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From raw steel to a new car in 19 hours flat
For kids: Part 2 of the Monitor's visit to a Chrysler factory to see how flat steel is transformed into an automobile.
from the June 26, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Once the underbody is assembled, the cars follow a conveyor belt up to the second floor of the plant. There they're sealed, primed, and painted one of eight different colors. It takes about 3-1/2 hours for each car to be painted and dried.
Workers in the painting area wear blue and black "lab suits" to keep the work area free of dust and other particles. The garments also keep paint off their clothes.
  Slideshow: How a car is made |
Workers on the assembly line aren't allowed to use many deodorants, perfumes, and laundry detergents because some of these products can cause defects or bubbles in paint, which are expensive to repair.
While most of the paint process is automated, some paint is applied by hand in tough-to-reach spots, such as under the hood.
What makes the painting operation special, says Mr. Barrett, is that the robots can apply a different color of paint to each car that passes.
On the day I visited, alternating Calibers passing through the glass-enclosed paint area received coats of steel blue or light khaki.
The area's glass wall enables workers to monitor the robots and cars from behind it.
By the time the freshly painted cars descend to the main assembly floor from the second-floor paint shop, they're ready to get some "trim and chassis" – that is, wire harnesses, instrument panels, lights, glass windows, an engine, wheels, brakes, and all the other parts that make a car work. This is where the cars really start to come together.
Many parts along this portion of the assembly line, which is longer than a city block and snakes up and down the floor seven times, come preassembled. That speeds up the time it takes to install them. Workers snap or bolt them into place as though they were pieces of a giant puzzle.
What happens when cars are finished? Workers drive them off the line. They also give them a little "workout" or roll test – revving the engine up to 60 or 70 miles per hour to test the speedometer and the brake and shift functions. They also check for any faulty codes in each car's internal computer system.
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