How Studebaker Automobiles Are Made 
A Heart-to-Heart Story. No. 3 
In this series of articles concerning 
the manufacture of Studebaker automo¬ 
biles we have already described the four 
main opening channels of the Stude¬ 
baker factories—the forge shop, foun¬ 
dry, steel stamping mill and heat-treat¬ 
ing ovens—and also some of the many 
intricate milling and grinding operations 
which must all be wisely planned and 
well done before even the single parts 
of a Studebaker car are ready for as¬ 
sembling. 
This issue describes farther steps in 
manufacturing which carry the car 
towards completion. 
From the time some mighty forge 
hammers a molten block of steel into 
the form of a finished part, that part 
A motor assembling department. The stack is drawn from 
bins at either side. 
starts on a long journey through the 
Studebaker factories. It is milled, 
ground, heated white hot, baked, tem¬ 
pered and ground again in the course 
of its journey, but ever the process 
brings it one stage nearer its final ad¬ 
justment in the finished car. The pro¬ 
cess is ceaseless. That stream which 
we call production always goes on. 
Because Studebaker manufacture is 
organized in this way we are able to 
get better workmen at every point in 
the process. And this is how we do it: 
The men who grind Studebaker gears, 
for example, are master mechanics of 
a single job. They grind gears, and 
nothing else. It is skilled labor brought 
to a high degree of specialization—inci¬ 
dentally, too, very well paid. As Shef¬ 
field workmen are famous for cutlery 
and South Bend watchmakers for 
watches—so Detroit workmen are fa¬ 
mous for skill in building automobiles. 
And in no plant is there more attention 
paid to high standards and the most 
efficient labor than in the Studebaker 
factories. 
The Studebaker factories have been 
making automobiles for years, and our 
financial and factory resources are large 
—naturally this draws to us the best 
workmen, because we can offer them 
regular employment. We keep our mc-i, 
and as we keep them they gain in 
specialized expertness. This is one of 
the important reasons why a concern 
like the Studebaker Corporation is able 
to produce the very highest quality of 
goods. 
From each of the departments, as 
parts are completed they are sent to the 
big stock rooms where they are laid 
away until assigned to the assembly 
departments; but before they are ac¬ 
cepted by the stock department they are 
put through a final test, which is in 
addition to the many tests they have 
had during the process of their manu¬ 
facture. 
We want you to appreciate this kind 
of organization. We maintain a sep¬ 
arate department known as the efficiency 
department. This group of engineers 
study the methods and organization of 
Studebaker plants and constantly seek 
to improve them. All the machines, 
benches and shops are charted. The 
journey of every part is charted on big 
paper charts which show exactly how 
it passes through the factory. The 
efficiency engineers study how this jour¬ 
ney can be shortened; how handling 
can be reduced; how by manufacturing 
universal joints for example, in one 
shop instead of another a little less 
time will be consumed in the process; 
how the change of a bench here, the 
addition of an electric light there, will 
enable time and money to be saved. 
And all this means a better car for less 
money. 
The department where the parts are 
brought together in a car is called an 
assembling department. There are six 
great assembling departments in the 
Studebaker factories; the small parts 
assembly; the motor assembly; the rear 
axle assembly; the steering gear assem¬ 
bly ; the control assembly and the 
chassis or final assembly. 
In the small parts assembly small 
units of two or three parts are put to¬ 
gether. For instance, the clutch, the 
universal joints and other similar small 
units are assembled and made ready to 
join with the larger assemblies in the 
chassis. 
The motor assembly is one of the 
most important assembling department 
Enameling room where the finiah is baked on Studebaker 
fenders and hoods. The emamel is baked for hours at 
a time. 
in the factories. Here the cylinders, 
the crank shaft, the cam shaft and 
other parts are brought together and 
built into a motor. Expert workman¬ 
ship is absolutely necessary. If the 
motor is to run true there must not be 
the slightest looseness or any distortion 
or unevenness of balance. In fact, each 
pair of pistons and connecting rods are 
balanced to within a fraction of an 
ounce so that the crank shaft will re¬ 
volve perfectly smoothly. 
Did you ever think how rapidly the 
parts of a motor must move and how, 
in a good motor, every part must be 
fitted true to the last degree of accu¬ 
racy? It is because of the fine work¬ 
manship that Studebaker motors run so 
silently. You can seldom hear them, 
and so efficiently that Studebaker mo¬ 
tors deliver, through the transmission 
to the rear wheels, a larger proportion 
of the power developed by the explod¬ 
ing gas than any other motor yet de¬ 
signed. 
When the motor is assembled it is 
clamped to a solid frame and belted 
to an electric motor which drives it for 
several hours under heavy lubrication, 
in order to “work in” all the bearings. 
