lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

I have always wanted to ask a former assembly plant employee some questions about the Van Nuys plant!!! Any former Van Nuys plant employees on this site??? If so i got lots of questions and i hope you can answer them lol

cerberus

here is a good start maybe google the names here in this article:
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-...162_1_van-nuys


http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml

NCGuy68

The LA Times article is incorrect when they stated Van Nuys has been building F bodies since 1977. In fact, they have been built there since their introduction in 1967.

My 68 Z28 was built there and came east of the Mississippi river in 1978 by its second owner.

cerberus

LOL it is the LA times.......kinda like the national enquirer of newspapers for the time.

NCGuy68

Lol....you're right! However the link to the CRG (Camaro Research Group) is excellent. They're a good group of guys, (I'am a member there) and some of them are walking encyclopdias on Camaros, the assembly process, etc. They only deal with 1st gen cars, but there is a wealth of knowledge there and good reading for anyone interested in automotive production.

Motown

The user Leonard S has first hand knowledge of the operations at the Van Nuys plant he watched his Camaro (The last 92 thirdgen) being built. Unless he sees this thread first, maybe you can PM him about any specific assembly questions, and he just might know the answer.

lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

I was hoping to find out who was supplying the engines and transmissions for our third gens? My buddies dad was a welder at the south gate plant and went to the van nuys plant in the late 70's but he is a hard guy to find lol If i could just interview him once maybe we can all gather up a huge amount of questions that i can ask him! So start asking guys!!!

LeonardS

I don't know if I can answer any questions, but I will sure try. Can't help with the late 70's question since I was there in 92.

Leonard

cerberus

were you there in 1985 when the tpi was introduced?

I posed a question in another thread. I noticed a signature on the bottom of the oil pan of my 85 iroc. I read on my corvette forum that in 85 they hand built the tpi engines for part of 85. There were some pics of some women putting together TPI motors.

LeonardS

No, I was at the Plant the last 3 days it was open in August, 1992 watching my car being built.

scottmoyer

Leonard is the owner of the very last car off the assembly line in Van Nuys. Here's some information on his car.

http://www.last1992camaro.com

If you want to know names of who was working those last three days, I'm sure he could pull up the carpet and get some of the names.

92purplehaze

iTrader: (8)

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/sout...w-richard.html

lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

Leonard by any chance did you run into a fellow named Larry Martinez, this gentlemen was a welder at the plant.

LeonardS

I do not remember that name, but I can look at some of my documents and see if I remember him. As you can imagine, I met alot of people in 3 days.....about 2,000 of them!

Leonard

lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

Thats a lot of people to meet in three days, but the honor and experiance must have been a camaro lovers dream!!!!! I want to know the step by step process of how our cars were built, and possibly uncover some hidden photos too! Hopefully you can fill us all in with your first hand knowledge. Thankyou!

LeonardS

Did you look at the website above that was posted by Scott Moyer? This has many photos, etc of my car. JT put this website up for me.

Here is a link to the assembly photos: http://www.last1992camaro.com/pictures/page1.html

Leonard

NCGuy68

Poke this link:
http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml

Althought the article was written for 1stgen owners, the actual assembly 'process' was not vastly different for 3rdgen F-bodies.

The author is John Hinckley, a retired GM assembly plant manager and former engineer. He's the most knowledgeable gentlemen I've ever talked to about Camaro assembly. Click his name at the top of the article and ask him a respectfull, intelligent question. If he knows the answer, he'll tell you in plain words. Super guy really.

silentkillzr

iTrader: (2)

LeonardS When can i come see the last thirdgen!

BigJon88

iTrader: (2)

That story was awesome I just went through and read the whole site I m jealous I wish I could been in ur shoes you are very lucky sir

LeonardS

When are you going to be in Iowa?

Leonard

LeonardS

The GM people were very good to me.....they also allowed me to go to Ste Therese Plant in 1994 to watch my Z28 being built.

Leonard

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

A good question to ask is,
Why the difference in front and rear offset on the 16x8 wheels ??

I have a front bumper support from a 92 firebird that has some nice writing on it talking about the last day of Van N plant.
I'll try and find the pic of it.

Here is the thread with the pic.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...s-suprise.html