Evening star., 1925-09-20
By WILLIAM ULLMAN.


With 1926 cars capturing the pub
Hes fancy, many motorists wonder by
what ingenuity the American auto
mobile factories are able to turn out
such advanced cars at such low prices,
and attention naturally is directed to
the motor-car plants.
The motor-car factory of few
years ago has given way to new mod
els which are as remarkable in their
size as in their provisions for detailed
and accurate workmanship. The par
ent plant of the Ford Motor Car Co.
covers nearly c7S acres, l05 acres
being under one roof. General Motors
Corporation is spread out in factories
located in 3e cities
This is suggestive of the size to
which the new model factories have
grown, but of even greater interest to
the car buyer are the new models in
manufacturing and engineering proc
esses. General Motors, for instance.
maintains proving ground in Michi-
gan Where cars are put to every con-
celVable test over all kinds and con-
dltions of roads. There is even a
giant Ice box SO that the engineers du
not have to wait for Winter when
they desire to try out some new idea
In carburetion.
Use Japanese Workers.
The ingenuity that goes into the
work behind the automotive scene
often eclpSeS many Conveniences and
novelties which are incorporated in
the products OF the automobile fao-
tories. The Hudson plant. where eff
nclency is the hyword, offers an in
tefesung illustration. In the final
work on the crankshafts there is a
certain Job that requires the work
man to hold his hands and arms in
the air. 1t is exceptionally fatieuins
work. The buskiesi of workna n
WOULD go at the job and bravely hold
out until noon, when they would be
oollSed to call it a day Visitors to
the Hudson factory now find five
Japanese workmen doing this work.
The Jap's we'll known muscles in the
Lo[earIn are thus used to excellent ad-
vantage.
Not satisfied with the usual nre-
clslon methods of measuring impor-
tant parts, the Packard factory has
adopted the system of measuring by
light waves. 1t is the first motor
company in this country to measure
ny Hsht waves, though the system is
me same as that employed by the
United states Bureau of Standards
rms method means that in the
making of Packard cars actual meas
urements to as close as one-millionth
OF an inch are possible The piece
10 he checked at the factory is placed
under highly polished glass disks. the
deilcate waves of light or shadows
oeing counted. Another ADVANTAGE
OF the system is that it serves to
sno" up any defects in materials.
Test with Natural Gas.
Most car owners are aware that
hnished motors receive certain
amount of testing at the factories
before being installed in the cars. but
II Is not generally known that at
the enormous Cadillac plant natural
gas is used for the opera ton of these
motors, and not gasoline. This has
neen the rule at the Cadillac plant
ever since the adoption of the Weight
principle.
cadillac engineers say that were 1t
not for the bulk of natural gas, and
the natural difficulty Of carving il.
1t would have been the common motor
fuel of the day. The manufactured
gas Is cleaner than gasoline, safer,
and also more economical. Since
being adopted by this company for
engine tests it has been adopted by
engineers at many other motor car
plants.
When the motorist boasts of eff
fciency in the operation of his car
he may well reflect over the efficiency
displayed in this Cadillac testing
room. The blocks accommodate 40
engines at a time. and each engine
is required to drive load of from
TO 10 horsepower through being
connected by a drive shaft to an cleo
trio generator. The current generated
in the testing room is added to the
main generator output of the factory
and is used for lighting purposes.
, Not even the hot water from the en-
gine blocks goes to waste. Some
$1,000 gallons of this heated water
are sent to the power plant boilers
every day.
Test Brakes in Machine
All this efficiency and precision is
reflected in lower prices on better
autem1Hles. At the Chyrsler plant
for syAnple, it Is no longer necessary
to burn in and test the brakes by
driving the finished cars around the
grounds. Owing to the invention Of
the Fennell testing machine the
whole job can be done. and done ac-
curately: right in the factory.
The Fennell device consists of six
rolls mounted on heavy shafting so
designed that front and rear rollers
revoIve in perfect unison. In this way