My dad worked at the Rouge... In the glass plant for 42 years... He started at Highland Park in 1926... I especially like watching the glass being made and wishing I could see my dad working there

@jacknasty6940

Жыл бұрын

Are you like 90?

@danielstadden1149

Жыл бұрын

​@@jacknasty6940 She was a retirement gift from her mother who was quite younger than her father 😂

@plantfeeder6677

Жыл бұрын

Well then your father worked with my grandfather at both Highland and RR plants. So like the guy asked, are you ninety?. I'm seventy and my grandfather has been dead for almost 40 years. In 1964 I took this tour of River Rouge

@danielstadden1149

Жыл бұрын

@@plantfeeder6677 My dad worked for the EJ&E RR, they were owned by United States Steel. I remember taking a tour of the Gary Works back in the seventies when I was kid. That River Rouge tour must have been great.

@daynadiggle8169

Жыл бұрын

@@danielstadden1149 I'm almost 70 . I don't date women I have to hold a mirror up to their mouth to see if there's any life left . Is this perhaps your great grand daughter ? Give me her number ?

Love that smoking while working, and no respirator while painting…☺️

@bradlebosse7998

8 сағат бұрын

Makes you wonder how they survived at all under those conditions. How could then even breathe in those factories. How things have changed.

I worked at Rouge Steel for a couple months as a contractor. Inside was hell on earth. We parked near the cooling slabs and in the middle of January the car would be toasty warm at the end of a hard day.

When you see that tower with the elevators for the cars while they await their place back in the line, you can really see where carvana got the idea for their car vending machine.

Dad bought a 72 Country Squire in Dark Green Metallic with green interior. Had that car 16 years and a Great family hauler.

@TheDeJureTour

Жыл бұрын

We had a '73 growing up in the 80's. My Dad called it the "B-73," his friend called it the "stinkin' Lincoln." We lived in a house with a 1/4 long dirt driveway. We'd put the tailgate down to take out the trash up to the main road, with barrels three across. My brother and I would ride on each side, with our feet on the bumper & tailgate, while holding onto the roof rack, while Dad drove. We always felt like Firemen from back in the day. Dad would always bomb the wagon back to the house on the return trip, with a huge cloud of dust and the family dog barking and chasing along. Finally sold it in 1996, right before a move. The AC still blew ice cold.

@tedschmitt178

Жыл бұрын

We had one just like that. Traded it for a new 78 in pastel yellow.

Something cool about working on the car and seeing it years later on the street knowing “I probably worked on that one” 😎

No, INCREDIBLY CHEESY music or brain dead-looking, happy/smiling actors. This was a very refreshing, 'commercial' film. Especially for that era. ☮

Like a City within a City. The Rouge is a beautiful complex.

@danielcobbins8861

Жыл бұрын

Before he became defense secretary, for JFK, Robert McNamara was recruited to work for Ford in an executive job. When he visited the Rouge plant, his jaw dropped, in reaction to the sheer size and scope of that plant.

@handymatt1970

9 күн бұрын

exactly, i been there hundreds of times its massive

The whole process is AMAZING!

@rsprockets7846

2 жыл бұрын

For 1968

In 1964 my family flew from California to Detroit to 1. Visit the place my mother was born and raised and 2. To pick up a brand new Pontiac GP. While there we took the tour of River Rouge were my grandfather had worked. He was a Ford employee since 1921 and we were honoring him by taking the tour. What an amazing tour it was starting with raw ore and turning it into an automobile was the highlight of the trip. Never forget how hot it was in the smelter. I thought working there would be horrible. I only foundout when I got home that that is where my grandfather worked.😳

My family and I did a tour through that plant at that time 67-68. It was absolutely amazing with the stamping Mills and all of the assembly line. But the guys taking those cars off to park them didn't play with them they were peeling out like nobody's business!! Thanks so much for posting this.

@16mmEducationalFilms

3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome - my students in Dearborn, MI always loved this film. They sat very quiet and just watched.

I went there back in 1973 on a third grade field trip.

Spray painting [11:57 - 12:16] cars with solvent based paints and no masks or protection!!! UNREAL!

Truly amazing. Up the road in Flint, my uncle was a tool & die maker for Buick.

