Windsor Casting Plant was an iron foundry owned by
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
in
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The plant opened November 9, 1934 and was located next to the
Windsor Engine Plant
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
*Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
*Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Win ...
in downtown Windsor. It was known to area residents as "the foundry". Internally, it was called WCP.
Operations ceased on May 29, 2007
as part of Ford's "
The Way Forward
Ford Motor Company's restructuring plan, made public in 2006, was known as The Way Forward. Ford was attempting to reduce fixed capital costs while maintaining a special focus on cars and car-based crossover vehicles. Over time, it hoped to make ...
" plan.
During its time in operation, it was one of Canada's largest recyclers.
[ It recycled any kind of scrap metal with iron in it. In 1998, the foundry used the scrap metal from the demolition of neighbouring Windsor Engine #1 to cast 175,000 engine blocks. Although being considered an outdated facility, WCP was frequently awarded with many quality and environmental awards.
Windsor Casting and the adjacent engine plant were the original production location and namesake for the ]Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
V8 engine.
Plant facts
Size:
* on a site
Employees at time of closure:
* approximately 560 hourly, 40 salaried[
Products at time of closure:
* cast iron cylinder blocks – 4.2-liter V6][
* crankshafts – 3.9-liter V6, 4.2-liter V6, 5.4-liter V8, 3.0-liter V6, 4.6-liter V8, 2.3-liter I4][
Past products:
* master cylinders for brakes
* cylinder heads
* manhole covers
Production:
* 91,000 tonnes of molten metal poured per year
* about 500,000 engine blocks per year
* two million crankshafts produced each year for seven models, ranging from 22-pound to 38-pound crankshafts for everything from small inline four-cylinder engines to V-8s
* largest recycler of iron and steel in Southern Ontario. All the steel used in cylinder blocks and crankshafts produced is recycled.
]
See also
* List of Ford factories
The following is a list of current, former, and confirmed future facilities of Ford Motor Company for manufacturing automobiles and other components. Per regulations, the factory is encoded into each vehicle's VIN as character 11 for North Ameri ...
References
External links
302w.com - Website & Forums dedicated to the Ford Windsor Engine
{{coord, 42, 17, 47, N, 82, 55, 59, W, region:CA_type:landmark, display=title
Ford factories
Motor vehicle assembly plants in Canada