Mind boggling engine numbering thought...

Steve Plucker

Steve Plucker

BANNED
At one point in the engine production of Model A/AA Ford engines during 1929 and 1930, Ford was putting out, at the most part, about 9000 plus engines per day.

04/28/30 3276854 3286088 0009235
Now, can you amigine the poor fellow stamping engine numbers on 9000 plus engines in a days time?

Just how the heck he kept all those numbering sequences in order is beyond me.

I can see more than just one assembly line for all those engines...but there can only be just one line for engine numbering stamping...or was there?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Pluck
 
I don't know for sure, but I would guess that at the beginning of the shift, each stamper would be given a batch of numbers to use that day. Each engine may or may not have actually rolled off the assembly line in order on any particular day. However, the numbers across days would likely be in order.

I.E. Jan1 - #1-5000, Jan 2 - 5001-10,000 and so on.
 
Steve,

You got a pointe.!! ca 6-7 Engines in 60 seconds.. He has to be very clear in his mind, and Work very , very fast....
 
Steve, their was a very logical explanation for this . There were 9,235 Men stamping each engine that Day !!!:D .No , on a more serious note, I would believe there were multiple lines of stamping ,and each man was given a curtain number to stamp with has the engine was moving down the line.
 
You are likely right! But that must have been the most boring job in the plant! I hope they rotated jobs with the floor sweeper or something.
 
And when you miss a little and that stamp goes PING and flies across the shop . . .
Of course, that has never happened to me. :o
 
does anyone know if it was machine stamped like an enumerator , I imagin too much time wold be wasted changing numbers by hand. any factory photos?
 
The engines I've got, the numbers are very nice and straight, all the same depth. I too wonder if it was done with a mechanical enumerator or something like that. I suppose even if it was done by hand, you would be pretty good after a few years!!! I was working on a piece of equipment last week and, as I've done it many many times, the covers and pieces just came apart and went together very quickly. There was someone watching me and he commented about how it looked so easy, as if it was like magic...(he had tried it first) I told him to do it a few thousand times and then see how hard it was for him! Even for us thick-headed Scandinavian/Germans enough practice makes perfect. Maybe thats why the stampings, at least on the few (3!) engines I've looked at are so nicely done. One thing I really enjoy is watching a true craftsman work, especially a machinist. Shut up and just watch, and I am amazed. No wasted actions, what looks to me like artwork comes out of their hands.
 
No wonder some of the numbers are crooked and I'll bet some are sideways. Can you imagine what would happen to the guy if they got out of sequence? I think Sorenson would be coming down the aisle with an axe!
 
I have two frames with screwed up numbers. One has a re-stamp of a single digit in the sequence over another digit (worker daydreaming whoops?), and the other frames number line runs off the edge of the frame before it's finished, indicating to me that they were stamped at once and not individually. Both engine numbers (one matching the frame, the other a transplant) are straight as an arrow and perfect depth across on the pad.
Sounds like your next research project, Steve.
 
My guess is there are many mistakes and they did not really care too much.

Reading about Mustang numbering and personally seeing the mistakes would make you scratch your head. One line worker admitted to stamping 6 cars with the same number. I have seen a car with a 6 in place of a 9. I have also seen a 6 cyl car with a V8 letter in the vin. The title and door tag were correct.

So I think the odds of the A having numbers issues to be very high.
 
QGolden said:
You are likely right! But that must have been the most boring job in the plant! I hope they rotated jobs with the floor sweeper or something.
Click to expand...

Ol' Henry did job studies. He determined what jobs could be done by those of differing abilities. Lost limbs, hearing loss , blind, paralyzed, etc.

So while this may have been the most boring job in the plant, if you were not able to walk what chance do you think you have in the early part of he 1900's to be gainfully employed? And as such I would think they would be sure to do a good job to stay employed as there would be a guy just waiting for the chance to take over.

It's hard to compare the work ethic of yesteryear to the work ethic of today.
 
There is a photo of the motor assembly room in ''Matchless Model A'' [ a reprint of Ford Industries 1929] ; a whole room of assembled engines plus workers but no one obviously stamping the finished engines.

It could have been done by a pneumatic tool or by hand. Looking at the numbers on my cars block the depth varies & not all in line.
Regarding the ''boring nature'' of hand stamping each assembled engine, every assembly worker at Ford then did only one operation/task on the line ; hours & hours of repeating the same task.
Most of them would have been grateful for the work & recorded accounts mention ''proud to work for Ford.''
 
Mike V. Florida said:
Ol' Henry did job studies. He determined what jobs could be done by those of differing abilities. Lost limbs, hearing loss , blind, paralyzed, etc.

So while this may have been the most boring job in the plant, if you were not able to walk what chance do you think you have in the early part of he 1900's to be gainfully employed? And as such I would think they would be sure to do a good job to stay employed as there would be a guy just waiting for the chance to take over.
Click to expand...

Good point, there certainly were few opportunities for WW1 injured Vets as well. Perhaps Henry hired them in scores for jobs. I'd like to think so anyway.
 
As the bell housings were not cast the same day as the engine was in the final assembly stage, it also make sense to consider that the numbers could have been stamped at anther time and place such as at the foundry. Consider also that that some subassembly was performed and parts cued for final assembly on that 9,000 unit per day event. All sub assemblies could then have different rates of assembly and the slowest assembly would have been the final auto assembly. For instance, it is likely that 36,000 (4x9000) wheel tire subassemblies were produced as a rate of more than 9,000 units per day.

Then again, were the numbers stamped on the bell housing or part of the casting pour? The serial number that was stamped on the frame would more likely have been done during auto assembly.
 
For those unfamiliar, the engines were completed and placed on the run-in stands. After successful completion they were disconnected from the equipment, drained of fluids, stamped with the serial number, and finally sent by conveyor to be crated for shipment.

The top pic shows A1000000 after being disconnected from the equipment and being stamped. Since it's the 1,000,000th engine this is clearly a promotional photo. For that reason it's unclear if they actually stamped all the engines while being removed from the test stands or if it was done on their way to be crated.

engine_run_in-2b.jpg


engine_run-in.jpg
 
Here's an original number I saved from a junk block. Machine or hand stamped, I'm not sure, but the spacing is a little off, even if the numbers are in a straight line.
 

Attachments

  • Engine number original2.jpg
    Engine number original2.jpg
    80.9 KB · Views: 97
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top