Suspension markings Options

[scotty b]

I remember this being brought up before, possibly by myself, but I can't find any trace of it so I thought I would atart a new thead specifically dedicated to suspensions and in this case factory makings on them. These pics are from Jim McCloeds 73. All markings are on the rear trailing arms and I could find no evidence of anything onthe front suspension. Notice there is one brushed on and also one stamped mark on each side. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[wonkipop]

to give a bit more of a clue.
look closely at k factory photo of 914 being built.

karmann ran a different idea of a factory layout to the fully moving assembly lines that VW used in its larger factories.

karmann had something in between an old style hand building coachworks and a modern assembly line.

the overhead conveyor from what i can work out did not move continuously with a car progressively being built up.

instead they seemed to use the overhead conveyor sometimes (but not always)to move different stages of a build around the factory to static work stations arranged along the length of an aisle.

as an aside they were assembling many different models and from different makers in the one final assembly hall. the body shell hall was a separate building joined to the assembly hall via the conveyor across a street.

the way it seemed to work is all the drivetrain/suspension jigs would have been set up down the length of the aisle. on these jigs would have been set up the components for each car according to the build sheet which matched the customer or inventory order being placed.

the trimmed bodies which you can see in the photo in the background in the next aisle were also being assembled in a static work station down the length of the aisle and also to a particular order/build.

when the trimmed shells were completed they were rolled to the end of the aisle on wheeled dollies in the order they were being built and hooked up to the conveyor.
you can see in other photos the conveyor dipped down at the end of aisles to allow this transfer of the trimmed shells to the conveyor cradles to happen.

the trimmed body shells would then have been run in order down the next aisle and stopped in position over the suspension and drive train jigs. then the suspension components would have been lifted up and bolted on.

in the photo above you can work out that the front suspension components are being lifted up from the jigs to the right and the cars are facing the photographer. the men in the photos looking at the camera are lifting and fitting the front suspension only.

if you look to the left you can see there is a second line of jigs and these are for the engine gearbox and rear suspension jigs. look closely and you see the rear drivetrain component jigs are set up such that the muffler is facing the photographer and the engine is pointing away. at the top of the photo you can see there are conveyor chain links and track.

what must have happened is after all the front suspension was bolted up, the conveyor was restarted and the bodies then turned through a 180 degree bend at the end and came back down this aisle in the opposite direction and then was stopped with each body over head of its designated drive train components. these were then lifted up and all bolted on. along with the wheels which you can see hanging on cradles.

then the conveyor was run again and the cars now on wheels were dropped off the conveyor cradle and run down the final aisle on its wheels. there are photos of the k factory showing this final aisle where the cars are hooked up to a moving rail or track in the floor and are moved along and off the line that way.

what it would have meant is that each jig would have to have the correct set up of drivetrain components in position on it for the correct body that would stop overhead.

you can see from the photo looking carefully the closest car is standard euro spec.
but the car just behind it would be either a japanese spec or possibly swedish spec.
its got side indicator warts. they were not necessarily building these cars in what we would think of as rational batches according to market. if anything it looks like they ran them in body paint batches maybe. or who knows?

a co-ordination exercise according to karmann factory production methods.

all the stamped codes on engine and suspension components would have made this possible and more foolproof to do for assembly line workers.

the big conveyor overhead moved stuff around the factory and dispersed it over the entire factory floor to where the bits were needed.
i suspect it ran at designated times to do very specific tasks.
this is the bit that is different from the way the conveyors were used at wolfsburg and the larger VW factories. there the conveyors ran more like henry ford's methodology.

to give an idea K could run the conveyor to take batches of tyres and wheels over to where bmw coupes were being put together in the same hall. you can see this in some period photos. there is all sorts of stuff hanging from the conveyor. not really cars necessarily in some kind of continuous moving linear line.

it was also used to run batches of body shells over from the body shell hall.

at certain designated times it would have picked up a line of completed 914 body shells and ran them as a batch through the suspension drive train aisle. while that was going on the conveyor would not have been available to move other stuff around the factory.
(its very clear from factory photos that the conveyor was a single continuous conveyor that looped all around the factory overhead).

wherever the body shell was being done it had to end up in time and space in a line over exactly the right jig with the right stuff being laid for that car - also in a long line the length of an aisle.

you can work it all out from the column grid numbers which are painted on the structural columns of the factory. in photos from the late 50s to the early 70s the column grid numbers never change. you can work out just where the photographers were standing in the factory and get a really good idea of just how it was done.


the conveyor.
it tracked around the roof zone everywhere in the assembly hall and did multiple tasks.