Inside the Dodge Main plant: Building the 1955 Dodge cars (and 1981 demolition)
The Dodge Main plant
The Dodge Main Plant was the hub and headquarters for the Dodge Division of Chrysler Corporation. The division also included the Winfield Foundry where cams were cast, and the Detroit Forge Plant, where coil springs, crankshafts and other miscellaneous forged items were produced. There were other manufacturing facilities in the Division in the Detroit area, as well as several others out state, so the Dodge Assembly Plant was called the Main Plant. It housed the offices of the division, the works manager, and other top Dodge division personnel.
The facility was an excellent place to work. Many top managers and supervisors working there at the time the 1955 model was introduced had been there for their entire careers, some going back to the early days of the Dodge Brothers Company, before the purchase by Chrysler, working directly with the Dodge Brothers. Because of their extreme loyalty and feelings of pride, the work attitude throughout the plant was teamwork and cooperation.
The facility occupied approximately 67 acres, on the extreme edge of the city of Hamtramck, Michigan, which is a city completely surrounded by the city of Detroit. A small portion of the Dodge Main complex was located in Detroit. Plant 4, located on Conant Avenue in Detroit, was separated only from the main plant structures by a railroad right-of-way, which was also the boundary line between the two cities. Plant 4 and the main complex were connected by an underground tunnel running under the railroad, permitting highway trucks to enter the Conant gate and travel underground to the main plant receiving docks to unload parts and supplies.
The receiving dock at the main plant side of the tunnel had a large freight elevator which lifted received stamped components to the upper floors of the body shop for "in white" assembly. Truck access was also gained on the opposite side of the complex from Joseph Campau Avenue. Many rail sidings also led into the plant providing entrance for boxcars that were loaded with stampings, door assemblies, tires from Goodyear, wheels from Budd, drums of paint from Ditzler, sealers, cements, glass, and even coke to feed the boilers in the gigantic powerhouse. Joseph Campau Avenue also provided the exit necessary for the finished cars, most of which were loaded on waiting haul-away trucks for direct dealer delivery or for transfer to a rail facility for rail distribution around the country. Some finished cars were driven to waiting Great lakes freighters on the nearby Detroit River, for shipment to ports around the Great Lakes. It was even possible for a customer to take delivery of his new Dodge at the plant. Many new Dodge purchasers planned their summer vacations to include a visit to the Dodge plant for a tour and then take delivery of and drive home in their new Dodge.
Many of the individual manufacturing buildings in the Dodge complex were designed by the renowned Detroit architect Albert Kahn. With the ever-increasing need for a sturdy structure with high floor loading capacities to serve the rapidly growing Detroit automobile industry, Kahn developed the concept of the reinforced concrete structure. The concept was excellent for automotive assembly use and proved to be extremely substantial. Not only was heavier floor loading possible but the weight of the conveyors and equipment that hung from the ceilings could be increased as well. Steel channel inserts were cast directly into the concrete ceilings, thus providing a secure means of hanging equipment.
The typical building had concrete columns spaced on 24-foot centers with ceiling heights of 13 feet. The columns and ceiling heights limited somewhat the routing of delivery conveyors throughout the buildings, but with innovative conveyor design, the method generally worked well.
Most of the buildings in the complex were directly related to the actual manufacture of the cars, with many smaller structures to house the supporting departments of the massive complex. One supporting structure was the five-story maintenance building which provided shops for the plant carpenters, pipefitters, electricians, millwrights, and the sheet metal workers, as well as the crane and elevator maintenance department. There was even a forge shop where overhead conveyor vertical curves could be forged and fabricated for in-plant use. All of the skilled trades necessary were on-site to service all facilities and to maintain the vast complex. Only during a major model change over, when much work would be required in a very short period of time, was it necessary to bring outside contractors into the plant.
All of the manufacturing buildings, most of which had been built at different times as the everincreasing need for space grew, were connected by building extensions or bridges. It was thus possible to walk from the 8th floor of the Body Building on the north side of the complex to the end of the final line on the south side on the 2nd floor, without ever leaving the plant.