Wixom Assembly (since demolished) was where these 1968 Thunderbirds and Lincolns were built. Quality control was first rate at that time.

As a new car make ready man at a Ford dealer in 72 I can tell you those window inspection stickers took a lot of work to remove. Great video my Dad had a 69 T bird, mostly the same except for the amazing 429 Thunderjet V8, very well made car.

@16mmEducationalFilms

3 жыл бұрын

When I taught in Dearborn, MI, the kids loved this film. They were proud to live in Dearborn after this.

@sneakerfreak2002

Жыл бұрын

You’re supposed to use a good razor blade with some glass cleaner. Then they come off easily

11:54 Wow, no paint respirator. In the 80s, I painted my Dad's old 1955 Chevy truck with a bad mask and was coughing for 2 days.

@snakejones9965

Жыл бұрын

Only 2 days? I shot paint in the '80's was high as a kite most of the time!😆

Love those 68' T-Birds.

@16mmEducationalFilms

3 жыл бұрын

Beautiful weren't they - just awesome. It was a proud day when your neighbors saw that in your driveway :)

@Johnnycdrums

3 жыл бұрын

@@16mmEducationalFilms I'll take the FORDOR Landau.

@markdraper3469

3 жыл бұрын

@23:57 I had the Cougar... was it a luxury Mustang or a sport T-Bird? Not sure if even Ford knew during it's run....

@JDAbelRN

3 жыл бұрын

@@markdraper3469 All three, Mustang, Thunderbird, and Cougars were beautifully designed. Our family had a 1972 4 door Mercury Montego Brougham before the government came up with ugly mandated bumpers. We had the car 15 years, give anything to get my hands on one now.

@michaeltutty1540

Жыл бұрын

​@@Johnnycdrums All the 4 door Thunderbirds were Landau trim. The needed the Landau bars to make the door opening look right.

As someone who started working for GM in 1970 in a GM engine plant,what amazed me is how many old men there are still working..I think it was the contract in 1973 where they achieved 30years and out for your full pension..The older guys left..Thank you for downloading this..

@oldbuzzard76

Жыл бұрын

I too started at G.M. , but at Rochester Products in 1968 - 1998 . Great to be retired for so long , but I do miss a lot of good people that worked there .

@jlh4jc

Жыл бұрын

Seeing some of these older gentlemen in this video, I wonder if they started at Ford when they were still making the Model T. This video is made around 67 based on the models of cars and Ford came our with the Model A in 1927. So, I suppose it's possible.

@guitarman11000

Жыл бұрын

This was filmed during the Vietnam War. The young guys were overseas.

@guitarman11000

Жыл бұрын

This was filmed during the Vietnam War. The young guys were overseas.

Smoking a cigar on the job is priceless should have allowed to have a couple of beers a day as well. 😂🍺🚬

@snakejones9965

Жыл бұрын

If you think they didn't at lunch you're lieing to yourself!🤗

@daviddungan5995

6 күн бұрын

I worked at Ford and GM. There was plenty of drinking and smoking at lunch.

I can’t imagine working an assembly line performing the exact same mundane task for 8+ hours day after day after day.

@careysharp8340

Жыл бұрын

It gets old real fast but the pay is great. I just retired after 35 years.

@brax2364

Жыл бұрын

@@careysharp8340 I tip my hat in salute to you because I don’t think I could do that.

@amergrant-ns5cr

Жыл бұрын

I noticed the spray painters were not wearing mask

@danielcobbins8861

Жыл бұрын

A lot of the mundane work is being done by robotics, now.

@tedwalker1370

Жыл бұрын

@@danielcobbins8861 Is that why we have so many homeless?

This is so amazing and the scale of the operation…

miss these type cars

In 1968, our family lived in St. Paul, Minnesota and my dad bought my mom her first brand new car. It was a 1968 Ford Falcon Futura Sports Coupe. It was made in Canada!

I can't believe how bad some of the safety standards are for the late 60s. For one, amazing that those paint sprayers have no facial protection. I once had to work on the line there for a day repairing Hurst shifter threading. I was amazed at all the new parts on the floor. I wanted to take it all home. They just have a guy with a machine picking up the floors and throwing all that new stuff away.

