the first to receive a computer controlled carburator, and what year did this happen?

Well, I guess I will take a shot in the dark, and if I recall, it was the  California emissions Corvette with the 305 in 1980.... it was called Computer Command Control.

Am I close?

As a side note and NOT part of the answer: While at the Chrysler dealership, after Carter quit making carbs and went strictly EFI components, Chrysler bought the Q-jet from GM for the 4 bbl applications, the Diplomats and Grand Furys having O2 feedback, most of the truck apps did not. Quite the little mess of parts I found in that solenoid assembly, it wasn't a 1-piece assembly. A little tricky to service.

kustommodeler1 is exactly correct...

the floor is yours

Cool!

OK, The Datsun 810 began a name change for it's next model year in the U.S. Market. Name the year and what the new name was (is).

Well, this is a bit of a confusing question which gets a confusing answer, but let's see if I get the gist...

In 1976 Nissan released the Nissan Bluebird model in Japan, of which the Maxima was an upscale version. This car debuted in North America in 1977 as the Datsun 810, and in 1981 was offered as the 810 Deluxe or 810 Maxima. In 1982 the 810 was dropped to become the Datsun Maxima and in 1984 Nissan dropped the Datsun name in favor of Nissan, so the model became the Nissan Maxima.

Nissan is the Tokyo Stock Market abbreviation of Nippon Sangyo, the holding company that bought DAT Automobile Manufacturing Company in 1931. The following year a compact car was marketed as the first Datson (son of DAT), but was quickly changed to Datsun, as "son" meant loss in Japanese.

You are correct sir. The name change confused me when it happened, I thought Datsun was just fine. I had an '80 model 510, which, when re-designed as a front wheel drive, became the Stanza.

You have the next question!!

I used to have a '72 510. First independent rear suspension after a slew of "muscle cars" and their solid live axles. It was like driving a go cart! Excellent little car, and one I regretted selling the moment the papers were signed.

Now for the question:

What year and make of car was the first to come equipped with anti-lock brake technology?

Camaroaddict

What Chevrolet vehicle was the first to receive a computer controlled carburator, and what year did this happen?

very late 1980 or actually the 1981 model run. I had one, and can never forget the fun

gary

kenjitak

What engine was in the first Shelby Cobra?

actually the first Cobra had a 289 cu. in. engine. The one before that was known as the Shelby A.C. roadster (known in England as the "Ace roadster") at first and later the name Cobra was added. This body was completely redesigned about a year later due to the fact that the chassis would hold up to the power generated for the 260 engine

gary

Gary,

The prototype AC Roadster chassis CSX0001 was fitted with 221ci V8 for testing. That engine was removed and the chassis flown to Shelby in LA in February 1962 where Carroll and his team fitted the Ford 260ci HiPo V8. The first 75 Mark I were shipped with that engine, while the remaining 51 Mark I were fitted with the brand new Windsor 289ci later that year.

This is a question that has been asked and answered to the kenjitak's satisfaction.

The current question is what year and make of car was the first to come equipped with anti-lock brake technology?

Was it the 1971 Chrysler Imperial?

Mechanical ABS saw limited use in the 1960's in the Ferguson P99 race car, Jensen Formula Ford and the experimental AWD For Zodiac.

Chrysler introduced "Sure Brake" a computerized three-channel all-wheel ABS on the 1971 Imperial. General Motors also introduced "Trackmaster", which was a rear-wheel only ABS option on their RWD Cadillac models in 1971.

The first car worldwide to have ABS standard was the Ford Granada Mk.III in 1985.

Josh

I'm going to give Josh (FastasEF) win with the Jensen FF (1966 to be precise).

Josh, you're up!

Wellllllllll the first implimintation of ABS was in a Voisin aircraft of French origination in 1929!!! Oh sorry this is auto trivia! LOL

That's very true, and automobile ABS was developed from aircraft ABS.

I'm actually going to let simpilot34 ask the next question instead of me.

My original intention was to also chime in about the Datsun thing because I owned a 1971 510 4 door and a 1972 510 2 door with an L22 and other modifications. I also, still wish I had that car. I just didn't want to post not relating to the question.

But I was in a rush when I posted and completely forgot about adding the above, lol.

So, take it away simpilot!

Josh

Thanks FastasFF!! Didn't expect to get the floor so soon lol. Anyways for the next question:

As powerful as these engines were, in the 348/409 series of engines, what was the main flaw that limited it's power output?

Was it the combustion chamber being part of the cylinder block, instead of the heads?

BINGO! Well Done Bgrigg!!!! Yes, the combustion chamber was part of the block and not the head which pretty much restricted the chamber to one shape and size only therefore limiting how much power could be produced. Read stories about the W head engines and the engineers just could not make them breathe properly with that limitation. In the 396 the chamber was then placed in the head which could be made to any shape necessary to get the job done.

Over to you!

Okay, have to confess that was a pure guess on my part. Hard to believe an engine capable of putting out 1HP per cubic inch could be called "limited"!

The 1969-1970 Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird were famous for the tall wing. Tests showed that a lower wing would be better for downforce, yet the height remained. Why?

OH boy..... My guess would be that sometime you would actually need to use the trunk, and with a shorter wing you couldn't open it very far.

Am I close?

That's correct! You have the floor.

