Jerry Hampton

Mr. Jerry Hampton

Jerry Hampton has a bachelor’s degree in Vocational Teaching from Western New Mexico University, and a master’s degree from Tarleton State University. He has over 25 years of experience as a technician or manager in automotive businesses, and 18 years teaching auto mechanics, eight years of which have been at Hill College. Hampton describes his favorite part of teaching as, “I love it when that light bulb moment happens for a student and that I learn something sometimes as well. Very rewarding to have a student ‘thank you’ for what you have taught them.”

Hampton’s project is at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit/Dearborn, Mich. While there he will tour the Rouge assembly plant, the Henry Ford Village, and get to assemble a Model-T car. The museum houses many of Henry Ford’s inventions including the Velocipede (the original self-propelled vehicle), the Ford Tri-Motor Airplane, and many of Ford’s other famous automobiles and machines.

Blog Post 1

Rode in 2 Model T’s today. The first was a 1914 and the second was a 1923. One was a sedan with a folding top and the other was a forerunner of the taxi. There were 15 million of them produced from 1908 to 1927. They had 178 cubic inch engines and produced 20 horsepower. Today’s engines produce 250-300 horsepower with the same cubic inch displacement. The average gas mileage was 20 with a 10 gallon tank. Every Model T had the same chassis, engine, and transmission. The variety came with the body the purchaser desired. Chassis and drivelines were steel while many bodies were wood. Henry once commented that customers could have any color Model T they wanted as long as it was black.

We toured Greenfield Village where the Model T’s were found but also many of the homes Henry Ford had moved there over the years such as Robert Frost’s, Noah Webster’s, and George Washington Carver’s cabin. Mr. Ford moved many of Thomas Edison’s buildings: the Menlo Park Complex, and the Fort Myers laboratory.

Blog Post 2

 

Arrived at the museum this morning and had a 1 hour and 15 minute tour which gave us an overview of the museum. The entire floor is teakwood (1.2 million square feet that was installed in 1929) and each segment that is replaced today is $22.

Blog Post 3

 

We got preempted by CBS! The museum got a call saying they needed the Model T assembled for a segment first thing so they stopped allowing the activity. We won’t be able to do the activity now unless we pay again to enter the museum.

Blog Post 4
Today we went to the Ford Rouge Plant where they build F150 pickups. Did not know until we arrived that you cannot take pictures of the assembly line. Ford purchased 2000 acres for this plant in 1915 and the plant was completed in 1928. Many different vehicles have been assembled there. Currently, the only thing assembled there is the F150. The plant has many forms of energy conservation. The roof and exterior walls have plants growing on them. The ones on the roof are called sedum and are designed to help insulate the facility while blocking the sunlight, slowing rainwater runoff, help cleanse the rainwater, and slow the deterioration of the roof. Most assembly plant roofs last about 25 years. They expect these to last 50. All rainwater runoff is captured and sent to wetlands/marshes created around the plant to cleanse the runoff before it returns to the Rouge river. The Rouge plant has so many skylights that engineers believe that half the lights can be turned off on sunny days to save on electricity. Returning home tomorrow but head out Sunday for annual training in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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