This YouTube Video Shows a Classic Auto Assembly Line
Automotive assembly lines sure have changed, I didn’t see one robot! They were pretty advanced though considering this was in the 60’s. One of the most automated tools I saw in this car assembly line video was the spot welder for welding the body panels together. The spot welder was kind of similar to the Miller spot welder that we sell.
Metal Stamping. The huge metal stamping press, for creating and shaping the metal body panels is just cool. Assembly line processes have always been a curiosity of mine. I worked on cars for years and have found myself asking, How did they do that? Thanks to video sites like YouTube, it’s easy to have many questions answered.
7,000 Gallons of Paint. I like the fact that these VW cars were submersed completely in paint. I know that when the Ford Mustang was built in the 60’s they were certainly not dipped. My 1967 Convertible Ford Mustang Cowl Repair was needed mainly because the body wasn’t dipped or rust proofed in any way on the backside of the body panel. That was a nightmare auto repair for me, since I’m more of a mechanical repair guy and not a body or paint man.
What’s Old is New Again. Who knows Mexico and maybe Cuba could possibly be using this assembly line footage in their VW manufacturing plants as a new employee training film!
OTC Hand Held Battery, Charging System/ Starter Tester
The OTC Sabre is a hand held tester that is an easy to use alternative to the OTC Minuteman electrical tester. This tool is very easy to use, quick and accurate. The Sabre being a hand held unit, is not subjected to the abuse of rolling across rough shop floors. It comes in a nice storage case, some models come with a wireless infrared printer. A battery tester with a printer is a good sales tool, no pun intended.
This Bearly Used Grizzly Grinder was for sale recently – Classified Site
Back in the early eighties when I first started working on front wheel drive cars, the Goodyear shop that I worked at got one of these Grizzly Grinders (sold by Bear). It was the newest best way at the time, to sortof machine rotors on the vehicle when doing a brake job. Actually it didn’t really machine the brake rotors, it would grind them. The Grizzly Grinder only worked on front wheel drive vehicles, since there was no built in motor to spin the rotors. The Grizzly Grinder was bolted on where the caliper goes, the grinding discs were adjusted and then you would run the car in drive trying to maintain around 35 miles per hour! Metal would fly and you’d better be sure you’ve got it adjusted right or the rotors would be ground unevenly in a hurry. This was definitely a job you didn’t want the customer to watch.
Some of our most requested tools lately has been specialty tools for aligning cams and cranks for timing chain alignment. In the past changing a timing chain or timing belt only required basic tools to get the job done. The camshaft and crankshaft sprockets only went on one way due to the design that used a key-way which only allowed the pulley to go on one way. Alignment marks for the cam and crank were aligned per directions from the service manual. Now many engines have no key-way and the pulleys are pressed on. Since the key-way is not used in increasing number of vehicles, specialty automotive tools are required to properly Align the cam and crank.
Will a $150 hydrogen generator turn a 97 Saturn (Beater) into a miracle water car!?
Myth Busting. Those of you who read our last post titled Is Hydrogen the Answer to America’s Rising Fuel Costs? know that I am skeptical of the claims found on the Internet, like Run your car on water and Save 57% Fuel & Double Gas Mileage. But after speaking to the aftermarket warranty inspector mentioned in that post, that thought it was plausible and he was willing to install a hydrogen generator on his 08 Civic, I figured I would give it try as well. Although the guys he talked to are sure that their hydrogen generators definitely work, for me seeing is believing. Even Popular Mechanics is also going to be testing a hydrogen generator to see if increased mileage claims can be verified or debunked. Even grown men have to play sometimes, right?
The Internet is littered with seemingly unbelievable claims, like “Run your car on water”. What does this mean? Pour water in my fuel tank? I must admit, until recently I’ve been a skeptic and have attributed all this Internet hype as another scam that only the gullible would fall for. After thinking about it though, all major car manufacturers are developing and testing hydrogen cars today. Most talk of the need for infrastructure providing hydrogen filling capabilities at gas stations. At the time of this post there are only a few filling stations that dispense hydrogen in the US.
When working under the hood, one of the most frustrating things is to knock removed nuts and bolts off their precarious perch, to fall somewhere into the great abyss we call….theengine compartment. All mechanics have done it, we knock bolts off the air cleaner, the battery, the inner fender etc. And when we hear the nudged bolt hit the floor safely, it is a sweet sound. Because if it reaches the floor, we know we won’t have to waste our time searching for it somewhere on the sub-frame by the rack-n-pinion, or wedged between the inner fender and the the power brake booster.
Predicting future oil and gas prices is highly uncertain with the volatile global markets. The puzzling question today on everyone’s mind is if the time has come to lift the ban on US oil and gas drilling and if the risk is worth the potential reward.
With gas prices currently sitting at $4 a gallon, Congress is again wrestling with proposals to allow drilling in now-restricted portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Pacific. President Bush estimates that an extra 18 billion barrels of oil – equivalent to the nation’s current oil production for the next 10 years would be available from drilling in areas currently banned. Although there’s uncertainty as to how long it would take to begin production, this would allow us to reduce our growing dependence on oil imports.
The way the ground cable is attached in the picture above is incorrect and can cause the small ground wire to overheat from too much current passing through it.
Recently my brother had a dead battery, so I took my jump box to his house to jump start his car. It’s funny how some things are second nature when you’ve done it a thousand times. He had already tried using his new bargain booster box that he had just bought at a local parts store. The less expensive jump boxes usually only have continuity on one jaw of the cable clamp.
