63 frame tag

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 frame tag

The "big" plant had a Receiving Inspection/Salvage Department that could do dimensional checking with table-top surface plates (granite slabs) and various measurement devices, Central Office-supplied part "go - no go" checking fixtures, Rockwell hardness testers, and things of that nature, but I've never seen anything more exotic than that in terms of what we understand as "lab testing" in any Chevrolet assembly plant.

Thanks john. I wasn't making much progress on this one and needed a little back up.
I knew there was no such operation in the little Corvette building. There just wasn't any place at that facility for anything like that with the limited amount of space available. They were fortunate to even actually have a lunch room.

As I previously mentioned, people seem to have a somewhat distorted vision of what went on there and what the operation was actually like.

I never saw anyone inspecting new incomming material. It was tossed on the conveyor and installed on the body/chassis.
The only fixture I do remember is the hood dimension checking fixture in the front end sub assembly area. A last and final check of the panel to make sure it retained it's configuration during shipping/storage. That had nothing to do with random inspection/testing though.

[Dick W.]

Re: 63 frame tag

What you are describing is what I saw to be typical of all the plants, GM, Chrysler, Ford, Mack, Diamond Reo, IH, that I visited during that era. They were strictly assembly plants.

[Michael G.]

Re: 63 frame tag

The degree of corrosion of this frame is consistent with what I've seen in severe proving grounds tests. The part obviously was painted after it rotted, though, and there's absolutely no reason GM would have painted over the corrosion after a test.

It's possible that such a frame might have made it out of GM's hands intact, (whole vehicles have shown up which were required to be, and supposedly were, "scraped"), but I sincerely doubt that anyone who could actually get a frame out of GM unscathed would bother with any part that was remotely this bad.

If it was once a test or pilot vehicle frame that was "spirited" out of GM, I'd guess that it was not a corrosion test vehicle, that most of the corrosion happened later, in service on some post GM vehicle.

Mike

[Art A.]

Re: 63 frame tag







When the brutal GM Saltwater testing was conducted, (usually at the MPG) NOBODY within GM would ever consider stealing, buying, or selling said parts or vehicle. It was a very nasty test.