Wixom tag

[YellowRose]

Wixom tag

I don't know anyone on the LCOC Forum, but I did send this link to John Peters ~ driller to us, on the LOD Forum to see if he has any knowledge of what this tag represents and if any LOD members have reported it being found on their Lincolns...

[Alan H. Tast, AIA]

Ray, I've already posted the question to the Lincoln people. One person posted a link back to this discussion on the topic:

http://www.squarebirds.org/picture_gallery/TechnicalResourceLibrary/GregPrince1960Tbird.htm

Another person who's familiar with '61-'67 convertibls has never seen one on a Lincoln. If I see anything more I'll report back, but I'm not holding my breath in the meantime.

[simplyconnected]

Alan, thanks for referring us back to the QC Inspector who actually worked in the Drive Away Garage at Wixom. Let's see what he had to say when Ray spoke with him:

"I gave him (Bob Oeschger, Wixom Quality Control Inspector) the description of the brass looking tag that was posted. He said it sounds like, from my description, that was one of the inventory tags that was on their equipment, chairs, desks, etc.. Apparently, someone mounted one on that car as a joke. It should not have been there." QC should know.

I understand Wixom is very big, and Bob couldn't possibly know every single operations detail. Bob said a couple things that simply wasn't true. One of them was, a car took seven days to produce. No, it took three shifts. Most of that time was 'wait' time, like going through the sealer deck and 'prime' ovens and then 'base coat' ovens and staging areas.

Wixom didn't have a body shop, so that manufacturing time is gone. The Body Shop is normally the bottleneck (or 'controller') in every assembly plant because welding equipment is unpredictable (copper spot-welder points pull out, guns 'stick', automation and transfer equipment 'glitches', etc.).

Budd made the Squarebird bodys. And by the way, notice where the VIN number is stamped:

The '58 and '59 locations may have been accessible but not 1960 models. These bodys came with the cowl tops already welded in place. That means the VIN number was stamped BEFORE the body got to Wixom. It also means, Ford's Scheduling Dept., told Budd which body types, how many to make, and what 'mix' to ship, like every fourth body will be a convertible, because the line workers cannot keep up if all the convertibles come at once.

Did the body trucks make it to Wixom in order? Nope, not all the time. So the ROT sheets were produced and broadcast to the different departments when the body hit the line and the guy who riveted the data plate on in Trim, had to match the frame numbers (that already existed) with the right plate (they had a tray full of plates, waiting for the body).

Bob the QC guy, simply said the VIN must have been put on before Paint, because he wasn't involved with "Scheduling".

Budd may have assembled the body but that doesn't mean they stamped out all the parts. There were many hundreds of small stamping plants around the greater Detroit area. One of them, Bush Mfg., made Thunderbird and Continental hoods at 250/hour. Now, Doc. Bush is gone and so is his factory. The dies were owned by Ford and returned to Ford at the end of the model. - Dave

[tmjsong1aolcom]

Dave Tanx for the explanation on the brass tags.
Will add one piece on the stamped location of the vin numbers on 58's. The stamped number was also on the drivers side frame rail under the steering box. I have not found it on all 58's and with so few cars left there may be no way to document when it was put on the drivers frame rail.

Fuz
58's&64's
Sun Prairie, Wi
tmjsong1@aol.com

[simplyconnected]

Thank You for acknowledgement, Fuz. It always struck me as very odd, how folks far removed from the products and their manufacture, deem themselves 'authorities' on the subject.

All cars are built to exact specifications we call, 'standards'. The Quality Control Department's job is to make **** sure that no deviation is allowed, or let me put it another way, each inspector's job is on the line if these standards are not upheld without exception. Each supporting plant and the final assembly plant, employs an army of inspectors. Stamping Plants are responsible for good, drawable steel, to the fabricated part, to the assembly, including the quality of sealant used between (good) spot welded subassemblies. "Gauge fit" is only a visual part of this.

World Headquarters & the UAW are responsible to produce cars that meet Federal Gov't standards. The insurance companies, dealerships... right on down the line to finally the customer, depend on each car to be correct. If still not right, Ford's warranty ensures compliance.

All the designers and engineers are long gone. So is Wixom. Those folks were seriously proud of their work and 'money' was secondary. I am proud to have known and worked with many of those engineers during my employ at Ford.
Bill Bone, Mfg. Dev. Engineer, showed me his Ford Letter of Commendation for his work in the induction hardening process for our camshafts. 'Little' victories like this produced great subsequent products. I worked with them for decades and ultimately attended many of their retirement parties.