Thanks! It was just a wild guess. I know that in '72 the EPA used one to chase jets down the runway to collect air pollution samples. At the time, no other car existed that could run 200mph in a plane's jet wash and not get blown all over the place. Between the long nose cone (which produced 1200lbs of downforce at 180mph), and the tall rear wing (which made 600lbs at the same speed), along with a special hydraulic front suspension lowering system, kept the car stable.

OK, the nest question: What was the average daily crack consumption rate (in grams) at GM when it was decided the 2.5 litre 4 cylinder would be the base engine in the 3rd gen f-body for 1982?

Just kidding that's NOT the question. Here's the real one:

Ford had what many consider to be a design flaw with it's I.A.R. series of alternators throughout the early and mid 1990s that caused loss of charging and sometimes an underhood fire? What was the flaw and the current modification/cure for it?

simpilot34

Thanks FastasFF!! Didn't expect to get the floor so soon lol. Anyways for the next question:

As powerful as these engines were, in the 348/409 series of engines, what was the main flaw that limited it's power output?

very poor cylinder head design for starters. The valves were shrouded when open, The main and rod bearings were too small for that size of a motor. Rod angularity was a complete joke. The whole design was junk

gary

kustommodeler1

Well, I guess I will take a shot in the dark, and if I recall, it was the  California emissions Corvette with the 305 in 1980.... it was called Computer Command Control.

Am I close?

 

As a side note and NOT part of the answer: While at the Chrysler dealership, after Carter quit making carbs and went strictly EFI components, Chrysler bought the Q-jet from GM for the 4 bbl applications, the Diplomats and Grand Furys having O2 feedback, most of the truck apps did not. Quite the little mess of parts I found in that solenoid assembly, it wasn't a 1-piece assembly. A little tricky to service.

Chrysler used the Carter Thermoquad. It has the same bolt pattern as the Quadrajet, and a similar bore design, but a much better carb design that worked like an AFB and yet had the air valve like their AVS carbs did. It unlike the Quadrajet was tunable

gary 

Bgrigg

Okay, have to confess that was a pure guess on my part. Hard to believe an engine capable of putting out 1HP per cubic inch could be called "limited"!

The 1969-1970 Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird were famous for the tall wing. Tests showed that a lower wing would be better for downforce, yet the height remained. Why?

dyno pulls on the 425hp. were usually in the 300hp to 320hp range. The idea of the cylinder bore being the combustion chamber isn't as bad as the way the airflow was restricted when the valves were open. Horsepower curves were very narrow, and pistons wore out very quickly due to a horrible side loading due to the very low deck highth.

gary

Yes!!!! When the fuel/air mixture went BANG! , the angle of the deck and the flatness of the head, and angle of the piston, slammed the piston to the inboard face of the bore. So, in a mtter of speaking, over time, it was slowly killing itself. Water jackets were thin on the W series.

squeakie

 

kustommodeler1:

 

Well, I guess I will take a shot in the dark, and if I recall, it was the  California emissions Corvette with the 305 in 1980.... it was called Computer Command Control.

Am I close?

 

As a side note and NOT part of the answer: While at the Chrysler dealership, after Carter quit making carbs and went strictly EFI components, Chrysler bought the Q-jet from GM for the 4 bbl applications, the Diplomats and Grand Furys having O2 feedback, most of the truck apps did not. Quite the little mess of parts I found in that solenoid assembly, it wasn't a 1-piece assembly. A little tricky to service.

 

 

Chrysler used the Carter Thermoquad. It has the same bolt pattern as the Quadrajet, and a similar bore design, but a much better carb design that worked like an AFB and yet had the air valve like their AVS carbs did. It unlike the Quadrajet was tunable

gary 

Yeah, Gary, the last years of the M-body (Diplomat-Grand fury) Chrysler had to switch from the Thermo-quad to the Q-jet, like I said in the earlier post, Carter discontinued carb production and became strictly fuel injection components supplier 4 years before the demise of the M-body. While possible the 5th Avenue had it as an option, I never saw one. Just the Dips and Furys, mostly for police and fire apps.

Chrysler made Rochester do a few things to the Q-jet in the contract to buy, the most notable was they had to polish the accelerator pump bore so it didn't eat up pump cups so quickly.

The trickiest part of a Thermo quad adjustment is the secondary accelerator pump stroke. Thermo quad caught the nickname "Thermo-Bog" because most folks didn't realize that it gave a second pump shot when the secondaries opened, and if it didn't, it would "bog" before picking up power.

I love discussing Mopars, thanks!

Now, to bring my question back to the top--Ford had what many consider to be a design flaw with it's I.A.R. series of alternators throughout the early and mid 1990s that caused loss of charging and sometimes an underhood fire? What was the flaw and the current modification/cure for it?

Different from most alternator designs which utilize a threaded post connection for battery output, the IAR uses a three spade plug. This design is prone to developing excess heat caused by increased electrical resistance from a weak pressure plug contact.

The best concept for improving Ford IAR alternator reliability available today, the FR191 "Kit" is easy to install by simply enlarging the wire loom hole located on the Ford IAR end frame to accommodate the insulated M6 output stud.

At the request of numerous customers, Transpo has developed a replacement Ford IAR unit that completely eliminates the BBS plug and converts the alternator to an output stud design using an M6 bolted connection.