classicmuscle442

1905 Olds production in St Catharines Ontario.
These guys would not believe a modern assembly plant!




THE FIRST PRODUCTION OF CARS IN ST. CATHARINES WAS NOT GM:
(Interesting article for anyone in the Auto Industry) :

Home Article Metalworking Looking Back: Canada’s first auto assembly plant

The cars were being built on license from Olds Motor Company for distribution in Canada.

JULY 13, 2015
BY: CANADIAN METALWORKING

In this issue our celebration of Canadian Metalworking’s 110th anniversary takes us back to the December 1905 issue where in a section entitled “Modern Canadian Manufacturing Plants” the magazine profiled the all-new Motor Car Department of Packard Electric Co. in St. Catharines, Ontario.
The cars being manufactured in the plant were the Oldsmobile Model N, or Touring Roundabout, a one-cylinder seven-horsepower roadster. The cars were being built on license from Olds Motor Company for distribution in Canada.
It was a big deal.
“This is the first plant in Canada to be built and designed for the manufacture of automobiles, and in starting this the company exercised faith in the future of the automobile trade, as well as in the growth and development of Canada.”
The author of the article (unknown) wrote about how most car sales to that point were being purchased for private use and for pleasure; although the writer was certain the greater demand for automobiles in the years to come would be for hauling freight.
Auto manufacturing and assembly was still new to North America, and the trade was very well respected at the time: “As is well known the manufacture of an automobile requires as fine work as probably any mechanism. The component parts must be of the best material and the workmanship of the latest that human skill and ingenuity have devised.”
As expected, the article paid special attention to the plant’s machine shop: “in which are found some of the newest and best designs of machine tools … in fact, when the installation was made three-quarters of these tools were the first of their kind in Canada, and in nearly all cases they are special tools bought solely for the special work to be demanded of them.
“The principal machines in this room are three Cincinnati milling machines for milling reamers and special cutters, also used for a large variety of jig work, especially when the various holes in the jig require particularly careful locating.
“There is also a Lodge & Shipley tool room lathe 14 inches by 5 feet with taper attachment, and one LeBlond 15 inches by 8 feet with relieving I attachment for forming cutters, a Washburn drill grinder, Dwight Slate drill press, Cincinnati Universal tool and cutter grinder, and a Gould & Eberhart 20-inch shaper for general tool work.
“The machine shop work for the season has been completed and already arrangements are in progress for next season’s output, the development of the automobile necessitating the building of a large number of new tools, etc.”

To offer a glimpse into the workings of the shop, the article follows the path of a cylinder casting from the time it enters until it leaves the shop.
“The first operation is to centre and centre-drill the head end, which is done in a Cincinnati drill press. The piece is then taken to a 24-inch Lodge & Shipley all-geared lathe, where it is chucked and turned to fit the crank case.
“It is then returned to the Cincinnati drill press where the four holes for securing the cylinder to the crank case are drilled and reamed in a special jig. The cylinder now goes to a Lucas boring mill, where it is bored with three cuts.
“After the first two are made the cylinder is set aside to cool, and when sufficient time has been allowed for this the finishing cut is taken with a special sizing reamer. It now goes to a 21-inch Lodge & Shipley lathe and is counter bored, from which it is taken to a No. 3 milling machine, where the sides and ends are faced by means of a large end milling cutter, using high speed steel in the blades.
“The cylinder is now taken to a 32-inch Cincinnati drill press where it is jig drilled for cam shaft and valve gear, spark plugs and water connection, and the valve seats are bored and faced. These operations place the cylinder ready for assembling room.”
The 1905 article draws special attention to some of the machinery, including a 36-inch Fellows gear shaper made by the Fellows Gear Shaper Co. of Springfield, Vt. “This is said to be the only tool on the market that will cut the spur gear theoretically correct.”
Another is a Landis grinder, “used for working on the shafts and pistons, besides tool making.”
As well as a cutting machine made by Cochrane-Bly Co. of Rochester, N.Y. “This is a circular cold saw, and cuts bar stock up to 1 inch in diameter and is one of the greatest labor-saving devices installed.”
The list goes on including “a Baker Bros., Toledo, key seater...A No. 1 Lucas 15-ton power press that presses the fly wheels on the crank shafts, and is also used for broaching. In addition to these there is one No. 2 Cincinnati Universal milling machine, three No. 3 Cincinnati plain milling machines, besides nine drills, eleven lathes and two screw machines, and a bolt cutter.”
The plant included a blacksmith shop for making frames, an enameling and brazing department as well as an upholstering department “with the very best leather and hair padding.”

Prior to assembly the motors were run for about 15 hours. Once the motor was placed on the chassis the car was then “placed on the road in charge of an expert to run it in all conditions of road and weather.”
After its work-out (averaging 150 miles) “the rough testing body and wheels are removed and it is taken to another room where it is thoroughly cleaned and receives its finishing coats of paint and varnish. After this is done the body, fenders, new wheels, etc., are fitted to the machine and it is ready for shipment.”
Prices for the finished cars began around $800, and production for 1905 was in the hundreds. Manufacturing of the Oldsmobile in St. Catharines ended in 1907, but in 1909, Packard Electric sold the plant to the REO Motor Car Company of Canada Ltd., and REO automobiles were manufactured there until 1913.
An interesting note, REO was founded by Ransom Eli Olds, the same man who founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. Olds himself left Oldsmobile in 1904.
The Oldsmobile company was acquired by General Motors in 1908 and models of the car were once again built in Canada, in Oshawa, beginning in 1920. GM discontinued the Olds brand in 2004. Over its 107-year history some 35.2 million Oldsmobiles were produced.
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