John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
GM'S BREAKTHROUGH IN SMART MATERIALS
By John McElroy
I first came across what they call "smart materials" back in the early 1980s. It was at the SAE show and a company called Raychem was exhibiting how it used this technology to make spark plug wires for Formula One cars.
Turns out F1 cars would vibrate the wires right off the plugs. So Raychem came up with a kind of "smart" rubber that made it practically impossible for the wires to vibrate off. All you needed was a hair dryer!
With the Raychem wires all you had to do was snap them on and blast them with a heat gun. They'd mold themselves around the plugs so tight that you'd have to chisel them off.
Follow the jump to continue.
GM'S BREAKTHROUGH IN SMART MATERIALS
By John McElroy
I first came across what they call "smart materials" back in the early 1980s. It was at the SAE show and a company called Raychem was exhibiting how it used this technology to make spark plug wires for Formula One cars.Turns out F1 cars would vibrate the wires right off the plugs. So Raychem came up with a kind of "smart" rubber that made it practically impossible for the wires to vibrate off. All you needed was a hair dryer!
With the Raychem wires all you had to do was snap them on and blast them with a heat gun. They'd mold themselves around the plugs so tight that you'd have to chisel them off.
Follow the jump to continue.
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