Car Assembly (Part 1)
Car assembly has change dramatically over the years, but in the early years each car would be virtually hand made as shown below.
Car
assembly in 1909.
Then
the idea of a assemble line, where the various components could be
attached as the chassis was moved forward by
hand.
Austin
'20' assembly line 1921
In
the 1930s progress was been made to speed up the process of car
assembly. but there was no real mechanisation.
Austin
'10' (centre) assembly line 1935
Although
improvements had been made year on year, the assembly of cars was
still, even by the late 1940s a very manual operation.
Various
models been trimmed
It
was in 1948 that Leonard Lord brought together a small team working
under the umbrella of the factory planning department, whose sole
job was to develop all sorts of new ideas to improve the production
processes. One day he got them all together and said, “this is my
vision for the future, the next generation of cars will not have a
chassis, forget what we’ve done in the past. I want a building with
a completely clear floor and a hole in it for the axles to pop up.
Then further along the engine/gerbox will follow and latter on the
body will come together. There will be different body types saloon,
coupe, estate etc, various engine and gearbox specifications all
synchronised together on the same track”.
So work started on making his vision a reality. A Devon was
stripped down and by looking at its various components, it was
worked out where the components should be place at the stations on
the track.
While this was been worked out, it was the turn of the architects
to design a building that would embraced all the idears for this
new concept of car production along with a modern
appearance.
Artist
impression of the new building
Note
that it shows various buildings in the forground and a further
assemble building in the top of the picture which mirrored CAB 1.
In the end these were not built as shown, which can be seen in the
following picture.
CAB
1 and CAB 2 1964
In
the foreground, left hand corner is the Design Block which is
connected to the Administration Block, known by the workforce as
the Kremlin by a covered way.
Below is a plan of CAB 1 showing where the Tunnel were and
references to the pictures.
J Baker
Main
Entrance
This
is an artist drawing of the main entrance, what it does not show is
that the actual doors had the flying 'A' on the glass. so was it an
after thought. In the 1990s the doors were replaced. But the
original doors were saved thanks to the works maintenance team, and
are now on display at the Heritage Centre
Gaydon.
The
site of the Car Assembly Building was originally a hill, the top of
which was actually in cross-section convex to form a airfield. It
was necessary to level this before building commenced. The ground
varied considerably, from rock in the centre, changing to stiff
clay. sand and made-up ground. So that in some places it was
necessary to pile drive. In all 280,000 tons of rock and earth had
to be removed before work could begin.
Construction
starts on the building in June 1950
View
C .
. . . . Note
the the depth below ground level, also you can visualise how wide
it is. From the next two pictures you realise why it need very
substantial brick walls and supporting steelwork for the roof. The
tunnel was 20 ft below ground level and 1,000 ft
long.
View
B
Artist
sketch of the construction of the tunnels
View
A
This
is a view looking in the opposite direction of the previous
picture. It is really that steep, as it comes up from the Trentham
area.
View
D
You
can see from this view that the building is now taking shape. It
shows the other end of the tunnel which gave access for maintenance
personal for the inspection and repair of the conveyer system along
with the cradles that support the trimmed bodies.
Looking up to 'Q'
Gate
CAB
1 was officially opened on the 19th July 1951 by the Minister of
Supply Mr George Strauss. He stated at the ceremony, "this week had
been a very important one in the history of British industry, it
was a fine tribute to British craftsmen and to the ability of
British designers. It showed the determination of the Austin Motor
Company to remain in the forefront of technical progress."
The building housed three tracks each 250 yds long with room to
install a fourth track if needed, this never actual happened. Each
track can assemble 150 vehicles each day, about 2,250 cars per
week. These figures are based on production of chassis version cars
A40 Devon & Somerset A70 Hereford & Hampshire. When the
chassis-less car came on the scene production figures increased as
their were less assemble operations.
The press described the building as Austin's ‘Crystal
Palace’
Quote
from the Company at the time.
Set
amid green lawns and flower beds the new Austin Car Assembly
Building is the antithesis of the usually accepted notion of a huge
factory. lt is constructed in accordance with the most modern ideas
of efficiency, yet has considerable eye-appeal. and blends into the
surrounding countryside. Its frontal aspect pierced at intervals by
Ioading decks and massive doors carries little ornamentation except
the words " Austin ol England " which proudly fronts the main
office block and a " Flying A " motif at the one end of the main
building. Some 60,000 sq. lt. of glass all arranged vertically is
used in roof and walls to ensure maximum daylight and this method,
together with natural cross-ventilation and efficient insulation,
ensure warmth in winter and coolness in summer.
(Part
2) Car Production
We
are now going to follow the process that starts with the making of
the Body to the final assembly in CAB 1
It
all starts here where steel sheets are placed under large presses,
the largest of which can apply a pressure of 1,000 tons. The
process only takes a few seconds to turn a flat sheet of steel into
a roof or a wing etc.
Press
Shop West Works
From
here the various panels are clamped together in specially designed
jigs. Then approximately 800 spots welds joining all the panels
together into a complete body.