@unclemarksdiyauto

2 жыл бұрын

And a lot of workers smoking as they work! Between the painters and the workers smoking, you wonder how many lives were cut short! Good film! Like being there on the line back in the day!

@rhuttrho88

Жыл бұрын

​@@unclemarksdiyauto Wimp! "My lungs are on fire! I can't work! Help! I litterally can see fire coming out of my mouth!" Suck it up! 😅😅😅🤣🤣🤣😂😂😉🫡😉

@richmausner

Жыл бұрын

Line worker to company doctor..."Doc...I can't breathe anymore...I work in the paint dept." Doc says "young man you just have industrial disease, it's nothing, you're cleared to get back to work".

@topgeardel

Жыл бұрын

If you think working conditions were bad in this video....my dad used to work on an assembly line in the '30s. He genuinely was afraid to ask for permission to use the toilet. The supervisors were Nazis on the line.

i wonder how long those painters were able to maintain any semblance of respiratory health.

awesome video, thanks!

Good video, but incorrect/missing locations: 20:31 shows a glimpse of a Thunderbird being built. Wixom Assembly was the sole assembly plant for T-birds until the 70's. 20:34 with the Ford being lowered down the tower is the St. Thomas assembly when it was very new.

Now you know how HELL looks like.

Thanks for posting this. I grew up in the motor city where my dad worked for Chrysler and all my friends had a job at the big three. By the time I was leaving high school, all the jobs had evaporated and plants were closing, 1979.

@topgeardel

3 жыл бұрын

The 70s were depressing years for the American auto industry. The glory days were leaving. I grew up in Detroit too.

@CharlesBecket

2 жыл бұрын

Same here. Lived in River Rouge. Class of '82. No jobs at the car plants. Went into the Army.

@SpockvsMcCoy

2 жыл бұрын

1979 was peak year for the UAW and all manufacturing jobs in the U.S. The quality control in the U.S. auto industry declined in the 1970s. Customers were tired of haphazardly assembled American cars.

@curtgomes

Жыл бұрын

@@SpockvsMcCoy I had a neighbor who worked at the Ford truck plant in Fremont California in the late 70's. He was drunk ALL the time. He told me job was putting the head light rings on the pickup trucks. Unlike the men in this video, he didn't care about the quality of his work one iota and told me so. Those vehicles had horrible quality control issues. Today, Teslas are made at the nearby old GM plant....

@SpockvsMcCoy

Жыл бұрын

@@curtgomes My father's cousin was white-collar at GM's Fremont Assembly (either an engineer or administrator). He took our family on a private tour at night. I think the Buick Regal and Chevrolet Monte Carlo were built there at that time (Thanksgiving 1978).

Those were the days when toxic exposure to employees was legal & these folks paid the price with their lives

MY DAD WORK AT FORD PLANT. STARTED AT $5 A DAY. HE WAS A WELDER WITH OTHER WELDERS.

I new car leaves the assembly line every 3 and 1/2 seconds 24 Hrs. a day 365 days a year. That was in 1968. How many a day are being built now? How long before there are more cars than people? Will we ever get enough?

I was just at the Ford museum so this is interesting to me. It felt sort of peculiar driving a Kia Soul rental car to Detroit. I had to leave the C-MAX at home ... I kept wondering if my car was gonna have tires the next day 😜

No respirators at the paint line.

@SpockvsMcCoy

2 жыл бұрын

True, but the work area was pressurized to remove some fumes.

Great to the Mk3 in there

It's interesting seeing the company that developed the industry at a mid-point in automotive history. I guess paint respirators hadn't been invented in 1968. Geez.

They didn't need safety standards, they were professional back then.

Love it. Painting by hand with go gear on ????

@16mmEducationalFilms

3 жыл бұрын

I like the old guy that started the engines on the hot line - no hearing protection....

@pstreetgarage7304

3 жыл бұрын

@@16mmEducationalFilms and a cigar !

@16mmEducationalFilms

3 жыл бұрын

@@pstreetgarage7304 Tough as nails.

My grandfather was a tool and die. Man at Rouge plant in 1949 1950

Lucky they look as good as Do cars😊

Alot of lemons came off of that line.

