I actually drove a vehicle that had been repaired a few dozens of times, instead of with bondo, with lead solder and plate. That was what reputable body men did in the old days. Bondo was scorned as the illegitimate corner-cutting putty by real body men. The car, a Dodge Muckphobo, or some model like that, circa 197x, weighed in at close to 500 lbs more than its registered GVW. It would sway a tad in the corners, but it had that solid feel. Nothing rattled. When it hit a bump there was a satisfying "kerchunk" like a tank running over a log. The aftershocks as it moved up and down in rememberance of passed obstacle were a ponderous almost elegant rhythm.
A thing I miss of durability and terrible strength was the chevy turbomatic 2 speed transmission. It was indestructible in the extreme. I can understand why the Rolls Royce chose that transmission as their own when the built the 8 cylinder Silver Cloud in the 60's. One time when rocketing down a freeway I accidentally threw the transmission into reverse. It isn't supposed to do that, but into reverse it so went. The Vehicle stopped abruptly, in less time than it usually took with full force on the brakes. The "cooling lines" had blown off the rad, but when repaired there was found to be no damage to the transmission, and it motored on for many a mile.
Tidbit number three. The prime function of the "cooling lines" that come from your tranny and go into the radiator, is to actually warm the tranny up when you start car, not actually to cool the fluid. You need a warm tranny fluid for proper operation, and the rad heats up to the proper operating temperature quickly. A double function when under heavy load is to effectively not allow the oil to overheat, as the rad's temperature cannot be exceeded if the flow is steady. If all they wanted was cooling, then they would pump the oil through a separate rad that did not reach high temperatures.
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