Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Seymore
It was a couple days if you include the time to weld up the body, fab up the pickup box and get through paint.
After vehicles came out of paint and into trim it was about 8 hours from there to the end of the line, depending on line rate, work stoppages due to breakdowns or material shortages or whatever.
I caught my truck coming down out of paint and into trim at 4:30 pm. I'm pretty sure I was leaving the plant at the end of that shift at 1 pm, after already having driven it over to the shipping building.
Trucks went directly from paint into paint drying ovens. They were set anywhere between high 200 deg F to 350 deg F and the vehicle spent about 1/2 hour in there. They were ready to work on immediately, after cooling to the touch.
There were also paint repair ovens which were not as hot, particularly if running a completed vehicle through paint repair.
K
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That is really cool you got to see your truck get built. That didn't take much time at all for the paint to dry.
I think starting in 78 the bodies were dipped in a zinc solution. They still would rust out. I have a photo of the 78 rusting two years after it was built.
Maybe you would know the answer to these questions.
1. My 78 K5 hood bent when I was closing it I think because I never had oiled the hinges before. The hinge got bound up on one side. What is the best way to prevent the bent hood? Do I need to get new hinges?
2. In 78 GM added bracing rods from the bell housing to engine and tcase to engine on the K5 Blazer. In 72 the K5 tcase bracing was to the frame. Why would the 78 K5 not have bracing to the frame like the 72 K5?
3. What does the white chalking indicate on the valve covers? I've seen the number 21 in chalk on several covers including on my k5. Also for the 73-87 was the chalk markings standard on all GM assembly plants or would each assembly plant have its own distinct chalk markings?
4. At the assembly plant about how many people were on the line do you think that assembled the 73-78 chevy? Did these lines run 24x7?
5. Did the couple of days estimate also include engine building? I assume the engine was built at the same time as the body was being built.