http://autos.sympatico.ca/features/4...a-chevy-camaro

General Motors has a problem. It can't build enough of its Chevrolet Camaro sports cars at its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Though it's officially a monday to friday operation, the facility has been running steady saturdays because of demand since Nov. 2008 - and the Camaro's still on back order.

GM recently invited Sympatico to strap on some entirely unattractive safety gear for a rare tour of the 9.07 million square foot Southern Ontario operation. They were keen to showcase what goes into building this American muscle car on Canadian soil.

It takes about 24 hours to build a single example of the new Camaro coupe - from raw sheetmetal until it rolls off the assembly line. Oshawa has seven giant presses running 15 hours a day. They can bang out some 25,000 pieces per shift.

GM took us into the body shop to witness firsthand the welding of a Camaro bodyshell. Believe me, it's much more interesting than it initially sounds. First off, the area is eerily devoid of human life with 734 robots doing the majority of the precision work. Perched on a catwalk we witness the single biggest stage of the body assembly, with twelve robots swarming on naked metal shells, sparks fly. Sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov would be right at home here.

Nearly 400 parts are bonded together in the body shop, with an impressive 4,778 welds - and 2,000 of those are applied in just six minutes to meld the underbody. Note that the Camaro's all steel construction, save for the aluminum hood.

I hope it's not a commentary on my hygiene habits, because we were not permitted into the ultra-sterile paint shop in Oshawa. A few facts, though: the primer used on the cars is electronically charged and actually sticks to the vehicle when it's sprayed. The most popular Camaro colour is black, followed by orange and the new Synergy Green hue. The latter debuted on a Chevy concept at the SEMA show in Las Vegas in 2009 and came into production in early 2010 on V6 models only. An insider's tip: customer demand will see the wild green shade offered on V8 trims soon.

Speaking of the Camaro's engines, Canadians build those too. Well, most of them. GM's St. Catharines, Ontario plant bolts together both the 304 horsepower V6 and 426 hp V8 along with a plant in Tonawanda, New York. Seeing the engines stacked high, await install in the Chevy was a thrill for this gearhead - what's a muscle car without its high-performance heart? It takes about two hours for a motor to be prepped for install, including the addition of a wiring harness with 47 unique connections.

Autonomous electric dollies bring the Camaro's finished under body components - the engine, driveline, brakes, etc. - to meet up with the prepped bodies. It's worth mentioning here that no matter how many times I visit auto assembly plants, it never ceases to amaze me that someone figures out how to put a pile of parts into one end of these buildings and pump a finished car out of the other. Via high-tech computer systems, Oshawa employees know that this particular red Camaro gets these wheels, these seats and these options - which all arrive by conveyors at the right assembly station at just the right time. Some 840 parts are used in the trim department alone and the car even ratchets up and down automatically on hydraulic palettes so the install's easiest. Impressive.

Towards the end of the assembly line, an NGFTT, or Next Generation Flash Test Tool, is hooked up to the finished Camaros. About as expensive as one of the $26,995 coupes, think of it as the lightning bolt that awakens Frankenstein. Connected into those aforementioned all-knowing computers, it tells the car - lifeless until now - what engine it has, what gearbox, the type of radio, etc. Not long after, the Camaro's fired up for the first time.

Some 1,800 final checks are conducted before a finished example finally rolls off the line, including a leak test and a bump test, plus some full throttle runs on a dyno - and yes, the V8 does sound amazing. GM says it builds about 440 of the modern muscle cars per day, or approximately one every minute.

Currently, the Oshawa Assembly Plant employees just over 3,000 people, who also build 720 Chevrolet Impalas per day. It's going to be a much busier place come the end of 2010. Aside from keeping up with Camaro coupe demand, the plant is adding new shifts to build the car for Chinese and European markets, plus the new Camaro Convertible and the Buick Regal sedan are coming online. Add to all of this, overflow assembly of the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain models from the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, just to meet customer demand.

Still, judging by the copious posters and T-shirt dotting the Oshawa Assembly Plant, Camaro rightfully remains the employee's pride and joy. As plant manager Dan Hermer said, "there's always predictions with sports cars of sales trailing off, but there's no sign of that with Camaro."

 

good little article. we always learn little tidbits we did not know. Mine is Black so I guess that is not so unique but STILL have not seen one(a black one) on the street in and around Toronto this Spring....but I have seen loads of mustangs...so common those stangers....my prediction....under 20 sightings (V8 Camaros)...this summer....Hope I am right. The car does have an air of exclusivity in Canada so far...I know this will change but....counted 16 BMW's on the way to work today on my 14 minute commute....lol. Funny how harleys are soooo common now and so are BMWs and Benzes....American Muscle cars and Japanese muscle bikes( ZX14-Busas-Gixxers) are just not seen much , exclusivity is swinging back to Muscle....the way it should be.

 

FWIW The most I've seen have been cyber gray, red, orange, or yellow. I've seen a few imperial blue, silver, but up to now no black Camaros.

 

Great pics and article ... thanks for posting.

 

I work at LDT plant for GM...
They don't allow employees into the paint department...
it's nothing personal, it's that your type of deodorant, shampoo, cologne can cause paint defects. GM has gone overboard outside of the paint shop with QUALITY issues, they are trying to keep Quality perfect, I commend them for it but some things make no sense. Paint shop though should be on lockdown, it takes like 4-8 hours or so to empty a polluted ALPO? tank...that's a lot of money in downtime.

I just figured since I work at Lansing Delta Township and know the truth, I'd share it with you!

 

Yeah, I kinda figured that. No matter what we do, no matter how hygienic we are, we're always shedding skin, perspiring, you name it. The journalist obviously didn't know that's the reason why.

 

Great article, good to hear, it must be all that "pent-up" demand.