Later the same motor is taken to the 
motor test room and run for many 
hours under its own power. If a 
“knock” or any imperfection should de¬ 
velop it is corrected then and there. 
In this motor room 75 motors are con¬ 
stantly running under their own power, 
yet it is so quiet that no one needs to 
speak above an ordinary tone of voice 
A final or chassis assembly room in the Studebaker factories. 
Notice the traveling crane in the foreground. 
Before a Studebaker motor is finally 
approved it is tested for horsepower 
by a dynomometer. If it shows up 
perfect in every respect it is passed to 
the chassis assembly to be placed in its 
chassis. 
If you will reflect a little here you 
will see how perfect must be our sys¬ 
tem of manufacture in order that the 
different parts of a car may be drawn 
from stock and yet always each exactly 
fit the other. If we did not manufac¬ 
ture to the finest limits the cost of as¬ 
sembling would be prohibitive. This 
is how an owner in Bombay, India, or 
in Mobile, Alabama, or anywhere in the 
world, may send to us for any part 
needed or any car we ever built and 
get a part which may be slipped into the 
car and fit exactly. This is what we 
call real interchangeability of parts. 
Another important assembly depart¬ 
ment is where the rear axle and trans¬ 
mission are built up, in much the same 
way as the motor. When the rear axle 
and transmission are ready they are 
belted to an electric motor. It will be 
remembered that these gears have al¬ 
ready been tested for accuracy and 
silence. They are now tested in per¬ 
manent relation to each other and must 
be perfect before they are passed. It is 
such care as this which is producing 
Studebaker rear axles on the new cars 
which are noiseless at all speeds. 
When the rear axle passes its final 
test it is sent to the chassis or final 
assembly. 
These rooms are huge and in them 
150 cars are built at one time. Labor 
is reduced to a minimum. Electrically- 
driven traveling cranes run the length 
of the room and the chasses pass down 
the line of workmen, each doing his 
part as the cars pass by. One skilled 
workman places the steering gear or 
the control mechanism in the chasis; 
The $1290 Studebaker “35” 
Electrically started and lighted, *tx passengers. Price with equipment complete, f. o. b. Detro it. 
two others working together place the 
springs on the frame; two more put in 
the axles; others bolt in the motor, and 
so on until the chasis is completed. 
If you have read between the lines of 
this story you have already seen how 
quantity production not only lowers 
prices, but also does better work. The 
effect of specialized skilled labor is 
everywhere apparent in the finished 
Studebaker car. 
When the chassis is finally finished it 
is ready for the road test. The final 
adjustment of the carburetor must be 
made and the little finishing touches 
which tune up the car to prepare it for 
the owner's hands. 
We have 35 testers, young men and 
automobile experts, who put a rough 
body on the chassis and take it out for 
a long, hard drive on the country roads. 
It is run at slow, medium and highest 
speeds over hills and through sand. Of 
course on the road test old wheels and 
tires are used. The skilled eye of the 
driver watches every part of the car. 
and his ear detects instantly any varia¬ 
tion or defect in the car’s running capa¬ 
bilities. Any necessary minor adjust¬ 
ments are made on the road and when 
the tester returns he turns in to an in¬ 
spector a complete report on the car. 
If changes are necessary, they are made, 
and when the inspector finally passes it, 
the car is sent to the painting depart¬ 
ment, where it is cleaned by steam to 
take off every particle of oil, sand and 
dirt. 
We have gone over these matters in 
detail, because in the aggregate they 
account for the remarkable value of 
Studebaker cars. We want you to be¬ 
lieve in Studebaker cars, because you 
know that they are manufactured by 
most efficient, honest and up-to-date 
methods. It is for such reasons that 
friendship and confidence grow strong, 
A jection of the motor test room. In this room 75 motors 
are tested under their own power at one time, yet it is 
so quiet that the workmen speak in ordinary tones. 
and we hope you will come to have real 
friendship for and confidence in Stude¬ 
baker cars and Studebaker business 
principles. 
The fourth of this series—and next 
to the last—will appear in the March 
15 th issue. It will be worth reading. 
Remember to look for it. 
Many other [important matters of 
Studebaker automobile manufacture we 
have described in our “ Proof Book.” It 
explains things about an automobile 
which few people know, but which every 
buyer ought to know. It is free. Send 
for it now on the coupon below. 
THREE GREAT CARS 
Studebaker “25” Touring Car, $885 
5 passenger—Qas starter 
Studebaker “35” Touring Car, $1290 
6 passenger—electric lights, electric 
self-starter 
Studebaker “Six” Touring Car, $ 1550 
6 passenger—electric lights, electric 
self-starter 
A ll prices; completely equipped f. o. b. Detroit 
The Studebaker 
Corporation, - 
Detroit, 
Mich. 
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