Where were the mid-year clusters made
Have never seen this bit of history here, what GM plant made the mid year clusters?
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
I believe it was plant 43 in Flint, MI that was the assembly plant. -
Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
AC Flint made the gauges and did the assembly, I don't know for sure if they did the die-casting for the housing itself or outsourced that part.Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
Flint to St.Louis; they must'a used special delivery in the case of my late 396 LB cluster, probably installed Friday 30th -- ink stamp dated "July 26 1965__02". and the clock [also AC Flint ?] has ink stamp "205" [Julian for July 24th ?]Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
Shipped by truck in all probability, using the GM Last in-first out parts management, nothing unusual.Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
William,
I can't figure out why you guys always rag on GM materials management. LIFO as it is known works best when the plant runs almost out of parts
and is in that case the best system to control inventory carrying cost, when you have no parts on the floor you have no $$ tied up in inventory
Now seriously - to Wayne, yes they were real tight in supply and I bet you that most original cars by the mid 60's in a normal non strike non snow storm world had real tight material in those vehicles. Mine is 6 calendar days from inspection to vehicle. Not that unrealistic either, a dedicated line in Flint, and a good 12 hour truck ride to STL. Throw in the weekend and you had the beginnings of just in time delivery.Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
The mid-year clusters were assembled at the AC Plant in Flint, Michigan in Division 11 , Plant 4. The speedometer, tachometer,fuel gage and ammeter were also made in Division 11. The oil gage, which was a mechanical gage utilizing a bourdon tube, was made in Division 5, Department 3 on the second floor of Plant 3 on Industrial Avenue and transported by the AC truck fleet to Division 11 for assembly into the cluster. Many component parts such as dials, lenses, stampings, odometer wheels, worm gears and functional castings were made in the fabricating divisions of AC.Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
William,
I can't figure out why you guys always rag on GM materials management. LIFO as it is known works best when the plant runs almost out of parts and is in that case the best system to control inventory carrying cost, when you have no parts on the floor you have no $$ tied up in inventory
Now seriously - to Wayne, yes they were real tight in supply and I bet you that most original cars by the mid 60's in a normal non strike non snow storm world had real tight material in those vehicles. Mine is 6 calendar days from inspection to vehicle. Not that unrealistic either, a dedicated line in Flint, and a good 12 hour truck ride to STL. Throw in the weekend and you had the beginnings of just in time delivery.
It's efficient. Dells business model relies on a similar supply method. But much tighter.Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
Don------
Do any of the old AC plants still exist or have they all been demolished? If any exist, are they still operating under DELPHI or other ownership? If so, do you know what they manufacture? See, for being a guy who usually tries to provide answers, I have plenty of questions, too.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
I am continually amazed that in what is basically pre-computer days they could manage the flow of parts to the assembly stations and on to the the St Louis assembly plant so well. There had to be many hard working people all pulling in the same direction to get that done back then.
One of the most amazing things about Bowling Green Assembly is the control of the flow of parts into the plant. Each part made has a specific car destination long before it arrives at BG. There is almost no batching of parts as there was in the old days. If they need x number of parts for today's assembly needs, that is how many arrive at the plant that morning (or maybe the night before). The tour guides on the "public" part of the tour don't always make that point, and in fairness it might be lost on most of the visitors. Getting "behind the scenes" as one can on the new car Buyers Tour will bring out the big picture of that system. The TV program about Z06 assembly at the BG factory also went into that delivery system somewhat if one could get past the eye candy.TerryComment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
Some of these threads are really disruptive - making me go and dig the cluster and clock out. My cluster in #23561 is dated July 2_ 1965 -day digit unreadable and the clock is also 205.
My cluster also has a red inked paper id with some part #s and a LARGE "LC" - were there different codes for each type of engine and this is the "quick" identifier? If so, anyone know what all the codes were?
By the way, my July 2_ cluster also holds a 1966 temperature gauge....Comment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
Loren------
The two alpha character codes (e.g. "LC") were broadcast codes for the cluster assembly. Since the only differences in the cluster assemblies related to the engine option, I suppose that a different assembly was used for most ( one or two probably used the same cluster). I do not know what the codes were for each assembly. The same sort of system was used for C3 cluster assemblies.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
Terry -
In the 60's, assembly plants managed material flow by having 3-4 days' worth of stock in the plant, with racks and containers stacked to the trusses; assembly plants today have four HOURS worth (or less) on hand.
Even with the plants literally stuffed with material 22 feet high in the 60's and 70's, expediting shipments for a whole host of reasons was big business; during bad weather in the winter, GM literally had the worlds' largest air force under charter to keep the plants running.
A friend of mine was the Logistics Manager at Chevrolet Central Office Material & Production Control; he was in charge of chartering all the airplanes and helicopters, and had stories you wouldn't believe (BTW, that's how Connie Kalitta got rich).
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Re: Where were the mid-year clusters made
I flew some GM parts in small jets and was told that the expence was not as much as slowing the line down. Don't rule out the possibility that all was not trucked.
DOMComment
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