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Day in the Life of a Corvette - John Dunn
FOX 17 News – By: John Dunn
It’s an American Icon on four wheels, and it’s made just up the road.
Everyday about 150 new Chevrolet Corvettes roll off the assembly line in Bowling Green, KY.
The “American Sportscar” is a thing of beauty, but the process of making it is truly something to behold.
Every day at 6:12 in the morning the assembly line in Bowling Green gets moving.
Just like building a house, a Corvette begins from the group up. The first step – framing.
48 robots do much of the work bonding steel pieces together.
Each Corvette requires nearly 1500 welds.
A team of workers helps finish the job.
Nearby, another group builds the Corvette’s cockpit.
"We assemble the glove box, radio, do the whole instrument panel," says Mike Pearson.
They’re responsible for all of the dashboard details, and when you’re building Corvettes the details are most important.
"Got to be detailed. I mean you see a smudge I catch myself wanting to wipe it off," says Pearson.
Once complete, the cockpit and the frame are brought together, and the sports car begins to take shape.
The next area is known as trim.
"And we put the VIN number on it, we put the speakers on it, the carpet, the front wiring harness," says David Key.
Workers move around the car like a swarm of bees. Each station has about three minutes to complete their tasks.
"There's a lot of stuff that goes into it that people don't realize," says Key.
Many of the plants 1000 employees say their repetitive movements become second nature.
Denise Robinson is responsible for the rear facial.
"We have to secure it with the bolts, one at the top, and one at the bottom, but you got to make sure it's lined up," says Robinson.
The Corvette’s seats come next. One man handles the driver side, another…the passenger’s.
In another area, a large robot applies paint to one of the hundreds of panels that will be used today.
Each is loaded onto a carrier that delivers them at precisely the right time.
The doors for the Z06 are painted a flawless Crystal Red.
Throughout the day, quality is checked over and over again, right down to the smallest parts.
By now the Corvette is about half complete, but there’s one vital piece that’s missing.
The car needs an engine, and fittingly the two come together in a process called marriage.
You might say Keith Lovell is the best man.
"There's 26 bolts that connect regular Vets and 30 that connect the Z06, takes about three minutes to do it," says Lovell.
The body and carriage must match perfectly. There’s no room for error.
Corvette customers demand a flawless product. Every gap is measured to the millimeter.
"So the employees here really take a lot of time and attention making sure every detail is right on the fit and finish, whether it's the interior, the exterior paint job, our employees really take a lot of pride in giving our customers a great vehicle," says plant manager Paul Graham.
Meanwhile the Z06 is almost complete.
Now the engine is in, the hood is attached, and just a few minutes later four high performance tires are secured into place.
Finally, the Corvette comes free of its metal carrier and moves into final inspection.
"So we just have to go over it and give it the once over, see if we notice anything," says inspector Mike Rassell.
Mike Rassell also has the honor of starting the engine for the very first time.
After a few tweaks the Corvette is complete.
"Ready for the customer," says Rassell.
Next up, several tests both on and off road.
The cars built today will be ready for showrooms tomorrow.
The Bowling Green Assembly Plant builds about 42,000 cars each year.
The prices begin at just over $44,000 and go up to more than $70,000 for the Z06.
Day in the Life of a Corvette - John Dunn
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