St Louis Corvette Assembly

[Terry M.]

and the move to Bowling green from those who did it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQLnAStZ1GE

[Tom R.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Nice and quite interesting perspective. Don't know that I would have titled it as STL Corvette Assembly. Chronicles the transition to include the transition of cultural diversity in automotive manufacturing...all of which is an entire study in and of itself. These were brave workers, willing to pick up and move not knowing what to expect other than a job. Hats off to them.

[Steven B.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Thanks Terry! "IF" production would have remained in STL I wonder where the museum would be located---under the arch, across from Ted Drewes , --- I suppose the Chrysler plant in BG would be vacant?

[Mark H.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Volume 8 No.1 (Summer 1981) issue of The Restorer has a couple nice stories about the last St. Louis Corvette and the first Bowling Green Corvette.

[John D.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Years ago I was in St Louis for work and drove to Union ad natural bridge. The front of the building is still there and I drove in around back (gate was open) and most of the corvette building was gone.

It looked like they were recycling cardboard there. It was not the nicest neighborhood either...

[Mike E.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Thanks for the link.

I grabbed a screen shot from the color photo of the '65 body drop on the line. I haven't seen this photo before. Lots of good stuff! The sticker on the coil, that would indicate the chassis has K66 and the engine code is written on the rear of the heads "HL" which I think would be a L76 with K66-TI. The blackout on the exhaust goes almost up to the clutch cross shaft and some might have gotten on the bell housing and transmission. Zoom in close, it looks like there might be blackout even on the front spring. (I won't be doing that to my chassis, not yet at least) Steering box is clearly painted black. Very nice example of bell housing overspray. You can clearly see where the rear valance was hung from the body in the paint shop and the raw fiberglass on the red car ahead of the chassis.



If you would like to see the higher resolution version click here.

Mike

[Pat M.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Excellent link, Terry. Thank you.

[Michael G.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Thanks for the link.

I grabbed a screen shot from the color photo of the '65 body drop on the line. I haven't seen this photo before. Lots of good stuff! The sticker on the coil, that would indicate the chassis has K66 and the engine code is written on the rear of the heads "HL" which I think would be a L76 with K66-TI. The blackout on the exhaust goes almost up to the clutch cross shaft and some might have gotten on the bell housing and transmission. Zoom in close, it looks like there might be blackout even on the front spring. (I won't be doing that to my chassis, not yet at least) Steering box is clearly painted black. Very nice example of bell housing overspray. You can clearly see where the rear valance was hung from the body in the paint shop and the raw fiberglass on the red car ahead of the chassis.



If you would like to see the higher resolution version click here.

Mike

Happen to notice the master cylinder with brake line attached (bent over) and leaning against the exhaust manifold? Interesting.

[Mike E.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Happen to notice the master cylinder with brake line attached (bent over) and leaning against the exhaust manifold? Interesting.

They may have already evac-and filled the brake system at this point. That would lower the risk of getting brake fluid on the body and spoiling the paint. Also notice there is no paint on the #2 body mount because it would have been added on the line for a convertible.


Mike

[Terry M.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Thanks Terry! "IF" production would have remained in STL I wonder where the museum would be located---under the arch, across from Ted Drewes , --- I suppose the Chrysler plant in BG would be vacant?

BG refrigeration plant probably would be leveled, but then Corvette might have ended with the C4 also if Corvette production had stayed in StL. I could tell you a lot of stories about the animosity about the number of local workers hired at the assembly plant that lingered in BG into the 1990s. It made getting the museum up and running more challenging.

[John S.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Still learning here. I have 2 questions. When was the exhaust painted like that? On the chassis or off? Second has to do with engine code marking on heads. My 65 still has the marking but it looks yellow. I assume that they used either or?

[Steven B.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

BG refrigeration plant probably would be leveled, but then Corvette might have ended with the C4 also if Corvette production had stayed in StL. I could tell you a lot of stories about the animosity about the number of local workers hired at the assembly plant that lingered in BG into the 1990s. It made getting the museum up and running more challenging.

'Remember when the Museum was temporarily in the shopping center store front? Somewhere I have a flier announcing the plans for the Museum construction. That seems like a lifetime ago. I heard some stories of disgruntled folks. Too bad anyone lost their job for any reason. Glad the Corvette has weathered the number of storms to kill it. The car sure has made me a happier person, and a poorer one.

[Jim T.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

Do not remember how the tack drive from the distributor was positioned on my 1964 convertible, in this picture it is pointed towards the firewall. Based on my C3's position of tack drive, this tack drive would of been moved later down the line. Wonder what the percentage of the C1/C2/C3 Corvette builders bought and drove Corvettes?

[Kenneth B.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

I wonder how much of the animosity the locals had was because the politician's sold the people a bill of goods about how many people that GM would hire to get the bonds passed. I don't think it so much a race thing as it was jobs, now you see it now you don't. Happens all the time. The same thing happened when they closed the Fort Wayne In. IH heavy truck plant & moved to Springfield Oh. FW workers took jobs people in Springfield were promised to get the bonds ETC approved.

[Terry M.]

Re: St Louis Corvette Assembly

'Remember when the Museum was temporarily in the shopping center store front? Somewhere I have a flier announcing the plans for the Museum construction. That seems like a lifetime ago. I heard some stories of disgruntled folks. Too bad anyone lost their job for any reason. Glad the Corvette has weathered the number of storms to kill it. The car sure has made me a happier person, and a poorer one.

When the refrigeration plant was being converted to Corvette production there were certain expectations among the people and politicians in Bowling Green regarding the number of jobs the plant would create. I don't know what fueled those expectations, but those numbers of jobs didn't materialize. I know that more people transferred from St Louis than was expected, and that contributed to the lack of job openings in BG, but I suspect there was more to it than just that. That resentment lingered, but that resentment made selling the museum to the populace more difficult than it might have been. Of course, us "outsiders" were unaware of this until some of the kinder and more outspoken BG residents let us in on the secret. Once we knew the landscape we could formulate a plan, but some of us were blindsided by our own lack of local knowledge.