Ford History

[MXGOLF]

This has some very interesting things about Ford History! I am sure Phil will have some incites to add.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...A13JinO?cvid=1dc3ab890fe54318a8f0c9ef9b202f2e

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[AzScorpion]

Great article Mark, thanks for posting it! It's sad to see the Jacksonville plant is going to be demolished soon.

Ford built one of its oldest production facilities in 1924 on the banks of the St. Johns River in Florida. The Model A and Model T rolled off production lines there until 1932. According to The Florida Times-Union, workers at the plant built an average of 200 units per day.

Though Ford survived the Great Depression, necessary budget cuts led to the factory’s closure. Once vehicle production ceased, the company continued to use the building as a distribution center into the late 1960s.

It sat abandoned for years afterward until being declared a National Landmark in 2003. But in mid-October, the Jacksonville City Council unanimously agreed the building should be torn down in 90 days.

 

[got3fords]

Here is a page with a ton of pics of the old Jacksonville factory.
https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-jan-inside-the-ford-motor-company-assembly-plant

 

[P. A. Schilke]

This has some very interesting things about Ford History! I am sure Phil will have some incites to add.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...A13JinO?cvid=1dc3ab890fe54318a8f0c9ef9b202f2e

Hi Mark,

There are several old plants that have been closed and completely demolished already. Modern assembly requires so much revamping it is just cheaper to start over and build modern plants.

Twin Cities Assembly and Edison Assembly built prior generations of the Ranger. Twin Cities was built and produced its first vehicle in 1918. Built on the banks of the Mississippi and power was supplied by Thomas Edison with a hydro generating facility on the river. There were sand tunnels under the plant as glass was made there too. One of the modern bottlenecks was the sidewinder end of line due to the plant being too small for a straight EOL... It was an organized mess at End of Line. No real estate...plant was land locked...so best to just quit...level the old plant and sell off to developers. Ditto for Edison...similar history...Now gone as well. In both plants where were some original flooring....end grain hardwood and black from grease absorption for decades of traffic....However the floor was very hard to patch and maintain. There is one plant were F Series was assembled, Mawah. Awful plant...as far as I know it is still standing....mothballed in late 1970s
Terrible workforce and management....High warranty from that plant... So plants have a history, but are dinosaurs...

Best,
Phil

 

[Langwilliams]

There's a shuttered Ford plant near me. They made Thunderbird/cougar cars an had a hand in the Econoline van line. It was split up into smaller buildings by taking sections of wall out an building across. It's still not employing near the number of employees but they have a lot of people working an the city is getting some of the lost revenue back. Recently they used the massive parking lots to store F450 an up trucks waiting on chips. The van assembly was kinda goofy. They built the chassis in Avon Lake then trucked them over to Lorain assembly to finish. Now the Avon lake plant makes the F450 an up trucks an they're supposed to get an electric vehicle soon.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

There's a shuttered Ford plant near me. They made Thunderbird/cougar cars an had a hand in the Econoline van line. It was split up into smaller buildings by taking sections of wall out an building across. It's still not employing near the number of employees but they have a lot of people working an the city is getting some of the lost revenue back. Recently they used the massive parking lots to store F450 an up trucks waiting on chips. The van assembly was kinda goofy. They built the chassis in Avon Lake then trucked them over to Lorain assembly to finish. Now the Avon lake plant makes the F450 an up trucks an they're supposed to get an electric vehicle soon.

Hi Langley,

When I had Econoline and Aerostar NVH, I spent much time in Lorain...Always drove down there on HWY 2. Thunderchickens were always a headache as they were always doing build and park on them... The Bodies were welded together and painted at Avon lake and shipped by special trailers to Lorain Assembly...Chassis were built a Lorain There was a huge body bank at Lorain Strange contraption to snatch a body and dump it on the trim line... Avon Lake also still makes the E350/450 cutaway chassis...one of the go to vehicles for the Class C motorhome manufacturers...

We stayed in Vermillion. Spent three awful weeks working 16 hour days when we launched a new Econoline, dealing with Econoline Boom...An NVH nightmare caused by rear axle Pitch line Run Out. We had to drive every vehicle and put Green sticker or Red sticker on the windshield...Green got to ship...red got an axle change and reevaluation... Glad when Sterling Axle started getting PLRO under control....

Best,
Phil

 

[MXGOLF]

Thanks for the incites Phil. Very interesting how production has changed over the years. Some for good and some not so good.

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