Most steel stampings used in the '55 Dodges were stamped at Dodge Main in the "Pressed Steel Building" and on the first floor of the "Body Building." Some major stampings including roof panels and major underbody stampings were supplied by several other Chrysler facilities, or by Briggs manufacturing or the Budd Corporation. Door assemblies were received ready to hang from Budd. All sheet metal components from suppliers were received "in white," unprimed or painted, protected from oxidation only by the drawing compound remaining after the stamping operation. The upper floors of the Body and Pressed Steel Buildings, having lesser floor load capacities, were devoted to body assembly, while the lower floors with greater load capacities, especially the first floors with unlimited loading capacities, were devoted to major stamping and heavy manufacturing operations.
The body-in-white assembly operations started on the 8th floor of the Body Building, where body "bucks" on oval floor conveyors held the floor pan assemblies, cowls, side quarters with wheelhouses, door frames and roof panels all clamped together in fixtures for both spot and gas welding. Major stampings were carried to the upper floors from the press rooms and rail docks via overhead conveyors running through conveyor housings located on the outside walls of the building. Smaller stampings were brought to various floors from the press areas or receiving, via elevators in skid boxes. Wheelhouse, floor pan and other sub-assemblies were fabricated off-line, near by. The assembled bodies were then transferred to body finish trucks which were riding on the metal finishing conveyor lines where exposed joints were solder filled and metal finishing was performed. After these operations, final body inspection and repair before painting was performed.
Upon receipt of the assembled bodies-in-white from the body shop, the first paint shop operation consisted of a thorough washing followed by "Bonderizing," a chemical process that etched the metal, preparing the surface for the paint operations that would follow. During this operation, the body was thoroughly sprayed with hot "Bonderite" solution under extreme pressure, flushed clean and force dried in an oven.
After drying, the body was immediately primed with a primer/surfacer, wet sanded and primed again prior to the hand application of final enamel. Thorough wet sanding and tacking was done after each paint operation prior to final enamel. The three tone paint options offered in 1955 caused some inefficiency as bodies had to be run through final enamel spray and bake operations several times, depending on whether the job was a monotone, two tone, or three tone. In the multi-color jobs, the smallest painted area was done first then masked and the second and/or third coat applied in a similar manner in order to minimize the use of masking labor and materials. The finish-painted bodies, still on paint trucks, were held in a body bank on the 4th floor of the paint shop, from which they were scheduled into the trim shop, lifted by one of two electric hoists to feed the two trim lines that began on the 5th floor of Assembly Building 2.
Most of the body trim and related trim sub assembly operations performed at Dodge Main were performed in Assembly Building No.2, a six story building which was 1,000 feet long and 100 feet wide, running in an east/west direction. The sixth floor was devoted to body cloth and vinyl roll goods and leather hide storage, table and die cutting facilities, flat interior trim work manufacturing and front seat cushion and back sewing and assembly. The fifth, fourth and nearly one half of the third floors were devoted to the main body trim lines, occupied by two parallel floor type assembly conveyors running the full lengths of the building for a total length of over 2,500 feet each conveyor. Three synchronized DC powered variable-speed drives powered each line.
The bodies were carried through the system on trim trucks fabricated from angle iron and steel tubing designed to support the body through all of the trim operations. Four casters supported the truck, the two on the left side were guided by an open channel track, the other two on the right riding free on a six inch channel, flanges down. A "pusher" plate was welded to the center section of the truck which was engaged by a "pusher dog" attached to the six inch pitch floor chain, on sixteen foot centers, guided by double angles and supported by bronze replaceable rider plates. Maximum production line speed of each conveyor was 16 feet/minute, providing a maximum capacity of sixty bodies per hour for each line, or 120 bodies per hour for the two lines. The two chassis assembly and final assembly lines had the same capacities. It was rarely necessary to run either conveyor system at the maximum potential speed to meet the prevailing production schedule.
