RE: 69 headlight bezels

[Edward M.]

Joe:

I decide to move this thread to the top of the list so it was easier to find.

I think I understand that you believe (from Chevrolet sources) that the late 68 and up headlight housing covers are larger than the early 68 headlight covers. Would this not mandate a part number change by Chevrolet for the headlight housing, not to mention the upper surround with the headlight openings.

My curiosity is again raised on this issue, so I am going to see if I can locate my notes (8 years ago) on this subject. I had actual dimensions of both sizes of headlight housing covers.

This, in my opinion, is the fun stuff about Corvette research.

[Joe L.]

Re: RE: 69 headlight bezels

Ed-----

Yes, you're correct. The early 68 headlamp housings were GM #3932935-LH and GM #3932936-RH. You won't find these part numbers in the AIM, but these are the ones that were used. The late 68 to 82 housings were GM #3938115-LH and GM #3938116-RH. As I mentioned in my previous post, I now believe that the only difference between the two sets of parts was the size of the door portion of the housing assembly. This is a seperate metal plate which is permanently affixed to the housing casting at the time of manufacture.

Also, the front surround assembly DID change with the change in the headlamp covers. The early 68 part is a part number that I haven't as yet confirmed. The later 68-72 front surround was, at one point, GM #3966680, and later GM #3995076. However, there was a predecessor part number to the 3966680 which I am also working on.

[Joe L.]

Re: RE: 69 headlight bezels

Ed-----

Well, I think that I've come up with a litle more on this "mystery". From what I've been able to find out, the original 1968 front surround panel with the smaller headlamp openings was GM #3930491. This was changed for PRODUCTION to GM #3941910 and for SERVICE to GM #3938117 which are the 1968 surround panels with the larger headlamp openings. Later, the GM #3938117 panel was replaced by GM #3956080.

Neither the 3941910 nor the 3938117 panels were carried over to 69, though. I have not been able to determine the PRODUCTION part number(s) for the 69 surround. But I have determined that for the 1969 model year, there was NO COMPLETE upper surround panel available for SERVICE. Only front and rear (REPAIR) sections of the panel were available for SERVICE at that time. This remained the this way until 1971 when GM #3977889 was released and catalogued as a complete upper surround panel to SERVICE all 69-71 applications. Later, GM #3995076 replaced the 3977889 panel. The 3995076 panel was discontinued in September, 1999. So, the story ends there, I guess.