How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

[Kenneth L.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Ouch. Makes me wonder why I bother volunteering to judge.

I'm sorry. This isn't directed at you personally, my Corvette brother. You perform a valuable service to the Corvette community. And I am a believer in the NCRS philosophy and originality. But "some" bad apples (as has been mentioned here) are like some Priests and Preachers. They all read from the Good Book, but some feel compelled to put their own spin on it, with some outrageous theories. That's how they lose some of the flock. I can say positively that 9 out of the 10 judges that I encountered when I Top Flighted were great professionals, with no hidden agenda.

[Gerry P.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

I've never seen the casting and machining process for getting the blocks cast and ready for assembly. I would find it interesting to see how it all came together. Does anyone know of, or have old videos or pictures of the block casting process?

[Michael W.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

I'm sorry. This isn't directed at you personally, my Corvette brother. You perform a valuable service to the Corvette community. And I am a believer in the NCRS philosophy and originality. But "some" bad apples (as has been mentioned here) are like some Priests and Preachers. They all read from the Good Book, but some feel compelled to put their own spin on it, with some outrageous theories. That's how they lose some of the flock. I can say positively that 9 out of the 10 judges that I encountered when I Top Flighted were great professionals, with no hidden agenda.

No offence taken and I'm glad you're not painting everyone with one brush. I could relate some horrific owner stores so there's a few bad apples on each side. My favourite was the Orlando foot kicker, but we'll save that one for when there's cold beer.

My point was that Flight Judging does not authenticate factory originality (VIN tags and C2 trim tags aside). Instead, it defines in writing a set of parameters as to what typical factory production represents and then evaluates a given car's resemblance to that. I know of no car yet that would score 100%, even those that were in time capsules like your former PC. I'm sure the majority of judges would agonize over making a deduction on your unusual casting date.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Dan -

Saginaw cast the parts for (and Flint V-8 produced) about 5500 engines per day; when you count all the different raw castings Saginaw supplied to Flint V-8, it was around 55,000 iron castings every single day.

5500 blocks a day would mean 2750 molds each shift assuming 2 10 hour shifts. Some GM fdy's ran 3 shifts. the cores back in the day were oil sand & had to be baked. Most of the block castings were made with cores. Green sand only made the very outside & the core prints for the cores. Cores were assembeled & setr as one piece in the drag mold. The cope was set over the drag & core ass. After cooling & shake out all gates risers & flash had to be ground by hand off the castings. Can't beleave how big the foundry had to be to produce that many castings in one day including all the blocks. Saginaw must have made smaller castings that had many impressions per mold to get to that #.
KEN

[Cecil L.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Cecil -



The Chevrolet foundries were Grey Iron, Nodular Iron, Tonawanda, and St. Catharines Ont. Some of the other car divisions had foundries; Central Foundry Division (CFD) was somewhat independent. They cast parts for Delco, Transmission, Gear & Axle, etc. CFC did make Armasteel castings that needed to be heat treated that added to cost. The CFD plants include Defiance OH., Bedford In., Danville, IL. and Malleable Iron in Saginaw.



Mark

Thanks Mark, very enlightening.
So, a W block or head casting in 62 bearing the CFD, wagon wheel symbol, julian date code and casting clock would have been cast in Defiance? For some reason, I thought the Defiance foundry didn't start until 64 or so.

[Kenneth H.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Michael, I'd love to hear the "Orlando foot kicker" story. Maybe some other judges could jump in as well and relate some of the horror stories that they've experienced over the years. The story telling might help those of us who plan to have our corvettes judged in the future better prepare and also act responsibly during the judging process. And it would definitely be a fun read.

[John H.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Can't beleave how big the foundry had to be to produce that many castings in one day including all the blocks.

Ken -

In the 60's, Saginaw was pouring over 2,000 tons of iron every day, with 6,000 employees; in 1977, they set a world record with a one-day pour of 5,700 tons. It was a BIG operation.

[Pat M.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Ken -

In the 60's, Saginaw was pouring over 2,000 tons of iron every day, with 6,000 employees; in 1977, they set a world record with a one-day pour of 5,700 tons. It was a BIG operation.

Staggering.

[William C.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

Remember in 1974, GM was geared to run 24,000 cars & trucks each DAY! Everything was done in a big way, right up to the Oil Embargo!

[Ronald L.]

Re: How many blocks did Flint cast in a day?

1977 was probably the biggest year ever. We had one weekend off a month, it could be both Sat & Sun, Sat only or Sun only. And usually it turned out to be just one day. Wonderful over time... that continued into '78 but by '79 the bottom fell out.