The other half of the third floor, after body trim operations were complete, was devoted to a storage bank of finished bodies between trim and final, and the convertible top sewing and the top-to-body assembly area. At the west end of the floor were the instrument panel, arm rest and visor assembly units as well as the beginning of the final assembly line. Fully trimmed bodies, still lacking front fenders and hoods and still on their trim trucks, were scheduled from the body bank onto the final assembly lines. Bodies on trucks were manually removed from the bank, turned 90 degrees and pushed onto the final line which started in a bridge connecting assembly Building Two with Assembly Building One, which housed the final line and all final-related sub-assembly operations.
The first operation on the final line was the placing of a "front end" fixture on the front of the trim truck that located and supported the radiator yoke, stamped and painted grill components, as well as the inner fender panels and fenders. This fixture method was required to support the front-end sheet metal, prior to body drop and subsequent assembly to the frame.
While the body assembly operations, now with the front-end attached, were nearing an end on the third floor body final line, the chassis were being assembled on the 2nd floor in the adjacent, Main Building 2, several hundred feet away. The chassis were being assembled upside down thus making rear spring/axle sub-assemblies, including rear brakes and drums, and front end assemblies much easier to assemble to the frame as well as the installation of brake and fuel lines and exhaust systems. Front suspensions, brake and drum assemblies were added and brake lines connected. The frame, already painted by the supplier, now received an additional coat of chassis paint so to include the added components. The chassis were being assembled to the schedule determined by the model mix originating from the body bank between trim and final. Pre-assembled wheels and tires were added at this time per schedule.
The assembled chassis were transferred to the last leg of the final line, via an overhead combination hoist/turn-over fixture that placed the completed chassis on the flat top final line. The chassis were now right side up, riding on their own wheels, in position to receive their engines and other items, on their journey to the "body drop." It was at this point where the body was removed from the trim truck via hoist on the 3rd floor and lowered to the waiting finished chassis moving at the same speed on the 2nd floor directly below. After body drop to the chassis, body bolts were installed and torqued, gas tanks connected and filled with one gallon of gas. Radiator hoses were next installed, radiators filled, final under-hood wiring connected, batteries installed, the hood bolted on its hinges and the car started and driven off the line to a waiting roll-test where all mechanical functions would be tested. This was to me the most gratifying part of the assembly; to see and hear the car start and be driven from the line, finally under its own power.
The Dodge complex also contained a complete self-contained foundry that cast all engine blocks, both six cylinder and eight cylinder, clutch housings, standard transmission cases, water pump housings, manifolds and other miscellaneous cast iron items. Chips and turnings from the machine shops, after gravity and centrifugal removal of cutting fluids and coolants, were then conveyed via chip conveyors back to the foundry furnace charging areas and reused as a portion of the raw materials used to charge the furnaces. There was a sand storage and handling facility as well as mullers for blending the sand mixtures used for making the casting cores. There was heat treat department, which treated oil pump plates, standard transmission gears, rocker shafts for the V8s, as well as miscellaneous fasteners and standard transmission shafts. A plating department plated door strikers, latch items, bolts, studs, and other miscellaneous fastener items. State-of-the-art induction hardeners were used to harden V8 rocker arms and liquid nitrogen-chilled valve seat inserts that were installed in the V8 heads. The complete fleet of electric, propane and gasoline operated fork trucks was maintained along with an exceptional fork truck battery charging and maintenance area.
The powerhouse generated all electrical power consumed in the plant as well as providing steam for all processing operations and to heat the entire complex. 110-volt single -phase power was generated for general use, as well as 220V and 440V three phase generated by two steam turbine-driven generators necessary for operating machinery and most conveyor drives. 180 "Hi-Cycle" and 360 "Super-Cycle" AC was generated for the sole purpose of providing power for the hundreds of small hand tools used for assembly operations on the trim and final lines. Power feed tracks hanging from the ceiling delivered not only the electrical power, but also the physical support as well for the tools. DC was also generated for all hoists, elevators and most of the main line conveyor drives.
