Hi,

I've scheduled a Toyota plant tour for:

Oct. 8, 2007, Columbus Day, 10:00 AM (Eastern Time Zone)
1001 Cherry Blossom Way
Georgetown, KY 40324
Seats: 15, first-come basis
For security reasons, you need to e-mail or PM me with:

• names
• address with zip code
• phone numbers
• e-mail addresses

I will need them by October 1, 2007. For a preview of the tour:

http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/tour.asp

I'll be driving up on Sunday, Oct. 7 and bring tools and stuff. As we get closer to the event, we'll publish more details. IF you have a Prius and would like an engine block heater installation, I understand there will be several of us 'old hands' about to 'do the deed.'

If you'd like to help with organizing and offering resources, contact me and we'll put it on the agenda.

Bob Wilson

ps. I hang out here, PriusChat.com and the Prius Technical Group. Feel free to share this announcement with other folks who may want to see Camry Hybrids being built.

* * * * From Toyota Plant Tour Group * * * *
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK) looks forward to your visit. Your tour has been confirmed for Monday, Oct 08, 2007 at 10:00 am.
Total number in your group: 15. If you are unable to make your tour time or if the number in your group changes, please call our tour representative.

TMMK maintains a safe and secure environment so please be aware of the following guidelines:

- No carry-on is permitted in the Visitor Center, including purses, backpacks, briefcases, or bags of any kind.

- A valid photo ID will be required for each adult scheduled for the tour.

- Cameras are allowed in the Visitor Center, but must be checked at the registration desk before the plant tour.

- Children with individual families must be in 1st grade or above to take the tour. School groups must be 4th grade or above.

Groups of ten or more must e-mail or fax to the Visitor Center a list of individual names one week prior to scheduled tour.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing reserves the right to reschedule any tour that, after scheduled, might interfere in some way with production.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________________


Directions to plant: TMMK is located just off Interstate 75.

From Louisville: Interstate 64 East to Interstate 75 north, exit 126.
Turn right at the bottom of the ramp and travel 2.5 miles to the Visitor Entrance. This entrance has a large gray granite stone, which has Toyota in large red letters and Visitor Entrance marked on the stone as well.

From Lexington: Interstate 75 north, exit 126. Same as above.

From Cincinnati: Interstate 75 south, exit 129. Turn left and travel 2.5 miles to Visitor Entrance. This entrance has a large gray granite stone, which has Toyota in large red letters and Visitor Entrance marked on the stone as well.

Please follow signs to Visitor Center Parking.

 

I have been on this tour and it is awesome. They weren't producing the hybrid yet, but they were getting ready to re-tool to start.

If you can make it I highly recommend going to this.
Then try to take a tour of an american car plant.... I will wager that you will start buying toyotas or hondas.

 

If I was at my parents' in Ohio, 3 hour drive not hypermiling. I am in Maryland though, so 9 hour drive, not hypermiling...

They probably wouldn't let my HCH into the parking lot anyway!

 

They don't care. At our visit over the MLK holiday we had a couple of HCHs. Really, it doesn't matter what kind of hybrid (or not) you drive. The plant tour is fascinating.

BTW, I scheduled the tour for Monday 10:00 AM and it finishes up right around noon. If you come the day before and get a good night's rest, you can be home by 10:00 PM. Put a good charge on your camera batteries.

Bob Wilson

 

Just a reminder, the tour is four weeks from today.

Bob Wilson

 

900 miles, 14 hours. Hmm. If it just wasn't SO far...

Why couldn't they have done this years ago when I LIVED in TN?

 

Hi,

It looks like we may have 2-3 extra seats. IF you are interested, send me a PM and we'll work out the details.

The agenda now includes a Sunday afternoon, Oct. 7, of block heaters, technical talk and a cook-out (Thanks Jud!) It promises to be a great time to share original approaches to Prius and hybrid studies. If you need just a block heater installation and are near Ft. Thomas, KY on Sunday, send me a PM.
Bob Wilson

 

On Sunday, Jud and Sonya Engles hosted a block party with Wayne Mitchell . . . engine block heaters. Well attended, we gathered together for a group photo after the Sunday cookout:
http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/pri_Georgetown.html
(Thanks Hobbit for the photo, more to come.)

The one hour plant tour was awesome but about eight hours too short! They take steel rolls and 22 hours later, roll out a fully assembled and running Camry, Solara, Avalon, or Camry Hybrid. That includes nine hours in the paint shop. Think of the most complex Disneyland animatronics, multiply it by three orders of magnitude engaged in a man-machine dance of incredible precision.

The massive steel rolls are fed into stamp presses tall as a three story house to make the body parts. These are fed to robot welders to spot weld followed by robot MIG welds finishing the bodies and doors. From here the bodies go to the paint shop where they come out nine hours later. The doors are taken off and go via another route to later rejoin the body.

Brake lines and pre-heated wiring (for flexibility) are installed. The wheel hubs are left dangling by the brake lines. Instrument and dash assemblies are installed, the engine and axles, head-liner, bumpers, bumper covers and eventually the doors arrive. Everything is operational and quality checked and finally taken to a train for shipping across the country. The car models are intermixed on the assembly line so there might be an Avalon followed by a Camry, a Solara, a Camry hybrid . . . One third of all Camrys from this plant are hybrids. Absolutely amazing.

For me, seeing a car assembled makes disassembly so much easier. I don't know why but going from a pile of parts to fully working car makes going from a working (or broken) car to parts a lot less intimidating.

I'll be looking for feedback from the team but it looks like either Columbus Day or Veteran's Day are good scheduling times. They correspond to three day, holiday weekends when the weather is less likely to be too hot. The Motel 6 was affordable, clean, quiet and pet friendly next to the plant. Now if we can just find a friendly shop in the area where we could 'rent a bay' for a 'fall tune-up' and tweakin' session. This could turn into an annual, 'bus man's holiday.'

Bob Wilson

 

It's not mentioned who's who?

 

I'm terrible for names so this is just an approximation. The front row consists of Engles son, dog #1, Jenny, Hobbit (photograhper) and "Budda" Wilson (also known as "Bubba" in some circles.) On the left is Wayne Mitchell and family, Richard, Teresa and Judeth, Ying Lin, Sonya Engles and dog #2, daughter Engles, Jud Engles, in the back. In the foreground are Eugene and Nancy Robinson (burgandy shirt). I believe the last three on the right are Alan Roney, Kent Crabtree and Liston Hinson although I may have Alan and Liston reversed.

Once I get confirmation, I'll reorder the text on the web page.

Bob Wilson