Now Ireland assembles Mitsubishi commercials
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AiRNS (PMPA) is assemg Mitsubishi commercial cles at its Santry, Dublin 1. Initially it will be building a day, but expects this to to two. The vehicles are desJ for Southern Ireland only le moment, but McCairns decide later if exports to the ire feasible.
cCairns, part of the giant PriMotorists Protection Assoon, is no newcomer to cle assembly. For 40 years it General Motors products, the downturn in demand e this uneconomic. But the pany is still a major distribuIf Vauxhall/Bedford products )ugh its two depots in erford and Galway. The 'A has 35 depots throughout Republic, although the Mitshis will not be distributed ugh all of these.
vo basic ranges ard' being Aructed at Santry, the Can md Only one Canter, a gvw of 5.4 tons and two )s at 10 and 14 tons—are . The operation is strictly a i-knock-down one with only batteries, tachographs and ants sourced locally.
amplete cabs, without trim 'e from Japan as does the c chassis frame. The former iilt up with a trim pack while the chassis frame, which is ready drilled, has to have all the ancillaries added on. Engines arrive complete, as do gearboxes and axles.
Rather than paint the cabs in a variety of colours, which would probably be unsuitable to operators, McCairns leaves them in primer.
Assembly at Santry is a rather leisurely affair, as is to be expected with such small numbers. At any one time, three frames are being worked on although only one complete vehicle is produced per day. Bare chassis frames enter the assembly building on a trolley and the components are built up with the frame staying the right way up all the time.
In spite of the lack of sophisticated assembly plant facilities, the workforce set about their tasks with vigour. Some of them were with McCairns in the days of GM assembly, so are familiar with assembly techniques.
The built-up chassis moves along to have the engine and gearbox fitted, along with the radiator and finally the cab. According to Norbert Duffy, the manager, every engine after priming has started without the slightest fuss or problem.
I asked Norbert: "What influence do the Japanese have on the production?" He replied that, obviously they come to inspect the production arrangements — and were well satisfied. Since then, they have not interfered at all except to provide technical adivce when required, he said.
The vehicles themselves were on display recently at the official launch (production has been building up since January this year) and I was able to inspect and drive some of them.
The Canter, the smallest, is an FE 211 with a fixed cab. It is offered with a 3.28m (129.1in) wheelbase and has a gvw of 5.41 tons. Kerb weight is 1.92 tons, which offers a payload and body capability of 3.45 tons. Powered by a Mitsubishi 4D 30 diesel, which has four cylinders and a capacity of 3,298cc, it has a fivespeed, overdrive, all-synchromesh gearbox.
Fuel injection is by means of a Bosch-type in-line pump and max output is 65kW (87bhp) Eit 3,500rpm. Servo-assisted brakes with a total area of 1,632sqcm, (253sqin) are fitted. The electrical system, surprisingly for such a small vehicle, is 24V. A 100litre (22ga1) fuel tank should give it a good range and the Canter comes with 7.00 x 16 tyres.
The two larger models, the Fuso FK and FM are rated at 10.82 and 13.8 tons gvw and offer payloads of 7.79 and 10.18 tons respectively. Both use the Mitsubishi 6 D14, six-cylinder inline diesel. It has a capacity of 6,557cc and an output of 115kW (154bhp) at 3,000rpm.
The same gearbox too is em ployed, it is a five-speed box with direct top, and synchromesh on all but first. The rear axles are fully floating spiral bevel units rated at 9.05 tons for the larger model and 7.59 for the smaller. A tank capacity of 129 litres (28.5gal) is quoted for the FK and 200 litres (44ga1) on twin tanks for the larger FM. Wheelbases are 4.1m (163.8in) on the FK and 4.46m (175.6in) for the FM.
Both these larger models fea ture a tilt cab, and it must be one of the fastest in the business. Apart from ensuring that there are no loose objects in the cab, and that the gear lever is in neu tral, all the operator has to do is release a catch at the back of the cab, undo a safety catch and push the cab up. It is so well counter-balanced that it truly is a one-man operation taking literally a matter of seconds to accomplish. A locking pin is in serted to retain the cab in its tilted position.
I managed to take the FM model for a run of about 25 miles around the Dublin area. Unfortunately it was just a chassis cab with no load, but nevertheless I was able to gain some impressions. The first was that the cab interior and instrumentation is archetypal Japanese. It looks as if all Jap dash designers went to the same college. The layout owes nothing to ergonomics and looks like that of a 1950s American car. McCairns has to substitt Lucas Kienzle tachograph fo Japanese one as the fo doesn't meet EEC regulat It's a bit of a tight squeeze the indicator warning li pushed down at the bot There is no suspension seat the seat provided is comfon enough.
In spite of driving over s rough potholed roads (No' believes Southern Ireland w do a roaring trade exportinc tholes!) the ride was good little shaky.
Probably the best featur the truck, though, is its .p( steering — it is light, pos and gives the impression cr. ing manual.
Obviously, with no load vehicle pulled well and stror The five-speed gearbox see to have well matched ratios though again this was not a test.
I asked Norbert if the comj. was looking to bring in o Mitsubishi. With typical reticence he told me that were testing the water gently.
Expansion will depend on well the vehicles are receive( said, but McCairns, and inc the PMPA, are no newcomei the business and have the fii cial resources ready if such pansion is warranted.
When one remembers thal Republic of Ireland has a sm relationship with the UK and fellow member of the EEC, could be facing another Ji nese invasion — this time f just off our shores ...