Massena Castings Plant | |
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Operated | 1959–2009 |
Location | Massena, New York |
Coordinates | 44°59′03″N74°44′02″W / 44.9843°N 74.73402°W |
Industry | Automotive |
Products | Engine blocks, cylinder heads, crankcase, clutches, pistons |
Owner(s) | General Motors |
Massena Castings Plant (also known as the Central Foundry Division) [1] was a General Motors aluminium casting foundry located in Massena, New York. The plant utilized the die casting and lost-foam casting processes, operating from 1959 to May 2009. It was originally built to cast engine blocks and cylinder heads for the Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 engine used in the Chevrolet Corvair from 1960 until 1969. [2] Aluminum parts included the block, heads, flywheel housing, crankcase cover, clutch housing, and pistons. 92 lb (41.7 kg) of aluminum was used in each engine.
New casting and machining techniques had to be developed to produce the light-alloy parts. The aluminum parts were cast with a low-pressure casting technique using machines built and installed by Karl Schmidt GmbH of Neckarsulm, Germany. [3] [4] All of the engines were assembled at GM's Tonawanda Engine plant. [4] It was represented by UAW Local 465, Massena, NY. It contributed to the casting needs provided by Saginaw Metal Casting Operations and Defiance Foundry.
After the Corvair was cancelled the factory switched to casting the engine block and cylinder heads for the Chevrolet 2300 engine used in the Chevrolet Vega GM H platform, the Iron Duke engine used in both the GM N platform and GM L platform, and the General Motors 122 engine for the GM J-body cars. The facility was in close proximity to the Alcoa factory and was next to a border entry point between the United States and Canada. The locations boundaries were the St. Lawrence River to the north, the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation to the east, the Raquette River to the south and property owned by Alcoa and CSX to the west. The address is 56 Chevrolet Rd, Rooseveltown, NY 13683. The factory was closed despite efforts to renegotiate a labor contract. [5] [6]
The Chevrolet Corvair is a rear-engined, air-cooled compact car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet over two generations between 1960 and 1969. A response to the Volkswagen Beetle, it was offered in 4-door sedan, 2-door coupe, convertible, 4-door station wagon, passenger van, commercial van, and pickup truck body styles in its first generation (1960–1964), and as a 2-door coupe, convertible or 4-door hardtop in its second (1965–1969). Total production was approximately 1.8 million vehicles from 1960 until 1969.
The Y platform, or Y body, designation has been used twice by the General Motors Corporation to describe a series of vehicles all built on the same basic body and sharing many parts and characteristics. The first was for a group of entry-level compacts including the conventional front-engine compacts built by GM divisions Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac from 1961 to 1963. The second, and current, incarnation is used for a high-end rear-wheel drive sports-car platform from the 1970s through the 2000s.
The General Motors LS-based small-block engines are a family of V8 and offshoot V6 engines designed and manufactured by American automotive company General Motors. First introduced in 1997, the family is a continuation of the earlier first- and second-generation Chevrolet small-block engine, of which over 100 million have been produced altogether, and is also considered to be one of the most popular V8 engines ever. Spanning three generations, a new, sixth generation is expected to enter production soon. Various small-block V8s were and still are available as crate engines.
The Chevrolet "big-block" engine is a term for a series of large-displacement, naturally-aspirated, 90°, overhead valve, gasoline-powered, V8 engines; that were developed and produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors, from the 1950s until present.
The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of gasoline-powered V8 automobile engines, produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors between 1954 and 2003, using the same basic engine block. Referred to as a "small-block" for its size relative to the physically much larger Chevrolet big-block engines, the small-block family spanned from 262 cu in (4.3 L) to 400 cu in (6.6 L) in displacement. Engineer Ed Cole is credited with leading the design for this engine. The engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations in Saginaw, Michigan.
The Chevrolet 2300 is a 2.3 L; 139.6 cu in (2,287 cc) inline-four engine produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1971 to 1977 model years of the Chevrolet Vega and Chevrolet Monza. This engine was also offered in the 1973-74 Pontiac Astre, the 1975-77 Pontiac Astre, the Pontiac Sunbird for 1976 only, and the Oldsmobile Starfire for 1976-77.
The Duramax V8 engine is a family of 6.6-liter diesel V8 engines produced by DMAX, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors in Moraine, Ohio. The Duramax block and heads are supplied from reliable vendors of General Motors. This engine was initially installed in 2001 Chevrolet and GMC trucks, and has since become an option in pickups, vans, and medium-duty trucks. In 2006, production at Moraine was reportedly limited to approximately 200,000 engines per year. On May 9, 2007, DMAX announced the production of the 1,000,000th Duramax V8 at its Moraine facility, followed by the 2,000,000th on March 24, 2017.