Body
Assembly Track West Works
The
final process in West Works is the Rota Dip. Here each body is
clamped to a frame which slowly moves forward, it then connects
with a continous chain on both sides of the Rota Dip and is picked
up by the large toothed wheel which then rotates it along the 500
ft long tunnel. The first stage removes any grease on the body.
Next stage is the phosphate dip which coats the metal and gives it
a protective coating. Further on the body receives the paint primer
which is then baked hard on passing through ovens.
Rota
Dip West Works
The
body is then transported by lorries over to the South Works to be
painted. There they receive a undercoat, which is rubbed down and
prepared for the final coat. The final coat is then applied before
entering gas fired ovens at 250 F which the brochure of the day
said, "to give the lustrous durable finish familiar to thousands of
Austin owners all over the world."
Paint
Shop
A40
Devon assembly line in Trentham 1948
After
been trimmed the Bodies are put on the conveyor as shown below
which takes them through the tunnels to CAB. Also engines and axles
travel up at the same time.
Underground
tunnels
Well
it all starts here in the Receiving Deck where components from
companies throughout the UK and also from other parts of the
factory arrive to be stored. It could be a simple washer or exhaust
system. The stores holds components for two days production, which
amounts to 750,00 items. The picture below which was obviously
staged as it was actual a very chaotic and noisy place to be, with
stacker trucks darting around and lorries queuing outside waiting
to unload.
Receiving
Deck
Stores
The
next stage is that each car to be built has a list of the major
items need. This list will state the model the variant
(saloon-estate etc) is it RHD or LHD what type of suspension is
needed, engine and gearbox specification etc, etc. So it was very
important that the ladies made sure that the items they placed on
the track were correct to the build
requirement.
The
first operation is the lowering of the chassis onto locating jigs
that are part of the moving track.
Further
down items like brake and petrol pipes are clipped to the
chassis.
Here
we see the Rear Axles traveling up the tunnel, to arrive in the
assemble area ready to be lowered on to the track. (as shown in the
next picture)
This
is the station where the rear axles are lowered and bolted to the
rear springs and then attached to the chassis.
Now
we see the front suspension receiving the coil springs which are
held in the compressed state by means of special pneumatic tools.
The spring retaining plates are then bolted up and the spring clamp
is released. At the top of the picture you will see two circular
objects, these are constant spring devices that counter balance the
weight of the pneumatic tools, and so allows them to be lifted out
of the way with no effort when not required. They are used
extensively in production areas even in to-days highly mechanised
production facilities.
Meanwhile
the engine-gearbox allocated for this particular vehicle is winding
its way through the tunnel
Here
we see the engine and gearbox slowly been lowered automatically, as
the chassis inches forward
Air
tools are used extensible to tighten bolts to their correct
torque.
At
this point shown below the complete assembly is attached to slings
that will take it through the electrostatic spray booths. This is
where it will receive a protective paint coating. As the complete
chassis assembly passes through the booth a positive charge of
150,000 volts is applied. The finely atomised paint mist is given a
negative charge so the paint is attracted to the assembly giving a
very even coating. It then continues its journey to the drying
ovens and on to the next stage.
Now
emerging from the drying oven, all the following will receive a
measured supply of lubrication. Engine -Gearbox- Rear Axle. and
also the oil nipples.
Here
we see the painted and timed bodies coming up the main tunnel from
Trentham. They then turn left into a underground marshalling area
where the Devon, Somerset and Hereford are held in sidings ready to
be lifted up to the respective assembly track.
This
view taken from the tunnel floor shows a Devon body starting its
final journey to the track. In the top right corner you can see the
Hereford line.
They
then emerge from the underground storage area and swing over the
track. This procedure happens quite rapidly until the body is
within about two foot of the engine.
The
rate of the descent is now brought down to a crawl as the body is
located on the chassis.
At
this point the car is seated on its own wheels. The chassis
mounting points are tightened, radiators are filled along with the
petrol tank.
Here
we see the view of the three tracks as the cars come to the end of
the line, a distance of 600 ft from stores to the end of the
track.
CAB
tracks
Final
end of the track
Final
checks are made before the car comes down the decline onto floor
level. It then receives a final polish and inspection before been
driven away for a short test drive and on to the dispatch area
which was located at 'Q' gate.
So
how is all this mechanisation controlled
Below
is the Control Room where one man controlled all the automatic
functions of the system. This comprised nearly 16 miles of various
conveyers which had the capacity of transporting 700 tons of
components through the tunnels. If a fault occurred it would
immediately show up on the desk by means of a flashing
light.
Control
Room 1950s
Here
we see the enlarged Control Room which was located by number one
track and gave the operator a view of the tracks through the
window. Note that there was more information at his disposal
through improved electronics, so if a small fault occurred it was
now possible to get round the problem and keep the tracks
going.
A30
comes down the line on number three track,
There
we see Herbert Austin brother Harry Austin at the age of 75 showing
the progress that has been made in Car Design and Production in
less than fifty years. On his left is the A30 4 dr saloon the first
Austin produced without a chassis and announced to the buying
public in May 1952. So Leonard Lord vision in 1948 became in a very
short time scale a reality.
The
End