You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Keith Seymore]

My first "real" job after graduating from GMI was as a production supervisor, Flint Line #1 (pickup) Fender Set area, second shift.

I had about 36 hourly employees to perform around 25 or so production and repair operations

My area started immediately after body drop. We would:
* Fix any body bolts that were loose or cross threaded from the previous area
* Tighten the pickup box down
* Install the spare tire
* Sub assemble floor mounted manual trans shift levers, and install to vehicle, add SPID label to glovebox
* Install LH front fender
* Install LH battery tray and battery
* Install RH front fender
* Perform a number of underhood wiring and hose connections
* LH repair station
* RH repair station
* Pit repair station

Then on to hood set.

Line rate was 60 jobs/hour, or one complete vehicle off the end of the line per minute. That was fast enough that if you were standing on the flat track when the line started up it would throw you off balance.

I did that for a little more than a year before moving into engineering in the Engineering/Assembly Liaison and new product launch team positions. All according to the "career plan" I had mapped out in my head.

K

[olredalert]

----Keith,,,The yellow 64 with the red top is interesting. Was it likely to become a cab or something similar?......Bill S

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by olredalert

----Keith,,,The yellow 64 with the red top is interesting. Was it likely to become a cab or something similar?......Bill S

I hadn't noticed, but - yes, could be something like that.

We would run special fleet orders, typically in "batches", meaning over the course of a couple days or a week every number of vehicles (like every 10th or whatever) would be a special.

I was there when they ran all of the military CUCV vehicles, with the camo paint jobs, and those were every 12th vehicle. On Line 2 we would run two Suburbans followed by one Blazer. We did Suburbans for the RCMP that were purple primary color with red secondary color above the beltline.

You couldn't run too many of anything in a row, in order to help balance the operator workload. Can't run too many two tone paint jobs, or too many A/C builds in a row, or manual trans, or cab high running lights, or tripowers, or such.

Incidentally - that seemingly random camo paint job? It was standardized. There was a painted component hanging in the spray booth as a template and the painters were expected to (freehand) match that.

K

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by olredalert

----Keith,,,The yellow 64 with the red top is interesting. Was it likely to become a cab or something similar?......Bill S

Never mind.

[Woj]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

*We used to support the steering shaft with a large white elastic band. Consummate professionals that we were, the guys used to shoot those across the main aisle at each other like giant rubber bands. You would find them hanging in the rafters and all over the place.

Keith, I found two of these elastic bands under the passenger side front carpet of my 1970 Chevelle, Atlanta built. Are these the plastic bands you used? When I lifted the carpet, I thought this was a snake at first. Looks like something discarded from the production line.
Phil Woj.

[1967Z28]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Fremont Assembly.

I think the white car is an Oldsmobile (if memory serves) followed by a Buick, followed by a Pontiac.

K

I've got a '68 C10 pickup truck built at Fremont. Did the trucks run on a completely different assembly line there?

[Lee Stewart]

In looking at the two 1964 Chevrolet assembly line photos, did they really paint the exhaust systems (but not the muffler)?

[m22mike]

Lee
Yes, the engines were painted at the engine plants.

[m22mike]

Need a Pontiac sign for the Man Cave, don't you wish

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by m22mike

Lee
Yes, the engines were painted at the engine plants.

Not the engines, the exhaust systems: