Only one support rod...

[Richard Vyse]

The owner of this 68 Caddy says it came with only one support rod across the engine because it is a drop top. We talked with Mike Barruzza who says his 67 does not have any at all.

So, is there only supposed to be one bar across the engine?

 

[Paul Steinberg]

The factory engineering department was very conscious of the need for these support rods, and that is why they were installed. When the cars came in for service, many times the support rods would need to be removed to do the service, and not replaced. The people doing the work felt that to replace the part that in their opinion wasn't needed, is a waste of time. I recently gave instructions to someone on how to remove a dash pad. At the end, I also commented that the one retaining nut in the center of the dash pad was difficult to remove and reinstall, and if the dash pad had been removed in the past, most likely that nut wasn't replaced. My feelings are that if the factory installed the part, the engineers felt that there was a need for the part, and that it should always be replaced. Others don't always think this is true. The only time that the factory might deviate from one model to the other, is when one part would interfere with the placement of another part.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

the holes are there it needs to go back on.

 

[Richard Vyse]

On the side without the rod, the holes for the rod are there but have not been drilled and tapped out.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

some one has changed the inner fender on that side and most likely the support rod was damaged then and not changed. all the mount on the inner fender is a strap with the bolts tacked to it they they come up threw the bottom. held in place with a thin stamped keeper. trust me when it came from Caddy it had the support rod in place. it has been removed. will it hurt anything if it's off. no. does it need to be on there yes. it is support for the front end assy. it helps keep the sheet metal from shifting.

 

[Mike Stevens]

put it back

Like Paul said, it was probably taken off and not replaced. From personal experience with factory ways that drop top story does not hold up. If there was interference with another part we fixed it in one of two ways. The engineers drew up a new item to replace the interferred with part or us shop floor guys would 'blacksmith' something. There seemed to be an unwritten rule that if it was a low production item and not likely to occur again we were to use the second option...blacksmithing.
Mike

 

[James Maguire]

The factory engineering department was very conscious of the need for these support rods, and that is why they were installed. When the cars came in for service, many times the support rods would need to be removed to do the service, and not replaced. The people doing the work felt that to replace the part that in their opinion wasn't needed, is a waste of time. I recently gave instructions to someone on how to remove a dash pad. At the end, I also commented that the one retaining nut in the center of the dash pad was difficult to remove and reinstall, and if the dash pad had been removed in the past, most likely that nut wasn't replaced. My feelings are that if the factory installed the part, the engineers felt that there was a need for the part, and that it should always be replaced. Others don't always think this is true. The only time that the factory might deviate from one model to the other, is when one part would interfere with the placement of another part.

While working on my instrument cluster, I noticed a piece of masking tape on the back of the housing... My first thought was "now that's just stupid" I peeled off the sad looking piece of tape. A few months later, my fuel gauge stopped working. I discovered that the printed circuit had flexed where the tape was previously and broken. The replacement I bought off e-bay had the same piece of tape. Moral of the story: even if you think it is stupid, it probably has some purpose you don't want to find out about - just put it back.