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BEHIND THE WHEEL: Peeking inside the Viper's nest
Clare Dear, Wheels Editor
London Free Press
2003-08-22
TOP: A group of Viper chassis, fresh from runs in the testing booth, cool down as they await transfer back to the assembly for the installation of body panels. MIDDLE: Just completed Vipers sit in the spotless assessment area where inspectors scrutinize each car before clearing it for shipment. BOTTOM: Dodge Viper -- (LONDON FREE PRESS/ Clare Dear)
Dodge likes to refer to its awesome Viper as the all-American sports car.
Truth is, while it is an American automotive icon, it's very core is purely Canadian.
We were recently treated to a tour of the Conner Avenue assembly plant here, where about 100 craftspeople hand build Vipers in a former spark plug factory.
What was most striking when we walked into the facility's production area was the quietness -- almost a church-like atmosphere. Unlike typical automotive plants we've seen in Talbotville, Oshawa or Oakville, there were no air wrenches screaming as fasteners were tightened, no robotic welders zapping metal components together or long, clacking assembly lines weaving through a vast production complex, lugging an endless stream of vehicles through the assembly process.
In the Viper plant, a single line just 215 metres long spans the production floor. You can actually see from one end of the line to the other.
The pace, too, is different. The plant, which also hand built the specialty Plymouth Prowler for five years, only produces 10 or 11 Vipers a day. In contrast, Ford's Talbotville plant cranks out about 60 cars an hour.
The annual Viper production run is just 2,500 units, with about 150 allocated for Canadian dealers, where each car sells for $127,000.
Another point that impresses is the plant's cleanliness. This place is spotless.
Ken Bott, who guided us on this tour, explains the facility doesn't have a janitorial staff. He says the pride in their work his co-workers share extends to the workplace itself -- each person maintains their own work space.
The Viper plant is managed by a Canadian -- Sandy Bouckley, an Oshawa native who joined Chrysler in 1989 after working for GM Canada from 1985. She'd graduated from the GM Institute in 1982, then returned there to earn a masters degree in 1987. Her career with DaimlerChrysler included stints in Windsor and the company's former trim plant in Stratford. Prior to taking over the Viper plant, Bouckley had managed the company's minivan assembly plant in St. Louis.
Bouckley, who also oversees DamilerChrysler's pilot assembly plant at corporate headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., and an emissions-testing facility in Sterling Heights, Mich., says the workforce at the Conner Avenue plant represents the most skilled workers in the industry. She explains her employees is are selected from the top hourly workers throughout the company.
"These people are the best of the best, they are very skilled craftspeople," she says.
The workers can rotate through the various jobs on the line every three months if they wish, and Bouckley says 30 to 40 per cent of the staff are engaged in after-hours training courses.
The limited number of people comprising the workforce is unique in the North American automaking industry-- and their pride in workmanship is obvious.
For example, just nine people build the Viper's V-10 motors. The machined aluminum block arrives from a firm in Manchester, England -- the company, Zeus, also casts engine blocks for Formula One teams and other high-end speciality cars.
A special dolly cradles the engine to each station as it's pieced together. Joe Amore starts the process, fitting the crankshaft, bearings, rods and pistons. Then eight colleagues add other parts, such as the cylinder heads and intake manifold.
The whole process is completed in a space that's shorter than an aisle at your neighbourhood grocery store.
At the end of this sub-line, each new 500-horsepower motor is meticulously checked and tested, with one engine each day pulled aside for "hot-testing" on a dynometer. In addition, one engine is picked at random for a complete "audit" by specialist Dave Hewlett. These checks of checks are typical within the Viper's assembly process.
Across the aisle, another Viper is about to be born. A large black steel structure undergoes a precision hole-punching operation in the plant's only robotic-type operation, ensuring mounting points for components will be located exactly right.
Then a cast magnesium bulkhead -- basically the car's cowl area -- is bolted in place on the steel frame.
These two pieces comprise the core of the Viper chassis, with all other component locations and measurements based on these two structures.
