• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

How Long Did It Take Chrysler To Build A BBody On The Line?

Moparfiend

FBBO Gold Member
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
5:42 PM
Joined
Oct 27, 2017
Messages
2,920
Reaction score
2,873
Location
HOT
After so much disassembly on my Sport Sat I am wondering how long it actually took on the assembly line to build a “typical “ B-Body? Anyone have any references on this? I wonder how it compares to a typical sedan now????
 
once you do your .5% of the process a few hundred times you get pretty fast at it
 
not to mention some tings (take spot welds for instance) are a LOT faster to put in than to take out
 
One of my favorite videos is of the SN95 Mustang production in one of their factories. According to them, a new car was made every 90 seconds. How is that possible? I wonder how close to that time car productions lines were in the 60's.

 
I can see a completed car coming off the line every 90 sec but start to finish IDK about that.
 
I'm not sure about the exact hours but reasoning can give you a rough idea. My fender tag says my car started assembly on Friday and came off the assembly line on Monday. The plant was probably running 3 shifts back in 1970 with no production on Saturday or Sunday, so 48 hours would be the maximum. How's that compare to your disassembly? :lol::rofl:
 
I would guess that there were a LOT more humans involved in the process then. That would slow things down some. Our cars are dead simple compared to a car today too.
 
I toured the Ford LTD plant in Louisville back in the 1970s. They were proud of a car rolling off the line every 6 minutes.
 
If you can find daily production then divide by 24.
 
I think I would be happy Chrysler takes longer to get things correct! IMO Ruffcut
 
FYI:
torRedPixel.gif


So, just how many cars were built at Hamtramck per day in 1970?

Well, there is no way to know for sure, each day would have been different, but we can average the known numbers and get close.

  • The VINs assigned started with VIN 100001.

  • The highest VIN currently known is above 443001.

  • The 1970 model year ran from August 1st, 1969 until July 31st, 1970.

  • So we know that at least 343,000 cars were actually built on Hamtramck's two assembly lines.

  • If we take 365 days a year, minus 104 for weekend days, that leaves 261 days.

  • I am not sure what holidays were allowed off, but we can safely assume five I bet? That leaves 256 possible production days.

  • 343,000 cars divided by 256 days gives us an average of 1339.84 cars per day from this plant.
https://www.hamtramck-historical.com/hammyCarsInADay.shtml

Using these numbers: 1339.84 divided by two lines = 669.92 cars per line per day
669.92 divided by 24 hours (three shifts)= 27.91 hours per car
 
I haven't seen stats on the Chrysler lines, but I remember reading about a Ford assembly line back in 1958 when the Edsel was introduced. Those lines produced 60 cars per hour, but it took about 24 hours for each car from start to finish.
 
Have to figure all of the work with prep, design/engineering, proto-types, aligning with parts suppliers and contracted sub-assembly, die making, etc. thousands of businesses and millions of workers that fed off the auto mfg's. Apples & oranges could say; but certainly plays into how this comes together to produce a car every few minutes. Having completely taken apart and reassembling two cars in my time couldn't help but wonder (especially when I ran into snags) all involved to mass produce them.
 
Have to figure all of the work with prep, design/engineering, proto-types, aligning with parts suppliers and contracted sub-assembly, die making, etc. thousands of businesses and millions of workers that fed off the auto mfg's. Apples & oranges could say; but certainly plays into how this comes together to produce a car every few minutes. Having completely taken apart and reassembling two cars in my time couldn't help but wonder (especially when I ran into snags) all involved to mass produce them.
Yes a lot went into production then and today. As some posted it’s highly automated today and thats one reason why I was wondering this. Also today on some products we use design for disassembly which thinks about repair and the disassembly of the product for various reasons for example recycling. Back then this was not a thought. Seems like the general concusses is about 30 hours from start to stop on the lines.
 
Among the tidbits I wondered about were screws and the various fasteners/clips used. Would seem that more standardization would have saved production costs. I encountered a strange problem on my '63 Plymouth vert quarter window trim. "H" type nylon fasteners were used there and damned if i could find those...just 3 on each side. After don't know how long started thinking about the clips used on the same trim for the doors. I had some of those on extra trim parts; they're an offset scissors type retainer...well go figure, I found those worked perfectly for the quarter trim. One of a few 'stories' putting the car back together...
 
I can see a completed car coming off the line every 90 sec but start to finish IDK about that.

Yeah I misunderstood the narrator. He says that a new car is completed every 90 seconds, but manufacturing the car probably took hours, days...
 
When I was an apprentice, I was based at the local Honda Plant for a few weeks. I discovered that it took approximately 2 days from the first touch of bare body panels, to final roll-off at the assembly plant. Panels need welding together, alignment, then the process of dipping e-coat etc, primer and paint. Then it's into paint checking, and final alignment...followed by interior fit-out and drivetrain assembly.
With paint curing and time needed to clean up other items, I cannot see how 24 hours is possible on any car.

Two days would be my best estimate based on a smaller car like the typical 4-banger Honda Civic from 1987. :thumbsup:
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top