The loads placed on new engines being run-in during hot testing were actually DC generators, the power thus generated was used in the plant. There were eight coal-fired boilers, with the coal received in rail hopper cars, reduced to uniform size, treated to reduce dust and conveyed to the boilers via automatic stokers. A large shaker shook the full open hopper cars in the winter to dislodge frozen coal.
All frames were manufactured by Midland Steel Products, about one half mile from Dodge, and shipped continually via flat bed trucks directly to an overhead conveyor beginning outside on the Dodge property. A small bank of frames was kept on hand to offer variety and permit proper scheduling of different frames. The conveyor delivered the frames directly to the chassis line according to the final line schedule. The frames were shipped to Dodge painted black. Some of the numbers observed on the frames were identification markings of the supplier and not necessarily stamped on the frame at Dodge.
Paints and thinners were received from suppliers in either 55 gallon drums, tanker trucks, or rail cars, and stored in a fire-protected environment. There were several paint mix facilities in the plant, one large facility for body paint and one smaller area for the "small parts" paint department. The small parts paint department was used primarily for painting the front fenders and hoods. These items were painted close to their installation point on the car on the final line. Other small stampings were also painted there, such as stone shields, front end and grill components, interior garnish moldings, rear speaker grills, instrument panels and any other small items.
Each paint mix area had mixing tanks to accommodate each color, with the mixed paint pumped via a circulating system to the spray booths. Each color had its own circulating pipeline. The paint was constantly circulated to insure color uniformity and to prevent any build-up or congealing in the lines. Monitoring of color match between the two mix areas was an on-going quality control function. As one system delivered to the body paint area, the other to the front end paint area. Color match was absolutely essential.
All stainless exterior and interior moldings, name badges as well as all die cast items, were received from suppliers. Seat springs were received assembled from suppliers, pre-painted black enamel and ready for soft trim. All carpets and seat pads, both sisal and foam, were purchased and received already precut to size.
There was an executive dining room, and a cafeteria available to office and plant employees that was complete with all food refrigeration and preparation facilities. There was also a smaller kitchen facility located in Plant 4, which prepared hot food for distribution to the factory areas via small train-trucks, delivering to various convenient locations in the plant. Few vending machines were available at the time and there were only several scattered gum and candy machines around the huge facility.
The Dodge facility also had a complete well equipped medical facility with doctors and nurses on duty at all times, an efficient plant protection/security department, and a complete fire fighting department with direct contact with the local Hamtramck Fire Department who would respond to any and all calls.
Building the 1955 model year Dodge cars
It was early in the spring of 1954 when personnel in the Plant Engineering and Master Mechanics (tool engineering) departments of the Dodge Main Plant received notification that the sheet metal components would soon be arriving from body development, Highland Park Central Engineering, for the hand assembly of the new 1955 prototype Dodge body. Those of us who were plant engineers involved in the body assembly, paint, trim and final assembly departments at the Dodge Main Plant were especially interested in the new car design, as our department areas of responsibility would be significantly affected because of the completely redesigned body. It was our job to design and provide the facilities, which were required to convey and process the bodies and their components in those departments during assembly.
During that time at Dodge, I was responsible for Plant Engineering in the body Trim Department. The Trim Department assembly equipment included a multitude of facilities necessary to trim the bodies as they were conveyed through the body trim operations. There were two parallel floor-type assembly conveyors, which carried the bodies through the system on "trim trucks." There were also many sub-assembly areas in the trim shop, some adjacent to the main lines and others on other floors, where miscellaneous subassemblies were made and loaded onto overhead conveyors, the parts scheduled in proper sequence, to meet the correct body moving on the main line. Some of these sub-assembly areas were for the assembly of door and quarter glass, instrument panels, heaters, cushions and backs, arm rests, and visors as well as package shelves, windcord and other trim items. A teletype system indicated to the conveyor loaders at each load point, which components were required for each car, i.e. body style, white or "Solex" glass, interior trim codes, options included in the instrument panel, etc.
