I traveled to and back from Toronto yesterday taking advantage of the Independence Day holiday here in the states as it’s not a heavy day for air travel. The visit had been arranged by my Ford GT Concierge as my car VIN J143 is now well into its build.
Touring this facility with its very friendly and knowledgeable Technical Director, Pearce as my guide was one of the best 1 1/2 hours of my life. The factory is smaller than you think it will be, however some ops, such as the forming and autoclaving of the carbon fiber panels and most of the panel prep and painting, are carried out at other Multimatic facilities. Aluminum welding on the front frame member is also performed elsewhere ... likely robotically given the beautiful and very consistent "stack of nickels" appearance of the welds. Markham is more like a boutique racecar assembly operation. There is no assembly line ... rather, there are 9 assembly stations as well as other operations including a large painting booth, wheel alignment machine, Dynojet, water spray booth to check for leaks, lighted inspection tunnel, etc. The facility currently employs 160 and runs on one shift. At the end of the day, they play musical chairs with the wheeled dollies used to hold and transport the assemblies, moving each to its next station. When I got on the floor, my car was at station #9 and three techs were installing the interior door panels, seats and other interior trim. The rest of my GT was essentially complete except for mounting of its wheels/tires. From there, it will go onto the Dyno, water leak test, a Multimatic inspection followed by a 4 hour final QC inspection by Ford personnel in a very bright florescent light booth. It will also get its “portrait” taken in that booth and owners will get that pic, along with some others of your car taken as the build process progressed. Production remains at the target of 5 cars completed per week.
The cars are then ready for shipping by Reliable. I’d say there were around 15 cars there in various stages of assembly and several more finished, either at inspection or waiting for shipment scheduling. Five cars are transported in a Reliable big rig, so they obviously try to group cars geographically for each delivery trip.
Surprisingly, there is a distinct lack of power tools used in the assembly operations, with the exception of the occasional die grinder. Mostly hand tools and torque wrenches are used, with “Blue” ones that electronically transmit the torque data to a QC database. Build Books similar to ’05 and ’06 GT’s are in use and EVERY operation is signed off by a tech or supervisor. I asked if it would be possible to get the Build Book for J143, however Pearce advised they must be retained by Ford for liability reasons. I think a few may have "escaped" Wixom last time but mums the word on that.
The paint finish and panel fit are the best I’ve ever seen ... even the (huge) Brembo brake calipers have a show quality paint job. Over 600 manhours in the body painting processes alone.
One of the race cars was on the floor and a large group from Ford Ganassi Racing was visiting and were being taken through by Larry Holt. I was hoping to see Raj and talk him into taking a minute for a pic with me next to my car, but no such luck.
All in all, a great day and well worth the time and effort. I highly recommend you visit Markham when your GT is within its assembly window as it's the experience of a lifetime and will add greatly to your overall NFGT experience to see firsthand how these magnificent cars are constructed. It's wonderful that Ford has offered this tour and provided a one-on-one knowledgeable guide like Pearce to walk you and up to three of your friends or family travelling with you through the Multimatic facility.
Looks like my GT should be delivered in late July or early August so stay tuned for pics of that blessed event.
usmcfred
Touring this facility with its very friendly and knowledgeable Technical Director, Pearce as my guide was one of the best 1 1/2 hours of my life. The factory is smaller than you think it will be, however some ops, such as the forming and autoclaving of the carbon fiber panels and most of the panel prep and painting, are carried out at other Multimatic facilities. Aluminum welding on the front frame member is also performed elsewhere ... likely robotically given the beautiful and very consistent "stack of nickels" appearance of the welds. Markham is more like a boutique racecar assembly operation. There is no assembly line ... rather, there are 9 assembly stations as well as other operations including a large painting booth, wheel alignment machine, Dynojet, water spray booth to check for leaks, lighted inspection tunnel, etc. The facility currently employs 160 and runs on one shift. At the end of the day, they play musical chairs with the wheeled dollies used to hold and transport the assemblies, moving each to its next station. When I got on the floor, my car was at station #9 and three techs were installing the interior door panels, seats and other interior trim. The rest of my GT was essentially complete except for mounting of its wheels/tires. From there, it will go onto the Dyno, water leak test, a Multimatic inspection followed by a 4 hour final QC inspection by Ford personnel in a very bright florescent light booth. It will also get its “portrait” taken in that booth and owners will get that pic, along with some others of your car taken as the build process progressed. Production remains at the target of 5 cars completed per week.
The cars are then ready for shipping by Reliable. I’d say there were around 15 cars there in various stages of assembly and several more finished, either at inspection or waiting for shipment scheduling. Five cars are transported in a Reliable big rig, so they obviously try to group cars geographically for each delivery trip.
Surprisingly, there is a distinct lack of power tools used in the assembly operations, with the exception of the occasional die grinder. Mostly hand tools and torque wrenches are used, with “Blue” ones that electronically transmit the torque data to a QC database. Build Books similar to ’05 and ’06 GT’s are in use and EVERY operation is signed off by a tech or supervisor. I asked if it would be possible to get the Build Book for J143, however Pearce advised they must be retained by Ford for liability reasons. I think a few may have "escaped" Wixom last time but mums the word on that.
The paint finish and panel fit are the best I’ve ever seen ... even the (huge) Brembo brake calipers have a show quality paint job. Over 600 manhours in the body painting processes alone.
One of the race cars was on the floor and a large group from Ford Ganassi Racing was visiting and were being taken through by Larry Holt. I was hoping to see Raj and talk him into taking a minute for a pic with me next to my car, but no such luck.
All in all, a great day and well worth the time and effort. I highly recommend you visit Markham when your GT is within its assembly window as it's the experience of a lifetime and will add greatly to your overall NFGT experience to see firsthand how these magnificent cars are constructed. It's wonderful that Ford has offered this tour and provided a one-on-one knowledgeable guide like Pearce to walk you and up to three of your friends or family travelling with you through the Multimatic facility.
Looks like my GT should be delivered in late July or early August so stay tuned for pics of that blessed event.
usmcfred
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