This is not intended to start a flame war, merely to show why if 1980s GMs were built the same way today that that level of faults would cause NHTSA to just shut the whole shebang down before their heads exploded.

Take the 800 lb. tailgate I've been dealing with on my '89 Custom Cruiser since the "helper" rod was apparently killed in a knife fight in Little Havana. Tired of hearing the rattling threats of retribution from what was left of the bar I popped that sucker open and what do I find? Imagine the largest box of Corn Flakes you can buy at the local stop-n-rob only the flakes are red and taste terrible (though they ARE a good source of iron).

Oddly enough the rust poured out of a plastic "wrap" (think tiny slit garden hose) that, I--foolishly--assumed was there to PROTECT the rod, not store the seeds of its own destruction.

Many, MANY parts of my Oldsmobile are great. Heck, they had 13 model years and the workforces of four brands to develop them. But that said,

DETROIT IS IN MICHIGAN. SNOW IS IN MICHIGAN. SALT IS USED AGAINST SNOW, BUT IT EATS UNPROTECTED METAL, TOO, LIKE THE KIND FOUND IN CARS.

[And even if it was just "trapped water" that was the culprit, why the hell did people even tolerate that?]

Now I'm not saying they built them to last "only so long", but they've been building cars in MI, OH, Canada, etc., long enough to know what rusts away and what doesn't.

1,126,000 miles on a Volvo with NO rust. 180k on an Olds, with rust aplenty.

Just saying...

 

If the engineers at GM knew what we were doing with these cars 45 years later and money and time we were spending to restore and maintain these cars, you could bet they would open a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue, call us ******** and laugh their asses off. These cars were intended to last barely 100,000 miles and 5-8 years at best.

 

I would say that's dead-on.

When the clock rolled over, it was pretty much assumed that the car was beat.
A ten year old car was essentially shot, a beater, something teenagers drove for a year or two on the way to the junkyard.

- Eric

 

regardless, no engineer or 60's-70's mechanic would ever have assumed that we would be restoring these cars to levels greater than even the factory was able to, mostly due to the assembly line. but its amazing the interest and passion we have for these cars.

 

I remember in the '70s looking at cars from the '50s and thinking that nobody would ever want to restore those ugly things.

Restoring cars from the '70s was unimaginable.

- Eric

 

truly amazing, but who in their right mind would ever assume that the **** boxes built in the 80's would ever make it into the 21st century, and now you go to local cruises and you might see a 80's cutlass or monte or gran prix.

 

or perhaps you'll see a All white/blue interior 1985 Delta 88 Royal Brougham LS =P with just over 100k on the dash!!

of course I'd rather have a pre 70's model but I need your money guys.....donations anyone?

 

or my recently found dead 92 cierra with 220 on the clock and luggage rack on the deck lid what a true classic.

 

I agree that they made these with the sole intent of moving new cars off the dealership lots and that's about it. But the 90's and early 2000's Detroit took the "disposable" vehicle mentality to the extreme and I think it hurt 'em. While at the same time people were oogling over Asian cars racking up 300,000 miles.

Rust aside, the longevity of a car is foremost at the whim of its owners. Barring some glaring engineering oversight; Maintenance is king, and if you take care of it, it will last.

 

I was devastated when my dad's '92 Cierra got rearended and totalled leaving me with no car to drive in high school. I was FORCED to drive the '72 Cutlass Supreme...that was just a horrible deal for me I tell ya, horrible

 

i do agree with you on maintenance. But when you have a 2002 alero that has a constant ignition switch problem that was evident with all gms of the late 90;s early 2000's and cost 300 every couple months it sucks especially when millions of customers asked for it to be recalled and GM ignored us all. I forgot the exact term for the problem but it regarded the computer not reading the key and thinking the car was being stolen and would then turn the fuel off. Terrible problem on millions of cars once they hit around 100,000, that plus Closing Oldsmobile in 04 was my final straw and I havent owned another new GM since and will never again other then the classics, specifically Olds

 

OOHH YEA WHAT A CRAP DEAL, let me see front wheel drive that does a skip kinda chirp like a canary burnout or a rear wheel drive monster 2v or 4v doesnt mater that will lay a strip from here to the end zone. hahaha

 

I know, I was so devastated I could barely contain my excitement LMAO! That car is the (now) silver car in my signature.

 

I read your whole build thread and she is a beauty and that motor is a monster. I just pulled my recently build motor out of my 66 and will prob be building a similar 455 as ur. I love your honest numbers so many people think you can add cam intake and headers to a 455 and make 500 hp and they are sadly mistaken. My built 400E block made around 422 hp and approx 475 ft lb and those were honest numbers after spending 4 hours at the dyno shop and $500 beans. Here is my build https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-400-swap.html

 

Thank you! I just read through your thread...and was shocked after all that work you were going to sell it! I think you'll thank yourself later on if you keep it. It's such a nice car even if it isn't on the Worlds most valuable list.

