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A great paint job may not
have much to do with vehicle performance, but it’s one of the
first things a customer notices, and you know what they say about
first impressions! That’s why the team members who work in Truck
and Car Paint spend their workdays making sure the vehicles leaving
the plant look their very best.
Paint takes over where Body and Weld leaves off, and like any paint
job, the bulk of the work is in the preparation. Vehicles first go
through a phosphate bath to remove dirt and oil. Then, a rust-prevention
coating is applied and the vehicle is baked in a huge oven at 320°F
for 20 minutes.
Sealer and two more coatings are added to muffle sound, prevent chips
and waterproof the vehicle. This is followed by a second trip to the
oven, this time for 10 minutes at 230°F.
Primer and interior paint come next. Interiors, trunk and engine compartments
are sprayed manually, while exterior paint is applied by robots. After
team members inspect and sand vehicles to remove any defects, they
are washed, blow dried and baked at 250°F for 10 minutes.
Finally we get to the colorful part of the work. A base coat and -
for all colors except white - clear coat are applied. Again, team
members paint the interiors while robots spray the exteriors. Then
it’s back to the oven for another 45 minutes.
This is followed by another inspection for defects and any repairs
that might be necessary.
Team members in paint wear coveralls and keep their heads covered,
not just to keep paint off themselves, but also to prevent any lint,
pet hair or other contaminants that might be on their clothing from
getting on the paint. Before entering the shop, they pass through
a chamber that blows off any dust.
NUMMI goes to extremes to protect the paint job. Team members cannot
wear deodorant, hair spray, cologne, or other scents that can become
airborne and could pit a vehicle's paint surface.
Another interesting fact is that Tacoma cabs are painted at NUMMI,
but the beds are done at Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Baja
California, then trucked to Fremont for assembly.
From paint, vehicles go to Assembly, but will have to detour to the
Paint Hospital if any damage occurs to the paint job during assembly. |
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