1909 Chassis Assembly schedule

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Scott Rosenthal
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1909 Chassis Assembly schedule

Post by Scott Rosenthal » Sat Aug 31, 2019 9:09 pm

The Chassis Assembly of my 1909 Touring predated the Car Assembly by a full 2 months. Recent discussion of developmental features caused me to revisit my Build Sheet where this information is recorded. This duration sounds especially lengthy, suggesting that the Piquet Avenue plant was either jam packed with partially constructed inventory, or possibly that some chassis were stored elsewhere (offsite), until called up for final assembly. Sighting recent examples like the radiator mountings, and assuming these recorded dates are accurate, no doubt obsoleted components remained in the pipeline for quite some time after a particular change actually became effective. It would seem recorded Chassis Assembly dates would be more germane to the dating of components/developments, than would be the finished car's serial number. I have only seen a handful of these early Build Sheets, and therefore have no background to know how common this construction lapse would have been. Perhaps someone here has researched this?
Regards,
Scott

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DanTreace
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Re: 1909 Chassis Assembly schedule

Post by DanTreace » Sat Aug 31, 2019 11:48 pm

Scott

Can't add much to this discussion, but Bruce's CD info gives insight that lags did occur. Seems some non-T's were made in 1909!


Interestingly, In July 1909 a number of Model S Fords were made. One wonders if they discovered some leftover parts and decided to get rid of them.
Cars were assembled, obviously, after engines were assembled. The dates shown are the dates of the body-to- chassis assembly, a short time after the engine date. In addition, chassis were assembled sometimes days before the bodies were installed. Add this to the fact that there were several assembly areas, and a general mix-up of dates versus serial numbers occurs. Where an “engine only” is indicated, the date shown is the shipping date, not the manufacturing date.
The best way is always the simplest. The attics of the world are cluttered up with complicated failures. Henry Ford
Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain. Henry Ford


Topic author
Scott Rosenthal
Posts: 364
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2019 11:29 am
First Name: Scott
Last Name: Rosenthal
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 12 Towncar, 12 Touring, 09 Touring
Location: Cincinnati OH

Re: 1909 Chassis Assembly schedule

Post by Scott Rosenthal » Sun Sep 01, 2019 9:15 am

Thanks Dan: I can imagine multiple scenarios where various duration delays of early production could have been necessary. I have read where engines were built up and stored, but not seen anything other than photos showing rows of chassis without bodies. This at a time when Ford was covered up in back-orders, there must have been serious outages that slowed the flow. Curious whether others have serial numbers in early Calendar 09 that have Build Sheets that display similar lapses, and whether there exists information that might describe these cause(S).

Regards,
Scott


Topic author
Scott Rosenthal
Posts: 364
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2019 11:29 am
First Name: Scott
Last Name: Rosenthal
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 12 Towncar, 12 Touring, 09 Touring
Location: Cincinnati OH

Re: 1909 Chassis Assembly schedule

Post by Scott Rosenthal » Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:21 am

Hello Dan:
I researched Bruce's Black Book to find info about the S leftovers...Bruce thought this happened sometime in July, but this does not mean the practice was not on-going at some rate before that.

Related, I have not seen any data that shows aluminum bodies being offered to buyers as optional. Would a customer prefer an aluminum body (I would), and could this have been both a cost and schedule matter to the consumer? First Beaudette aluminum bodies rolled out at the end of March, where Bruce identifies #2026 as at least one the first, if not the first of these. Curious whether there may have been a backorder situation created where this chassis waited on an" aluminum body in the new soon to be standard Touring "Green" color, to complete this customer's request. If so, is it a safe assumption that transitioning mechanical parts such as the engine pan and radiator delivered, would have been of the earlier and now obsolete style? Others have theorized that Ford used these parts up rather than the purging of inventories. Got to like this T detective work.
Regards,
Scott

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