BLOCK CAST DATE VS PAD STAMP DATE

[CROSSRAMJL8]

Is it possible to have block cast date say feb 12 1969 and a pade date of feb 13 1969. Is this the norm or is it to close???

[bertfam]

It's possible, but not the norm.

Ed

[CROSSRAMJL8]

thanks

[Mike S]

I would think the block would still be cooling one day later.
I wonder how long a block was in the mold?

Mike

[tmodel66]

Mike I would venture to say a block didn't stay in the mold 30 minutes. These things would be red hot when they hit the shaker. I never poured blocks but I put up many heads in the I/H foundry in Louisville Kentucky plant. Three and four cylinder heads set for about 20 minutes and the six sat for about 30 to 35 and there's a lot more iron in one of these heads than in a block because it's more solid.

[bertfam]

There are even known examples of blocks cast and assembled the same day!

Ed

[Mike S]

There are even known examples of blocks cast and assembled the same day!

Ed

Now that is what I call "hot off the press" !
Very interesting info.

Merry Christmas
Mike

[69Z28-RS]

I have an original '57 BelAir with the block cast date and assembly date the same!    my '69 Z28 302 block was cast on 26 august.. and assembled on 27 August...   

Gary

[bergy]

The best time possible at Tonawanda = 30 minutes on the pouring loop to shake out on lines 1 & 2 (block lines) + 4 hours in the cooling court + 20 minutes through blast, grind, chip & inspect.  The door to the Tonawanda Motor Plant was only about a 50 foot fork truck ride from the end of both block finishing lines.  Sometimes the blocks were pretty warm when they arrived at the motor plant.  At that point, the block could go right to the motor plant machining line.  So...it's clearly possible for a casting to be produced and assembled the same day.  We weren't "just in time" in those days though.  Most casting waited on pallets in inventory que.  If a block fell off of the conveyor in the cooling court it would sit up there until Christmas or Summer shut down.  So a casting date could be many months before build date.  The Flint motors would be pretty difficult to be cast & machined the same day due to the trucking required between Saginaw & Flint.

[Mike S]

 Now that you mention Tonawanda and with keeping with the thread topic I took a look at my 67 BB's and found the following
cast info though I find it interesting the spread in block dates to assembly date:

Cast Date     Asssembly    Prefix   Lag Time
 B  6  7         0214            MZ      8 days
 B 22 7         0308            MW    14 days

Merry Christmas,
Mike

[HOT3O2]

Great info Bergy. Love those inside stories from people that were actually there. That's what makes this site so great.

[JohnZ]

The Flint motors would be pretty difficult to be cast & machined the same day due to the trucking required between Saginaw & Flint.

That captive fleet of trucks ran 24/7 from the Saginaw Foundry to Flint V-8, delivering about 55,000 raw castings per day (blocks, heads, water pumps, flywheels, crankshafts, camshafts, intake manifolds, thermostat housings, etc.). The few blocks I've seen personally that were cast and machined/assembled the same day were cast during the first two hours on the day shift at Saginaw, and machined/assembled on the second shift at Flint V-8. Cast one day and assembled the next day was quite common in the mid-60's when everything was running all-out at Flint V-8; 300 engines per hour with Machining running 3 shifts and assembly (170 per hour on Line #1 and 130 per hour on Line #2) running two 9-hour shifts, producing 5500 engines per day (one every 12 seconds).

[bergy]

Yep - the plants were on "rock & roll" back then.  We were pouring 2500 tons per day at Tonawanda MCP.

[MO]

The best time possible at Tonawanda = 30 minutes on the pouring loop to shake out on lines 1 & 2 (block lines) + 4 hours in the cooling court + 20 minutes through blast, grind, chip & inspect.  The door to the Tonawanda Motor Plant was only about a 50 foot fork truck ride from the end of both block finishing lines.  Sometimes the blocks were pretty warm when they arrived at the motor plant.  At that point, the block could go right to the motor plant machining line.  So...it's clearly possible for a casting to be produced and assembled the same day.  We weren't "just in time" in those days though.  Most casting waited on pallets in inventory que.  If a block fell off of the conveyor in the cooling court it would sit up there until Christmas or Summer shut down.  So a casting date could be many months before build date.  The Flint motors would be pretty difficult to be cast & machined the same day due to the trucking required between Saginaw & Flint.

I didn't realize there was a Christmas shutdown. Was it more than just that day and Christmas Eve? What about the New Year's holiday?

[bergy]

The duration of Christmas shutdown varied with the casting demand.  The foundry was pretty maintenance intensive, so we tried to schedule a week shutdown in melt/mold to accommodate big projects.  The finishing/inspection area would generally work a limited crew through shutdown to catch up on casting repairs & rough casting backlog.  Also, personnel would be available to ship castings out of inventory to the motor plant.  Ugh - that's a real flashback - digging pallets of blocks out of snow/ice!  Under normal production though - the castings flowed pretty quickly to the motor plant (which is the topic of this thread).