A timely question

[BILL WZOREK]

When the auto manufacturing Industry made a production change such as body style between years how long did it take to implement?
Ford's 48 to 49 was major. Did they have to create a new line
(aka Factory ) or shut the production down to make the change.
Either way it must have been a MAJOR / MAJOR deal.
And I am sure start up did not go trouble free. O ME O MY the
HEAD ACHES.

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by BILL WZOREK

When the auto manufacturing Industry made a production change such as body style between years how long did it take to implement?
Ford's 48 to 49 was major. Did they have to create a new line
(aka Factory ) or shut the production down to make the change.
Either way it must have been a MAJOR / MAJOR deal.
And I am sure start up did not go trouble free. O ME O MY the
HEAD ACHES.

It took many years to implement. For example the '49 was in the works back in the 20's while the 'T' was being assembled for delivery.

[36rgtop]

Ah yes! a MAJOR/MAJOR deal

[Seth Swoboda]

Those men working on those T's must have thought that 49 was a time machine

[ford38v8]

Look at all of them, they are worried that the new model won't be tall enough inside for them to wear hats.

[rotorwrench]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

In several books & periodicals I've read bits about the change over to the New model A and what happened during that line change. They had another slow down during the changover to the 1932 model Bs & 18s. I think these two experiences drove Henry & Edsel to improve their transition strategy each year. Henry ran the model T so many years that he got behind the power curve. Edsel was a big help to him in this process but I'm sure that put a heck of a strain on poor Edsel. It's no wonder he died so young. Everything had to be approved by the old man before it was implemented.

The 49 was suposed to hit the line for the 1948 model year but haggling over the models stopped the production till the later part of 1948. The commercials or pickups did make the change in 1948 like they were suposed to. A lot of the early 48 pickups have 7RA part numbers in them here and there instead of 8BA which were 1948 design improvements.

[BILL WZOREK]

rotowrench:
Do you remember what or which Book & periodical the articals were in, Being a hands on kind of guy I find the mechanical part of the manufacturing of these cars very interesting,
It's like the Mansions in Newport RI.
The wealthy get the credit for building these Massive homes where in fact the guys & gals with the dirt under there fingure nails were the ones that built them,and in many cases had the Ideas but not the $$$$ to be able to implement them.

Henry was a smart guy and had the $$$$ Backing to proceed with making changes but I wonder how many of the Ideas actually came off the production line???

[Cecil/WV]

I find it hard to accept the concept of the '49 setting out front while running the T on the line. Where sere all the other years in between?

[34PKUP]

Originally Posted by Cecil/WV

I find it hard to accept the concept of the '49 setting out front while running the T on the line. Where sere all the other years in between?

It's really simple, the development on the other years had concluded and they were just waiting for the time to bring them out in production.
They were ( at the time the picture as taken ) only up to the '49 models

[chuck stevens]

Photo shop is a real wonder. I don't think ol'Henry would have OK-ed the 49's, IFS,two rear springs,an open drive shaft, self energizing brakes and overdrive. Oh he died in 1947. Bill I think the time to develop a new car would be 2-4 years, Chuck S. Now, how long it takes to restore a car can really very between collectors.

[BILL WZOREK]

Hi Chuck:
I am not thinking Development but the implication of the equipment to get the next years production line up & running. Think about the time it took / The equipment had to out produce assembly so that when the change did come the assembly line never came to a stop,Or there would have been a lot of guy's on the food line's waiting for production to start back up.

[V12Bill]

Designing the cars took several years. The 49s were on paper during WWII, but the actual tooling and production took some time. Labor strikes and shortages of matrials held up the actual production. The 46 models were supposed to be for 46 only. Hold ups dragged on and the 46 became the 47, and more hold ups and the 47 became the 48. The actual 49 Ford was supposed to be what became the 49 Mercury and Baby Lincoln.
Subsequent years the factory would shut down in August for 2 weeks while new tooling was installed and workers took mandatory vacations. Now, body styles last 10 years, and the "new" models are warmed over models.

