Have you ever looked in wonder at a Lego set and all the tiny parts and thought but how can something so small, have so many parts? Have you then looked out at your car and wondered how many parts are used to make it? Well we’ve got some good news for you. In this blog we’ll take you through some of the statistics about cars, how they’re made, what they’re made from and how many parts they include.
Main materials
Perhaps the easiest starting point is to think about the materials that are used to manufacture your car, and unless you happen to have an ultra-expensive supercar then these are likely to include the following: steel, aluminium, copper, glass, plastic and rubber. Steel makes up the majority of the weight of a car around 80% and is one of the most widely used materials in the manufacture of a car. In the usage stakes plastic makes up about 50% of the total usage in the manufacturing process of a standard car.
So now we know what your car is made from let’s take a look at how it’s put together.
Manufacturing process
The manufacturing process brings together the raw parts and puts the car together. It all starts with the chassis which is the frame on which the whole car is built.
Chassis
The chassis is clamped to the production line conveyer belt which allows it to move down the line to the different areas of assembly including front and rear suspension, fuel tank, rear and front axles, gear boxes, steering components and braking systems which are all installed systematically. The engine and transmission are assembled off the production line and then lifted into place using robotic arms.
Body
With the chassis fully primed with the key components it’s time to now assemble the body of the car. The first piece to be added is the floor pan, which is normally the largest body component, and this is held in place with clamping fixtures. Left and right quarter panels are added, as are side panels, door and roof pillars before finally the roof is added. These are all added by robots which are able to lift large loads and carry out highly precise welds at a fast rate. Once the body has been fully assembled with the exception of the doors, boot lid and bonnet, the body is lifted into place and bolted to the chassis.
Painting
At this stage the car undergoes a visual inspection in a white room. Special oiled cloths are used to highlight any defects in the bodywork which are repaired onsite by trained technicians. Once they are happy the car is then sent to be cleaned prior to being painted.
As you can see it is a complicated process to build a car and one that these days is reliant on robots to speed up the process. When a car reaches the end of its usable life it’s time to look at ways to get rid of it. The best option for cars which are no longer usable is to scrap your car for cash.