Pre-Planned Obsolescence
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/wp-content/u...12/11/fuel.jpg

I found the above picture in Al's gallery and it made me think about my experience rebuilding my own Model-A fuel gau... To read the rest of this blog entry from The Ford Barn, click here.

Re: Pre-Planned Obsolescence
 

You are absolutely right. For a low priced car, they used the best materials. Look at all the other manufacturers who used pot metal for instance in their construction. These fords can be rebuilt over and over. They will probably be going in another 80 years.

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Yep, you're right.

I'm a broadcast electronics historian of sorts, and it always amazes me the way equipment makers of the 30's thought that the state of technology was as good as it was ever going to be, and equipment and facilities were designed and built with the intention of it being in existence and operation for all eternity. You'd be amazed how reliable broadcast equipment from the 30's really is, especially compared to the fragile junk that passes for "broadcast quality" today.

Earlier this month, had a colleague (engineer) who is a know-it-all telling me over lunch (as he made fun of me for driving an 82 year old car all over the place) that Henry Ford made his cars "to a price" and they were all as cheap as cheap could get. His facts were all wrong, and I asked him, if the Model A was such a "K-Mart car", then why are so many of them still on the road, while almost all the Chevys (that outsold Ford) are gone?

The more I get in to the Model A, the more I realize that the car was truly built to last. In those days, they didn't have the "planned obsolescence" mindset that car makers do today. Even though the Model A wasn't a high-dollar car like the Duesenbergs or Pierce Arrows, etc. of the time, they are still obviously built with the intention that the owner would likely have bought the last car they would ever need.

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P.S you re correct in that Henry stived to build a great vehicle with the best materials available. Read some of the accounts in designing the Model A as he wanted a sliding gear box like the Lincoln, Houdie Shocks and many other features that other manufacturers at the time did not do.

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thanks Ryan....the fact that so many "A" componants are mechanical makes it so simple to take apart and replace. Sometimes interchangeable parts DO WORK!!!!

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I think that mass produced quality carried through WWII and allowed us to produce the needed materials to win. I always enjoy looking at trade publications from the 1930's the equipment and machines used to build the cars is a study in itself.

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Doesn't the Model-A owners manual state somewhere that with regular service some parts, such as the transmission and rear end, will last "indefinitely". I laughed when I first read that because I have never seen another car manufacturer use the word "indefinitely". Meanwhile, we continue to hear of more untouched original cars alive and well. How many of us are restoring cars that suffered incredible abuse and neglect yet have the structural integrity to be made road-worthy again?

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Don't forget the AAs, they also have a respectable survival rate in the heavy truck category, considering most of them led a truly abused life. The automobiles purchased by the wealthy typically have led pampered lives, but the equipment and machinery that helped developing countries move ahead, impress me the most.

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Good read Ryan!! In the pages below you can see some of the Henry thoughts...

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...5891b6c8-1.jpg
http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...25268327-1.jpg
http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...3c3b9172-1.jpg
http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...fc479515-1.jpg

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I do not remember the thread, but it was said that the model "A" was made up of 180 different steels in composition!!

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Stuff was just built better back then, from a materials standpoint... I have three GE Monitor-Top refrigerators that are still working fine, including a first-generation Sulphur-dioxide machine, plus a 1940's unit in my kitchen that is working just fine, thank you.

We have had huge advances in technology since the Model A, but these gains are frequently offset by cheapening of the product to meet price-points / keep CEOs / stockholders "happy"....

You can keep your 21st Century... I'm not impressed so far...

SC Frank

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ratamahata,
Thx for the article, I also like the short article on Antifreeze that appears after the Henry Ford story. My grandfather was the Mechanic for a School District with 8 Busses. This was in '32. They used Kerosine in the winter for Antifreeze. Although Prohibition was winding down they had problems with the Alcohol being stolen from the busses. Of course it was not Grain Alcohol so it would kill you or blind you.

Re: Pre-Planned Obsolescence
 

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. A psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs known, ethanol produces a state known as alcohol intoxication when consumed.

Methanol is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol (drinking alcohol).[4] At room temperature, it is a polar liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via transesterification reaction.

Methanol ingested in large quantities is metabolized to formic acid or formate salts, which is poisonous to the central nervous system, and may cause blindness, coma, and death. Because of these toxic properties, methanol is frequently used as a denaturant additive for ethanol manufactured for industrial uses. This addition of methanol exempts industrial ethanol (commonly known as "denatured alcohol" or "methylated spirit") from liquor excise taxation.

Re: Pre-Planned Obsolescence
 

Buster T's take on this:
If EVERYTHING was made to last 80 years, like Model A's & Monitor Top fridges, there'd be NO need to manufacture replacements & our economy would go BELLY up???????--------------WELL! that's what he said! Bill W.

Re: Pre-Planned Obsolescence
 

Kind of on topic here. I bought a nice stereo system when I was stationed overseas in 1968.It still is working like brand new and the only thing that was ever replaced on it since new is the on-off switch. It has outlasted numerous audio/visual setups my relatives have bought throughout the years. Of course, it cost me an entire months pay back then, but it was money well spent.
These old Model As were meant to be fixed by the average person, not taken to a shop and diagnosed. So Henry made all the parts rebuildable.

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How about a 1948 International Harvester fridge still working as my beer fridge. We bought it in 1959,only changed a door seal. The new one we bought last year as told by the salesman might last 8 years. The beer fridge will still be working !

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I find the gas gauge a thing of beauty and want one for my desk top in my high school English class...I think it would make a great conversation piece. By the way.. I love the AA too. Those are some of the coolest machines and wish I had one...maybe in the future...my wife wants an old truck but I think she is thinking 50s or 60s...a double A would suit me fine.

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Dennison,
I wish Chief was still here to tell us the stories of how TOUGH & DEPENDABLE the AA'S were when he worked for the W.P.A, building gravel roads & bridges. In S.E. Oklahoma, those bridges are still in use! One really TALL one across BUZZARD CREEK!They even had a pile driver mounted on the back of an AA, can't remember how it was constructed. Bill W.

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Besides the Model A, I enjoy fixing up old radio's and old clocks.

The idea that all things were built better in the past just is not true. Many of the old clocks from the 1800's were made very poorly and were low cost. Also, radio's from the 1930's had poor mechanical construction and often poor electrical designs.

During WW2, the same manufactures made outstanding quality products when they needed to.

The Model A was made well only because Ford made a choice to do that. It had nothing to do with the time period.

Marc

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Oh, you guys are all weepy about your Model A's. Heck they put a cork from a wine bottle on those things and they knew full well it would quit working 83 years later! Sounds like pre-planned obsolescence to me!!

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Yep!
And I'll bet "THEY" made a FORTUNE jist sellin' CORKS!!!!!!:D Buster T.:cool:

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Maybe if you can get a strip of alloy and a few numbers stamped on it for the gauge readout you could cut one the rest from some foam and paint it silver as a display piece until you can find a real one.

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There is no such word as 'pre-plan'. There is no such concept as 'pre-plan'. All of that is covered under the definition of the word 'plan'. Spell check agrees with this.

I used POR15 in the letters of my gas gauge. Its been holding up well for 10 years

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B.G,
I know about POR15, but what the hek is Spel-Chek???:confused::confused::confused: Somewhere on my computor, I saw grammar chek, but was afraid to click on it. I'm ALSO afraid to EVER click on anything that says DEFAULT!!:eek: (sOUNDS bad!!) BILL w.

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How did you apply the POR-15 to the gauge lettering ?

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In 2005, I bought a new Maytag made in Mexico fridge. Within 4 years it was junk, needing over $400 in repairs. Around that time I bought an old Coca Cola cooler from a flea market built in 1937. Its still cools whatever I have in it as all I did was change to a modern plug & wire. I plan to add more of the same stuff from the era in the future. Ok--so they may not be energy efficient but I'm paying the bill.

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I could be wrong and I have no way of knowing for sure but the factory gas gauge in our `46 Aeronca Champ is the same as the Model A.

Bud Reynolds

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/Boseph1/ab.jpg

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I remember reading it was Alfred P Sloan who "introduced" planned obsolescence realising that margins on new car sales would decrease and that the real $$$ was in the parts/servicing/maintenance.

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200 year old poorly made clocks and they are still around?
80+ year old poorly constrcted radios and they too are still available to work on?

Why would anyone save junk for all those years?:cool:

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And the above are "fixable"... :rolleyes:

(Just sayin'...)

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Thank you bgarret, I'm over here from the V8 Forum and was going to finally vent on the thing that's been bugging me ever since this 'post' went up. Every time (daily) I log into Fordbarn I'm annoyed at the title of this post. I've ignored it hoping it would go away soon enough, but it finally got to me.

I've even tried to amuse myself wondering what a Pre-Plan might actually be, I have decided that the only people who could make any sense out of such a notion would be comedians. I am not one of those, so Pre-Planned remains senseless to me.

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Fe26, it (pre-planned) always bugs me too, and I was hoping this thread would get lost in past pages, but now you brought it back to the top! :eek:

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i think it means "Before planned obsolescence".

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You're right, it would have to, since there is no such thing as pre-planed obsolescence, as it first seems to read. :)

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See...We're into the comedy already. 'Pre' used as a prefix dosn't work gramatically in the description of what follows. If the author wished to convey the notion of finite durability as a plan then he could have said 'Before planned obsolesence...' or similar words.

Sorry about the resurrection Tom.

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I inadvertently stumbled upon this blog/article and the subsequent replies.



....The few words written were inspiring in that it helped to renew my faith in this group (of forums)
and especially in those who work tirelessly and who immerse themselves in of each every waking hour
to make this place -a better place to be-


(I confess, I begrudgingly spend too much time reading and battling within the likes of the -other- main forum).


moe




.

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Thanks for the comments guys. I was afraid I might get banned for saying it. Another is 'signage'. What the heck is wrong with 'signs'? Something undesirable is happening to our language. On another forum a guy got very upset when I pointed out that the car had no bumpers, after he commented that the bumpers were painted. Turns out he was talking about the grille. Our ability to communicate depends on accepted definitions and we seem to be losing that. To a teenager the word 'gay' means 'there is something wrong'.

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Why is this idea obsolete today? I wish Ford, among others, would bring it back! Why? Because I got a quote to replace the heater blend door of my 2001 F150. It's a plastic door buried in the heater mechanism that could be just as cheaply built with steel or aluminum. To get to it, you have to drop the steering column and remove the entire dashboard, detach a myriad of plastic clips, and go through the glove compartment. Who designs this stuff? Replace the $12 door, put it back together again, 10-15 hours and $1200 later it's fixed. This is a utility vehicle! Gimme a box on the firewall that I can remove and replace myself with a screwdriver.
I've been told they do this so I have to return it to the dealer to help his profit margin. Do you think this will convince me to buy another F150? Not likely. I think there's a market for vehicles that last and are easily, cheaply repaired by the owners with simple tools. It worked once and it's time has come again.