The Buick V8 is a family of V8 engines produced by the Buick division of General Motors (GM) between 1953 and 1981. All were 90° water-cooled V8 OHV pushrod engines, and all were naturally aspirated except one turbocharged version of the 215.
The Z platform or Z-body automobile platform designation was used on three different types of vehicles made by General Motors not including their trucks.
The Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 is a flat-six air-cooled automobile engine developed by General Motors (GM) in the late 1950s for use in the rear-engined Chevrolet Corvair of the 1960s. It was used in the entire Corvair line, as well as a wide variety of other applications.
The Powerglide is a two-speed automatic transmission designed by General Motors. It was available primarily on Chevrolet from January 1950 through 1973, although some Pontiac models also used this automatic transmission after the fire at the Hydra-Matic factory in 1953. Powerglides were used extensively on Pontiacs produced for the Canadian market with Chevrolet powertrains. They were also used with Nova engines in the DJ-5A Jeeps produced 1968-1970 by Kaiser-Jeep and widely used as delivery vehicles by the United States Post Office. When introduced on upper-level Chevrolet models in 1950, the Powerglide represented the first automatic transmission offered in a low-priced automobile; in contrast, Ford did not offer their automatic transmission until 1951, while Plymouth car buyers had to wait until 1954. The transmission was simple and very durable, which satisfied customers.
Flint Assembly is an automobile factory operated by General Motors in Flint, Michigan. It is the city's only vehicle assembly plant after the closure of Buick City. Flint Truck Assembly is also GM's oldest, still operating assembly plant in North America. As of 2022, the Flint factory currently produces full-size pickup trucks. Engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations, internal engine components were created at Bay City Powertrain and Grand Rapids Operations, and the engines were then assembled at Tonawanda Engine and Romulus Engine. For most of the 20th century Flint Assembly was the home factory for all Chevrolet vehicles.
Flint Engine Operations is a General Motors automobile engine factory in Flint, Michigan. The plant opened in 2002 and is named to replace the Flint North engine plant. The plant currently produces the small four-cylinder SGE and Duramax I6 engines. The factory receives cast engine blocks from Defiance Foundry in Defiance, Ohio and Saginaw Metal Casting Operations in Saginaw, Michigan. It replaced Flint North.
The General Motors H platform is an automobile platform used by subcompact cars from the 1971 to 1980 model years. The first subcompact car design developed by GM, the rear-wheel drive H platform initially underpinned the Chevrolet Vega and its Pontiac Astre counterpart. For 1975, the H platform was expanded from entry-level vehicles to sport compacts, adding the Chevrolet Monza, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Starfire, and Pontiac Sunbird.
Rooseveltown is a hamlet in the town of Massena, New York, United States located in St. Lawrence County. It is near the eastern town line, by the Raquette River.
Tonawanda Engine is a General Motors engine factory in Buffalo, New York. The plant consists of three facilities totaling 3.1 million square feet (290,000 m2) and sits upon 190 acres (77 ha). The factory receives cast engine blocks from Defiance Foundry in Defiance, Ohio and Saginaw Metal Casting Operations in Saginaw, Michigan, and received engine block castings and cylinder heads from the former Massena Castings Plant in Massena, New York.
Oakland Assembly was a Chevrolet manufacturing facility located in Elmhurst, Oakland, California. It was the first automobile plant established in Northern California to build Chevrolet vehicles. In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry's first West Coast assembly plant in Oakland. Production of the Chevrolet Series 490 began on Sept. 23, 1916, while World War I was taking place.
The Chevrolet Testudo is a concept car built by Bertone on a modified Chevrolet Corvair Monza platform. The name comes from the Latin word for "Turtle". The car debuted at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show.
The Chevrolet TrailBlazer is a mid-size SUV produced by Chevrolet, a division of General Motors. The nameplate was first used in North America from 2001 to 2008; in 2009, it was replaced by the Traverse, as a crossover SUV. In 2011, production of a newly-redesigned version of the Trailblazer for the Asian and Brazilian markets began.
Saginaw Metal Casting Operations is an automobile engine foundry plant in Saginaw, Michigan. Opened under GM management in 1919, the factory produces engine blocks and cylinder heads for General Motors vehicles. The factory currently occupies 1.9 million square feet on 490 acres. Historically in September 1927 it was known as the Chevrolet Grey Iron Foundry. In the past when it was called GM-Saginaw Product Company (SPC) a cloverleaf casting symbol mark was cast onto the iron component.
44°59′03″N74°44′02″W / 44.984298°N 74.7340217°W