St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

[Grant M.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

My 65 AO Smith built body also has the hood "bulge" problem referred to. I too, thought it was simply defective assembly of my specific car.

grant

[John H.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

Bill -

A.O. Smith molded and subassembled all the production hoods at Ionia; later service hoods could have been made at other facilities, using the same molds but different assembly techniques.

A.O. Smith molded all the door inner and outer panels, but actual subassembly and bonding together of the doors took place at both assembly locations (A.O. Smith used different rivets at the front upper corners than St. Louis did).

[Mike M.]

Hood Bulge

Thats interesting I have the same bulge in a 65 SB. It almost drove me nuts when I tried different shims and latch positions. I also lost a couple points for it at the National. Mike

[Anthony F.]

[John H.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

Tony -

I know you'll remember this fixture - I sure do!

[Anthony F.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

John,

I wonder when that picture was taken. It looks like it is located in a different place than I remember. The background looks to me like the controls for an oven or booth and the light from overhead is from the skylights. When I was building the front ends I was facing the Trim line and behind me was a small storage rack and aisle. Across the aisle was the shot blast area where I see these panels. The skylights would have been running 90 degrees to what I see in the picture also. I also do not see the hoist and hook being used that lifted the assembly out of the fixture. An interesting part of my examination of this picture however is that I am trying to figure out who is holding the front end. There is just not enough of the peoples faces showing to see if I could name them.

When I was working the fixture the control buttons where on the right side where the gentleman in the white shirt is standing. When I was doing the building of the front ends there was no one to help with the build. I made the assemblies and stacked them for material to pick and ship out. A long time ago, it was, it was, it was. What was work then is found memories today.

[Wayne W.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

That picture has to be very early. Either the 63 pilot or early production, because of the lack of side fenders. Also forgive me if I am wrong, but this particular fixture looks like the one where the inner-fender was installed, not the assembly fixture.

[Anthony F.]

[Wayne W.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

In Nolands book, you will see that the side fenders were attached at the time of unit assembly. This started sometime in 63. Also if you look at the (65) picture, the front end on the left is being removed from the fixture without the inner-fenders. It is suspended by the contraption that you mentioned. The other front end is in another fixture where the inner-fenders are being attached. I may be wrong, but thats what it looks like to me.

[Anthony F.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

Wayne,

I do not have Nolans 2nd book so I will have to find one to see those pictures.

Thank You

[John H.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

Tony -

That photo was taken during the 1963 Pilot Line build back in the old Pilot area in the corner (when the fixture was still clean and recognizable, and hadn't been updated yet with operator recommendations)

[John H.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

Wayne -

The photos on page 32-33 in Noland's book were taken at A.O. Smith; they used a 2-stage process to subassemble the front clip (including the fender side panels), with the inner fenders being added in the second stage fixture. St. Louis used the original single-stage fixture (with minor changes) from '63 Pilot through the end of '67 production, and bonded the fender side panels on the main line after the clip was installed.

[Wayne W.]

Re: St louis compaired to A.0. smith cars

Interesting that the fenders were bonded down the line. Early 63s were obviously built this way. The side fender bonds were a goopy mess. Sometime in 63 this stops and the fenders are nicely bonded like the 64 and later cars. It just dont look like they were bonded later. Maybe they were. If so they got mighty good at it. You guys were there and I wasnt, so I will take your word for it.

[Mike M.]

Kewl Stuff Guys...Great Thread! Answers alot of ?? *NM*