Many times at car shows I tell people about the groundbreaking Fiero design of easily replaceable plastic body panels / skins and that’s what’s on my car. (and that their car does not) 😊
Anyways, I often ponder why no other car companies have followed suit and adapted this “radical, groundbreaking” technology? Yes, I know this technology was used on Saturns and the Corvette but I don’t see it anywhere outside GM.
I’m very familiar about all the advantages of this technology (access to internals when building the car, easy panel replacement, much cheaper dies, rust resistance, dent resistance, ease of body design changes without changing everything underneath, etc.) So, all that being said, why hasn’t any other car companies utilized this technology? Is it because GM had this patented and won’t share it or is it something else? Your thoughts? Kit
Originally posted by Kitskaboodle: Many times at car shows I tell people about the groundbreaking Fiero design of easily replaceable plastic body panels / skins and that’s what’s on my car. (and that their car does not) 😊
Anyways, I often ponder why no other car companies have followed suit and adapted this “radical, groundbreaking” technology? Yes, I know this technology was used on Saturns and the Corvette but I don’t see it anywhere outside GM.
I’m very familiar about all the advantages of this technology (access to internals when building the car, easy panel replacement, much cheaper dies, rust resistance, dent resistance, ease of body design changes without changing everything underneath, etc.) So, all that being said, why hasn’t any other car companies utilized this technology? Is it because GM had this patented and won’t share it or is it something else? Your thoughts? Kit
Kit, interesting thoughts.
Can a car company patent forever making fenders with curves, windshields with curves ?
The Batmoblie was a adapted creation.
I suspect, car companies do not want to be shown up.
The removable panels and the Mill/Drill machine were a band-aid for lack of quality control and precision in the metal stamping and welding processes. Since they could not or did not care to maintain tolerances when the chassis was built, they used a fixed position mill/drill machine to drill and surface all the body panel attachments at once to ensure proper alignment, which resulted in the final goal of good panel fitment.
I love a lot of things about the Fiero, but with my background and training in engineering, quality control, and continuous improvement, I see the Mill/Drill as an example of how bad GM quality control was in the 80s. They marketed it as an innovation, but really was an overly expensive work around for poor engineering and manufacturing process controls.
How bad was the Fiero chassis manufacturing tolerances? The mill/drill pads are about 3/4" x 3/4" square and I have seen some Fieros where the drilled/tapped hole was outside the pad.
I have a suspicion that GM management- when they (Obviously) Rejected "TQM" (Total Quality Management) they also wrote off any innovations that were introduced on the Fiero and Saturn car lines...so the plastic-panel Mill-And-Drill system was eliminated.
Remember, Saturn was doing great, building very high-quality cars, and selling them to people who were more into buying Toyotas and Hondas...but after 2000, GM decided to get rid of that stupid "japanese" manufacturing concept and go back to the good-old "The BOSS is GOD!!!!" type of management...so Saturn went down the tubes.
I worked at NAS Alameda on S-3 and A-6 lines...for the first 9-10 years it was horrible...if we noticed something going wrong on the line and tried to tell the boss, they would just yell at us "Do your damn job and shut up!!!"
Around 1990, we got trained in TQM- which is the quality system that an >>AMERICAN<< taught the japanese (Edward Deming)...within 6 months the line changed and improved- the bosses would listen to us if we saw a problem (The workers are the bosses "Eyes and ears" on the line)...NO!, We did not go outside and exercise or any of that crap seen in that stupid movie...we just worked together.
We were the first Aircraft line to produce a "Zero-Defect" aircraft- in the history of aviation- and then for the next three years, 13 aircraft each year >> Zero-Defect<< (But then they heard I was up for a pay raise and had bought a house, so they decided to CLOSE the base....)
After the Fiero panel gaps were the rage and gauge all cars were measured by for quality.
The Fiero panel gaps were wide enough you could almost put a finger in them.
This is a prime reason. The other is it really did not make the cars lighter and also todsy they use do much of the body panels as a crash crumple to absorb the impact.
The plant body panels Today can be fitted tighter Todsy but there is no real need for them outside the Corvette. The Fiero body would grow and move and it required the large gaps as did Saturn. My C5 gaps are much better but still larger than most.
Most new tech is ground breaking till it is old and out dated. Today it is outdated.
