bobb

Hi Guys,

Help me out here. I don't know anything about Fisher Body, but I'm assuming they were a GM owned company? And they only made bodies for GM? Did each GM assembly plant have a Fisher Body building where the bodies were welded together before being put on the main assembly line? Or were there specific Fisher Body plants around the country that shipped assembled bodies to the specific assembly plants (by train I'd presume)? I've seen pics of GM assembly lines but in those pics the bodies are already assembled and painted. I've never seen a pic of the assembly line where the quarters are being welded on or the roof being fitted. Where were the bodies actually made?

thanks,
bob

sicky olds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_Body

per wiki lol

bobb

Well.....ok....but I don't think that answered all my questions. There is mention of a factory in Lansing.....but did all the other Olds assembly plants also have a Fisher Body factory nearby? It says there were 40 Fisher Body plants, but doesn't say when that was. So were the plants integrated into the GM assembly plants or were bodies shipped from the Fisher Body plants to the nearest GM assembly plants?

regards,
bob

rcdynamic88

I am a 27 year GM employee that works in Lansing. When I started I was at the Fisher Body Plant. I am not sure about the other locations, but here in Lansing the Fisher Body Plant was were all the sheet metal was welded together to make the body. While still here it was then painted and went through the trim shop where all the interior, glass, etc. was installed. We had enclosed car carriers that would ship the bodies (8) at a time over to the Olds Assembly plant approx. 4 miles away. Since these were all full frame cars, the bodies would be lowered onto the assembled frame at a location called the "body drop". The Fisher Body Plant in Lansing was built in 1920 and was a Durant Motor Car plant before the Fisher brothers bought it in 1935.
It has all been torn down since we built the last car there in 2005. GM's newest plant in the USA was built west of Lansing to replace it. Its called Lansing Delta Township Assembly, and we build the Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and the Buick Enclave.
Downtown Lansing where the Oldsmobile Headquaters and main assembly plant were at are now a Cadilac plant.

MDchanic

This is about Camaros, but should help answer your question.

- Eric

TK-65

http://www.ultra-high-compression.com/fremont-tour.html

My442

The Framingham GM plant did not have a Fisher Body plant supplying it in 1972 when I worked there.

The bodies were built on the assembly line, then primed and painted from the firewall back. The painted body was lowered on to the frame, and then the interior was put in.

Mike H.

I always wondered about the Fisher body connection. Great post and information.

mike's88

I know that until the mid 80's, there was a F.B. Plant in Willow Springs, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. IIRC, the sign out front said BOC. Now it's the largest UPS hub in the world.

442ric

Fisher Body, Willow Springs, IL was a metal stamping and fabrications plant. There were at least 19 Fisher Body plants around the country producing component parts for Fisher Body assembly operations.