Here's something to ponder,perhaps the welders had a disdain for who they perceived new Corvette buyers to be-elitist,annoying rich snobs they could care less about,which was reflected in the quality of their work.

 

I agree. Nothing any of us can do about it forty years after the fact other than learn to live with it.


All of them.

 

Were there standards for A.O. Smith or GM on welds? So many things from Corvette are still around like the AIM's etc. were any of those standards saved with their rationale behind the standard?

Starts with standards, then supervision, then inspection but I'm curious to know what the standards were to start with.

lance

 

No I respectfully disagree, as the designers at GM dictated the welds, not the weld shop or the welder. And some of those guys working at the suppliers probably drove Vettes themselves...

The welds are ugly, but consistant, so they are adhering to some sort of "document".

Lance is right, there is (was) a document showing what to weld,where, and how. Every piece of the frame has a drawing, so there must be an assembly drawing showing what to do to the frame as well. Find that, an all we need then is an explanation of why GM was OK with such a weld pattern.

Best,
Tom

 

I'm no designer of frames or cars but there is usually a reason. We've evolved from x box frame frames under bodies to unibody to aluminum tube frames to hang skins and seats on over 4 or 5 decades. We've also evolved from steel frames that were uncoated to undercoated to zinc coated steel formed into frames and more awareness of what corrosion does, how it happens, what lifespan is desired (planned obsolescence versus forever, etc.). This was really prior to when the Japanese onslought started which drove an overall huge increase in both quality and longevity goals for cars. I am not knowledgable but I'll bet that box frames at one time were roll formed and solid then formed into frame patterns but that once water especially with rust belt winter chemicals gets inside it would be a corrosive nightmare to making that same box frame with many open areas between welds. Welding steel by robots for uniformity is in those time frames a relatively recent thing. The outside of the Corvette got attention for shape, color, design but if you look at the original engine compartment under the hood versus what we all do with them today you can pretty surely bet that if it was out of sight on the show room floor the real pressure on vendors like a.o. smith and gm itself was to do it fast at minimum cost since no one was going to see it to prevent its being bought off the showroom floor or the relatively brief warranty periods. What were the warranties in those days? Pretty brief by modern standards I think. So, what's more hidden than the frame and the welds? Not much. I can understand the thinking in the context of those times though I prefer better. Would be really nice to see the standards and the rationale behind it to find out what was really the instructions and the drivers at the time. Think of how much better cars are assembled today and how much more we know about materials, techniques, etc?

My two cents on the welds.

Lance

 

These frames were welded on piece work.
Nothing wrong with the welds. I have never seen any broken or cracked joints under normal use or even after collision. the frame itself cracks before the welds under extreme use.
"Pretty" wasn't part of the design and didn't need to be

Automated modern welding is a completely different animal.