[Vwdiesel] PROTHE on ebay??

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/25/2011 3:17:34 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
eriklane at gmail.com writes:

My  problem was with the statement about how the Chinese didn't have
the  capacity to do that well, or at least that's how I read it. I
quoted the  sentence in my last reply that gave me that impression. As
individuals they  are every bit as capable of decent work as the rest
of the world, with the  proper training, of course. I think the
problems with Chinese things comes  down to a lot of top-down things,
leading from the decisions their  government has made over the years,
and the cheap manufacturing that they  have encouraged as policy.

Is that a little clearer? My only real  problem was that it sounded to
me like the individual Chinese were being  disparaged, instead the
policies that have led to the low quality in  general there. (And I
know that there are also quality parts coming from at  least some
Chinese firms. I'm also fairly certain that they are in the  vast
minority.)



I never took it he meant the people themselves weren't capable but 
simply their system, as it stands, isn't capable.  As odd as that  sounds, 
it's probably true.  Milling machines can be accurate to .010" or to  .0001"
The latter cost a LOT more and take much more time and dedication to 
eek that kind of tolerance out of them even when fully capable.  Time  is 
money, system doesn't reward quality more than quantity, thus the whole 
system is against quality, to one degree or another.
  Remember the whole missile launch fiascos China had a dozen or so  years 
ago?  Not only could they not get a missile to accurately launch and  
deploy a 
warhead consistently, they certainly couldn't deploy multiple  warheads.  
So, 
in some odd diplomatic (?) effort.  Bill Clinton sent a team there to  
teach them 
how to do it.  Why????  Anyway, as I recall it, the head of the  company 
refused 
to do it citing it being borderline treason, until he got a phone call from 
 the 
President, ordering him to teach them how to do it.
 
  Some really obvious things aren't so obvious before they become  obvious. 
 I've 
pondered on some of that lately.  Amazing how some really simple  concepts 
weren't understood until so recently in history.  Just amazing how  
knowledge/ 
technology/abstract concepts and such tend to snowball.  Take a VW  diesel. 
 
Really simple engine, design, repairs and so on.  Now go  back to when they 
first came out.  "DIESELS???  You can't work on a  diesel.   You have to 
have 
special tools, a lint free room, super tight tolerances, special  training. 
 Mere 
mortals aren't capable of it!"  I was told how turning up the fuel on  one 
was 
way beyond what should be attempted without tens or hundreds of thousands 
of dollars of equipment.  I'd be changing the timing, combustion  
pressures, etc 
and could/would ruin my engine if I tried it.  Very "Plato's analogy  of 
the cave-like"
  :-D
     Loren