Hi Steve,

Sorry, but I need to correct you on the spelling of the General Motors plant in Northern California.
The town is ‘Fremont’ and I happen to live here in Fremont.
It was named after John C. Fremont.

I made a very informative thread in the Pontiac section on 06-04-2021 about the Fremont GM plant.
Lots of great photos and information on this New state of the art automotive plant.

Here are a few photos from my article.

Regards, Chris

Great and interesting photos - the first with the two men installing the engine in the chassis appears that both the upper and lower control arms are not painted (neither is the brake drum?). The second with the chassis ready to be mated to the body appears the the control arms are painted black - maybe even with different cross shaft hardware on the upper (nut vs. bolt??) - hard to tell.

Yup, whole lotta things going on there in those two engine photos.
I’ve had several conversations with people about the a-arms, exhaust manifolds, etc.
The oil filter adapter and oil sending unit are also different.

Early Camaro Body by Fisher

1st Gen Monte Carlo production. What’s the apparatus over the engine bay?

It's a specialized tool known as a squaring jig,used to help speed up production during front sheetmetal alignment.You can just spy a guy holding an impact wrench down in the pit in the lower left,getting ready to secure the fender once the guy above gives the word.

Agree with "squaring fixture".

The only adjustment I would make to the previous comment is the guy in the pit is getting ready to shoot the radiator support bolts. The fenders are tight at the door and the fender nose bolts have been shot, but leaving the rad support bolts loose allows you to scoot the front end left or right to square it up.

Hopefully then when it's time to set the hood it goes right in there.

I stood and watched my guys do about 900,000 of those while I leaned on the foreman's desk. One every minute of every working day for about six years.

We didn't (usually) use the fixture, though. Typically those big tools are cumbersome and clunky and slow you down. They get used a little bit when new, and when management (or photographers) are looking, but quickly fall into disuse otherwise.

K

That's "roll test" at Fremont.

The drivers check the steering and brakes and run it up through the gears.

I don't see it (them) but normally there are mirrors front and rear so the driver can check the lights: headlights, high beams, turn signals and brake lights. [Maybe this is a roll test after a short line repair rather than the end of the final line proper].

The controller for the rollers is suspended by the electrical connection from the ceiling (circled). Those raise and lower the rollers for entry and exit. The driver reaches out through the window and grabs it to actuate the push buttons.

K