1959 Chevrolet build

[Terry M.]

While not Corvette, this is still interesting, I think. Thanks to Ralph Spears for sending it along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZhXSJkOo6E&feature=em-share_video_user

[Joe R.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

Cool, cool, cool!!!

[Steven B.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

Terry, I am with Joe, very cool! I especially liked the pics of the 348 engines, fully painted 283's, panel '59, brick floor, and noticed lack of steel toed shoes, etc. Having worked summers in a couple of auto plants ('67-'70) it is interesting to compare the changes, and similarities, between now and then. Steve

[Terry M.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

Terry, I am with Joe, very cool! I especially liked the pics of the 348 engines, fully painted 283's, panel '59, brick floor, and noticed lack of steel toed shoes, etc. Having worked summers in a couple of auto plants ('67-'70) it is interesting to compare the changes, and similarities, between now and then. Steve

That "panel '59" Is an El Camanio. Most of us know the A-body mid-size (Chevelle) ElCamino, but the first was the one-year only full-size 1959.

Look again at the brick floor. My bet is it is wood blocks placed end-grain up. The wood block floors were once popular in industrial buildings. They last forever, or at least until they catch fire. Fire fighters hate them because they are very hard to extinguish.

I like the shots with three or four guys inside the car putting things together. Try to get four people in any of today's cars, and if you can they can't do any work in there.

You can thank Ralph Spears for bringing this to my attention.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

TERRY I believe you are right. A lot of old factories & machine shops used oak wood block floors. They held up well for machines, convers, dampened vibration & oil soaked in & didn't pool. Can't believe how much time it took to lay that floor.

[John H.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

TERRY I believe you are right. A lot of old factories & machine shops used oak wood block floors. They held up well for machines, convers, dampened vibration & oil soaked in & didn't pool. Can't believe how much time it took to lay that floor.

Ken -

What was even more fun was when there was a water leak of some sort - the blocks would absorb water, swell, and would lift, forming a "dome"; the blocks would have to be stripped from the area and re-laid. The blocks were treated with Creosote, but they would still absorb some water. Most GM assembly plants had wood block floors (over soil or concrete) until the plants built in the early 60's changed to concrete.

[Steven B.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

'saw the El Camino at about 3:42 and then a quick glimpse of a panel at 3:52 (I think 'cause I am under some meds now and it could be a Ford plant for all I know.) I didn't notice the floor was wood before. Thanks for pointing that out. Years ago an old machinist made a door lock trunion for my '57 and his shop had a wood block floor. it was oil soaked and in some areas he had saw dust down. As mentioned he told me it was much better than concrete as it absorbed oil and vibrations where concrete did not. I saw the shop about 35 years ago, after his passing, and the owner was pouring a concrete floor and turning it into a retail store. Are there other years such videos were made?

[Terry M.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

Steve,
There should bel inks on U tube where that link takes you to other videos. Prowl around U tube and see what you can find.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

Ken -

What was even more fun was when there was a water leak of some sort - the blocks would absorb water, swell, and would lift, forming a "dome"; the blocks would have to be stripped from the area and re-laid. The blocks were treated with Creosote, but they would still absorb some water. Most GM assembly plants had wood block floors (over soil or concrete) until the plants built in the early 60's changed to concrete.

The thing that did those kinds of floors in is the Creosote. That is an environmental no-no now. We used to have Creosote treated utility poles, but no more.

[Francis F.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

I had the pleasure of working in the axel plant on Delevan ave. buffalo plant,talk about dark areas and oil on the floors.There was an area with machines in it ,it had a mote around them and the oil (cutting fluid ) just ran all over.The workers called it the" SWAMP".Boy have these conditions changed.The ngine plant n Tonawanda is like a country club by comparison.
Francis

[Mike E.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

Very cool! The first car I remember my folks owning was a white on blue '59 Bel-Air 4 door hardtop. My dad built water skis on the side and he could fit full length jump skis in the HUGE trunk. My mom still talks about how big the trunk was in that car. I think they put 120K miles on it over a four year period when they traded it in on '63 saddle tan Impala wagon.

As I mentioned in other thread...I spent some time at the Mustang Rouge River plant in Dearborn during the mid 1990's it still had the wood floors. It was a LOT easier on your feet then concrete. The old Studebaker plants in South Bend, Indiana were all built with wood floors. They finish tearing down the last few buildings a couple years ago. I believe they recycled a great deal of the hardwood in the process.


It's too bad Chevy has never followed through with importing the Holden Commodore Ute to US. I think its a pretty cool package.



Mike

[John D.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

That's the GM Tarrytown plant I worked in 25 years after those pics were taken. My first job as an Engineer was working on those huge manual body framing bucks called sideframe gates which were still used into the 1980's in some plants. It was a thankless and onerous task to try to get the 36 full sets to build the same. They were later replaced by a single framing station with welding robots affectionately called the Robogate....happy times.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 1959 Chevrolet build

I had the pleasure of working in the axel plant on Delevan ave. buffalo plant,talk about dark areas and oil on the floors.There was an area with machines in it ,it had a mote around them and the oil (cutting fluid ) just ran all over.The workers called it the" SWAMP".Boy have these conditions changed.The ngine plant n Tonawanda is like a country club by comparison.
Francis

You are right. I remember that they had wood grating on top of the floor & a inch of coolant/oil underneath & dripping off the ceiling. AH the good old days in the 60'S. With all that people still built some damn neat cars and lived to tell about it. I won't go into what it was like in the foundries in the day. Some made the coal mines a piece of cake.