A well known photo of the first Buick plant in Flint, Michigan. Original photo taken by: Guy A. Gaines Click here for 1904 view.
Enlargement of the photo above showing an automobile sitting in front of the test shed on the south side of the factory. Links:
This seems like a strange way of testing the engine compartment for moisture related problems. “Things in 1923 seem so quaint now”. This is Hamilton Avenue facing west from in front of the Buick Service and Parts plant. The main office is shown in the left background with factory #01 in the right background. The only water test we had here in my time was the “Leak Test” that was looking for water penetrating the passenger and trunk compartment. Links:
A story from “The Accessory And Garage Journal” in 1919, which was explaining all of the 37 million dollar G.M. expansion’s scheduled for 1919. This is just the St Louis, Missouri part of the story.
This is the news about Buick assembly entirely returning to Flint, Michigan.
This photo (from the Buick Research Gallery in Flint, Michigan) shows the combined Buick and Chevrolet assembly plant in St Louis, Missouri in 1920. This was the first joint venture of this kind for General Motors. This first joint operation did not last very long, with all Buick production returning to Flint in 1921. The next such venture was in 1932 at the Linden, New Jersey plant and then in 1936 at the South gate plant in California. The Buick portion of this large plant was eventually taken over by the Fisher Body Co. that started them on their journey of placing their body plants in close proximity to the assembly plant. It would take until 1985 for this to happen with Buick in Flint. This first venture of Buick assembly outside of Flint (not counting the Canadian McLaughlin) came about because of a rail car shortage that had cars being shipped in pieces to Minneapolis, Minnesota and assembled in a warehouse for distribution out west. See Pence Automobile Co. . This idea of sending all parts to another location for assembly appealed to the top men at Buick but the warehouse in Minneapolis did not quite fit the bill. This was why the St Louis assembly idea came about. The St Louis plant was closed in 1987 and was producing trucks at that time.
This story is from the September 1908 issue of the trade journal “The Hub”.
I have never posted these two photos before. This photo facing south-west from what appears to be the third floor of Buick factory #01 would be prior to 1907. Notice all the air drying lumber where factory #08 garage will shortly be built. That is Hamilton Avenue running east and west.
The corner of Industrial and Hamilton Avenue. This was the plant that built the early Buick open body’s. This view is facing south-east from in front of the Industrial Savings Bank. Notice the shadow falling across the west wall of the factory; that is the shadow from the #4 Oak Park fire station. Links:
This unique commemorative plaque from the first “Buick built” foundry #20 is owned by John Stork. I have never seen another of these before. I was excited when John sent me this photo. He does not know of any family connection to the Buick plants in Flint but did state that his Great Grandfather was one of the founders of the short lived Lion Motor Car Company of Adrian, Michigan. Either way we now know the exact date that the foundry went into operation. It is always a treat to have an exact date for when these historic old factories went into production because so much history gets lost and forgotten. Link for the more common plaques and the Lion history:
Factory #20 was located at the crossroads of Buick which was Division Street and Leith Street. Division was not open to public traffic and was solely a Buick street. Leith was named Oakland at the time the #20 foundry was built. You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used.
The factory description for this factory never varied from start to finish. Links:
FLINT, MI — The list of things that criminals in Flint will steal sometimes feels as if it is bounded only by their imagination, and now there’s one more thing we can add to that list: our history.
Broken glass litters the floor of the Genesee County Historical Society inside the Durant-Dort Building in Flint. While only $40-$50 were stolen, original glass windows were broken and the offices inside were left in shambles.Thieves broke into the historic Durant-Dort Building on the corner of Water and Mason streets Wednesday night.
Read up on the building’s history
They were able to make off with about $40-$50 in loose change and petty cash from the building’s occupants, but a price can’t be put on the damage they did inside of the building.
David White, president of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co. Foundation, said the thieves destroyed the etched glass inside of the building, which was originally installed when the building was constructed in the late 1800s.
“It’s irreplaceable,” said White. “They just don’t make that kind of glass with that craftsmanship.”
The Durant-Dort office building, 316 Water St., was built in 1895-96 and was the home of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co. It served as a focal point for Billy Durant and J. Dallas Dort’s promotional activities in the carriage and automobile business.
It was also the place where Durant came up with the idea of General Motors.
Now, the building is home to the Genesee County Historical Society and area attorneys.
Attorney Daniel Andoni, whose office has been at the building for the past four years, said the historical impact of the damage wasn’t lost on him.
“This is where Billy Durant founded General Motors,” Andoni said.
White said the building’s alarm company reported the break-in but officers did not arrive on the scene until this morning when a secretary refused to enter the building until it was checked out.
While White said he knows Flint’s police are forced to prioritize calls, he said it feels like regular, tax-paying citizens and businesses are left to fend for themselves.