Interestingly, two southwestern Ontario firms build these critical parts -- the Viper's chassis tub is made at Fabco in Dresden, while the cowl/dashboard piece (an international award-winning casting) is produced by Meridian Magnesium in Strathroy.
Once the chassis structure is assembled, components are added. Suspension assemblies are attached front and rear; steering parts are installed, the wiring harness, brake and fuel lines are put in place.
Overall, the assembly process involves about 80 operations, performed during 37-minute stops at 30 stations along the line. The line is controlled by a light system -- yellow indicates work is in progress at a station; green signals the assigned tasks at that station have been completed. Only when the entire line is "green" does the car move to the next station.
Some stations are manned by four persons, others have a couple of workers; some operations are handled by a single person.
Heidi Mickelson, for example, is known as the Viper's "engine lady." At just 5-foot-5, she attaches the clutch and six-speed manual gearbox, built in Mexico, to the engine, then lowers the 430-kilogram assembly into the chassis -- every Viper chassis.
It's amazing how quickly that black steel tub from Dresden becomes a fire-breathing sports car.
Before workers start attaching the body panels, each rolling chassis goes into a test booth, where it is started for the first time, then subjected to a battery of tests, including a run-up to 145-150 km/h, on the booth's rollers.
Only after the running gear has passed this testing does the finishing work begin. The body panels arrive at the plant pre-painted. Only three colours are offered to Viper buyers, though a fourth choice -- a hot white -- will be available on '04 models.
Vipers are built in batches of 30 cars per colour -- red (the most preferred choice, accounting for 65 to 75 per cent of buyers), silver and black.
The folding top is installed, interior components are put in place and again, in a very short space, the Viper's distinctive exterior takes shape.
The completed cars are moved to an adjacent assessment area where inspectors check each Viper from nose to tail. Here, too, there's an area where inspected cars are picked at random for more scrutiny.
A final stop is at the water test booth, where each car is subjected to an intense pressurized water bath for four minutes or so while inspectors inside the vehicle check for leaks.
The water test is followed by an emissions check, then the car is moved to an indoor storage area, where it awaits shipment in an enclosed hauler to dealers throughout North America -- without ever being exposed to outdoor elements.
Except for one Viper each day, which is pulled from the production run for an intensive audit by Bill Hay, who checks the car from top to bottom, subjects it to another stint in the water booth, then takes it for a 34-kilometre run on Detroit streets. Once Hay passes the car, he tucks a note in the glovebox informing the owner his/her car has been the recipient of this special attention.
The attention to detail is impressive, as it should be for such a high-end car. But there seems to be more to it -- a romantic bond between the workers and the Viper that continues to bloom when the car finally lands in the hands of its owners. Plant staff talk fondly of owners who've come to the facility to pick up their car, then exchanged letters with the workers about the joys the vehicle is providing.
Sure doesn't seem like the typical automotive ownership experience, but then Dodge says its Viper isn't your typical automobile. We'll be testing one soon to find out if the Viper really is special. Stay tuned.
-- -- --
LOOKING UNDER A VIPER'S SKIN
Canadian-built components comprise a significant number of the parts used in each 2003 Dodge Viper sports car built at the Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit. Here's a list of Viper parts made in Canada:
- Frame: from Fabco, in Dresden.
- Dash bulkhead: Meridian Magnesium, in Strathroy.
- Weatherstripping: Decoma, Toronto.
- Resin injection-moulded body panels (fenders): Decoma, Toronto.
- Instrument panel: C&A, Guelph.
- Adjustable pedals: Ventra, Toronto.
- Turning loops: Multimatic, Toronto.
- Shock absorbers: DSI, Toronto
- Oil cooler: Long Manufacturing, Oakville.
- Air cleaner: Siemens, Tilbury.
- Intake manifold: Siemens, Tilbury.
- Parking brake cable: Dura, Stratford.
Clare Dear, Wheels Editor
London Free Press
2003-08-22
TOP: A group of Viper chassis, fresh from runs in the testing booth, cool down as they await transfer back to the assembly for the installation of body panels. MIDDLE: Just completed Vipers sit in the spotless assessment area where inspectors scrutinize each car before clearing it for shipment. BOTTOM: Dodge Viper -- (LONDON FREE PRESS/ Clare Dear)
Dodge likes to refer to its awesome Viper as the all-American sports car.
