Awarded Second Prize

Northern Advocate, 30 April 1940, Page 2

Awarded Second Prize

(Second Prize entry by Claire Williamson, West Road, Awanui, Northland). Before we visited the Ford Factory we had been to the Exhibition where we had seen the Ford Motors’ very good and very interesting exhibit. After seeing it I felt that a visit to the factory was sure to be both interesting and educational. Our visit there proved my presumption to be correct. Buses provided by the Ford Motors conveyed our party to the Ford Factory at Lower Hutt. I noticed the very large sign “Ford” written on the factory some time before our bus arrived there. The large green lawns in front of the factory gave it a very good appearance as we drove up. Apart from the area the factory takes up. there is a large space at the back, on which the cars are tried cut after they are finished. Cur inspection started in a room where hundreds of large cases were packed one on top of another. In these cases were packed different parts which go to the making of the Ford and Mercury cars and Ford trucks. These cases are lifted by. enormous cranes. Next we passed men. welding the steel parts of the cars together. This is a wonderful procedure. The parts are held together very tightly in exactly the right position so that there is no chance of them slipping and being welded together wrongly. While the parts are being welded, coloured sparks are thrown off like fireworks. Masks are worn by the men to protect their faces. This part of the factory is extremely noisy. After the welding operations the bodies are smoothed over and made ready, for painting. . The doors are hung in position by experienced

hands. The bodies are then taken along to the paint shops and ovens. The part which I found most interesting in the factory was watching the parts of the cars being painted. Before being painted they are thoroughly cleaned. They are then attached to an overhead conveyor which moves along. A man who stands at the side with a mask on his face and a spray gun in his hand, sprays the different parts with paint as they go past. Each part gets sprayed several times, some of them being done more times than others. Between the different coats the parts are baked in ovens to make the enamel harder and therefore more lasting.

Another interesting process was the making of the upholstery. Many different" kinds of sewing machines are used, one having invisible stitches. The upholstery is cut out by electric knives which can cut one hundred and fifty thicknesses .at once. The materials used are all manufactured in New Zealand. After the pieces of material have been sewn up, men tack them on to the seats, etc. When doing this job they use magnetic hammers. They have a mouthful of tacks and when one is wanted they just put the end of the hammer up to their mouths and out comes a tack. A hydraulic press is used to keep the seat springs down while the upholstery is being tacked on. Now we pass over to what is known as the "trim line.” As we walk down this line we notice that each car has a few more finishing touches added to it. The first is a body of a car which has been through the full process of painting. Bit by bit finishing touches are put on, until the body of the last car is complete—upholstery, windows, seats and instrument panel. The engines are put together in another part ol' the factory. The different parts are run along on wires from the roof and are dropped steadily into the exact position. It was really marvellous to see how these wires were worked to get the parts to fit into the exact spot. After all the finishing touches have been put on, everything is ready for the final assembly of the body, engine and chassis. First the engine is attached to the chassis, then the body is lowered into position. Now the car is finished, but not yet ready for the road. It goes through various tests before it is considered roadworthy. One of the things which struck me about the factory was the wonderful amount of light which was let in. It was much lighter than any ordinary building. This is brought about by the type of slanting roof, a great deal of which is made of glass. The Ford Motors evidently knew a great weakness of the Children, for they gave each of us an ice cream before we left. They also gave us a very interesting illustrated book which gave us lots of details of the workings of the factory. We left feeling very grateful to everyone responsible for our visit.