Happy Birthday F Body.

[F Body]

No not me, my Chevrolet Camaro Z28 F Body is seven years old today !
She was Built at the Sainte -Therese plant Quebec Canada on Tuesday 16th November 1999.
They made 42,098 Camaro's that year, 12,556 were Z28's and a total of 7,798 (18.5%) were ( 81U ) Bright Rally Red.





However they are no figures available to find out how many red Z28's were built, or how many were European Specification vehicles.
I do know that only Z28's made for the German market from 1998 to 2001 had painted 16" alloy wheels instead of chrome, due to the high risk of salt corrosion, which fits in with the PDI being completed by Auto Becker in Dusseldorf Germany.



She was certainly built during the Camaro's twilight years, were you consider that Ford built 126,067 Mustang's in the same year ( no wonder their so common   ).
It was hardly surprising in 2001 ( the Camaro's 35th production year ) when the yearly total production had dropped to 29,009 GM decided to pull the plug.
In 2002 the last year of production they made 42,098 Camaro's and the St. Therese plant officially closed on Wednesday, August 28th 2002.

Bringing to an end 36 years of production, four generations and after building just over five million F Body vehicles, when ( if ) GM builds the new Camaro it will be built on a version of the new Australian Zeta platform and therefore will no longer be an F Body vehicle.

Another couple of anorak facts, the name Camaro came from a Spanish word meaning hot storm, it was very unusual for a new generation model to use the same F Body platform name right through four model changes and the Z28 model name was an internal GM code name ( like F Body ) for a prototype 1st generation performance version. GM held many meetings to try to find a suitable name for the new model until someone suggested why don't you just call it the Z28 !

I think this must be the longest period I have ever owned one vehicle, up until buying the Camaro, I used to just change my cars when I got bored with them. Some of my changes were good, some weren't so good and some were just plain BAAAAAAAAAAAD !

But they will always be place for my F Body !

[Roadkill]

A beautiful story of man and machine.

(BTW - and off-topic . . . Your winch you use for pulling the Z28 in . . . . Where did you get it and how much, roughly ???)

I ask as if I pull the Caddy's motor I'll need a similar set-up for a while . . . .

[Ponti]

[ianjpage]

[Titsy]

Brings a tear to the eye.... Happy 7th Red, and many more to come...

[F Body]

Quoting: Roadkill

Your winch you use for pulling the Z28 in . . . . Where did you get it and how much, roughly ???)

Machine Mart and I think is was just over £200

[Roadkill]

Do you remember which one ?

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/ranges.asp?g=110&r=2070\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.machinemart.co.uk/ranges.asp?g=110&r=2070

[F Body]

Yep the CHP400.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=020110542&r=2070&g=110\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=020110542&r=2070&g=110

[Roadkill]

Quoting: F Body

Yep the CHP400.

Max. load -  double cable 400kgs

Somehow I doubt that'd be sufficient to haul the Caddy . . . .

[F Body]

Quoting: Roadkill

Max. load - double cable 400kgs  

Somehow I doubt that'd be sufficient to haul the Caddy . . . .

Remember that you are rolling it, so most of the weight is on the wheels

Once it's actually rolling ( even up hill ) it barely bothers the winch !

[Titsy]

What's the angle of the ramps and the weight of the car?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Titsy

What's the angle of the ramps and the weight of the car?

11* Max.

Weight is about 4,950lbs . . . just converting . . . 2,245 kgs . . . Apparently.

[Titsy]

So if the Caddy was held on an 11 degree slope it would be exerting 428.3kg of tension in the cable... But I'm not convinced it will be as high as that as (correct me if i'm wrong) only one set of wheels is on the ramp at a time.... You might just get away with it...

[55starchief]

Quoting: Titsy

So if the Caddy was held on an 11 degree slope it would be exerting 428.3kg of tension in the cable... But I'm not convinced it will be as high as that as (correct me if i'm wrong) only one set of wheels is on the ramp at a time.... You might just get away with it...

you could make the load easier by adding another pulley block

[Titsy]

Quoting: 55starchief

you could make the load easier by adding another pulley block

True, hook a pully onto the Caddy and anchor the end of the cable near the winch...

[55starchief]

Quoting: Titsy

Quoting: 55starchief
you could make the load easier by adding another pulley block


True, hook a pully onto the Caddy and anchor the end of the cable near the winch...

yup that should halve the load

[Roadkill]

Also don't forget, the reasoning for me needing this is for when the engine's removed !

