1966 Grill Factory Installed on Late 1965

[Michael S.]

I have a late model 1965 Roadster production #123485 (23,485) which means my car was produced on the last production day in July 1965. When I bought the car it had a 1966 glove box door and a 1965 Grill. In reading Noland Adams "Corvette Restoration and Technical Guide Volume 2", page 256 under the a section on Body Work he stated the following: "The 1965 glovebox and door were the same as 1964: A brushed aluminum face with a miniature version of the rear emblem in the lower right-hand corner. This emblem was slanted in 1964 and 1965, while the letters appeared upright in 1966 and 1967. Serial number 123522 (23,522)reported a 1966 style glovebox door. It was not unusual for very early-or very late production cars to use leftover parts, or even the next years's parts. The criteria seemed to be that the part should "fit and function" as well as the original."

Can anyone confirm this for me, if Noland Adams is correct my very late 1965 would fit what he is saying. I will try to contact the team leader for 1965 cars Dale Fiet as well for verification. I am continuing to do my restoration, I attended the 1st Judging School in Dallas and look forward to continuing my restoration and learning process.

Thanks for the help,

Mike #36541

[Kevin M.]

Re: 1966 Grill Factory Installed on Late 1965

I'd say your on the right track, wouldn't change a thing in my book.

Kevin

[Wayne M.]

Re: 1966 Grill Factory Installed on Late 1965

Are you asking if it is possible for the factory to have installed a '66 glove-box door on a late VIN '65, but still have a '65 front grille ? I would say yes, based partly on example. I have #23564, and the earliest pictures dating from '68-'69 show it with a '65 grille. This is not to say that the plant was not trying out the new '66 cast grille installation procedure on certain cars in the last days of '65 production, and that some may have left the plant that way.

Not quite the same for the glove box door though, as installation would be identical to the '65. Again, earliest interior pics of mine are not clear enough to show the door, and when I bought it 18 years ago, it had the brushed aluminum panel replaced with a plain sheet (no emblem). '68-69 pics also show my car with '66 wheel covers, but those could easily have been added in the fall of 1965 by the first owner to "upgrade" the car to those being sold after the Oct 7th (?) introduction of '66 models.

The next-to-last car, #23563 has a '64-65 script emblem on its glovedbox door, but the grille was not available, and I didn't think to ask. A few other late '65 cars are known, and it would be interesting to contact those owners.

(See my post above about '65 grille assembly at St/Louis, which shows that the '65 grille was only available in SERVICE for about 11 months after production ended)

[Michael H.]

Re: 1966 Grill Factory Installed on Late 1965

I agree Wayne. It's highly unlikely that a 66 grille wound up on any 65's. I've heard many stories of this happening but I doubt their accurate. The 65 only grille was available for almost a year after the 65 model year ended so there's no reason why it would have been substituted in production. I believe the same is true for the 65 IP compartment door. The 64-65 door was available until at least the early 70's.