Hey Guys , I went to a car show near St. Louis this week end . I ran into a guy that worked on the assembly line at the St. Louis plant in the 60 's . He worked mostly on the first floor where the primed body would pass by him . His job was to apply the , what he called , white seal . Where the door skin wrapped around , and the trunk lid skin wrapped around he applied the sealer . He used a gun attached to a 55 gal barrel filled with this sealer . The gun had a half inch brush on the end and he applied the sealer wherever a piece of metal would overlap another piece of metal . He would do the driver side and another guy would be on the other side , taking care of the passenger side. After that the car would go to the third floor for paint. This guy had many good stories of what happened on the assembly line . I told him that he needs to write all of this down because someday no one will be around that was there to tell these stories . He said he has thought about writing a small book about this . I mentioned to him that some of the guys on this message board sometimes posts pictures of the assembly lines from the 60's . Some of you might want to hear some of these stories . He offered me his phone # . If any of you guys are interested in his experience on the assembly line and his experience with the unions back then , let me know , and I can PM you his phone # . Very interesting guy. Thanks John
I think I talked about this on the main site. My friend's father worked on the assembly line in Janesville, WI. Some of the stories he told were priceless and I had always thought it would have been a great idea to get their stories down before those stories were lost forever. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. But he did tell me stories of painting wheels a color they weren't supposed to be, of how some guys would occasionally add things to a car they knew had been ordered by a buddy...he told me how he wished he had kept all the stray emblems, fasteners, etc. that he'd sweep up after shift, of how those parts would have been so valuable today. I mention it on the main site that there was no rhyme or reason for anything back then. A lot of cars were delivered to their original owners with some oddball anomalies and no doubt the people that built them were often times responsible. That's why I hate it when some "expert" at a car show is quick to say "they weren't built like that"....example - my Chevelle was delivered to its original owner with hood pins installed because he asked the dealership to put them on for him. That's a day 1 configuration and I left it like that. It drives me crazy when someone comments on the hood pins. Granted, not a factory alteration, but still an alteration made to the car before its first owner took possession. And that's the way it's going to stay.
I am sure you guys have heard some of these stories on the assembly lines , but my friend was telling me that on Friday and Monday there wed so many people calling in sick , and the plant would be short handed , and the workers would be sent to other departments . He said one time he was sent to the pit to install body mount bolts . He said the gun that was used was so heavy that he was worn out at the end of the day . He told me about using a long spiral screwdriver with a magnetic tip to install door hinges . Sometimes the line worker would use the long spiral screwdriver with a bolt in the end , and he would sail it down the line hitting whatever was in the way . Most of the time a car would be the target. My friend never got involved in things like this , but he saw it happen many times . I am sure that there had to be many good hard working people on theses lines , but it sounds like that sometimes there were some bad things going on . I am going to get in touch with this guy and get some more stories . I hope you guys don't mind me posting them. Thanks John
Re: Interesting Car Show
Posted by Warren L. on 6/6/2017, 7:26 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting Car Show" VIP Member and Board Expert
on 6/5/2017, 8:09 pm