Yes, dyno days are fun but expensive and a lot of work. I think we were there for about 9 hours that day and it cost me $650. But well worth it when you know for sure what kind of power you made.

 

Glad I decided to keep it. I did do alot of work and did spend quite a bit on my motor and tranny alone. Even 420 hp feels like a monster I cant imagine shy of 500 like yours I think the most I ever got out of one of my 455's or friends/customers that I built was maybe 450ish with cast heads. Either way these cars are fun. I see your are in the service 20 years ago I had to chose between the service or Municipal Policing, I choice municipal. It was a good choice for me but I salute you for serving our country you did it over seas, I did it at home, in one little town.

 

Seems shitty designs and build quality are a global phenominum.
Here in Aus All manufactures did thier bit too.
Way back in the "Greed is good" era ( late 70's to early 90's) some truly forgettable cars were unloaded on the Australian Motoring public.
Most "disolved" in the rain within 5 years it was not uncommon to see cars with perforated doors and guards.
Chryslers Valiants were shockers for rust but the kicker was the chassis rail would crack around the steering box,this issues was never resolved in the 15yrs they made variants of this model and all the cars would eventually do it.
Another cracker was Fords XD to XF falcon.
The outside door handles all broke off and this was never re engineered through the life span of the model (79-88) , the spare parts outlets made a killing from selling the hapless owner new ones that would fail not long after fitting. My brother owns a 87 LTD (70k when new) and to this day there is always one broken on the car. Whenever he sees new one on Ebay he buys them up to keep stocks up.
I could go on but it seems that as long as there is no law suits attached they dont feel compelled to do anything about it i guess.
Thats my 2c worth

 

Geez, at least you have the rest of the car! It's all part of the enjoyment of owning and maintaining an older car. Understandably, no car is perfect.

Back in the 80's I could count on one hand the number of cars that IMHO may make the collectable list. I would not have anticipated the numbers the ordinary cars that actually made it to today, alive, and for some reason loved.

 

Well.....if we don't buy new cars (or refridgerators, washing machines, microvaves or any consumer "durable" you care to name) every few years how is the economy to keep going?

The American auto makers were leaders in planned obsolescence particularly after WW2.
Annual restyles with pretty much the same running gear underneath to keep everybody wanting this years model just to keep up with the neighbors was the standard practice.
The American public bought into the scheme big time and the rest of the Western world aspired to do the same resulting in the biggest consumer boom in the history of mankind.
If the cars of the time were good for hundreds of thousands of miles and rust wasn't an issue how would that have affected jobs in the auto industry as fewer new cars would have been sold?. The industry had to make cars that would last a reasonable time or their reputations would plummet. By putting old wine in a new bottle every year as well as genuine advances such as new chassis, engine or transission designs at longer intervals they made cars that rapidly became out of date with lots of social pressure to replace them well before they were worn out.
Economic growth requires people spending money, if nobody buys anything there is no work for anyone who makes them.

I'm not defending or attacking the system, but one result is our hobby. A few cars dont fall apart with rust or get wrecked so we can get hold of one and restore it to its former glory. Mostly the cars aren't daily drivers and we drive modern cars for everyday use.
Modern cars are safer, more fuel efficient, and less polluting than their forebears, the downside is they are very hard for home mechanics to work on. But that can be said for most modern appliances compared to early versions. A reasonably intelligent person with a few basic tools could build their own radio, fix the washing machine, and certainly maintain their car themselves 50 years ago. Now if anything major goes wrong with any of the above it's cheaper to buy a replacement than get it repaired, because mostly we don't have the knowledge or tools to do it ourselves and would have to pay someone who could to do it for us.

Way back we made our own bread, clothes, shoes, even soap and tools. Local craftsmen did the specialist jobs such as the miller, blacksmith, carpenter or mason.
In an ever more complex world we as individuals have less understanding of how stuff works apart from our own speciality, be it mechanic or IT worker or doctor.
Maybe we like to restore our old cars because we can, I get big satisfaction from working on my car and having it run better for my efforts. I hate it when I don't know how to fix something or realise it can't be repaired for less than the cost of a new one.

Roger.

 

[
Maybe we like to restore our old cars because we can, I get big satisfaction from working on my car and having it run better for my efforts. I hate it when I don't know how to fix something or realise it can't be repaired for less than the cost of a new one.

Roger.[/QUOTE]
I wonder if this is a common thing because I too take a perverse delight in resurecting non functional components, preferably to rebuild rather than replace.
And i too hate having to pay others to fix things ( why do diffs, gearboxes and washing machines hate me so!).