Autoblog tours ROUSH Performance Products
by Eric Bryant on Nov 7th 2006 at 11:33AM 
We were sad to see our time with the ROUSH 427R come to an end, but all the crying, whining, and pouting that we engaged in after turning over the keys paid off when ROUSH Performance Products offered to give us a tour of its massive facility.
Actually, to be precise, the sprawling complex that Fisher Body once called home is only one of the 18 ROUSH buildings in the Detroit area. Clearly, we're talking about a lot more than a couple of guys turning wrenches in a pole barn, so click through and take a trip with us to see what the folks at ROUSH are involved in on a day-to-day basis.
Fresh Mustangs are shipped directly from Ford, and wait outside in a huge holding lot until it's time for the transformation to begin. From there, the ponycars are brought into one end of the building where they're cleaned up before surgery.
From there, the 'stangs go to one of 28 bays. Each car then stays at the same bay for the duration of the modification process. A single technician is responsible for the work that is performed on the car, whether that be the installation of a body kit, interior work, or something more involved such as the installation of a suspension package or the ROUSHcharger supercharger and intercooler system.
The amount of work required for each vehicle varies by its content, of course, with a Stage 1 Mustang requiring only four hours or so to complete. A Stage 3 car takes about 12 hours to complete. At this time, Roush is able to push approximately twenty cars through the shop per day, with customer demand continuing to grow. It's a good problem to have.
After the vehicle is completed, the technician literally signs off on his work by attaching a placard to the engine compartment. Our test car had paint marks on many of the fasteners, left behind as an indicator that everything was thoroughly checked for proper installation.
All modifications to the interior components - such as the perforated leather inserts on our 427R seats - are performed off-line at a nearby upholstery station. The components are then shuttled back to the assembly cells.
Body components for the Roush cars and the company's popular body kits are molded elsewhere and brought in-house for final surface preparation and painting.
Some of the paint work is done by hand (in several paint booths like the one shown above), while other components receive their finish courtesy of a robotic system.
Each of the components leaves the facility matched to the factory Ford paint colors, such that the owner simply needs to install the parts on his or her vehicle. If you're buying a ROUSH car, this means that each body part will fit like it left the factory that way, and those purchasing ROUSH body kits for their own Mustangs can potentially save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in bodyshop labor when compared to lower-quality kits that require substantial finish work.
Unfortunately, we can't show you many of the most impressive projects going on at ROUSH Performance - a bit of race-car construction (now that looked like a fun job), some crate motor assembly for the aftermarket, and work on several aftermarket and "factory-installed" option packages for new vehicles are just a few of things that the company works on when it's not turning out hot-rodded Mustangs and F-150s. And lest anyone think that ROUSH is only about Fords, each of the aforementioned activities were for other OEMs.
Our thanks go out to John Clark at ROUSH for taking the time to walk us through the assembly plant, and we hope that our readers enjoyed the tour as much as we did.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. 12:32PM (11/07/2006)
Thanks for sharing the tour pics and info. Actually, I'm kind of pleased to see that some of the pictures show a real workshop - almost a little gritty at times. True craftsmanship still lives here.
Contrast this to the photos of the VW Phaeton assembly line (Google for them) - which are simply amazing, but seem to be devoid of real human presence or passion.
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Ken 12:54PM (11/07/2006)
Too bad they couldn't find a job for Mark Martin sweeping floors or something. Jack Roush is a true living legend & icon.
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pb 1:10PM (11/07/2006)
So what happens to all the parts that they take off? There's got to be a huge pile of front bumpers and wheels somewhere.
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JB 1:20PM (11/07/2006)
Nice to see some good work being done in Livonia. Roush saved an old factory site, the Inland-Fisher Guide plant on Plymouth Road. It was the site of a big plant fire in the 50s, the story was in my Safety Engineering book. Roush is certainly committed to staying in Livonia, and it's nice to see. I am sure a bunch of other places would love to have him in their city.
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Mr_Oak 1:24PM (11/07/2006)
Thanks for the tour, wish it was more indepth. Kodus to "The Cat in the Hat". Brilliant move recycling those long abandoned automotive buildings in Detroit.
Now this spawns another question, and I'd like to task AutoBlog with getting us the answers. This should make an interesting assignment.
When it comes to aftermarket tuners for Mustangs, what is the pecking order out there?
Roush
Saleen
Steeda
Kenne Belle
other not so big names.
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Hemidakota 1:58PM (11/07/2006)
Great job on the write up....I own one.
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Big Al 3:07PM (11/07/2006)
If any of you readers have not yet taken a tour of a manufacturing facility, it is truly a must see. I went to the Corvette plant in Bowling Green last year and it was AWESOME. It was exciting and fascinating to see the process take place in right before my eyes. Not to mention the first production Z06 was rolling off the line while I was there.
Some tours might be better than others, but the Bowling Green tour actually takes you down on the production floor complete with forklifts whizzing by and the occasional conversation with the guys working on the line. Highly recommended!
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Papercutninja 3:56PM (11/07/2006)
Wow, fantastic write-up...i'm not particularly a Mustang fan (nor do i hate them), but man is that a great factory. It's both old-school and modern tech at the same time. I love the fact that the technicians attach their name to the vehicle. Gimmicky? Maybe. Great marketing? Probably. But above all else, it shows that the guys working on these machines are good at it and are passionate about their jobs. Awesome.
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Phil L. 6:22PM (11/07/2006)
> So what happens to all the parts that they take off?
They're sold elsewhere, often on eBay. I picked up a Mustang GT take-off exhaust system a few years back on eBay; the seller claimed it was from a Rousch conversion.
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JETSOLVER 10:43PM (11/07/2006)
#8 Ford has been doing that since 1996 on the hand built COBRA engines. Everybody else came later, but Romeo Niche line engines have never had an assembley line related failure. Look for the web article entitled "assembly line stars". They get fan mail!!
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Larry Mentus 2:16AM (11/17/2006)
It was a nice tour.I have a 2004 ford mustang mach1,do you have any recommendations for a power adder for this 4 valve motor? Thanks Larry
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