Saleen - What do They Contribute?

[fireball]

Please excuse my ignorance but on the cusp of my new ACR arriving I'm interested in knowing what Saleen contributed.

To start, Vipers are built at the Conner Ave. Factory in Detroit, then they are shipped to Saleen for finishing - right?

Does Saleen work on all Vipers? I presume their additions are body only?

Once Saleen is done their work is the car complete or does it go back to Dodge for finishing?

Thanks,
Greg

 

[ZESTY]

Saleen paints the body parts, ships them to CAAP. After assembly the car is shipped to Prefix for stripes if needed.

 

[2001 GTS]

Where are the splitters and wings put on at? I know not at CAAP.

 

[CitySnake]

Where are the splitters and wings put on at? I know not at CAAP.

That's all done while at Prefix.

 

[fireball]

So the car never leaves the factory until it's done. Saleen ships the body parts to CAAP and they're installed there.

IF the car needs stripes then the whole car goes to Prefix where they're added and the car is delivered to where ever from there. Once at Prefix the factory never sees it again. Right?

Does Prefix add the steering wheel stripe on the ACR?

Where is Prefix? How far from the factory? I presume it's still in Michigan?

Thanks - inquiring minds want to know......

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Prefix is in Michigan. Its not "far" from CAAP, but I don't know the distance. Once Prefix is done with a car (stripes, wings, splitter), it goes BACK to CAAP to be shipped to the dealership that the car was purchased through.

So...

Saleen (painted body panels)-->CAAP-->Prefix (if needed)-->CAAP-->dealership

 

[CitySnake]

Prefix is in Michigan. Its not "far" from CAAP, but I don't know the distance. Once Prefix is done with a car (stripes, wings, splitter), it goes BACK to CAAP to be shipped to the dealership that the car was purchased through.

So...

Saleen (painted body panels)-->CAAP-->Prefix (if needed)-->CAAP-->dealership

Exactly. I'd add that you can pick up your car directly from CAAP as an alternative to having it sent to a dealer.

One bit of info I picked up was when I was inquiring about having Prefix do specialy customization. IF you go that route, you loose your "free" vehicle deilvery to the dealer. You need to consider that extra cost or picking it up yourself.

 

[kcobean]

Prefix is in Michigan. Its not "far" from CAAP, but I don't know the distance. Once Prefix is done with a car (stripes, wings, splitter), it goes BACK to CAAP to be shipped to the dealership that the car was purchased through.

So...

Saleen (painted body panels)-->CAAP-->Prefix (if needed)-->CAAP-->dealership

CAAP has a "SHIP BUILDING" where all of the completed cars go. They are staged in batches by geographic region if I remember correctly, i.e. when there are enough cars built to go to dealers in a specific area, they are loaded up.

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Here's a (bad) picture or two of that room with Vipers ready to ship....

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The quality assurance process as cars are moved from facility to facility is intense. The entire car is inspected by multiple sets of eyes at each stop for flaws....as a result, there are lots of 'casualties'....

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Here are some random shots of cars at Prefix....

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[fireball]

Those are COOL shots!

Thanks for explaining the process.

With an ACR and a Drivers Side Stripe does Prefix remove and recover the steering wheel or is a modified steering wheel installed to begin with?

 

[kcobean]

Those are COOL shots!

Thanks for explaining the process.

With an ACR and a Drivers Side Stripe does Prefix remove and recover the steering wheel or is a modified steering wheel installed to begin with?

That's a great question. I'm not sure.

 

[eucharistos]

Wow, thanks for the pics. They use wooden ramps (pic #8).

 

[kcobean]

yeah, I noticed those ramps too....they're pretty cool. That's what I love about Viper....everything has that 'handbuilt' feel to it, yet it comes with the support and warranty of a major manufacturer.

 

[ViperCr8zy]

I also have an ACR coming, which I was fortunate enough to see and photograph at CAAP during VOI10. The Viper (pic below) has all the striping done, but none of the aero. I wouldn't think it'd be cost-effective to ship it back and forth between CAAP and Prefix multiple times in the enclosed trailer (Prefix, IIRC, is at least 30-40 minutes away from CAAP). Anyone know why the factory would ship a car between the two multiple times?

 

[kcobean]

I also have an ACR coming, which I was fortunate enough to see and photograph at CAAP during VOI10. The Viper (pic below) has all the striping done, but none of the aero. I wouldn't think it'd be cost-effective to ship it back and forth between CAAP and Prefix multiple times in the enclosed trailer (Prefix, IIRC, is at least 30-40 minutes away from CAAP). Anyone know why the factory would ship a car between the two multiple times?

But your car is not 'striped' yet, it's just blue/black. The only body panel that's two-tone is the front fascia, everything else is a single color (hood, roof, rear deck). I wonder if perhaps the front bumper was shipped over by itself to prefix to be shot with black to save on cost, then the car was all assembled and will be shipped to prefix as a whole for driver or center striping, which would require all of the aforementioned panels to be present.

