What happend next - assembling Model T abroad

[dykker5502]

Back in November I shared a picture with you that showed a pile of crates in the Copenhagen Free Habour all containing Model T parts for the newly opened assemply plant on Nørrebro in Copenhagen. From june 1919 to 1924 they establiseh the plant in first existing buildings at Heimdalsgade in a then industrial area in the nothern part of Copenhagen. It went fast in Copenhagen, so the original large wooden workshop/shed was replaced by a large concrete building where true assembly lines could be established split on 6 "tracks". Just 3 years after the start, Ford realize they need even more capacity and buy real estate in the south habour of Copenhagen whit own quays and connection via habour tracks to the national railway network. Albert Kahn was architect and it turned out as a model for future assembly plants world wide.

I was looking after a series of pictures from the inside of the South Habour plant and during my search I stumpled over a lot of very interesting set of pictures taken by Peter Elfelt on contract of Ford Motor Company.

I share them with you here as they reveal more about how Model T's where send to the assembly plants.

The factory was pretty humble in the beginning:

Ford MotorCompany A/S, Heimdalsgade 42, Copenhagen - April 1920

When the crates arrived to the factory they where set in the yard and then opened:

Crates stacked in the factory yard upon arrival from the habour - April 1920

Here we see the yard and the large wooden shed that seems to be where assembly should take place initially - probably not by assembly line as we understand it.

The yard and the large wooden shed - April 1920

Last picture in this serie from 1920 is the open shed where the tires are stocked:

The open shed where tires where stocked- April 1920

To be continued....

[Keith Daniels]

Interesting, looking forward to more, thanks!

[TWrenn]

Thank you Michael for these fantastic historical pics! I notice in the background of pic #2 what appears to be part of the city and a huge building, possibly apartments (flats)? The steel gantry is possibly the most valuable part of this humble plant. It's a nice looking building nonetheless. Is that maybe a '16 in the lower left corner of pic #3? And wow that's a LOT of tires/wheels stacked up in that shed! Great pics!

[DanTreace]

Wonderful insight with those photos on the volume production by Ford. Like those stocks of completed wheels with tires. The rear wheels with drums in one stack, and front wheel with hubs protected by heavy wrapped coverings.

Thanks for posting

[dykker5502]

Yes, the building in the background is 5 story buildings with flats - typical resindtial building from the neighborhoods surrounding the old core of Copenhagen. These areas was originally kept open for the military to be able to see and shoot on the enemy, but in 1871 this restriction was raised and within 20 years all this real estate was covered with what in this part (Nørrebro) was rather speculative with small flats (2-room and kitchen, batcroom on the back stairs or in the yard.
The first Ford plant was placed in this area close to the railway where quite a few medium size industries was placed. Just across the street was Schiønning & Arve - a large rubber production company who among other things made tires. They MAY have supplied the Ford plant.
OK - moving on. Apparently the cars did not come knocked down! They actually build a concrete building with what seems to be 6 lanes based on the 6 ports visible on this later aereal photo:

Here we look into a crate with 4 engines:

4 engines packed in a crate - june 22

A box with a lot of both front and rear fenders:

Box with fenders - front and rear - november 22

and what looks as one of the sides of a larger box filled with parts:

Boxside with various parts - november 22

and here somewhat unpacked:

Various parts unpacked - november 22

To be continued...

[dykker5502]

More parts unpacked:

More parts unpacked - november 1922

Box of radiators:

Box of radiators - november 1922

Unfortunately - maybe the weather across the Atlantic or North Sea was not car part friendly, so sometimes damage shows up when unpacking.

Here is some damaged radiators:

Damaged radiators - june 1922

and damaged petrol tanks with dents:

Petrol tanls with dents - june 1922

and even engine pans could be dented:

Engine pans with dents - jaugust 1923

To be continued.....

[John kuehn]

Great history photos! Interesting to see the neatly stacked fenders. It would seem that the cars would either be touched up or painted during assembly. Looks like the fenders are in a prime coat but not sure.

The damaged in shipment parts are still typical of what happens in shipment even today. The dented up engine pans took a hit by being dropped or banged around someway.

History repeats itself!

Wonder what they did with the shipping crates but that’s another story!
,

[dykker5502]

Wonder what they did with the shipping crates but that’s another story!
,

They ended up as buildingmaterials for the workers. Around the city where some spare land is available but not feasible for building flats (along railways for example), small lots are made (25 x 25 meters ish) and then rented for 99 years or death for families living in the small flats. Here they could build a little cabin and lots of these where build out of Ford (or GM) crates. I've seen it with my own eyes.

[Bryant]

In the crate of engines are the spark plug holes filled with wax or something? Looks like they jamb everything they can in those crates.
Bryant

[TWrenn]

In the crate of engines are the spark plug holes filled with wax or something? Looks like they jamb everything they can in those crates.
Bryant

Yeh I was wondering what that was. Looks terrible but I'm sure its all cosmetic. But ot had to be a bear unpacking those engines and the shafts and stuff around them.

These are cool pics of history. Thanks again.

[Luke]

Michael,

These are great photos and really do contribute to the history record. There are a limited number of 'known' images around original parts + assembly, so it's really great to see something new - and also to get an idea of how things were done in another country.

Thank you for taking the time to post.

Luke.

[Keith Daniels]

In the crate of engines are the spark plug holes filled with wax or something? Looks like they jamb everything they can in those crates.
Bryant

I was thinking pipe plugs and grease, but it looked odd, wax would make more sense the way it appears splattered.

