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This is a continuation from the Day #1 thread. My son and I woke up @ 5AM to get breakfast, drink alot of water (water bottles are not allowed on the floor by guests) and get to the plant by 6AM to meet Peter. We picked up where we left off and saw:
* The side panel go onto the driver side door.
* The engine come around and get the VIN# etched on it while seeing the VIN# on the LED display above the engine.
* The engine line merge with the drive train line and the engine marry to the drive train.
* The frame/top come from above (swapping from the line on the other aisle) and the two gas tanks get installed.
* The marriage of the drive train & engine and the frame/top
* The front fenders installed
* The rear back black "skirt" which was around 10:30AM
Then things went south and my 9yr. old started to get one of his migraines. We had to leave the plant to get meds and by the time we got back it was 11:45 and he still hadn't recovered. Luckily Peter got pictures of the fluid fill, hood and wheels assembly. He left us in a quite place for my son to recover and LUCKILY it started subsiding about 5 minutes before the birthing of the car!! Phew. He got to birth it ~ 12:30PM CST and then we watched it go through BVT (it passed) and through the water test before it disappeared out the back.
The couple behind us on their buyer's tour with their midnight blue convertible, blue top, brownstone interior didn't pass BVT. There were three failures and it went to sick bay.
While it was unfortunate that we missed some of the coolest parts, we at least will have pictures of those moments. The workers were aware of my son's migraine and were so nice to him at the birthing. It was really special to see how good hearted and genuine those folks are. It really meant a lot to me seeing how much they cared about us seeing the car get built / birthed! It was funny how when we arrived on Monday and burning 30 minutes on the floor waiting for the frame to come down my son was constantly asking me where our car was to the second after he got out of the car from birthing it to asking when can we take it home. He had the hardest time understanding why a car that started perfectly well and drove out the back wasn't ready for us to drive home. When we went back to the NCM, he was asking when our car would be there so we could drive it back home. So, now he is pining away like I am about driving it back home. Word at NCM was that the first batch will be release after the 4th of July weekend. So, if that is the case it looks positive for us flying back out to drive it home on his 10th birthday (7/27)!
Switching topics, there were a couple of interesting things on this day #2 that maybe you would all be interested in. We didn't get to see the window sticker put on the car, but when I did see it just before birthing, I noticed that there was no pricing data on mine, but there was full pricing data on the Z06 ahead of my car (seq #: 1111). I didn't get a chance to run up and down the line at that point to see if the other Z06's had their pricing data.
The most concerning part of the tour was when I saw the grille come around the line for birthing. I never did see that part go on the car as my son was still with his migraine. However, when it came around I was not too happy when I saw the chrome bar on the grille. I ordered the EYT for the chrome bar delete that was included with the 2016. As everyone knows, this was presented at the Bash in April and is in the 2016 promotional documents that were posted on the forum. All the EYT's on the line that I saw had the chrome bar, so it wasn't something particular to my car. I have notified Mac Mulkin and NCM about this to see what the reason is and if/how it will get resolved. I don't really want to paint it or swap it out with the Z06 grille.
Outside of that little issue, the whole Buyer's Tour is an INCREDIBLE experience. It's worth every penny and I have to admit there is already an attachment with the car that I have never had with my previous Corvette's by witnessing it all come together and having faces associated with each part of the process. My son and I got to see it emerge from a frame/top to a car that he got to birth. An absolute incredible experience.
Peter Asposito is also an incredible guide. When I do this for my second son, I will insist that he is my guide again. The guy waited for us to come back and with his knowledge of the line he knew when he had to cut bait and get back to get the important shots we were going to miss out on. I would highly recommend requesting Peter if you do the buyer's tour. He made it a memorable experience for us.
Sorry your son had to SUFFER on such a fun day. I can appreciate the pain. I have had to deal with them since I was a teen.
The information on the chrome grill bar is disappointing. I also ordered the carbon flash and don't want a chrome grill bar. I suspect there is a supplier issue with the new grill and they are substituting the chrome. My car was produced this week as well. It should have just behind yours. Let us know what response you get on the grill issue.
Here are the pictures that NCM sent me from the Buyer's Tour. Supposedly it will be 6-8 weeks before I get the photo album with the 20 pictures that they pick out. The wheels that are on the car are not the ones that will stay on the car. I’m not keeping the base wheels as the wheels I want (http://www.karlperformanceparts.com/.../19302119a.jpg) only come as RPO, so I will get them swapped when I come back out for R8C.
