Rootes built in Scotland

Pressed Steel
Fine Finish

			In the Body Unit Assembly, this Multi-Welding Machine is typical of the ultra-modern equipment in operation. It is capable of producing 40 Main Floor assemblies per hour - amounting to 13,000 spot welds.
			The body, already welded in one unitary construction, is carried on the overhead conveyor to the Paint Shop
	The car bodies, gleaming in their fine paint finish, advance on the overhead conveyor to the Trim Shop.

Specially erected for the production of Hillman Imp bodies, the new building of Pressed Steel Company is divided into three sections:

• Body Assembly
• Body Paint and
• Body Trim.

There are Machine Shops and Press Shops, and approximately 700 sets of Dies were required. The body is made up from some 250 separate pieces or pressings, which are welded together into small sub-assemblies, and these in turn are again welded until the body is completely formed in one unitary construction.

The bodies pass on the overhead conveyor to the Paint Shop, probably the most up-to-date plant in Europe, where the paint spraying is automatically controlled in the paint booths by photo-electric cells. When the beam is broken at pre-determined stages, the spray guns are brought into action.

On arrival in the Trim Shop, bodies are lowered on to ground track conveyors, and some 150 items of trim are carefully fitted and inspected. All of the seat sewing and seat welding is done by women operatives.

Finally, the bodies are carried on the overhead track across the Transporter Bridge into the Rootes Car Assembly Block.

Supplied on September 24, 2005 to Imps4ever.info by Mr. Barry Massey (chief buyer at Linwood) via his son: Guy Massey