Document 7MBvz7nkyJ93XMRnXZJbrxQRR

R.E. Nelson Report Chrysler/L.A. Traffic Tests May 8 - May 17, 1979 A.D Indelloato cooling loop between the two downtown traffic runs or even leave out the second downtown traffic run if time was running late. Reline practices were well below minimum in that generally all that was done was to install a new set of measured pads on an old rotor and with rear brakes that may have seen a number of tests. Jim Knoll of Cycleweld commented that the rears on one of the cars had such a loud howl that they couldn't even fairly evaluate the front noise. I truly believe that one of the reasons we were able to get through this test, in addition to having a good material, is the fact that we did a complete brake job; and we did follow the pro cedure faithfully while we were driving the vehicle. One thing was noted, our vehicle seemed to have a significant amount of engine braking--which requires much fewer snubs than some of the other cars we followed going down the canyon runs. This was checked by shifting the car into neutral, and it immediately began to pick up speed so there was no drag on the brakes as the vehicle coasted freely. In checking, Kelsey-Hayes admitted their car had very little engine braking, which was verified by their reported higher wear readings. I 'noted the first day that 916-46 seemed to have a slight, cold friction problem. It seemed that early in the morning or after any of the cooling loops slightly more pedal effort was required. This was difficult to verify without instrumentation and seemed to be completely worked out of the brake by the third day so I do not consider it detrimental. It was learned on May 11th that the program was going to be extended to May 23rd. This was obviously a final attempt to make sure Cycleweld had every opportunity to meet the requirements. To the best of my knowledge, no Cycleweld material was performing satisfactorily although under the conditions of reline I am not sure how any material could be proven satisfactory. In many res pects this seemed to be a Chrysler program typical of many years ago where procedure was written with the apparent objective of deviation. Jim Knoll of Cycleweld made a comment that Bendix had offered to buy Cycleweld. Supposedly the presentation was made by Bill Agee and Bill Panny to Lee lacocca. I don't know when this offer may have been made or why as it would seem to me that Bendix would certainly have a problem with FTC if such a deal ever went through. -3- SC1 02215