ETA: (you know this, but background for those that weren't there...) The body panels are painted off the car by Saleen and are done in batches by color, so your hood/roof/hatch were likely done around the same time (when the color they were shooting was black), while your fenders/doors/quarters/rear-fascia (and probably front fascia) were shot on a different day. I could easily see the front fascia going directly to Prefix for the 'center stripe' to match the other panels and then being resent on the car for the smaller stripes based on customer order.

 

[Red Snake]

Excellent photos. Anyone know (or have pics) if they made any ACRs with chrome wheels instead of painted? I think they'd look really good with chromies on there.

 

[kcobean]

Excellent photos. Anyone know (or have pics) if they made any ACRs with chrome wheels instead of painted? I think they'd look really good with chromies on there.

I don't recall seeing any while we were up there....they were all black. The new '09 wheel is nice, but I don't think it would do the ACR justice (and may not be strong enough for the track given the slender spokes?)

 

[CitySnake]

All the ACR's have factory black wheels.

 

[Newport Viper]

OK that does it! The Viper has got to be the coolest car of all time. What other manufacture would let you see your car being built!

 

[zoomie]

great pic at Prefix during VOI X - perfect timing !

 

[big-n-italian]

here is what i have never understood - why all the moving around of these cars between CAAP and Prefix? every move increases the chance of doing damage to a car and if damage does occur, it takes more time and money to fix the damage. also, all this moving takes alot of time, and it delays delivery, etc.. Prefix is basically a body shop, and it isnt a large one either. if Prefix has been assigned to do the work, then why couldnt Prefix have a small area right there at CAAP to do their work? just seems like things would move along faster and decrease the chance of shipping delays and damage. isnt there a more efficient way to do this?

 

[Limit]

Those pics are what heaven looks like.

 

[kcobean]

here is what i have never understood - why all the moving around of these cars between CAAP and Prefix? every move increases the chance of doing damage to a car and if damage does occur, it takes more time and money to fix the damage. also, all this moving takes alot of time, and it delays delivery, etc.. Prefix is basically a body shop, and it isnt a large one either. if Prefix has been assigned to do the work, then why couldnt Prefix have a small area right there at CAAP to do their work? just seems like things would move along faster and decrease the chance of shipping delays and damage. isnt there a more efficient way to do this?

Funny, I wondered that EXACT same thing myself. Only thing I can think of is that CAAP is pretty efficiently utilized space-wise I think, and I'm not sure there is space inside the building to build the required paint facilities needed for Prefix to do the job. There could be all kinds of legal stuff to, including Union, hazmat, local code compliance....who knows.

 

[GBS]

Nice Pictures!

 

[JonB]

Some answers and tid-bits:

1) NO VIPER has EVER had "CHROME" wheels. But 99-02 ACR had a chrome PETE logo in centercap. All 08 ACRs have black wheels except one...there were 3 PVP wheels, too! None chrome.

2) Prefix has limited STORAGE area vs CAAP. Prefix PAINTS the stripes, but ACR and Aero-package cars waiting weeks for Aero-Parts are clogging the flow.... So they go back to CAAP after striping for safe storage til they can get Aero.

3) Saleen paints panels and assembles hoods and hatches and attches hardware. Saleen also actually trouble-shoots some rare few assembled Vipers as with hatch-back issues or leaks. So a Viper can go from CAAP to Prefix to CAAP to Saleen and then back to CAAP ! All ENCLOSED!!

4) Saleen has an office at CAAP where their own QC lady works hand-in-hand w/ Craftspersons.

5) The Pick-N-Pack area at CAAP holds the Red-Stripe steering wheels, for build-sheets that requre that option. (At VOI, almost all these boxes had some NEAT logos on em, dear to my heart.....................!!!)

 

[JonB]

All the ACR's have factory black wheels.

Except the Build-Your-Own RAFFLE car.

 

[gb66gth]

looking at all those ACR's make my mouth water!

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

No ACR's with chrome or polished wheels. All were black.

 

[alpine7822]

At VOI, almost all these boxes had some NEAT logos on em, dear to my heart.....................!!!

I noticed a large amount of "Parts Rack" stickers throughout CAAP during my tour in June. I even asked about the 08 hood, and the tour guide was about to give me your name and number. We had a great conversation about how much of an asset you are to the VCA and Viper community in general...very good stuff.

 

[DMan]

Wow, what cool info guys, thanks.

Those pics are amazing, must be wild to walk thru there.

 

[kcobean]

Wow, what cool info guys, thanks.

Those pics are amazing, must be wild to walk thru there.

It was an AWESOME experience to see how these cars are built, to meet the awesome team of folks who build them, and see the facility. CAAP is a TINY building by comparison to the GM plant we passed on the way to Detroit, which seemed to go on for a mile. The folks that work at CAAP are all hand picked based on a number of variables, and they really seem to love their work. Lots of smiling faces and friendly waves as we were touring through, where I suspect to many auto-workers, we would have been a hinderance.

Sounds cheesy, but I'm proud to be a part of it just by owning one of these cars.

I didn't get a chance to meet many of the folks at Prefix, but that place is amazing. The quality control processes are top notch, and between Saleen, CAAP and Prefix, they've figured out how to move a LOT of cars and panels safely.

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend trying to get through there for a tour.