No, not the present fiasco, but it got me to thinking (always a danger). No, I was thinking about the problems with our old cars, back when they were new or relatively so. For example, I recall the '57 Chevy was noted for rusted out "eyebrows" after a few years; rotted out rocker panels and hoods flying up on the '49 Fords; very weak transmissions on the 3-speed equipped mid-50's Buick Specials; and late-50's ('57?) Plymouths having poor QC issues and early rust-out problems. I'm sure if I sat and thought about it a little more, I could probably think of dozens of examples, but I'm old and thinking makes my head hurt. I don't remember any "recalls" way back when, but maybe there were........ What do you remember??
there probabally wasn't many recalls (i don't really know, i'm too young) because they built cars better back then! i can say that because i work on the new*****, and it's all double sided tape and plastic.
The V8 '32 Fords would probably be considered "lemons" by today's standards. Henry pretty well got the bugs out of the V8 engines by the '33 model run, but the '32 V8's gave a lot of trouble. Second series '55 through '59 Chevy trucks were prone to the headlight eyebrows rusting out. '60s and '60s midsize GM cars with vinyl tops were famous for rusting out around the back glass to the point that the vinyl was all that was holding the back glass in. As for rust, virtually all cars of the '30s through the mid'50s were prone to floors and trunk floors rusting out. Back in the mid '60s, a guy flipped a '56 Chevy 2 door post in an accident in front of our house, car was about 10 years old at the time, sides of the car completely separated and broke away from the floor pan. 3 speed transmissions in older Chevy/GMC pickups would get worn out to where you couldn't keep them in high gear.
I pulled a 63 chevy 3/4 ton from a junkyard and in the glovebox was a letter from GM stating there was a recall on the rims. I believe they were split 16.5's or something. I have the paperwork hanging in the shop still. The letters stated a couple options as to what the rims could be changed to at the dealership.
I have heard that the 55 Nomads had a recall do to water leaking in around the tailgates .Not sure if its true though ...
Just about every G.M was recalled in the 60's due to the motor mount breaking.. The engine would lift up and bind the mechanical throttle linkage wide open. The fix was to put a steel cable from the exhaust manifold to the upper control arm shaft.. After this they went with throttle cables instead of rods. Also the motor mounts had an interlocking feature that would prevent total separation..
The '39 Buicks were first sold with no frame rails behind the rear axle, causing all sorts of problems. Just about every manufacturer had cam lobe & lifter consumption problems when OHV engines replaced the L-heads. The dreaded "Slim Jim" '61-'64 Olds - Pontiac Roto - Hydramatic trans. Chev Turboglide. Buick Flightpitch.
If you hear they have recalled the 1947 ford panel for full body surface rust......Tell'em to late its layin on my garage floor! Sorry I couldn't resist!
Ford recalled the first run of Model "T"s to replace the, early, two pedal, two lever design with the familiar three pedal, single lever setup. As a result, two pedal "T"s are extremely rare. Chevy recall all of the copper cooled cars in 22 or so. I remember The Henry Ford had one and they said if they got it to run it would be considered over restored
it seems almost common place anymore to here about a recall. some are more serious than others. but it does make you wonder if they are really testing cars and their parts before going into production. seems to much of a hurry to get the product out there and start collecting the money. if a common problem arises, just issue a recall.
I recall the tops of the 55-56 Chevy headlights on the fenders rotted out but not the 57s. TOM ( Tired Old man)
^^^^ I heard about this ^^^^^^^ Or perhaps something similar, with wheels coming apart when dismounting/mounting tires. It was around the time last year when GM was going through bankruptcy. The story was in the Mpls. Star-Tribune about some guy who had been very seriously hurt, think brain damage/paralysis/vegetable, whose family had a pending lawsuit against GM. To make a long story short, their pursuit of a monetary claim against GM would be over after the bankruptcy, with no settlement. Hard to remember all the details but there was some sort of 'out' for GM through bankruptcy.
