Joe,
To all FLers...
Thought you might be interested in the following
letter about working in Chrysler factories and my
reply to it -- plus the fact that Dave S. has invited
me to prepare web pages to go on the FL site. I'm
working on it now, & will include reminiscences of my
25-year involvement with the auto industry, pix,
etc....Ken
Joe
Thanks for a most interesting letter. I've inserted
comments below. Also, Dave S. has asked me to create
some Ken's Korner web pages for the Forward Look
website. I will include my reminiscences on Dodge
Main & Highland Park plants. Mind if I incorporate
your letter in that material when I get the pages
done? Also, since this may be of interest to many,
I'm going to Cc: it to the list.
you wrote:
>
> Ken,
>
> I read your article with interest, since I worked
at the Highland Park plant
> for three months at about the same time, on
midnights.
What a coincidence! I've also heard from a Forward
Looker who grew up just a few blocks from where I now
live. Do you still live in the Detroit area?
>
> My jobs were as a jitney driver, until the foreman
figured out that I was an
> accident waiting to happen. Then, I worked the
brake cylinder line for the
> of the time.
My job title at Chrysler Highland Park was "hand
trucker." They gave me a steel hook & I had to pull
steel tubs (often weighed twice what I did) around in
the cold-heading dept. It was like working in a nest
of machine guns! More on that later.
> I, too, vowed to never work in the shop again, but
didn't have enough sense
> (or money) to go to college.
I went on the GI Bill. I had been in the army for 2
years. (Fortunately, the war ended just as I finished
my training -- as lead scout in a platoon of jungle
warfare specialists. I also held a lot of jobs in
those days: worked 2-1/2 years on newspapers, tended
bar for 18 months, waited table occasionally at the
Detroit Golf Club, and worked those 2 summers in
factories...all while I was going to U of D. And I
took a lot of courses in my first 4 semesters so I
could graduate in 3-1/2 years, which was all my GI
Bill eligibility covered.
> I did, however, work at Central Engineering from
1953 to 1961, in the
> carburetor Lab. I was a test driver/mechanic
working on Chryslers. As such,
> I was lucky enough to work on and test drive the
C300's for 1956 through
> 1962. I hand built the electronic fuel injector
units and the ram manifold
> cars, and built the carbs for the Daytona Beach
speed runs.
Well you DID wind up with an interesting job! I
probably saw most of those cars run at Daytona. They
were really the hot setup in those days. Keikhaefer &
the Flocks really cleaned up in NASCAR with them.
> Gobs of fun for a young man!!! I have always had a
soft spot for the 1957
> and 1958 300's.
I liked all of the C-series Chryslers, too. They were
great cars. Seemed they were better in overall
quality than many of the Mopars from that era. That
was the only real knock on those Exner cars: poor
quality in details. The engineering & styling were
great.
>
> tell us more about the Dodge Main plant. It sounds
EXTREMELY authentic!
I will, and I hope I made everyone realize that
building cars in those years was no stroll on the
beach! I want to write a bit later about the Foundry
at the Ford Rouge Plant. Never worked there but it
was on my beat when I was a reporter on The Rouge
News employee paper and had to spend a lot of time
there. It was very close to my idea of hell. The
thought of working there for 25 to 35 years, as some
of the old-timers I talked to did, was something that
chilled me.
Regards, Ken,
===
Ken Fermoyle, columnist & publisher
FERMOYLE PUBLICATIONS
22250 Capulin Court
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
In the beginning was the word...
and don't you forget it!
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
|
|
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network