This is Your Rampvan! – Day Three Recap
Posted by Megan on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Day three of “This is Your Rampvan!†saw production continuing at a fast and furious pace as Barbara Reed’s Rampvan continues its trip down the BraunAbility production line. We’ve been following its progress on the BraunAbility Facebook page. In case you missed out on all the action – or if you’re not a Facebook user – here’s a photographic recap of today’s activity. You can click on each picture if you’d like to enlarge it. Tomorrow we’ll complete the journey!

Good morning! Today Barbara's van enters Process Track 3 - The Vehicle Re-Assembly Department. We'll end the day at Station 22, Interior Cleaning & Detail.

The line comes to life precisely at 6:30, and with all the welding and painting complete, it's time for the protective tarps to come off.

Stephanie and Randy are pretty wired this morning (sorry, couldn't resist) as they work together to install the driver- and passenger-side wiring harnesses.

After installing the rear bumper, Nathan the one-man pit crew puts the tires back on Barbara's van. The dollies are now removed, and the van will travel on it's own wheels for the rest of the line.

Nathan also installs the sliding door track, readying the van for the sliding doors at the next station.

The final step at Station 16 is the installation of the floor and carpeting. Wall-to-wall and wheelchair-accessible!

Maricela and David prepare Barbara's two sliding doors. A lower panel has been welded on and painted, ready for installation at Station #17

Station #17: Kent hangs the passenger sliding door. He will also install door track extenders, allowing the door to open further and accommodate the width of the ramp.

Adam fine-tunes the fit of the doors. He will then install the rear windows, and it's on to Station #18, where Barbara's Rampvan will get it's namesake - - the ramp!

The ramp assemblies are lined up, ready for installation. Barbara's interior color is gray, so she'll be getting - you guessed it - a gray ramp!

After the installation and wiring is complete, the ramp makes the first trip out the door. Barbara's Toyota Sienna is now a BraunAbility Rampvan - minus a few more finishing touches down the line.

Station #19: Take a look at this transformation! The van enters this station with an exposed interior of cables and wires. By the time this station is over, Barry and Gary have turned this into one nice-lookin’ interior!

BraunAbility President Nick Gutwein happened to come down for a random audit of Station #18, which was the van right behind Barbara’s. The unannounced audits are performed by employees from all departments—just another quality control tool at work!

Gary has been working Station #19 for all four years he’s been at BraunAbility. Here he prepares the van for installation of the front panel.

We're looking good now! The flares are put into place at this station, smoothly covering the lowered floor while maintaining the original styling of the Toyota Sienna.

Next, Guy completes a thorough inspection of the undercarriage, then it's on to Station 22 - Undercoating and Rustproofing.

After the van moves into the spray booth at Station #22, Doug masks of the perimeter to prevent any over-spray.

With Barbara's van raised up, Doug continues to mask area that are not to be undercoated. After this, he will seal the booth, so sorry, no more pictures! This is the end of production today - will pick up with you first thing in the morning again!
Tags: rampvan, Wheelchair Vans










