Rochester Products Division
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| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Genre | Automobile parts production |
| Founded | 1939 |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New York, United States |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Automotive parts |
| Owner | General Motors |
| Parent | Formerly General Motors |
| Divisions | AC Rochester |
Rochester Products Division (RPD) was a division of General Motors that manufactured carburetors, and related components including emissions control devices and cruise control systems in Rochester, New York. In 1995 Rochester became part of Delphi, which in turn became a separate company four years later, and continues to manufacture fuel injection systems in Rochester, now part of General Motors Automotive Components Holdings- Rochester Operations.
The company began as the Rochester Coil Company founded by Edward A. Halbleib in 1908, becoming the North East Electric Company the following year. In 1916 the company was located at 348 Whitney Street, Rochester.
In 1929 Alfred P. Sloan announced the acquisition of the company on behalf of General Motors. "For some years this Company has been an outstanding manufacturer of starters, ignition systems and other electrical equipment." "It was consolidated with GM's former Delco-Light Company in 1930 and later renamed Delco Appliance Division." In 1937 Rochester Products was founded, planned as a second plant for Delco Appliance, but achieving Division status by 1939. In 1953 an advertisement in Life stated: "Rochester builds original equipment carburetors for Chevrolet starting with 1950, Oldsmobile from 1949 and Cadillac from 1951. Also, Rochester supplies replacement carburetors for Chevrolets from 1932." Rochester also supplied Pontiac, while using the Power Jet name in the replacement market.
In 1952 the Oregonian reported: "Automobile cigarette lighters produced by the Rochester Automotive products division of General Motors are tested to reach a temperature of 1400 degrees in no less than 10 and no more than 12 seconds."
The 2G (later 2GC and 2GV) carburetor, commonly called the 2 Jet, was introduced in 1955, and continued to be used on GM V8s until at least 1969. In all, it was used in at least 125 applications, including the Brockway's inline six. In 1957 Chevrolet introduced their first fuel-injected engine, the Rochester Ramjet high-performance option on Corvette and passenger cars at $484. In 1956 Oldsmobile were also experimenting with Rochester fuel injection, at the GM desert proving grounds near Phoenix, but offered the Rochester triple-carburetor J2 option for 1957.
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Wikipedia