Truth is, while it is an American automotive icon, it's very core is purely Canadian.
We were recently treated to a tour of the Conner Avenue assembly plant here, where about 100 craftspeople hand build Vipers in a former spark plug factory.
What was most striking when we walked into the facility's production area was the quietness -- almost a church-like atmosphere. Unlike typical automotive plants we've seen in Talbotville, Oshawa or Oakville, there were no air wrenches screaming as fasteners were tightened, no robotic welders zapping metal components together or long, clacking assembly lines weaving through a vast production complex, lugging an endless stream of vehicles through the assembly process.
In the Viper plant, a single line just 215 metres long spans the production floor. You can actually see from one end of the line to the other.
The pace, too, is different. The plant, which also hand built the specialty Plymouth Prowler for five years, only produces 10 or 11 Vipers a day. In contrast, Ford's Talbotville plant cranks out about 60 cars an hour.
The annual Viper production run is just 2,500 units, with about 150 allocated for Canadian dealers, where each car sells for $127,000.
Another point that impresses is the plant's cleanliness. This place is spotless.
Ken Bott, who guided us on this tour, explains the facility doesn't have a janitorial staff. He says the pride in their work his co-workers share extends to the workplace itself -- each person maintains their own work space.
The Viper plant is managed by a Canadian -- Sandy Bouckley, an Oshawa native who joined Chrysler in 1989 after working for GM Canada from 1985. She'd graduated from the GM Institute in 1982, then returned there to earn a masters degree in 1987. Her career with DaimlerChrysler included stints in Windsor and the company's former trim plant in Stratford. Prior to taking over the Viper plant, Bouckley had managed the company's minivan assembly plant in St. Louis.
Bouckley, who also oversees DamilerChrysler's pilot assembly plant at corporate headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., and an emissions-testing facility in Sterling Heights, Mich., says the workforce at the Conner Avenue plant represents the most skilled workers in the industry. She explains her employees is are selected from the top hourly workers throughout the company.
"These people are the best of the best, they are very skilled craftspeople," she says.
The workers can rotate through the various jobs on the line every three months if they wish, and Bouckley says 30 to 40 per cent of the staff are engaged in after-hours training courses.
The limited number of people comprising the workforce is unique in the North American automaking industry-- and their pride in workmanship is obvious.
For example, just nine people build the Viper's V-10 motors. The machined aluminum block arrives from a firm in Manchester, England -- the company, Zeus, also casts engine blocks for Formula One teams and other high-end speciality cars.
A special dolly cradles the engine to each station as it's pieced together. Joe Amore starts the process, fitting the crankshaft, bearings, rods and pistons. Then eight colleagues add other parts, such as the cylinder heads and intake manifold.
The whole process is completed in a space that's shorter than an aisle at your neighbourhood grocery store.
At the end of this sub-line, each new 500-horsepower motor is meticulously checked and tested, with one engine each day pulled aside for "hot-testing" on a dynometer. In addition, one engine is picked at random for a complete "audit" by specialist Dave Hewlett. These checks of checks are typical within the Viper's assembly process.
Across the aisle, another Viper is about to be born. A large black steel structure undergoes a precision hole-punching operation in the plant's only robotic-type operation, ensuring mounting points for components will be located exactly right.
Then a cast magnesium bulkhead -- basically the car's cowl area -- is bolted in place on the steel frame.
These two pieces comprise the core of the Viper chassis, with all other component locations and measurements based on these two structures.
Interestingly, two southwestern Ontario firms build these critical parts -- the Viper's chassis tub is made at Fabco in Dresden, while the cowl/dashboard piece (an international award-winning casting) is produced by Meridian Magnesium in Strathroy.
Once the chassis structure is assembled, components are added. Suspension assemblies are attached front and rear; steering parts are installed, the wiring harness, brake and fuel lines are put in place.