“We pay a lot of money in taxes and the police don’t come because they’re out dealing with another shooting,” said White.
White said the building has also been repeatedly victimized because the area has been without streetlights for nearly eight years.
The streetlights are owned by the city and the city has not allowed private entities to pay to repair a damaged electrical line, said White.
Glass litters the floor of an upstairs office at the historic Durant-Dort Building.Kay Muhammad, the city’s transportation administrator, said the problem isn’t that simple.
Typically, Consumers Energy owns the street lights in the city, but when the project to rehabilitate Water Street was undertaken decorative lights were installed. Muhammad said the street lights were placed on a mixture of public right of way and private property and no plans or funding were included for maintenance on the lights.
Muhammad said the city is aware of the problem and working to find who owns the lights and find a solution. However, she said getting the lights turned back on would require a “massive project” that won’t be completed overnight.
She also denied that the city would refuse private funding to help fix the situation.
“We need to assure there is appropriate lighting,” Muhammad said.
So far, according to White, the building has had metal stolen from its air conditioning units, irrigation systems and spot lights in front of the building. It has also replaced five air conditioning units that were stolen in the past three years.
“We pay our taxes and we can’t get any help down there,” said White. By
This photo of Buick assembly about 1911 shows a Runabout at center with a Touring car shown at the right. I would love to know the back story on this photo. I wonder who the gentleman in the duster is at the left? What is in the bucket that the worker in the center is getting ready to pour?You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used. The site where I found this photo is erroneously showing it to be a 1909 Oakland (forerunner of Pontiac) being built in Pontiac, Michigan. Oakland link. Additional links:
Data plate from a Melrose Park Buick engine.
A view of the almost completed factory in Melrose Illinois. This is a south facing view.
Buick executives and military brass looking over some of the numerous parts of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Liberator engine. There were 863 different parts for the R-1830 engine with the duplication of parts used in the completed engine being 6,266 total parts per engine.
Parts being laid out in their respective sub assembly’s at Melrose. Click here for another view.
Inspecting the pistons that were cast in Flint. These were matched according to weight just as automobile engines.
Installing the piston rings.
The master rods (at top) are being readied for assembly. Directly above are the regular rods. These were forged in Flint.
The barrel before and after machining. The raw castings and the basic machining was done in Flint.The barrel serves the same purpose as a conventional engine block.
This partial assembly shows the relationship of the barrel, head and crankcase. This is also a good look at the MASTER ROD.
These are the almost finished barrels that the piston travels in. They still require the holes drilled that will allow them to be bolted to the crankcase.
This machine would shrink the steel barrel of a piston cylinder to the aluminum head. The barrel and head were attached by the screw and shrink method. Both of these parts were made in Flint but sub assembled in Melrose. As stated earlier, the final machine work on the barrel was done at the Melrose facility. It is estimated that 50% of all machining and assembly was shared between the Flint and Melrose plants.
An assembly aid being shown on the center section of the engine crankcase.
Machining a Liberator crankcase at Melrose.
Machining a Liberator crankcase at Melrose.
Machining a Liberator crankcase at Melrose.
Machining a Liberator crankcase at Melrose.
The three parts of the crankcase creating a single engine crankcase. This is called the “Power Unit”. The assembled crankcase is now painted in dark green. At the bottom is the blower section. At the top is the cam component. This unit is actually six different sections.
Installing the crankshaft in the center sub assembly of the engine crankcase.
Sub assembly of the crankcase showing the cam and tappet area.
Part of a crankcase being inspected and the break-in room. You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used.
More assembly.
Assembly and evaluating.
Wire loom sub assembly. This photo was obviously taken at the exact same time as the one below, judging by the reflection in the upper left corner. Another view.
Wire loom sub assembly.
Installing the rear bulkhead for the reduction gear of the prop shaft.
Reduction gear sub assembly.
More assembly.
The tracks that these assembly stands moved along in remind me of the old craft method of assembly..see this photo.
More assembly.
More assembly.
Tightening a cylinder hold down nut with one of many special tools needed for this engine.
More assembly.
A nice looking engine.
Almost done.
The finishing touch.
The “V” for victory. This symbol was used anytime another milestone was completed.
Final test control room.
The final test was considered the “Acceptance” test.
Final test.
Final test.
Final test.
Final test.
The alternators used to capture the power of these engines during their initial break-in run. “Not even this power was wasted”. This resulted in an estimated savings of $80,000 dollars per month.