Because of the extensive revisions to all of the body components, it was necessary to redesign and revise all of the overhead delivery conveyor parts carriers as well as most of the material handling equipment items such as shop trucks, storage racks and shelving. Because the operations on the body lines would now occur in a new location due to assembly sequence changes, the delivery conveyors had to be relocated in order to insure that the parts got to the main lines at the right time and in the new assembly operation location.
We were anxious to get a glimpse of the new car, as rumor had it the Exner-designed model was truly an outstanding achievement, filled with many new design concepts. We were accustomed to the 1953/54 and previous K. T. Keller influenced "shorter on the outside, longer on the inside" design concepts. Even though these past approaches to design proved to be truly practical from a customer comfort point of view, the resulting appearance did not always produce the most stylish looking automobile. Rumor had it that Chrysler styling had finally found an ideal combination of comfort producing practicality coupled with pleasing styling. Combining these new attributes along with the previously introduced and now-proven V8 engine and "Powerflite" automatic transmission, we knew we were going to build a real winner!
The prototype parts came in from the Highland Park Engineering fabrication facility as well as several other Chrysler and vendor stamping facilities, where they had been hand made in most cases. Production dies were still under construction and would not be available to produce production parts until later in the summer.
At first glance, the new components resembled any other assortment of unpainted sheet metal car parts, but upon closer examination, some very unusual items became evident. I remember in particular wondering what was that unusual pair of stampings about 15 inches long by 5 or 6 inches wide with the two large holes, and several smaller holes in them? No one could figure it out until one of the assemblers, drawing in hand, showed us that they were the rear quarter taillight housings.
Another unique set of stampings noticed were the front door opening "A" posts with the unusual configuration which, when assembled to the cowl and roof panels would provide for a very large wrap around windshield, a completely new concept at this time. With such an extreme size and wrap-around, we surely would have problems handling and conveying the very large and heavy windshield glass to the assembly line. If the windshield was this large and so configured, what would the instrument panel look like? It too was large and reflected the wrap-around design. Compared with the nearly flat 1954 instrument panel currently being assembled, it was obvious that our fixtures would require complete redesign, a major fixture tooling and facilities problem. It was another surprise to learn that the clutch and brake pedals would now be mounted on the inside of the firewall behind the instrument panel rather than being mounted on the frame. Also, the master cylinder would now be installed to the firewall in the trim shop rather than be mounted on the frame in the chassis assembly area. After our observations, we were aware that this was going to be a very challenging and busy summer.
There is much more to the Dodge Main story but the changeover to the 1955 and 1956 models was to me, as a fledgling plant engineer, one of the most challenging and interesting assignments in my 31 year career at Chrysler.
Demolition photos from 1981
These were provided by J.P. Joans, whose father (among other things) designed the Chrysler dealer-auction system that kept resale values high while supporting short-term leases to rental fleets. The Dodge Main plant and a thriving Hamtramck neighborhood were demolished to make room for a huge General Motors factory, with full city and state financial support, in a scandalous use of eminent domain power that saw residents getting what many called extremely low compensation for their 1,200 homes and businesses. The factory that finally opened had much lower staffing than promised by GM, partly due to its extensive use of automation; it currently produces the Cadillac DTS/Buick Lucerne (originally it made the Riviera, Toronado, Eldorado, and Seville). Dodge Main had already been abandoned by Chrysler.
The Dodge Main complex began in 1910, under the Dodge Brothers. It included a hospital, a private telephone system, and a fire department. It was closed in 1979 under orders from Lee Iaccoca to save money at a time when Chrysler Corporation was close to bankruptcy; from 1979 to 1983, roughly half the jobs at Chrysler Corporation, both management and hourly, were lost, according to some sources.
