Chevy Silverado Units Built In Oshawa Use A Different Paint Application Process
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The Chevy Silverado 1500 is hugely popular, and as a result, GM assembles the light-duty pickup in no less than three locations – the GM Oshawa plant in Canada, the GM Fort Wayne plant in Indiana, the GM Flint plant in Michigan, and the GM Silao plant in Mexico. Meanwhile, the Silverado HD is built at the GM Flint plant in Michigan and at the Canadian plant as well. For the most part, the assembly process at these four facilities is pretty much identical – but not entirely. In fact, Chevy Silverado units built at the GM Oshawa plant receive a different paint application process than what is used at the other three facilities.
As it turns out, the Fort Wayne, Flint, and Silao plants apply a base liquid primer to the trucks, after which an anti-chip coating is applied to the rocker panels below the doors, as well as to the lower portion of the rear fender just ahead of the rear wheels.
Meanwhile, the assembly process at the Oshawa plant includes a powder primer process, rather than an anti-chip process. The powder primer is essentially a thicker paint than the base liquid primer, and is applied to the entirety of the exterior of the vehicle at a thickness level between 2.0 and 3.0 mils. In areas where more protection is needed, such as the rocker panels below the doors and the lower portion of the rear fenders ahead of the rear wheels, a film of 3.0 to 5.0 mils is applied.
Notably, the use of the powder primer process at the Oshawa plant means there is no need for an anti-chip application. That said, both paint application processes fall in line with GM’s durability requirements.
As a reminder, the Chevy Silverado 1500 offers four engine options, including the 2.7L I4 L3B TurboMax gasoline engine (310 horsepower, 430 pound-feet of torque), the naturally aspirated 5.3L V8 L84 gasoline engine (355 horsepower, 383 pound-feet of torque), the naturally aspirated 6.2L V8 L87 gasoline engine (420 horsepower, 460 pound-feet of torque), and finally, the 3.0L I6 LZ0 turbodiesel Duramax engine (305 horsepower, 495 pound-feet of torque). All Silverado 1500 variants ride on the GM T1 platform.
Under the hood of the Silverado HD, you’ll find the naturally aspirated 6.6L V8 L8T gasoline engine, producing 401 horsepower and 464 pound-feet of torque. The 6.6L V8 L5P turbodiesel Duramax engine is optional, delivering 470 horsepower and 975 pound-feet of torque. Both engines are paired with the Allison-branded 10-speed automatic transmission.
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The Silverado 1500 is not built at GM Flint, Fling only produces the 2500HD and 3500HD.
Flint has built 1500s in the past however. K2 generation rolled crew cabs down the line there 2014-2018.
True. That also has nothing to do with this article.
1500 Silverados have not been built in Flint since 2017. I’ve been at Flint Assembly since February 2018 and no 1500 Silverados have run down the line. You must be thinking of the 2018 model year, which ended the summer of ’17.
It’s worth clarifying that the liquid paint process referred to in the article is not a traditional spray application, those plants are using E-coat primer. So thinner and not as tough as powder but the coverage is unbeatable giving slightly better corrosion resistance