The break-in room with 84 test stations. Here is where the engines would have what was called a “Green Test” which would last for six hours. Once this test run is done the engine is completely disassembled and the parts checked for any defect reminiscent of the way Henry Leland did the Cadillac engines during the late teens and early twenty’s . Once the engine is reassembled it is sent to the final test cell and run for a further three hours to make sure it is producing the power it is required to. Notice the slip coupling in place on the prop shaft of this engine. This allowed the alternator to run at a constant 900 RPM. no matter what the actual speed the engine was running during the initial break-in run. You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used. Notice the soda bottles under the engines when you enlarge the photo.
Getting ready for the Liberator’s first break-in run.
Muscling a finished engine.
Packing instructions. The moister detecting paper that is packed with each engine is shown in the bottom left corner. The photo with the red arrow shown farther below is this tag.
The shipping case. These instruction manuals can be found at the link show at the end of this post. You can enlarge them there.
Unpacking instructions are shown at the top with the vacuum seal being installed above. The red arrow above shows the water sensitive paper that would indicate the presence of moisture.
This shows the pliofilm bag being sealed and evacuated of all air.
Packaging at the Melrose facility.
Packaging at the Melrose facility.
Packaging engines for the trip to Willow Run Michigan. The huge Ford bomber assembly plant where these engines are headed was so near to the Melrose factory that no protective vacuum packaging was required. The vacuum packaging was for engines going into storage for future use. Links: Maintenance and service manuals complete. World War II Archeology in England R-1830 “Twin Wasp” Radial Engine prop-shafts Journey Through Buick. B-24 Liberator Liberator Engine work at Buick. Buick At It’s Battle Stations
Factory #15 during 1920. Even though the aluminum foundry had it’s own die shop during World War II, the masters would still originate from this factory. The location of this factory on Leith Street is shown in the previous posting. You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used.
As mentioned in this story, the original wooden mockups were made here. I found many of these beautiful full size wooded die patterns being ruined by rain when they were temporarily stored in old factory #40 transmission plant during the 70’s. They were made of laminated wood and were works of art. I’m sure they just ended up at the bottom of the Grand Blanc land fill, just as so much other Buick history found it’s way there.
Here is one half of a finished Liberator cylinder head die being installed in the aluminum foundry. This machine and it’s operation is shown farther below.
Here is one half of a finished die (the positive) being compared to its (negative) mold in sand form.
This is some of the same work as described below.
Here we see a die maker working on patterns for the cooling fin dies. These would be the small ones being used for a comparison check farther below.
Checking and comparing another engine die part (rocker box) with the in process master.
Precise checking of the master dies with the original blueprints.
Some final touch-up on a master die. Notice all the small masters used for a guide.
This shows the two halves of the finished cores being coated and tweaked for their eventual pour of molten aluminum.
This photo from the pattern shop is showing some measurement being taken (the blue arrow). The red outlines show the area that will be filled with sand, thus making the two halves of a cylinder head mold for the Liberator engine.
This shows the finished sand core for one half of the mold shown below. Notice the two different colored sands being used. The lighter colored (finer) sand is the first part placed and then covered with a more coarse sand.
This is a closeup showing the cooling fin support pins being inserted. The pins are being inserted in the finer mix.
Placing the pins for support of the sand between the cooling fins. This keeps them from crumbling during pouring. A quote from Carl Crow’s book: THE CITY OF FLINT GROWS UP. There is, however, one operation in the making of cylinder head molds, for which no substitute for hand labor has been found. In order to support the thin ribs of sand in the molding box it is necessary to insert a number of steel pins of varying lengths–twelve hundred for each casting. This is done by hand. The men who insert these odd shaped lengths of wire in the sand mold unerringly pick a half dozen, counting them by feel. With the same motion of thumb and forefinger they fan them out like a faro dealer in a Hollywood production of a Wild West gambling joint. In less time than it takes to tell about it, the sand mold has become a giant pincushion. While machinery plays no part in making the pincushion it performs an invaluable operation after the pins have served their purpose and the sand is on the way back to the storage bins. As the sand travels over a conveyor belt a giant magnet picks out the pins. As you can see the finer (light colored) sand is used for this area of the mold.
Still working out the baking problems with the inner cores. The red arrow is the intake and exhaust,with the blue arrow showing the combustion chamber core. Here are the dies for these. Making the cores.
The orange arrow points to the jig that aligns the inner cores. The red arrow shows the intake and exhaust inner cores. The blue arrow shows the combustion chamber inner core.
Here is the finished mold with it’s inner cores in place being mated for pouring. Links:
You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used. October 16, 1920 looking west up Leith Street from the Pere Marquette overpass. On the left is the Powerhouse #14 in the process of being constructed. On the right in the foreground is the then factory #15 pattern shop for the foundry. Beyond the pattern shop is factory #20 foundry. In the far distance can be seen factory #11 the engine plant. The men walking up the sidewalk is the same walk I made the day I hired in. Links:
BUICK FACTORY HISTORY 
