Engine compartment oddities (diff by year)

[webwalker]

HI y'all.

I've been spending time in my 77 Bus engine compartment (now empty) and there are a few changes that I've noticed since I was in one of these things regularly (a 71.)

No, not the obvious stuff like the removable rear section. Nor the altering position/shape/existence of the air cleaner mount. This one's *tricky.*

1971: just inside the hatch door to the left and right is a ridge of metal an inch tall that runs forward until it joins the inboard side of the wheel well. This continues on its perfectly straight path to the front until it hits the firewall, where it stop.

1972+? This same ridge of metal moves straight forward, but when it joins the inboard side of the wheel well, it curves a few degrees, making the stopping point at the firewall closer to the center-line of the vehicle.

Usually, when something small like this changes, you look on the other side to see what they were bending away from, and that's your answer for why it was changed. But there isn't anything there. There is NO reason for this change that I can tell.

Can someone else explain?

Marshall

[Amskeptic]

HI y'all.

I've been spending time in my 77 Bus engine compartment (now empty) and there are a few changes that I've noticed since I was in one of these things regularly (a 71.)

No, not the obvious stuff like the removable rear section. Nor the altering position/shape/existence of the air cleaner mount. This one's *tricky.*

1971: just inside the hatch door to the left and right is a ridge of metal an inch tall that runs forward until it joins the inboard side of the wheel well. This continues on its perfectly straight path to the front until it hits the firewall, where it stop.

1972+? This same ridge of metal moves straight forward, but when it joins the inboard side of the wheel well, it curves a few degrees, making the stopping point at the firewall closer to the center-line of the vehicle.

Usually, when something small like this changes, you look on the other side to see what they were bending away from, and that's your answer for why it was changed. But there isn't anything there. There is NO reason for this change that I can tell.

Can someone else explain?

Marshall

There are many detail changes that occurred when the removeable apron was superceded. The ridge of metal you're speaking of blends into the wheel well arch on the left and disappears entirely on the right with the '72 and later buses where the fuel filler area had to be boxed in and separated from the engine compartment by law.

Notice that the earlier buses had those diagonal braces just inside the hatch as well. They also had wedges between the tailgate and the opening all in the service of keeping the rear of the car from flexing. The later buses did away with the tailgate wedges and the diagonal braces because the welded apron improved structural rigidity, as did the fuel filler "compartment".
ColinDidThisHelp?