Some make that weight about 1900kgs . . . .

Also the ramps are about 2.1m (on the slope) long.

The wheel base is over 3.2m . . . .

[sixpack2639]

Happy Birthday F Body's F-body!!! hehe

[Roadkill]

Quoting: F Body

Yep the CHP400.

I have a U.B (R.S.J) supporting the roof at the far end of the garage . . . which can take 500kgs point load, easy.

I have some brand new half tonne beam clamps in the office which I could "borrow".



I could use the winch to pull the motor AND haul the car in . . .

This is sounding perfect.  

[FUBAR]

Happy Birthday FB Z28

I just have a month of production for mine...

[F Body]

How fitting that on my Camaro's birthday I find the long lost missing artical on how the 4th Gen was made. Just after the plant was shut GM shut down the GM Canadian website and it was presumed that the process would be buried along with the F Body !
However it has resurfaced on camaro SS world.com

Building A Legend !

It may seem like a divine creation, but it's actually a man-made beauty. One that's made possible by over 1700 people daily. Join us on a virtual tour of what was the only car assembly plant in Quebec — Sainte-Thérése — and see just what it takes to build a Camaro.

BODY SCULPTING

Camaro is built from the floor pan up. Once the pan is in place the sides are attached and held in place by locating tabs. Robotic welders, some of the 145 total robots in the plant, then begin spot welding the pieces together.



THE DOORS
With the body intact, the process of attaching the dent-resistant doors can begin. The door is moved from a fixture into place and bolted in its final location.



ADDING A HOOD
Next, the hood is loaded into a mounting fixture and guided into place. Operators install the hinge bolts, but final fitting is performed after the paint operation.



RINSE CYCLE
There are often little pieces of weld flash that may be trapped inside the car during the welding of the body. To remove them, water is pumped through four- and six-inch pipes to fill the inside of the car. The body is then rinsed before it heads to the paint shop.



PRIME TIME
Before the car enters the color system, it undergoes these phases of production:
fully immersed in a deionized water tank
metal parts receive elpo coating
fenders installed
wiped down
Now the rear spoiler is attached where the windshield should be. This ensures the spoiler gets the same color and amount of paint as the rest of the body, and a good color match all together.



ON TOP
The roof panels and hatch are painted with the body, but they are not glued into place until now. Here the panels are loaded onto the body and the glue is applied. The fixture places the roof in the proper location and the glue is allowed to set.
Next, the hatch — complete with rear glass and wiring — is placed on the vehicle. However, the struts that hold the hatch open are not attached at this point because the glue that holds the glass to the hatching has not fully cured.



FIT AND TRIM
Once the glass and regulator assembly are installed in the car, the glass must be adjusted to fit the body opening. The operator moves the glass up, down, fore, aft, in and out to get the fit just right. To maximize precision, the measurement of the body is stored in the memory of this machine. Before it leaves this area of production, Camaro is fitted with these parts:
windshield
carpet
rear fascia
full instrumentation



GAS IT UP
After the interior is finished, the preassembled front fascia is attached.
Now the gas tank, already fitted with a sending unit and filler neck, is delivered to the line. The operator uses a mechanical lift to raise and hold it in place while the fuel lines and electrical connections are made. Once connected, the tank straps are installed.



Next procedures under the hood:

engine assembled into complete drivetrain
transmission installed
front cradle assembly

THE MARRIAGE
In this step, the rear axle is installed in a moving holding fixture. Then, the entire drivetrain and front suspension are assembled.
Now it's time for the final steps:

rear exhaust connected to engine exhaust
chassis and body connected
radiator loaded
tires mounted
brake system checked
emissions systems checked



FINAL INSPECTIONS
At the end of the line, final inspectors go over all operations of the car before shipping. Using a mirror to see both sides, they check side marker lights, body-side moldings and accessories.
Inspection continues outside the plant with checks for squeaks, rattles and loose parts. Finally, over 90 percent of the Camaros built at this Canadian plant are exported to the States.



PURE DEDICATION
It was the dedicated employees at Sainte-Thérése who were committed to bringing you a quality product that made all this possible.

[HardRockCamaro]

I feel I must also add the pictures from the last FBody ever rolling down the line...









Quite a picture:






And here is the plant some years after it closed, ironically the only vehicle in the parling lot is an FBody...

[Roadkill]

Some good pictures, there . . . and some sad.