TAKE A DASH!

DESIGN-FOR-MANUFACTURE GIVES NO THOUGHT TO THOSE WHO HAVE TO WORK ON THE DAMN THINGS

H ave you ever tried to remove even part of the dashboard in a modern car? My advice is, don’t. Trade the old car in and get a new car with a working dashboard.

The problem is not necessarily that the dashboard is such a complex piece of gear, but rather that it’s put together in such a fiendishly illogical and roundabout way that there’s no use bringing logic to this particular stupid-fest. Nope, trade her in, I tell ya.

Of course, it’s not just dashboards is it? I mean, the whole way a modern car is constructed is aimed at reducing time on the production line rather than making life tolerable for the people who have to service and fix the damn things. Designfor-manufacture, it’s called. And to hell with design for the poor stiffs that wind up owning the things.

Consider the oil-filter placement on a Mazda MX-5. It could not be more squarely under the manifold with never quite enough room to get a wrench on it or a hammer and screwdriver to skewer the bastard when you’ve finally run out of ideas.

And what about stuff like Toyota’s decision to place the starter motor of some of its V8s in the Vee of the engine. Yep, under the intake manifold! Or Holden’s use of a reach-around clutch throw-out lever that dictates the gearbox has to be removed to change the clutch slave cylinder. Have mercy.

And if memory serves, I seem to recall a particular model of V8 Falcon that needed the engine to be lifted part way out of the engine bay to change an exhaust flange gasket. Spare me.

Now, I can sort of see how space can be limited and complex, and how whole assemblies are more production-line friendly than a million individual bits and pieces. But what I will never understand is the human race’s insistence in hiding or disguising the way things go together. Which brings me back to dashboards.