Dear Boeuff and Gendarmee,
My response to your posts is as follows. For Boeuff, I am giving here some of the things that happened to the Premier Padmini during it's long production run, so you will understand why your car still has a lot of useful life left in it even after 90000 odd kms. For Gendarmee, I will give some details of the 118NE including how we did the project as well as it's related problems.
The Padmini development cycle. Some information:
1965 - current shape introduced
1965 through 1972 - no change except minor instrument orientation etc. Compression ratio 7.3:1. Compression pressure 125 psi.
1973 through 1975 - the fiat became the Premier President and then the Premier Padmini. It is during this time that a very major change happened in the transmission somewhere in 1975 (unfortunately for the worse as specifications started to get diluted in the name of so-called "value engineering"). The details are as follows - the second and third gears are designed to rotate freely on the mainshaft for which the original FIAT design had internally broached bushes which would fit snugly on the mainshaft and rotate with it (nowadays we have needle bearings, it is all elementary). The gears would move freely on these bushes and would transmit power when the dog teeth on the sleeve would engage them one at a time. The keyway broaching operation was removed in the name of "value engineering" and just turned bushes were used. It was felt that the axial force increase during tightening of the drivetrain on the mainshaft would prevent bush rotation. Unfortunately tolerance stacking resulted in torque loss and we had umpteen cases of bush rotation. These bushes would rotate, generate excessive heat and weld themselves on the mainshaft (blue marks could be seen) . Also, the critical end dimension of the bush would reduce due to wear (the tolerance was only 0.1 mm) which would result in the gears sticking on the mainshaft. This led to noise, hard shifting and all sorts of problems, but nobody had the courage to go and tell this to the management. So things started deteriorating. As a trainee, I could only wonder at how people could not understand that some specifications could not be diluted. So, you will find that the transmissions of the early model cars are an absolute delight to drive whereas the later cars were not so good.
1977 - the Premier Padmini Deluxe was launched. This was with 8:1 compression ratio engine and floor shift gears with bucket seats. My father purchased the first car from Maha Auto on 25 November 1977 for 38000 rupees (the normal car was 32000 rupees). It was MMF1845. I was in college and in PAL as a trainee (so I started learning). We used it for 3 years and then sold it for 70000 rupees, such was the demand for the floor gear car.
1986 - the lubrication system of the engine was changed to full flow type. Compression ratio was increased to 7.8:1. The "economy" model was introduced.
1987 - the front triangular "quarter" glasses were removed as "value engineering", saved 40 rupees per car
1991 - the Padmini diesel was introduced. 1700 cars were completely submerged in the floods which happened between 8 and 10 June 1991 (it was almost as bad as 26 July 2005). I was team leader of one of the teams who salvaged these cars. We worked for 21 days continuously.
1994 - the Padmini S1 was introduced
The rest is known.
The 118NE development cycle. Some information:
This project was started in 1984 in order to introduce a "new model car" (as it was known at that time. As I have already given all prototype car information in the forum, I will not repeat. The Nissan aggregates were absolutely fantastic. The Nissan A12 engine derives it's antecedents from the A series Austin Morris engine (yes, our good old Ambassador engine) but just see how Nissan redefined it with a doubke barrel carburettor and silky smooth performance. The F4W56A transmission is a delight to drive. The main issues in the 118NE were front suspension collapse and corrosion. The reason for the front suspension woes was inadequacy of sopt welding strength in the wheelarch area due to some guns not reacing the hard to reach spots and nobody doing anything about it. Aftermarket welding usually solved the problem. Poor body quality led to corrosion issues. Another problem was vapour lock for which I have already given details in the forum. I am still searching for a good 118NE to restore and keep forever.
For anyspecific queries, please PM me.
Best regards,
Behram Dhabhar |