We're going a bit off topic, but here's my interpretation.
- Ford "engineering" designed Concourse Grade Cars.
- Ford "purchasing" bought parts to a forecast, and in many cases, needed multiple sources. Around 1.6 million 64-66 Mustangs were built. Imagine 1.6 million right hand headlight buckets. They were cast in a mold. Molds wear out. A guess (on my part) is 100,000 headlight buckets per mold, then the mold is replaced. There were many engineering design changes, hopefully to improve the items affected.
- Assembly line people, engineering, quality, line workers, receiving, stocking, inspection (not redundant, just a lot), etc. They "reacted" to situations - fits, shortages, the UAW, etc.
- What design engineering wanted to do took a lot more time than manufacturing engineering was willing to spend. That's reflected in primer, sealer, welding, fits. The pressure was on PRODUCTION, for SALES, for STOCK HOLDERS.
- It is a known fact that production work is "boring". Workers tend to "drift off" into another world doing repetitive work. (I saw this while working in a high tech design lab, then seeing my designs get built by little old ladies, most of whom were WWII defense workers and knew both my grandmothers). Automobile assembly lines are noisy. I visited the San Jose plant in Milpitas twice in the late 60s, early 70s while working at Ford Aerospace. It was noisy. The "boring" part is also why many new employees lasted less than 90 days. Drinking and drugs were common reasons for dismissal. You can see evidence of inattentive work in the engine compartments and wheel wells. The engineering documents specify the areas to be treated. In reality, leaning over a fender apron with a spray gun, spray "goop" is "boring", hence - over spray, spray trickles, missed spots - you can see this in several of the process pictures posted on the forum. It was "sloppy". It was acceptable.
- The Mustang was done, driven onto a rail car, or trucked locally in the San Jose area, to a dealer. At the dealer there was a process known as "dealer prep". In addition to the antenna being installed and the floor mats tossed in, many dealers had to do "minor" adjustment - doors, hood, etc. Paint touch up, usually from shipping damage, was common. Then a washing - then, bingo - on the lot - just for you.
"Bring it back if you got any problems." was the dealer's parting word.
So:
Concourse Grade = engineering's design.
Real world = lots of not so perfect, but very common, assembly line cars
A month later = a daily driver, with mud, road tar, leaves in the vents (that also leak).
There it is. I make an attempt to do the best that I can on my cars, Concourse Grade, but do fall short occasionally.
What's your goal?
Jim
