Multimatic assembly plant to visit #57 and many others


pe2unia

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
January 2015 seems like such a long time to get to this point but time sure does fly as I am approaching the end of this amazing process and oh what a ride it has been. During the ordering process with my concierge I had requested to visit the assembly plant during the build process of my car so on June 28th I received the much anticipated call informing me that my car (#57) is on the assembly line and awaiting my arrival. I was told that there was a 14 day window to make the trip to Markham to see the car being assembled so I made my flight plans for July 10th to visit on the 11th.

Knowing that Terry lived so close to Markham I reached out to him to see if he wanted to be a part of this process and lead me around Canada (as he had witnessed at the first Texas rally I could use all of the navigational help I could get). :facepalm::rofl At the same time Trent was doing a couple of favors for me on my yellow car and showed interest in attending so at that point we were all set.

My flight going out wasn’t the best due to a smell of smoke in the control tower which caused all flights to be grounded but unfortunately we had already boarded plane so 4 hours later we were in the air. :frown I landed in Ontario at midnight and headed to the hotel arriving at 12:45am and guess who was bellied up at the bar with an adult beverage??? :eekYup…. it was Trent! So what better to do but have a few beers and chat about old and new GT stuff until 2am. :cheers

Terry picked us up at 7:20 am the next morning for breakfast and off to the Markham plant we went to meet Pearce at 9:30am sharp. Unfortunately the first thing we were told by Pearce was no pictures inside the building :frownv Otherwise I would have plenty of pictures to post. Upon entering the plant I immediately felt overwhelmed with GT porn and stood there in amazement of how many cars, parts, and techs around us but it only took me 10 seconds to spot #57 sitting there staring at me in complete dress (except for the rear deck lid) on the car dolly.

As we passed through all of the assembly stations we saw many of our forum members cars (Tomy, Shelby, Ron, Brian, etc.) getting meticulously put together by the Ford performance/Multimatic techs. I can tell you the Ford performance/Multimatic team looks to have a everything in order on the assembly line from the parts carts, tools, check lists and assembly techs working like a well-oiled machine. Each phase of the assembly line has about 3-4 techs working together knowing that they are not to end their work day until they are 100% complete no matter what and then the next day a new cassis number will arrive and so on and so on.

One of the main differences I’ve noticed from the Ford truck plant tour in Dearborn to the GT plant is there are NO robotics, hanging air tools or the use of any air tools, conveyors, or hanging computer screens etc. When they say this car is “hand built” it is truly hand built with every nut and bolt installed by hand including thread lock manually put on the bolts. In the middle of the assembly line is a large black cabinet that has a data base to communicates with the torque wrenches and logs in each cars nut and bolt torque to ensure the process is 100% complete.

Later in the tour we were approached by Jeff (GM of the plant) to personally take us to visit the normally inaccessible tub room for a quick peek and to visibly explain the process from a row of tubs in the many assembly stages as well as giving his perspective of a few things normally not discussed (we are sworn to secrecy LOL) . This was truly an amazing day getting to see the rows of wheels ready to be installed, feeling the weight difference of the carbon wheels and Ti lug nuts, seeing the dyno, water intrusion test room, final paint inspection room, racks and racks of parts, many completed cars preparing for shipment, many different color cars and options, special paint palettes, and getting the sense that everyone working knows exactly what their duties are.

After 2.5 hours of jaw dropping GT porn we had to move on so that Pearce and the Ford performance/Multimatic team could get back to building the one of a kind hand built Super Car Ford GT’s. I would like to personally thank Pearce, Jeff, Terry, and Trent for being a part of this epic part of the GT ownership and rest assured to all that the GT’s are lining up to hit the streets!!!
 

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ENZO BTR

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 11, 2005
1,048
Southern California
Sounds incredible. Congrats on visiting GT Nirvana.
 

STORMCAT

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 25, 2006
7,549
Ft. Lauderdale
Cool stuff. . Happy to hear you made the journey! !
 
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dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
Woohoo! Close to the finish line. Glad you got to go see your car in action! :cheers

Hmm, Pearce looks like he misses me in that pic. Better hop in the car. I'm on the way bud!
 

pe2unia

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Brian, your car looks AWESOME!!
 

pe2unia

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Ahhh Yeah he is missing you for sure. Hurry along LOL
 

soroush

Ford Gt Owner
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Aug 8, 2007
5,256
thats awesome, lasting memories Im sure..
 

Specracer

GT Owner
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Nov 28, 2005
7,081
MA
Daaaum, Terry how many times you been there now? Ha only jealous!

Super cool John!!
 

06fordgt

GT
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Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Nov 8, 2006
1,908
Toronto Canada
Excellent! Sounds like fun and I look froward to the same experience very soon!!
 

Not 4N

Tungsten GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 5, 2006
887
Calgary AB
It was an amazing day I will never forget. The attention to detail and quality of every task was great to see in person.
Thanks again for the invite buddy and I am very happy for all of the members who have been selected, couldn't happen to a greater group of people that I am proud to call my friends.

Cheers
Trent
 

Awsum GT

GT Owner '18
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 17, 2005
3,985
Carmel & Cntrl Ca
Great story... looking forward to my turn.
 
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NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
I can smell the brain smoke on what billet aluminum pieces need to be made for the NGT by John! congrats buddy. trip of a lifetime for sure!
 

Blue Moose

GT
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Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 12, 2006
1,139
Chandler,Arizona.
Great write up John. Thank you for walking us through on your "tour". Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing your beautiful new GT!
 

Brombear

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 16, 2013
1,396
Frankfurt Area, Germany
Great story, you almost made it, congrats !

Time for some billet braces for the NGT, yes ?
 

Cobrar

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jun 24, 2006
4,017
Metro Detroit
Congrats John! Appreciate you sharing the experience, plant/build access is really a great part of the overall GT ownership experience, as you'll own it for a long time to come.
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,832
Largo, Florida
Thanks for sharing that. My son and I visited the Troy and Wixom GT factories and we are really looking forward to this trip.
 

BtwoG

GT Owner
Dec 8, 2013
1,039
Atlanta, GA
What a once in a lifetime opportunity. You must be so excited. Congrats. Can't wait to see al these cars!
 

PL510*Jeff

Well-known member
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Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Nov 3, 2005
4,876
Renton, Washington
John so Happy for you. And to bring some of the motley crew along too!

Rea;;y looking forward to see a "few" of the forum-ites and their new and used GT's in Utah in a short while.

Glad you got to do this, certainly looking forward to same visit when it my time to go. 2018 (or so).
 

Apollo

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 5, 2006
2,499
Pahrump, NV
Thank you John. This is so fun hearing and watching everyone go through the process. :thumbsup
 

GKW05GT

GT Owner
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May 28, 2011
2,755
Fayetteville, Ga.
Awesome expierence