"100,000 miles" Yeah, that's about right for cars of that age :)

with all the "visual inspections" you can clearly understand why we were always taught to check the manufacture date - you didn't want a "Monday car" with all the hangovers and less than clear vision

Is this proces anything like how cars are born today?

23:57 That’s a 1969 Cougar so this must be 1968?

Someone should get the tooling for the bodies and make brand new bodies.

Good video! Please reply. Dave...

What does Dearborn look like today.

@sonicdewd

Ай бұрын

Bunch of nasty people who don't produce anything. That's who.

My dad worked here back when my grandfather was 12. We used to help assemble the cars. We didn't do a very good job and often times the cars would fall apart but the workers would laugh and give us suckers. This was in 1902.

If this doesnt make you appreciate your car, I dont know what will!?

Cars today are SOOOOO much better than in the past. People get tired and make mistakes. Fact of life. I would not want a car made like a 60's car.

@dyer2cycle

Жыл бұрын

I drive a '60's car...and a '70's truck..I don't want one of these gawd-ugly blobs they make now that you can't see out of, with all the nanny features and gadgets....

3:25 and they breath on that toxic fume😂 11:56 no masks here either😂

Could an engine block be milled instead of cast?

@karguy1720

Жыл бұрын

The block is first cast and then machined. Milling, drilling, reaming and lathe work are all machining steps required to convert the casting into an engine block.

@snakejones9965

Жыл бұрын

Yes it can be out of a single block of metal. Very expensive to do.

@timdodd3897

Жыл бұрын

Top fuel drag racing machines blocks out of aluminum

My dad worked there. Not sure what his job was. Safety was horrible then. As we can see by this video. He lost part of his index finger. Not sure on how he did it. I was to young at the time. And you didn’t call an attorney back then.

LOL, 11:20 it didn't help they rusted away so fast

The painters without the masks...OMG?

@snakejones9965

Жыл бұрын

Pre COVID!!!🤠

There is a Swedish video similar to this, it's called "A Car is Björn"

@aaronvadovic4023

Жыл бұрын

@@frankfalupa4572 🤣🤣

Amazing to say the least.

The voice of the narrator is so 60's as well. Did they select people with such a voice or did they learn people to talk with such a grumpy burbling voice? Nevertheless, it's very interesting to see how it went in those days. Around the year 2000 I was at a steel production plant, but even close to the furnaces it was clean and with fresh air.

Ford must have passed on the water blast test on my old Ford van. I bought it new, in fact, ordered it. Every time it would rain, I'd have water pouring in everywhere. Ford didn't really seem to care.

@snakejones9965

Жыл бұрын

I noticed that in mind down by the river!😁

Can't believe those painters are not wearing any masks . They must of died horrible deaths .

What was the life span of a painter in those days? Lucky to make 45 after there lungs hardened up. health safety didn't exist

@JDAbelRN

3 жыл бұрын

They all smoked anyway. I bet at least eight percent on production line.

Seems so strange to not see the safety equipment that would be so commonplace today. The painters spraying away with no respirators or eye protection? Yikes!

i guess the much simpler and more efficient overhead camshaft eluded the usa for about 20 more years.

@CH-wm6wo

Ай бұрын

The overhead camshaft isn’t inherently more efficient, though it does facilitate more efficient runner designs for moving air through the cylinder heads. And it certainly isn’t simpler.

Does Ford even produce all these parts anymore?

@timgrenski4781

Жыл бұрын

Not like they used to. Most auto manufacturers source parts from other companies.

Amazing technology then, now cars are getting 200 plus miles. Fuel injection and better oils are a big part of why on the motors. My father was a mechanic, he taught me that carburetors would allow so much gas in the motor and oil, it would actually eat at the metal. Fuel injection is so precise there is hardly any that goes in the motor what's not used is recycled back to the tank. Cars are also a lot safer today. As beautiful as vintage cars are, they were death traps....

To hell with Disney, I’m going to see doors stamped lol

Painter without masks, probable all had cancer, so sad

How in the world were these guys spray painting without masks?

Even in the 1960's robots were taking human jobs.

