Thus spake Ad absurdum per aspera:
But I hear that the relay-logic design that takes the cake is the early 60's Lincoln convertible top control system. An acquaintance was called in to a restoration shop to help troubleshoot the system during a frame-up resto of one of those land yachts, and it took him quite awhile to draw up the logic and troubleshoot it. Dozens of relays, IIRC.
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I assume you're talking about one of the Ford retractable HARD tops, right? The ones that have to, in sequence, open all the latches, open the trunk lid, fold and retract the roof, close the trunk lid, re-latch everything.
The Imperial had many firsts, but I'm not sure EI counts as one. Antilock brakes, maybe (circa 1972)?
Late-'71, 4-wheel antilock brakes, yes.
And Chrysler offered transistorised ignition for fleets in late '65.
That might not be that bad - it would kind of start in the middle and go both ways ...
Thanks! Rich
The retractable hardtops of the late 50s and early 60s and the one-button power soft tops that went on through the mid-60s on Lincolns and.or high-end Fords were, I think , quite similar in principles (and complexity). A wilderness of relays and limit switches and whatnot. The description of thecircuitry, cycles, and systematic troubleshooting of this thing (and the motorized flipping "package tray" to hide it all) in the portmanteau factory shop manual is 32 pages long and available as a separate document.
These relays have a troublesome reputation (at least at this point in their lives) and at least one has the potential for putting out more smoke than you really like to see coming out from under the trunk lid of your antique car. At least one vendor responded with an uprated replacement kit:
The good news, I suppose, is that at least Ford gave the system its own electrically powered hydraulic pump in the trunk -- they didn't use the high side of the power steering pump for the hydraulics, the way they did with the windshield wipers.
The top systems doubtless wouldn't give a moment's pause to an aircraft mechanic used to the more Escheresque sort of retractable landing gear, but it's kinda over the top (no pun intended and probably not much of one achieved) for a car...
Cheers,
--Joe
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