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They've learned how to handle advanced degrees
When Dustin Hoffman was told in the 1967 movie The Graduate that plastics were the future, not even the forward-thinking screenwriter could have known that 30 years later plastics would show up in as many places under the hood as they do today.
Although the development of underhood plastics began five years before Mr. Hoffman and Simon & Garfunkel made Mrs. Robinson famous, plastics suppliers and molders still have a sales job to do when introducing new applications for an engine-compartment components.
"With each application, people's confidence in nylon's ability to survive grows," says Mark Schuchardt, a technical specialist at DuPont Automotive, who adds that today's engines are actually easier on plastics than earlier powerplants. Nylon melts at 500'F. "Engines are more efficient now, and therefore give off less radiant heat."
Molding plastic into one part replacing several metal pieces and the weight savings associated with plastics are the principal drivers in bringing more plastics under the hood. Other benefits include lower assembly costs and a reduction in manufacturing cost, because there is rarely any machining or painting necessary.
Plastics started appearing under hoods as fan shrouds and liquid reservoirs in the late '70s. It wasn't until the late '80s that...