Cool 1970 photo of the Flint, MI engine plant

[Mr. Chevy]

Cool photo

Rich

[JKZ27]

Really cool. I love this stuff.
That's some pretty poor paint coverage on the back of one of those small blocks, lower left in photo.

[ssl78]

Stickers on valve covers has a 3 letter code starting with a T

[markjohnson]

That place is rat-infested.

[RPOLS3]

Really neat picture - look at the bypass arrangement on the front of the small block water pumps.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by scuncio

Just thinking out loud, I suspect that is Flint Assembly, where engines would have been shipped from other plants to install in any of the Chevy vehicles supported by that plant.

You are correct. I have seen this photo attributed to the Flint Assembly archives on other forums.

Originally Posted by travlnz28

Painted bell housings on the big block and unpainted on the small block. I guess I just find that curious.

That's because they are from different engine plants: Big blocks from Tonawanda; small blocks from the V8 plant in Flint.

The V8 plant, Metal Fab and Flint Assembly are all co-located on the same piece of property, bounded by Bristol Rd and Van Slyke to the east and south, and surrounded by I-69 and I-75. GMARC, or the GM Assembly Research Center (where the first 300 Corvettes were assembled), was also located on the North-East corner of the same property.

K

[cook_dw]

Keith not doubting you but I'm surprised to see big blocks from Tonawanda with no paint on the exhaust manifolds. Reason I say this is from every engine I have seen in either photos or in person from Ton (sb & bb) had the manifolds painted vs Flint where it doesn't seem like they were from photos and personal experience.

Interesting and thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by cook_dw

Keith not doubting you but I'm surprised to see big blocks from Tonawanda with no paint on the exhaust manifolds. Reason I say this is from every engine I have seen in either photos or in person from Ton (sb & bb) had the manifolds painted vs Flint where it doesn't seem like they were from photos and personal experience.

There is certainly variation between plants and even within the same plant (and across model years).

One would assume that engines in the same rack were assembled around the same period of time, so I would expect them to be similar to each other. Beyond that I am not surprised by variation.

I don't recall there being paint on the exhaust manifolds on my Chevelle, with a Tonawanda built 454 (1974 model year, build in Sept of 73).

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by cook_dw

Interesting and thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge.

Thank you; I thought it might be of interest to add that Dad hired on at the V8 plant in 1955 as an assembler and worked 89 days before being laid off (it took 90 days to become a permanent employee). He then went to Chevrolet Flint Manufacturing and secured an apprenticeship as a diemaker. He retired from GM after 32 years.

I started at Flint Assembly in 1979 and am still going.

K

[cook_dw]

It makes sense that there were variations as well as depending on the year it would decide how things were processed. I know the examples I have seen are from 65-69 (maybe 70) where the manifolds were on the engines before paint.