Awarded First Prize

Northern Advocate, 30 April 1940, Page 2

Awarded First Prize

THE FORD FACTORY. (By R. T. Robertson, 11 Henry Street, Whangarei. Age 15.) The day dawned bright and fine after a night of tempestuous wind and rain. As we piled into the new streamlined green buses of the Railways Department we were looking forward to the day with all the eagerness of young mechanics, for were we not going to the huge factory of the Ford mo'.or Works at Lower Hint? Gut driver proved extremely communicative and full of the most interesting notes about various points of interest. we passed on our way. The famous social security building, toe woollen mills, the Centennial memorial with the beautiful sand-blasted window and the large railway workshops all were pointed out to us. Then over the bridge, along the road, around the corner and there we were, right beside the huge glass walls of the crane bay. A gmcie came up to our bus and I immediately eag'ed my way to him—if you get near him you can generally ask your questions without interference. Through the large door into the high-vaulted crane department the group filed, and we had begun our tour. Once inside the well-lighted store bay the foreign romantic odour of the pine forests met one's nostrils, for afl the huge 100-ton cases are made of Canadian pine. These cases are stacked tier on tier, rising nearly fifty feet into, the bay. In the boxes are packed neatly, one into the other, the various sections of the Ford motor cars from Canada and England. Passing into the unpacking place we saw the contents of some of those mysterious cases. Steel mudguards, rear sweeps, hub caps or roofs were all stacked around in glorious prolusion. Then we saw the petropine bath, where all parts are separately cleaned of their anti-rust compound before going to the body assembly and welding bays. There, in one of the many complicated eight-ton bucks or jigs, the body is held together most precisely and then spot welded. The roof of every body before it enters the jig is insulated: the waffle board insulation" is spray cemented and rolled on. The strongly-welded body is next clamped with the acetone-welded floor-pan in the bar weld future. Some of these welding machines, which are very sensibly suspended and counterbalanced from the roof, can make one hundred and twenty welds per minute; the tensile strength of each weld is thirty-two tons to the square inch. Think of the security it offers—think of the safety in which you can ride when you are driven in a Ford product.

On the metal finish conveyor the all-steel bodies are checked, buffed and finished. Here highly-skilled operatives, equipped by the factory with gloves, aprons and glasses, etc., take out the smallest dent by the wonderful buffing machines, or, as in the case of doors, by hand-filing. One can hardly appreciate the minute care of quality taken by Ford workers. For instance, all welds are filled with dent fill metal, whereas heavy paint would do the same, but that does not suit the high grade demanded of all Ford automobiles. It was an eye-opener to see all this done and then hear the price list. I still don’t see how ft is done.

Up the monorail conveyor goes the solid steel body into the paint shops to receive its well-deserved colours. The paint shop is a modern marvel. Firstly, under the body, chassis black is sprayed, and next the inside is sprayed with body deadener emulsion. Through the chemical bath to remove grease, the steam spray to take off any dust and the acid solution bath to remove any rust or metal particles, the body is taken to the 300 degrees burnoff oven, followed by a spraying of

inner body-seal on the roof and floor joints, a Wcffeh with alcohol, an application of metal glaze, and two primer coats/inside and eight outside. After that little lot .comes an inspection. Secondly is a bake lasting one and a half hours, followed by a wet-sanding by hand and then the whole is ovendried. After a cleaning and sealing preparation the body receives three coats of soya bean enamel, a one-hour bake and another wet-sanding operation. Washed down with petrol and water after having been again ovendried, the body receives its last three coats of paint in an absolutely incomparably dust-proof booth and then enters its sixth oven for its final bake, lasting one hour. Now you know why the exclusive Ford lustrous bake enamel finish is so justly famous for its durable beauty. Along the trim line conveyor the bodies next go. Here all the fittings for the glistening bodies have been made on the long lines of tables, some with sewing or cutting machines, backed round and around with shelves holding the necessary materials. The finished products—squabs, seats, seat backs, headlinings, side panels, safety glass windows, etc.—are carried to the conveyor, where, us the bodies pass slowly along, their furnishings are placed and fitted in position by skilled craftsmen. On another bench, or line of benches rather, the chassis and engine are built up, the car now nearing completion. Piece by piece these engines with their complicated fittings have been built up until they are now ready to provide the smoothness and economy that have made V 8 engines famous.

All around, the various sub-assem-blies are being completed—steering wheels and columns are being attached, chromium hub caps are being securely assembled with a press, tyres are being fitted and pumped up, someone is wiring instrument panels, another man in rubber gloves is charging batteries at the charging deck, and front fenders and aprons are being built on a special jig. Shakespeare’s “last stage of all that ends this strange eventful history” could truthfully be applied to the final assembly conveyor. First the chassis is placed on the line and to it are added the various parts that go to make up the completed automobile that we have followed step by step through this immense workshop. Past the body-drop we go to where the car, with petrol tank filled, starts the last and most intensive series of tests. Brakes, headlights and steering gears are tested and all is severely inspected and criticised before passing out to the testing track. After all this most enjoyable sightseeing and touring we were taken to the staff diningrooms (by the one hundred foot water tower) and there we were given a very refreshing ice-cream and also a comprehensive book souvenir. Some of the ideas I most admired were the diffused sunlight and fresh dustless air, due to the modern roof construction and pumping system, the magnetic tack hammers, staff dining rooms, petropine bath, foot-operated taps and liquid soap at the wash basins scattered at intervals in the building, first-aid room, laundry and the electrically-raised coat, racks especially. These were indeed novel inventions to me. As we drove away from the building I thought of this comfortable expeditious hive of modern industry and compared it with the factory barns of a century ago. What a contrast!