Last98

I just took apart my 1970 98 dash. I sweated blood on two of three screws that hold the heater control and two more that hold the harness to the dash. I had pull the dash away at the top to get to those.

How did the guys in Lansing put these screws in blind as the car went down the line? Did they build up the dash with the radio and everything in it, then install it, then run the harness to the fusebox? Or did they hire very short, skinny guys to lie upside down as the car rolled along?

MDchanic

Yes, I believe that's exactly what they did.

- Eric

Allan R

LOL, I doubt you'd be allowed to hire based on 'skinny' factor. I'm certain the practice is exactly the same today as it was then. Build everything in and then plunk it into the car. I agree with Eric.

Can you imagine how much it would slow down production to do it the hard way?

Last98

[QUOTE=Allan R;491444]LOL, I doubt you'd be allowed to hire based on 'skinny' factor. QUOTE]

Probably not these days. But in WWII I think they had height/weight requirements for the ball turret gunners and the first airline stewardesses were petite to save weight. So I figured GM may have done the same kind of thing.

OLD SKL 69

I thought the same thing when I took my dash out of my 69 Cutlass.

joe_padavano

Yes. That is a lot easier to do before the seats go in.

MDchanic

... And the windshield (though I'm not certain whether it was installed before or after)

- Eric

redoldsman

[QUOTE=Last98;491457]I read somewhere the first airline stewardesses were actually nurses for the passengers safety. I am old but not old enough to know for sure. I am old enough to remember when all them were female and attractive. I also remember when Southwest stewardesses were still wearing hot pants and go go boots.

pogo69

the short skinny guys lying upside down with miniature hands sounds right to me

My442

Every assembly step had to be done in 60 seconds.

The dash assemblies were built off line, and then they were installed complete.

GM was really smart on how to engineer the assembly process.

Intragration

If only restoration was as easy as initial assembly. You could restore a car in a week.

MDchanic

Ever see those drill teams that can drive up in a Jeep, disassemble and reassemble it in a minute, and drive away?

- Eric

Allan R

Try a few hours...

Nope, I don't think it's possible to break down a jeep then rebuild it and drive away in a minute. I'm guessing you're referring to this video (done by Germans) that holds the worlds fastest jeep assembly? It starts with a fully disassembled components of the vehicle but doesn't have the tear down factored in.
I think the one you mean is this which is 4 minutes from running to teardown to rebuilt and drive away? Notice the only bolts undone or torqued were on the wheels? That was a a 'trick' jeep. First bump it hits would fling the body right off the frame and knock the engine out of the frame. Nothing really functional about a jeep that you can't really drive or use. Prolly needed the weight of the soldiers in the box to keep it on the frame.

Intragration

It still took them about 30-40 hours to move down the assembly line though, no? At any rate, I'm lucky to get a big project done within a decade. My biggest one is 25 years and counting. A lot of that time consists of assembling cash.

Allan R

Gosh, I don't really know. I read that GM can pop them off inside of 2 hours from start to finish and have a car off the line every 3 minutes or so. If you count the time it takes to build the assemblies and such that make the assembly line go so quickly, I expect you're probably right?

compedgemarine

hey dont complain, I recently had to replace the heater core on a 71 Corvette with 454 and A/C. it was a 12 hour job and that is normal. if it was a non A/C it takes about 45 minutes. it seems that GM hung a heater core in the air and built around it. writers of childrens books should be forced to read them aloud every day and car engineers should have to take the cars apart by themselve every day.

MDchanic

Well, sure it was, but no more than the cars rolling along an assembly line are "trick" cars, in that they are perfectly positioned, with the needed parts an arm's length away, and the exact tool to install them is already in the very well-practiced worker's hand.

Point being that with the right people and equipment, these cars went together slicker'n snake poop, and any group of us, with the right motivation and enough money, could have one apart and back together again surprisingly quickly.

+ 100!

- Eric

TK-65

30-40 hours? Try that, and more, an hour. Fremont built 536 vehicles per shift.

I work for Ford, and tomorrow a transmission will come off the line every 1.5 minutes.

1970cs

[QUOTE=Intragration;492014]It still took them about 30-40 hours to move down the assembly line though, no?

Per Setting the pace after plant expansions 1978, plant #1 had the capacity to build up 120 cars per hour so maxed out a car every 30 seconds. And if memory serves you could see your car being assembled in hand full of hours! Bare in mind like a few previous posts that you have sub-assemblies and frame/body by fisher.

Also the line braking down and shut down for quality issues.

Pat

Intragration

I know they come off the assembly line in quick succession, but it takes a while to snake through the plant from start to finish. Back then, I'm pretty sure the time would have been in the 30-40 hour range, definitely no less than 20 hours, so if you started with a bare frame on Monday, and another frame hitting the line every 90 seconds, once 30 or so work-hours had passed, you'd start getting a completed car off the line about every 90 seconds. That's 40 per hour, but it doesn't mean that it took 1/40 of an hour to build one...

1970cs

I have seen a few claims on the internet, Ford claims 6hrs, line workers at Chrysler Jeep plant claiming 18 hrs.
Independent web sites claim the GM has the quickest build time at 24.5 man hours which I assume that all sub assemblies included in that time frame?

Pat