Early 32 Ford frames were dealer retrofitted with gusset plates over the rear axle area to prevent sagging from fuel tank weight. Guess thats a recall...
WOW!! when i bought my 66 impala wagon the motor was out and it had two of these cables on each upper control arm. and we argued what they were for almost 3 hours! awesome! I totally just won a 6 pack!
I read a car mag 30 years ago..an article on the 1958 Chrysler 300 with Bendix fuel injection. They only made 13. All 13 were recalled to be fitted with carbs. This article said only 12 went in for the swap, and at that time, somewhere, one car still had the FI. ...so maybe it's still out there.
Vegas also had a problem with the engine having the durability of a soggy potato chip, or so I have read. Tim D.
Today's recalls are, for the most part, mandated by Federal laws. Prior to the mid 60's there were no federal safety standards and thus no mechanism to facilitate (force) recalls. I'm sort of old, but I believe the Chevy motor mount fiasco was one of the first forced by the feds. The pickup wheel recall wasn't till the 70's, by my memory (they were failing in operation and killing people). The corrosion issues mentioned in other posts may have been design related but there were no recalls, per se, as far as I remember. Quality is much better today then it was in th 30's, 40's and 50's, considering a car was worn out at 60000 miles back then. I grew up in the UP and I never saw a 57 Ford, Chevy, or Mopar without holes in the fenders (evebrows) after 1961, 4 years old. Alan
Chrysler had a cast road wheel that was recalled almost immediately in September of 1968 (on 1969 A & B Bodies). The wheels were cracking. Some of those wheels never were brought back. The recall stuff really got going with emissions and seat belts in the '70's & '80's.
A little OT (too new) but I remember Ford did a huge recall in the early 70s for rust issues with many late 60s vehicles. We'd get complete pickup boxes in for replacement on some F100s & 250s. The dealer bodyshop where I worked stayed very busy doing warranty work. Also, early 351W valve guides wear and rattle to beat the band. Fords fix was to ream and insert new guides in them. I don't remember if that was a recall, or if it was covered under the 50K warranty.
not all safety issues get fixed. hold up your hand with your thumb extended that's the way column shift GM cars had the layout. P..... R N D L , ford had them all close together. on a ford you thought you were locked in park but bump the column or get out when the engine was running and it could back up and cause injury. the fix was to put a decal on the visor saying to turn off the engine and set the E brake before gettion out.
VERY important to keep up your maintainance or you wouldn't get any time before the engine smoked. The unibody was a mess of steel layers with no obvious rhyme or reason to the shapes and folds...other than to trap salt, silt and sand to promote rusting. The front frame sections had the nasty habit of folding inward or cracking and the cure was for GM to add round rod supports to the mess in hopes of keeping things solid till the warranty ran out. I firmly believe Pro/Street chassis design was secretly developed by GM and leaked to the masses...just so people would cut up Vegas.
1958 GM called back a lot of Chevrolets (Impalas) and Cad's for air suspension failing and having the frames lay on the ground.
"there probabally wasn't many recalls (i don't really know, i'm too young) because they built cars better back then! i can say that because i work on the new*****, and it's all double sided tape and plastic. " Not so sure about that. I think it has more to do with the litigious society we live in. People had better sense back then and were smart enough to avoid some of the problems that they themselves were part of instead of todays entitilement society who looks to the gov't to cure all thier ills. Opps did not want this to turn political, just a reference on society. As someone else said most of the recalls are federal mandates. Sometimes a company will offer up on thier own to avoid a suite, but I think it is rare.
that car was featured in a Mopar magazine a few years ago. Restored but he had to backwards engineer some of the injection electronics (paper capacitors and such) and throw a few modern gizmos (not many, though) in there to get it to run. Can anyone say Pinto?
Wasn't a recall, but didn't the 25 louver hood on 1932 Fords, come about to cure an overheating problem?
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