Thanks for sharing Kevin. I would love to do this one day with my son when he is old enough. (he's only 2 now)
My son will be 10 on 7/27. If we didn't have the car split being built between two days, he wouldn't have made it. He had a hard time standing that long. His attention was fine. Occasionally he was allowed to sit down, but I think they might have made some exceptions since he was a kid. For my youngest, I think I will wait till he is 12 to do it. My guide said that he has some older folks come through and they have to go back to the cafeteria and sit down because they are not used to standing that long.
You are more standing than walking because the line moves very slowly (i.e. it was 9 hours just for the parts that we saw).
My son will be 10 on 7/27. If we didn't have the car split being built between two days, he wouldn't have made it. He had a hard time standing that long. His attention was fine. Occasionally he was allowed to sit down, but I think they might have made some exceptions since he was a kid. For my youngest, I think I will wait till he is 12 to do it. My guide said that he has some older folks come through and they have to go back to the cafeteria and sit down because they are not used to standing that long.
You are more standing than walking because the line moves very slowly (i.e. it was 9 hours just for the parts that we saw).
Thanks for the advice. Yes I think I'll wait another 10 years or so for my next Corvette anyway
I took my 11 year old to the museum with my '11 GS, about 1-1/2 months ago. The factory tour was awesome. At the beginning of the tour, one of the workers walked over, shook my son's hand and gave him a sealed Hot Wheels Corvette that had the plant sticker affixed and was signed by the line worker. Made my son's day.
Then at the end of the tour, I asked another worker if my son could give life to a new Vette. Fotuneatly, there was a black Z51 A8 car at the end of the line, and the worker grabbed my son and allowed him to start the car. He was in heaven once again. We ended up purchasing a Stingray frame from the museum store and framed the certificate he received when he gave birth.
The folks at the plant are all passionate about their jobs and roles in the process. It is very refreshing and encouraging to see. I am heading back down to the museum in August some time, for my delivery (TPW 7/20) with my son, and we are looking forward to another father/son experience.
He is a car guy for life and the time spent together is priceless.
A great time for you and your son. We did the factory VIP tour On 7/2 and saw another couple doing a buyers tour. Everyone who owns a vette should do some kind of factory tour at least once at least once
On a side note there were quite a few ZO6,s on the line and many had the ZO7 package. Our guide Thomas told us that because of all the ZO6 orders their engine dept can't keep up an some engines are built in Tonawanda NY. Good to see GM selling a lot of vettes.
I took my 11 year old to the museum with my '11 GS, about 1-1/2 months ago. The factory tour was awesome. At the beginning of the tour, one of the workers walked over, shook my son's hand and gave him a sealed Hot Wheels Corvette that had the plant sticker affixed and was signed by the line worker. Made my son's day.
Then at the end of the tour, I asked another worker if my son could give life to a new Vette. Fotuneatly, there was a black Z51 A8 car at the end of the line, and the worker grabbed my son and allowed him to start the car. He was in heaven once again. We ended up purchasing a Stingray frame from the museum store and framed the certificate he received when he gave birth.
The folks at the plant are all passionate about their jobs and roles in the process. It is very refreshing and encouraging to see. I am heading back down to the museum in August some time, for my delivery (TPW 7/20) with my son, and we are looking forward to another father/son experience.
He is a car guy for life and the time spent together is priceless.
Was that guys name Chris? He did that for my boy. When he found out I had a younger boy he did the same thing. He was wearing a bandanna both days I saw him.
A great time for you and your son. We did the factory VIP tour On 7/2 and saw another couple doing a buyers tour. Everyone who owns a vette should do some kind of factory tour at least once at least once
On a side note there were quite a few ZO6,s on the line and many had the ZO7 package. Our guide Thomas told us that because of all the ZO6 orders their engine dept can't keep up an some engines are built in Tonawanda NY. Good to see GM selling a lot of vettes.
Aren't the ceramic rotors on the Z07 package just awesome to see go by?! When was on the line there had been almost 500 Z06's produced.
That is an awesome write up and story. The grin on your sons face is priceless. I'm taking my 13yo son to do the VIP tour in August. He has no idea we are going, he just knows we are visiting grandparents. He suffers too from migrains. Hopefully your doc can help your son. It's taken years, but my son has finally started making a little progress with them. They still
Can't figure out why he has them.
Again, great story. Thanks for sharing the pics.
07-01-2015, 12:57 AM
Factory Tour Day #2
experience you and your son are having. Hope you do end up being able to pick the car up on your son's birthday.