[dykker5502]

In the crate of engines are the spark plug holes filled with wax or something? Looks like they jamb everything they can in those crates.
Bryant

In other pictures you can see that there is a pipe plug in the sparkplug holes. I'll find it and post it later.
I was thinking pipe plugs and grease, but it looked odd, wax would make more sense the way it appears splattered.

[Chris Barker]

By 1922, Ford's Trafford Park, Manchester factory was fairly self-sufficient, and it supplied the mainland Europe territories (while Canada supplied overseas Empire markets), so I believe that most of these crates would have come Manchester via a ship canal to Liverpool.

[Luxford]

Hi Chris, According to the "Ford Industries" book Manchester only supplied England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster.
Ford Detroit shipped most parts from there to Manchester and also to other European countries, such as Copenhagen.
The three ships that moved the parts were the "Oneida" "Onondaga" and the "East Indian". They operated from New York as their home port
carrying product from the Detroit factory. Eventually Ford had plants in several countries so that Fords could be delivered fairly close to the local factory. According to the Ford Industries by 1927 Ford assembly plants were situated in 22 countries in Europe and South America as well as other places and that's not including Ford Canada. Detroit also supplied the 4 American branches.
Ford Canada supplied their Model T's to another 30 countries. Don't forget most of the Model T required massive amounts of special equipment to build, Ford Canada gradually increased it's ability to make virtually all the parts ( it took to 1919 before they cast their own engine blocks), Ford Detroit was making all the components including some parts to Canada. It wouldn't make much sense to send parts to Manchester and then on to Copenhagen, they went direct to Denmark, This photo from the Ford Industries show the East Indian offloading in Copenhagen.

[Kerry]

Peter, that story of Canada starting to cast their own engine blocks in 1919 is a myth, I've got a block in the shed and also seen others with Made in Canada in around the first few months of 1918.

[dykker5502]

In 1925 some tourings was delivered from Manchester actually. There is at least one of the preserved and eveybody thought it was a local blacksmith that have lowered the car as it was 3 inches (7,50 cm) lower than similar 1925 touring imported from the US in recent times. When I got and read the book about the English model T (mentioned above) I realised that the car was of UK origin. And when I consulted the danish edition of the 1930 spare part list all the special frame parts mentioned in the book was listed "for 1925 only". I wonder if they also started spaipaint the bodies in Copenhagen in 1924 or 1925 in the new factory in the south habour. I studytrip to the Benson Ford Archives may reveal that part of the story.
Regarding the labor needed to assemble the cars - take into consideration, that one important reason to establish Copenhagen was to lower cusoms dues and txes by having as little value in the goods as possible and then gaining local acceptance by creating quite a lot of jobs - also by purchasing materials for upholstery and paint. Actually - when they started painting something else than black - maybe it was not the same colors as in the US??
And don't forget that 2 of Henry Fords closest employees and advisors was a certain mr. William S. Knudsen and Charles Soerensen - both native danes born in Copenhagen!

[dykker5502]

... continued.
Painting
Speaking of painting - yes, the bodies and probably other parts where indeed painted inHeimdalsgade - and the used this rig for it:

Rig for painting bodies - february 1923

Here a touring body is on the "the scaffold":

Rig for painting bodies with a touring body - february 1923

And seen from the side. It looks like there lies a fender in the body (???) and look how one is just placed up against the wall probably awiting to be painted (so scratches will not be an issue).

Newly painted touring body on rig - february 1923

and also closed bodies was painted - proving that at least in 1923 Copenhagen also assembled closed cars:

Centerdoor sedan being painted - february 1923

Once they are painted, I believe we see them placed in this rig maybe for drying and to be rolled around to where it is mounted on the frame.

Touring body in a rig on wheels ready to be pushed to the assembly line - february 1923

To be continued......

[John kuehn]

It looks like the paint was flowed on and the drippings were caught in the pans under it?
Is this a different method of flowing that was used in the U.S. ?

[Rob]

Great information, photos and history.
Thank you for posting.

[dykker5502]

Continued.....

Stamping those numbers

If you have tried to stamp numbers into a block of cast iron, you know it may not be that easy to get a crisp readable digiit. And apparently among dented gastanks and radiators they also found some engines wich pretty meshed up serial numbers.
(well, the pictures here are taken over a period of 3-4 years, but you get my pointI hope).

Barely unreadable engine number - januar 1923

Another barely unreadable engine number - july 1923

Fun facts
The latter example may be unreadable, but it can be determined that it is a number in the 7.980.???. Just for the fun of it, I tried to seach the danish vehicle register for Fords older than 1928 with serial numbers in the neighborhoodof 7.980.??? and found:

More barely unreadable engine number - in the 7.901.xxx area lower than the numbers from july - october 1923

More barely unreadable engine number - october 1923

To be continued ....

[dykker5502]

Continued (Last entry).

Once all the pieces and parts are put together, this is what it ens looking like - fresh from the assembly line and driven out on tje street (Hejmdalsgade) in front of the office building:

Brand new Ford Model T touring in front of Copenhagen assembly plant - January 1923
Note the guy speaking in phone in the windows

A few of the pictures I have had challenges identifying the parts:

Unidentified panels - January 1923
Elfelts journal says "fenders".

Unidentified panels - July 1922
Elfelts journal says: "Iron".....

Also there are a couple of pictures of what looks like some tools for the assembly line - eventually:

Unidentified components - February 1923

End.

[dykker5502]

Via Peter Elfelts (the photographer) journal I discovered further pictures now showing the operation inside the factory. In total it is around 90 photographs taken between august 1919 and summer 1924. I don't upload them here and each picturefile is to large to upload in a gallery here, but I have made an album on Facebook where you can see all 89 pictures.
Captions are in danish, but I think Facebook offers translation.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 312&type=3