[BILL WZOREK]

V12Bill:
Thats very interesting,It must have been a pressure cooker / stressfull time to be in the Retooling Dept.( AKA WHATCH MEAN IT AIN'T GOING TO FIT )

[rotorwrench]

The Early Ford V8 club has had the best articles over the years but they are bi-monthly periodicals so are not easy to identify without the help of someone who has all of the back issues. "The Ford Model A as Henry Built It" has a fair amount of the model A story of transition from Model T. Henry was obsessed with the X block engine design but finally found that it wouldn't be a viable option in early 1926. They were tinkering with a V8 but were still thinking thermo-syphon cooling system so it wasn't going to make a 1928 deadline either. The design through prototype work went on until late 1927 on model As but they still had to re-tool. The model T was still in production while they built new facilities and brought in new tooling for A production. The T production was at Highland Park and the Model A production was set up at the Rouge plant. The Model A was anounced August 10, 1927 and the line didn't start to roll until November 1, 1927. The first Model A debuted December 2, 1927. I think the model T line stopped production for the 1928 model year which would have been November 1 in those days so there may have been as much as a month of shut down at the Highland Park plant while it retooled for other products.

The 1932 model B production had less tooling changes since the new tooling for model A production worked for most of the model B. The V8 engne for the model 18 was the largest change and took the longest to get into production. The Rouge Complex was large enough to run several assembly lines all at the same time plus making several different types of engines and drive trains.

The stradegy beginning in 1938 was to use most of the tooling for previous year production for Standard Models and the new tooling for the Deluxe models. The Rouge Complex was huge so they had the room to do these kinds of changes. By this time frame both Ford Dagenham in the UK and Matford in France had been manufacturing since 1931 & 1934 respectively and there were final assembly plants all over the world.

[41ford1]

You can sort of see the design time line through the years. Each core body style was run for three years. 49-51, 52-54, 55-58. From the late 50s through the early 60s style was more important so sheetmetal changes were yearly. The platforms during this time were generally on a three year cycle. Without cad/cam three years is a pretty short cycle for concept to a working car. The effort had to be intense.

[ford38v8]

My 2¢ worth regarding the information contained here: A thread like this is great for sparking interest, but please don't confuse yourself with opinions mixed with fact. There have been many historians over the years who've done the research and written the books. Even what has been written in Hemmings and Old Cars is spiced with opinion, complicating and confounding memory of what came before. A true interest in fact over fiction and research over gossip will reveal the history as recorded years ago, transcribed into well regarded volumes. A library of books on Ford will impart as much history as one is willing to read, and only then can you begin to discriminate fact from fiction.

As an aside, even Henry Ford contributed much fiction to the popular beliefs of the day. Old Henry was a master of gaining free publicity, much of which was spin. Newspapers of the day treated Ford stories as front page news, and they couldn't get enough of it.

I'd suggest a good start with some light reading from Robert Lacy, followed by Allan Nevins for some in depth work. There are many more, but these two authors can make you a Ford authority in your own mind.

[BILL WZOREK]

ford38v8:
Thanks for the Authors names, I ordered the Book The men and the Machine by Robert Lacey.
Do you have the name of the book by Allan Nevins??

[BILL WZOREK]

The 1932 model B production had less tooling changes since the new tooling for model A production worked for most of the model B. The V8 engne for the model 18 was the largest change and took the longest to get into production. The Rouge Complex was large enough to run several assembly lines all at the same time plus making several different types of engines and drive trains.

The stradegy beginning in 1938 was to use most of the tooling for previous year production for Standard Models and the new tooling for the Deluxe models. The Rouge Complex was huge so they had the room to do these kinds of changes. By this time frame both Ford Dagenham in the UK and Matford in France had been manufacturing since 1931 & 1934 respectively and there were final assembly plants all over the world.[/QUOTE]


Does any one know how large / Sq. footage or how many acres were under cover / How larg was the largest Building ??

[koates]

A book which may be of interest is titled, "RIVER ROUGE, FORDS INDUSTRIAL COLOSSUS". Large format, 192 pages by Joseph P Cabadas, 2004 by motorbooks international. All about the rouge and other feeder factories. Hundreds of photos and production stories. Regards, Kevin.

[funrunr]

I would strongly suggest you come to Dearborn, MI. for a tour of Henry Ford Museum along with the Rouge plant and Greenfield Village. (the village is outside so dress accordingly) Put this on your things to do list.