Here we are having fun fifty years later, going over the stat's, and wondering why things were... You had to be there to fully appreciate much of it (including the politics). - Dave

[GTE427]

It would seem there is something with this brass tag that has been lost to history. I found the same brass several years ago, and have seen two others on ebay listings over time. Each example was attached by screws. In another thread somewhere, someone had one attached to a later model 61-66 that was found.

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=4071&highlight=WIXOM

Found picture from another 1960 TBird, 0Y71Y102608.
This mounting location matches the others I've seen.

[simplyconnected]

These brass tags are very heavy duty, made to last many decades, and somewhat expensive to stamp out. Examine this brass tag:

Notice the number cannot go passed 9999, and there is no date. Ford Wixom made 5,000 T-birds in a month. Also notice that it has witness marks from being pried off its original location, most likely because it was riveted in place. Screwing it into thin sheet metal will distort the steel, not a brass tag. This one was pounded into a machine using 1/8" spiral rivets.

Plant workers also used 'tool checks'. They were also heavy, triangular brass tags, numbered, with one hole at the top. Workers usually kept them on a large home-made safety pin, attached to their coveralls for easy access. Each employee (or department) was assigned a number of these. If you needed an expensive (usually precision) tool, the crib would supply it with the exchange of your tool check. Of course, if the tool was never returned, they would charge your next pay check(s), (so don't lose any).

Racks of time cards kept track of who was at work (the 'in' rack), and a printed record of their times throughout the week (Mon-Sun). Not brass tags. During the 1990's, Ford eliminated time cards and strictly depended on each foreman to enter deviations from his worker's 8-hr day. That saved a lot. No more cards, time clocks, time clock repair dept., Timekeepers, etc. No more queing up at the clock, two minutes before punch-out time. It also stopped something the company really didn't want to do. If an employee was caught punching out another's time card, it was a fireable offense. Believe me, you really don't want to fire a great employee who has been an excellent worker over many years. Some jobs require great skill and the ability to work closely with a partner, like 'engine stuffing', 'rear axle sled', 'windshield or sidelite installation', etc. Random drug testing was elliminated for senior employees for the same reasons. Let's say a good worker of 25 years tests 'positive' for weed he smoked weeks ago. Maybe ten workers were at a party together. The company has two choices; send them to rehab or fire them. Either way, trained replacements are required to make cars. "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it." - Dave

[Tailfins4ever]

Wixom Tag

Ken's picture is almost the same as my cars tag (also 1960) except mine is installed with black screws. I'd take a picture but it's 8 degrees in the garage and the wood stove is nice and warm here in the house. Still find it hard to believe this is a prank by a rogue line worker. Maybe I just want to believe my car is special (:
Steve

[simplyconnected]

But Steve, your '60 Squarebird IS special, brass tag or not. There is no other car with your car's identity, and no other model more beautiful than a Squarebird. Your car was built when cars were really cars, and people bought them for their style and grace, not fuel economy. There simply aren't many left in the world and if I were you I would feel very fortunate to own a good one.

It would never happen, but I would love it if Ford announced, 'Ladies and gentlemen, for 2016, we will build the 1960 Thunderbird.' Yeah, it would have a modern drivetrain, safety equipment, etc., but so what... Ford wouldn't be able to supply the demand. - Dave

[Tailfins4ever]

Can't argue with you there Dave.
In the words of singer/songwriter David Wilcox: She's a tailfinned road locomotive from the day's of cheap gasoline....A rusty old American Dream.

[partsetal]

I wonder if the Wixom tag was a way to notify the line workers that this car was for one of the workers or their family, and the number was the last four of their employee number?

[simplyconnected]

Have you ever heard of a 'cigar car'? It's the 'Ford family of fine cars'. Ford gave their employees time to watch their cars being assembled. Normally, a worker who is following his car, also hands out cigars or suckers (thus, a cigar car). The line workers immediately recognize this 'stranger to their area, handing out cigars' and they try to do their very best because of how proud we are to buy what we build. Put another way, we buy one minute of everyone's time because that's how long each worker has to assemble your car.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as 'throwing in a few goodies', because the last guy to see the car at the garage door was a Ford Security guard (with a ROT sheet). He was responsible to make sure hub caps were in the trunk and all options were present and accounted for. Security then weighs the car, generates the paperwork (window sticker), and literally signs the car over to the transport company. Right then, the car belongs to the transportation company, and they drive it out the back door. If anything is missing from that car enroute to the dealership, the transportation company is responsible to pay for it. All the options plainly appear on the window sticker.

The guys on the line might add a few extra spot welds, or make sure paint, undercoating and sealant covered everything very well; things like that. They might even buff the paint to make it nicer. I had three 'cigar cars' during my career. Others, I bought off the dealership lot.