Can't believe not a single painter wearing a respirator and all the guys on the engine line installing the valve trains had ciggys dangling from their lips, it seems alien to me now that people could smoke cigarettes at work

now this is what I call in-house production...

When men were men!

@mikekokomomike

Жыл бұрын

When men were men and sheep were scared 😮

I watched in horror as those guys sprayed acrylic lacquer without respirators or even basic masks. How many of them are even alive now?

@Patrick-cs6qi

3 ай бұрын

This was filmed about 56 years ago so I would guess most of them are dead by now.

@miketerry6036

Ай бұрын

NONE!

Either Carvana ripped off Ford or Ford gave them the right to do what they do today

Painting with no masks, no goggles no hearing protection

Painters didn't have masks.

i wonder how many of people in those jobs have been replaced by computers and robots? I bet if you told one of the workers working on the Mustang line what a Mustang would sell for in 2023 they would have laughed at you!

@mikekokomomike

Жыл бұрын

I watched the video and they had basic robots back then, you can see it. Hydraulic arms putting sheet metal in presses, etc.

Made there on parts, not now outsourced that's where quality dropped..

Fix Or Repair Daily got it's birth in these plants, meanwhile at GM real cars were being made.

@TexasMan77

Жыл бұрын

I highly doubt that. GMs quality wasn’t much better back then.

@billveek9518

Жыл бұрын

@@TexasMan77 I know I was trolling the Ford people, there all junk really unless it's a split window Corvette then we're talking real value lol

@miketerry6036

Ай бұрын

You mean First On Race Day 😁

The whole thing is miraculous. But what a horrible horrible job working on an assembly line.

No wimps need apply.

THEY WORE NO MASK

It was a horrible place to work equally as bad as chevy and dodge. Sometimes big paychecks doesn't mean a good place to work.

Noisiest video award!

Modern electric vehicles are so much easier to build than the cars of this era. They didn't even mention the transmission but the engine alone is a nightmare to construct. EVs will, in the next few years be much cheaper than gasoline vehicles. The narrator was proud to mention how these vehicles could last 100,000 miles. 😂

Back when we were self sufficient and did not have to rely on China or Europe for a damn thing. Sad to see its all gone. Our country is a mere shell of what it used to be. Sad very sad

Now, in the mighty Rouge Plant in 2023, the glass plant is gone. The Coke ovens are gone. The Ford ship's are gone. The Spec Foundry is gone. The metal foundry where engine blocks and valve head assemblies were made is gone. Even the steel plant is no longer owned by Ford. The Ford locomotive shop and all the locomotives that moved everything throughout the Rouge Plant are gone. The mighty Rouge Plant is just a mere shadow - a ghost of what it used to be. This video shows you viewers what USED to be in the mighty Rouge Plant. All gone to China and other overseas countries. Vehicles built cheaper but sold back to customers at a higher dollar to give the executives at the glass house Ford headquarters more millions of dollar's in their pockets and wives purses, along with more money in their Swiss Bank accounts and other off shore bank accounts. Along with all those jobs sent overseas and parts being made in China, Ford has MORE vehicle recalls than any auto manufacturer in the world. Yep, Ford is a four letter word. It begins with the first letter "F." But it doesn't end with the letter 'D'. You fill in the last three letters. Hint: it rimes with the word "fork." A word you don't want your children or grandchildren using in public.

@rickprusak9326

Жыл бұрын

@Benjamin ALLYN Glad to hear from you, Benjamin. I'm sure you've heard by now that Kia is the most stolen vehicle's in the state. Maybe in the country. I have always been a loyal Detroit big 3 auto lover. I even refused to be a passenger in a Volkswagen beetle by a female school friend who stopped to give me a lift while walking to high school. I love the theme Kia song: "You should be driving a Kia." Now, there's another song with Kia in mind since the huge auto theif problem Kia is experiencing. It goes like this: "You should be stealing a Kia." Because I'm a very tall guy, I couldn't fit in a Kia or any other small or midsized vehicles. But I'm glad you're happy with your Kia vehicle. The world is better when everything goes right. Peace....

@jamesgullo8240

Жыл бұрын

You are so correct. Sad but true.

Thunderbird, the ugliest car ever built