Mmm going way back like PM’s butler and playford transformed SA into an industrial powerhouse, all of a sudden all gov housing trust going up everywhere, GMHA Australia planted, Military contracts out your bumhole. Mitsubishi Motors Australia the whole nine yards. I took a tour of Mitsubishi motors casting plant right here, they were not only casting engine blocks for locally built vehicles but for everything worldwide including forklifts WAS all made here.
Elizabeth used to be beautiful, now it’s the highest crime rate slum of unemployed people because all the jobs are gone. Living on the rock n roll smoking crack doing dumb shit.
Why I moved out of ADL mid 2000’s as with the daily meetings with directors GM America declared bankruptcy and GMHA got told we own you source your parts globally for cheapest you can get and stuff your ISO9001 standards.
The parts failed miserably as we tested them ourselves but we were undercut below material cost. So we lost. Major contract. Then Ford followed suit. Not only us making just the wheels, there was tecalement next door that made all the fuel and brake lines that run the lenght of your car, they went bust too for Ford and Holden.
Toyota was a major contract and they stuck until the end but they had to get it made thailand I think(not sure I up and quit before it got too bad) eventually as was not even worth firing up the presses to knock 20k wheels out for them. Not sure but I still see on Hiluxs the newer designs we had in development for the larger diameter rims for standard oem vehicles, probably paid us a bit for that and signed off.
All gone to scrap and thrown in the bin now matey, and there was a fucking lot of it. A lot of my welding and fitting and turning in to shit. Could have saved 13 years of time and done fuck all like some people seem to think is ok. I learned a lot, made great work mates and have great memories along with some bad times. But damn there was some funny times.
Bang, errm did you clean the snow grinder magnetic table down like we were told, well sort of, nah you didn’t did you. Clean it down and pre skim it on the mill, clamp that down otherwise thats why that fucker took off at warp 9 and punched a hole through the workshop 45ft in the air. I said are you listening, if your head was in the way, that block of steel would of taken it off and I would not be talking to you. Also wearing gloves using a pedestal grinder, ah ffs, you’ve been told by the super, I told you, now you got your fucking finger jammed in between the wheel and you want me to do what. FFS some people dont listen. Ok this is going to hurt, reverse the wheel, tears for years, I said look it fell off got your finger in my pocket, more tears, I said c’mon come with me go see the lovely on site RN put a smile on your dial. I was joking around because he was in shock and pain, his finger was attached I knew that but yea heavily bruised. Oh man I could go on for ages.
Was definitely a very good experience. I miss the good parts, not the bad parts. 
Here I was binned it dirt bike riding, nasty fracture to collar bone. 5 days off, said fuck yeah I’m good to go arm in a sling. Righto clock on 