Overall, the assembly process involves about 80 operations, performed during 37-minute stops at 30 stations along the line. The line is controlled by a light system -- yellow indicates work is in progress at a station; green signals the assigned tasks at that station have been completed. Only when the entire line is "green" does the car move to the next station.
Some stations are manned by four persons, others have a couple of workers; some operations are handled by a single person.
Heidi Mickelson, for example, is known as the Viper's "engine lady." At just 5-foot-5, she attaches the clutch and six-speed manual gearbox, built in Mexico, to the engine, then lowers the 430-kilogram assembly into the chassis -- every Viper chassis.
It's amazing how quickly that black steel tub from Dresden becomes a fire-breathing sports car.
Before workers start attaching the body panels, each rolling chassis goes into a test booth, where it is started for the first time, then subjected to a battery of tests, including a run-up to 145-150 km/h, on the booth's rollers.
Only after the running gear has passed this testing does the finishing work begin. The body panels arrive at the plant pre-painted. Only three colours are offered to Viper buyers, though a fourth choice -- a hot white -- will be available on '04 models.
Vipers are built in batches of 30 cars per colour -- red (the most preferred choice, accounting for 65 to 75 per cent of buyers), silver and black.
The folding top is installed, interior components are put in place and again, in a very short space, the Viper's distinctive exterior takes shape.
The completed cars are moved to an adjacent assessment area where inspectors check each Viper from nose to tail. Here, too, there's an area where inspected cars are picked at random for more scrutiny.
A final stop is at the water test booth, where each car is subjected to an intense pressurized water bath for four minutes or so while inspectors inside the vehicle check for leaks.
The water test is followed by an emissions check, then the car is moved to an indoor storage area, where it awaits shipment in an enclosed hauler to dealers throughout North America -- without ever being exposed to outdoor elements.
Except for one Viper each day, which is pulled from the production run for an intensive audit by Bill Hay, who checks the car from top to bottom, subjects it to another stint in the water booth, then takes it for a 34-kilometre run on Detroit streets. Once Hay passes the car, he tucks a note in the glovebox informing the owner his/her car has been the recipient of this special attention.
The attention to detail is impressive, as it should be for such a high-end car. But there seems to be more to it -- a romantic bond between the workers and the Viper that continues to bloom when the car finally lands in the hands of its owners. Plant staff talk fondly of owners who've come to the facility to pick up their car, then exchanged letters with the workers about the joys the vehicle is providing.
Sure doesn't seem like the typical automotive ownership experience, but then Dodge says its Viper isn't your typical automobile. We'll be testing one soon to find out if the Viper really is special. Stay tuned.
-- -- --
LOOKING UNDER A VIPER'S SKIN
Canadian-built components comprise a significant number of the parts used in each 2003 Dodge Viper sports car built at the Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit. Here's a list of Viper parts made in Canada:
- Frame: from Fabco, in Dresden.
- Dash bulkhead: Meridian Magnesium, in Strathroy.
- Weatherstripping: Decoma, Toronto.
- Resin injection-moulded body panels (fenders): Decoma, Toronto.
- Instrument panel: C&A, Guelph.
- Adjustable pedals: Ventra, Toronto.
- Turning loops: Multimatic, Toronto.
- Shock absorbers: DSI, Toronto
- Oil cooler: Long Manufacturing, Oakville.
- Air cleaner: Siemens, Tilbury.
- Intake manifold: Siemens, Tilbury.
- Parking brake cable: Dura, Stratford.
For example, just nine people build the Viper's V-10 motors. The machined aluminum block arrives from a firm in Manchester, England -- the company, Zeus, also casts engine blocks for Formula One teams and other high-end speciality cars.
That statement says a lot about the Viper's quality and that the same company is also working on F1 and other high-end cars. A lot of engine parts for overseas cars are produced here - Cosworth etc. Oh, and Cosworth supply parts for JUN (an aftermarket example, not standard in a car).
That statement says a lot about the Viper's quality and that the same company is also working on F1 and other high-end cars. A lot of engine parts for overseas cars are produced here - Cosworth etc. Oh, and Cosworth supply parts for JUN (an aftermarket example, not standard in a car).
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