Quality Control had to 'watch' a random car through the system, every hour. Let's say, if I worked in Dearborn and I ordered a car to be made in Atlanta, for example, I could call Scheduling in Atlanta with my four digit dealership order code and find out when the car was to be processed. Then I would call QC and THEY would follow my car for me. Usually, when QC got a-hold of a car, they did further emissions testing after it was done, then they filled the tank because they put the car through its paces. QC stuck a special sticker in the glovebox showing why a few more miles were on the clock and the emissions compliance results from that car. (They did that with my Mustang GT convertible, then I drove it directly to the dealership.)

Using the last four on a brass tag is a cute idea but what if two people have the same number? Yes, I've seen it. Dearborn Assembly had 1,500 people. God knows how many throngs retired since 1917. The Rouge had 100,000 working employees including only ONE assembly plant out of twenty, spread across the USA and Canada.

Ever notice that "F" on your head and cap bolts? Yep, Ford cold-headed (and heat-treated) their own bolts, made their own coke, pig iron, nodular iron, steel, radiators, fuel tanks, engines, frames, stampings, dies, glass, castings and they even made parts for other companies (like tiny crankshaft castings for Briggs & Stratton engines.)

Just when you think Ford is big... Chevrolet Div., was equally as big as all of Ford Motor Co., and as big as all the rest of GM.

I don't miss working at Ford but I sure miss well over a thousand friends I left there when I retired. I see some of the guys who retired, but I see more of my 'restorer buddies' and FE guys' from our Motor City Galaxie Club. - Dave

[scumdog]

A nice story Dave, I enjoyed reading it, boy, I wish I had been in the US back then - and worked at a Ford assembly plant on the line for a bit.

[simplyconnected]

Tom, I cannot stress enough how hard the work was. The pay is commensurate with the work, and not many people could last for a whole career. Labor Relations had a hard job keeping the plant operating because of absenteeism and tardiness. In these two areas, the UAW couldn't help a bloke because; the company has work to do and if a worker decides not to come in, he is firing himself (unless he can produce a doctor's letter or a note from a court clerk, etc.). The union's first responsibility is to supply the workforce with qualified workers. An absentee makes that impossible.

Labor relations regarded five years of seniority as nothing. 'Sympathy can be found in the dictionary between syphilis and $hite.' So regardless of how you feel on any day, they always expected 450 fenders stamped out each hour (in the stamping plant). It seemed, once the company hired a worker, they immediately started building a case to fire him, constantly whipping him into submission or he's gone. No excuses, Ford demanded hard work in the form of quality products at all times. I've seen new hires throw off their safety equipment (terry cloth sleeves, gloves, pads, glasses and ear protection) and march straight out the door, many hundreds of times. I have seen strokes and deaths in the plant, too.

All this friction and pressure galvanizes the workers, because they're all in the same boat, with the same goal - to go home to their families in one piece and to make a 'living wage'.

One beautiful Friday in summer I was riding my Harley to work, and I passed under this big sign showing the direction for "Chicago". Five hours later, I was in Chicago. Many times, I dreaded that assembly line. My only driving force was the anticipation of entering the apprenticeship.

I graduated to "Industrial Electrician, Journeyman" in two years flat. 8,000 hours; 7,424 on the job and 576 hours spread over 19 courses in school. I was the fastest apprentice to ever complete the course, working every weekend and many double shifts. I did it because I vowed to myself that I would NEVER work on the line again, and I never did.

After Journeyman, then Leader Electrician, I continued my college courses in electrical engineering, all of which Ford paid for. Ford was very good about paying for all employee's education, then they promoted from within. I never had a student loan.

Not many engineers came from the production line. I used to have fun with it. Ford assigned me an area of responsibility. I would regularly chat with the workers, telling them not to mess up the line. I would say, "If you need a break, call me and I'll take your place while you get us a coffee." The first guy I said that to freaked right out and didn't believe me. Reluctantly, he left for the coffee machine and came back to find me doing his job, easily keeping pace with the line. After only a few sips, he wanted his job back (all of a sudden, it was HIS job, and no one else's). All the other line workers got a big kick out of that and so did his foreman. My areas always had the fewest breakdowns and the best workers. They came to realized that we all want Ford to profit, and as long as things ran smoothly, none of the big shots would ever show up because they were too busy 'managing trouble areas'. No news is great news.

One day, they asked me if I would consider working in Manufacturing Development, which is part of 'staff' and a country club. They needed someone with production plant experience. There, is where I worked with many of the old timers who developed Squarebirds, Mustangs, and a host of other models and processes. Quite a few had Ph.D.'s in every field of engineering and manufacturing. That was pretty amazing but for me, it all started from working in the trenches on that line. - Dave

[Dakota Boy]

Dave, you should write a book about all of this.