Access to original manufacturing drawings

[Gary_Ash]

I feel fortunate, as the owner of multiple Studebakers, that I have access to the company's original manufacturing drawings through the archives at the Studebaker National Museum (SNM).  Andy Beckman, the archivist, can arrange for volunteers to search the 70 tons (!) of drawings for a particular part number, make prints, and send them out at minimal cost.  It helps that the original parts catalogs and service manuals back to about 1914 are readily available from Faxon Auto Literature at reasonable cost.  I've obtained drawings for axle parts dating back to the 1920s, bed-sheet size drawings for complete straight 8 engine blocks, and others through the end of production in 1966.  Museum policy is that paper prints can be sent out but they won't send a digital file.

 

The drawings survived by luck, as they had been donated to Syracuse University when the factory shut down.  They moldered in some storage trailers for many years, then Syracuse gave them to the SNM, where they are now cared for in a modern facility.  Unfortunately, at the time of the 1966 shut-down, all of the engineering technical reports were deliberately destroyed to avoid long-term lawsuits.  My wife and I recently donated to a fund-raising campaign at the SNM to buy a high-speed book scanner to make other documents available digitally.  The museum would welcome other donations.

 

 How many other car brands have a collection of drawings available?  Where are they stored and how does anyone get copies?  What is the policy of GM, Ford, Chrysler/FCA, etc. on access to old drawings?  What material is in the AACA library?  I once tried to get copies of a 1941 ring-and-pinion carrier drawing from Dana/Spicer but they wouldn't do it because of liability issues.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Gary_Ash (see edit history)

[Bloo]

I have long been under the impression that very little factory documentation exists for Studebakers made before the move of auto production from Detroit to South Bend. Is that still true or has more been found?

 

The Hupmobile club have acquired the existing factory blueprints for Hupmobiles and are currently in a whirlwind effort to catalogue and digitize them. I understand this is a huge collection, possibly close to complete, not some small subset of the cars and parts that were produced.

 

[8E45E]

According to E.T. Reynolds' autobiography in the old Car Classics magazine,  Syracuse University received "two boxcars" on their RR siding, both full with Studebaker archives, now returned to the SMN.

What I would really like to see and help fund is a microfilm reader that makes copies, an item that many public libraries had or still have.  Pre-1959 Studebaker Production Orders are stored on microfilm and are currently transcripted by museum staff to a reproduction paper Production Order.  There has been many with spelling mistakes and hand-scribbled notes that are missed.

 

I believe a lot of Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg drawings still survive.  Not to mention "Walt G." here on the forum has all kinds of priceless engineering photos and other documents from various manufacturers that are now defunct.

 

Craig

Edited January 28, 2022 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[hidden_hunter]

I get the impression all of the Cadillac ones remain in their possession 

[AzBob]

It is fortunate that either by luck or someone in corporate had the foresight to preserve manufacturing drawings.

 

I recently ordered a copy of an engineering drawing for a Model A Ford engine part from the Benson Ford Research center in Dearborn, MI. The process was to provide the drawing number obtained from the Model A Ford Foundation (MAFFI) submit the number along with a $35. check to the Henry Ford.

[JCHansen1]

There are some collections of original Franklin manufacturing drawings in storage at the Gilmore. Lots of Checker drawings, and I think they maybe they have some Cole stuff too. I was leafing through a few VERY old flat-file cabinets looking at different Franklin parts drawings about a week ago when I was there going through some other stuff. They are just outrageously cool as far as I'm concerned. I'd say each drawer I opened smelled about 100 years old... 

[Mark Shaw]

The Horseless Carriage Foundation has the world's largest digital archive of all things automotive.

 

(hcfi.org)

[Laura S]

The Franklin club has many drawings available on our website if you are a member. I have used them many times. They are invaluable.

[Greg H.]

The Willys Overland Knight Registry has parts and full body drawings for Overland, Knight, Whippet, & Willys produced between 1907 and 1947. The drawings were donated to the club in 1974 when American Motors owned what was left of the W.O. Corporation. It was reported that they collected over 5 tons of drawings. A number of years ago, the club started digitizing the drawings giving easy access to the files to club members. It's an invaluable resource when restoring an orphan car. 

 

Greg

[Layden B]

Overland is not truly an "orphan" car!

[Bloo]

What does the rest of it look like?

[Graham Man]

The Graham Owners Club International was able to purchase a large amount of Graham-Paige drawings and are in the process of digitizing and cataloging them.  Like the two boxcar example, I believe these are just a small amount of the drawing that had existed at one time.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Graham Man (see edit history)

[Stude Light]

Having been a former employee of GM and vintage car enthusiast, I found that the company has not been good steward of their history. Cadillac did preserve much of their vehicle order history but I've never found much in the way of vintage engineering info or drawings for anything. As far as getting documentation....it was a royal pain just to get some vintage competitive test reports on 1920 and 1930 Studebakers released to the SNM. It wasn't even on a GM product and people were concerned about liability!

 

Think of all the historic brands (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Viking, Marquette, Buick, LaSalle, Cadillac, GMC) and corporate buildings since 1899 when their oldest brand, Olds Motors Works, was formed. Now tell me what is the oldest building that GM still owns? It's Flint Truck Assembly - built in 1947. All their other historic buildings have been torn down or sold off. 

[8E45E]

8 hours ago, Stude Light said:

Now tell me what is the oldest building that GM still owns? It's Flint Truck Assembly - built in 1947. All their other historic buildings have been torn down or sold off. 

From a business perspective, that makes sense when it comes to economics and efficiency.  No manufacturer (except Studebaker) is going to produce new cars & trucks with modern manufacturing techniques in an old, outdated factory.  We can be thankful the old 14 story GM headquarters was purchased by a group that is sympathetic to its history before they moved to the RennCen that competitor, Henry Ford financed.

 

Craig 

[Bill Boudway]

I'm aware that the Packard drawings have survived.

[Stude Light]

1 hour ago, 8E45E said:

From a business perspective, that makes sense when it comes to economics and efficiency.  No manufacturer (except Studebaker) is going to produce new cars & trucks with modern manufacturing techniques in an old, outdated factory.  We can be thankful the old 14 story GM headquarters was purchased by a group that is sympathetic to its history before they moved to the RennCen that competitor, Henry Ford financed.

 

Craig 

And they still went bankrupt while rival Ford, who had a rich history of preservation, is the only surviving original US car manufacturer. “GM Company” is not the same GM Corporation that was set up in 1908.

 

I agree, you don’t want to build in antiquated factories but they could have saved one original building in Lansing or Hamtramck or Detroit or Pontiac or Flint or ….. Just turn it into a modern office space inside or somewhere to showcase your past. Instead they bought an old Durant-Dort carriage factory (later built Dort cars), invested millions and called it Factory One. It’s a really cool building and converted to a modern office area while maintaining the vintage look inside but, other than Billy Durant working there and maybe drafting up GM incorporation documents across the street, it doesn’t have much of a tie back to GM.