69 "Tank Sticker" info

[Joel A.]

I have a friend with a 69, and he has managed to get the "tank sticker" off, but, of course, it is very hard to read. Is there a place here, or other sites, that could help us decipher this piece of old, faded paper? Some of the numbers and letters can be read, but a lot of them cannot. We would like to be able to decode it, and determine if the car is equipped as it was originally built. Help?
Thanks!

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Joel-----

It might be that some of the folks here, based upon thier experience and knowledge of the subject, could "read between the lines" and "piece together" the information. I'd say it all depends upon just how bad it is. If there are complete lines of text which are completely indiscernable, it probably won't be possible to figure those out. However, if there is only partial information on a line, it may be enough.

If you could post a high resolution copy of the sheet, I'm sure folks here would be willing to give it a try.

[Joel A.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Thanks, Joe ! I'm waiting for a copy to post, as we "speak"! Will post as soon as I recieve it.

[Joel A.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

I'm gonna try to post this, and see what happens. Unfortunately, the sheet is literally falling apart, so, this is all there is for now...

There is not much there, but he is working with his software, trying to get more definition out of what is there.
(The pic may appear small, but, you can enlarge by clicking on the lower right corner.)

[Frank K.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Here is a copy of my tank sticker from '71 LT1

[Frank K.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Lets see if this works

[Frank K.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Last try at this

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Joel------

Well, there is sure not a lot to work with here. However, I think that we can get quite a bit out of it

convertible (19467)

engine: either 350 hp/350 or 390 hp/427. I can't make out the first digit of the numerical portion of the engine code. It's either L-36 (390 hp/427) or L-46 (350 hp/350). I'd say that it's more likely L-36, but I can't be sure.

transmission: close ratio 4 speed (M21)

positraction axle of unknown ratio (G???)

other options:

hardtop (C07)

black soft top (C05)

red stripe tires (PT6)

mono radio (U69)

tinted glass all windows (A0?)

power steering and/or tilt/tele wheel (N??) The car had one or both of these options. One line where I would expect to see one of the options is completely gone. For the other line I can only discern an "N"

front fender louver trim (T??) Although only a "T" can be seen, the only possibility here is the TJ2 louver trim

The car may have had a few other options, but I cannot read them, at all.

[Joel A.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Thanx, Joe !
The car is a 69 L36(390hp/427) convertible, 4 speed w/factory side exhaust, and it does have the louver trim. We're still working on getting a wee bit more info from what is left on the tank with some creative software juggling!

[Jack H.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

There was an interesting prior thread on this maybe two years ago. The poster had an EXPENSIVE commercial grade digital movie camera that featured an IR (infra red) mode. Conventional photographs of his tank sticker looked no better than standard view via eyeball. BUT, when he shot the tank sticker, in sunlight, with the movie camera in IR mode, the contrast was STRIKING! Virtually all of the faded print became legible...

My hunch is this is because broadcast sheets (tank sticker included) were printed at the factory using multi-part forms inserted into Teletype machines with the primary page printed via impact & ribbon and the secondary sheets formed via impact through conventional carbon paper. The common thread here is IMPACT and carbon...

That means there are depressions in the paper filled with carbon particles. Despite age, any residual carbon particles are going to absorb heat from incident sunlight at a higher rate than the surrounding paper. So, it makes sense that an IR recording media will track the heat vs. the reflected visual spectrum light.

Now, not very many of us have access to a high end digital movie camera, but most of us have a conventional 35mm camera gathering dust somewhere... You can get 35mm black and white IR film (may have to special order for a photo shop as there's not much call for it) rather inexpensively.

If you've never used IR film in a 35mm camera before, here's the trick. Look at the gradicule on the camera's focusing ring. You'll see the lens is graduated in feet/meters to the subject and the camera body has a black line adjacent to the focus ring that indicates the distance.

Next to the focus line, offset to the left, you'll see a red dot or red line. That's the compensation factor for IR film. You mount the camera on a tripod or stand and focus through the lens in conventional fashion. Once you're in focus, you move the optical focus point over to the red IR offset and that compensates for the longer wavelength of IR vs. conventional light. Click the shutter!

You might want to bracket your shot by moving the offset a 'tad' in either direction AND moving the lens up/down an F-stop too. If memory serves, B&W IR film for a 35 mm came in either 12 or 20 exposure minimum rolls. So, there's no harm in shooting on center as well as bracketing the center shop both in terms of focus as well as aperature. One of your shots ought to come out nice and clear!

[Joseph T.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Jack..great info...Joe

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Joel-----

Does it have power steering and/or tilt tele wheel?

[John L.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info IR Photo Shoot

Jack, Joe, Joel, all...To get the best results when using IR film it's best to use a Red #25 filter. Working together with the IR film it gives the best results. Years ago I shot some IR film for a project and the photo shop where I bought my film from said I needed a #25 Red Filter for it to work properly. The good news is they are still available for around $20.00 for a 52mm lens.
Just wanted you to know.
John

[Joel A.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

It do have P/S, but no T/T. Thanx for all of the responses on this...some things have been confirmed, others are still a question mark.

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 "Tank Sticker" info

Joel------

One little piece of "deductive reasoning" here that may prove helpful if the "rest of what remains on the tank" cannot be discerned:

The way it was done in those days, the list of RPO's after U-69 radio are generally in alphabetical order by the first alpha character of the RPO code. You will note that there is an option code beginning with "G". That pretty much has to represent the G-81 positration axle. There's no other RPO codes that begin with "G" AND positraction was required with L-36. So, we can figure this one out pretty easily. The next line looks to be completely gone except for the "22" although it's POSSIBLE that there might be a "hint" of a vertical line as part of the first character.

The next line has "N" as the first alpha character of the RPO. Since N-40 is the last RPO in alphabetical sequence AND we know that the car has power steering, this would have to represent N-40 power steering. This ASSUMES that power steering was never ADDED to the car. This is a VERY COMMON addition to 63-76 Corvettes not originally equipped with same. However, for the moment, let's assume that you can otherwise verify that the power steering is original to the car.

This would mean that the only options which could be on the "missing" line between the "G" and the "N" lines are as follows:

J-50 power brakes

J-56 HD power brakes (the car couldn't have had this and if for any reason it did, it would have had TWO "G" lines which is not possible on this build sheet)

K-05 engine block heater (VERY unlikley unless this was an original Canada-delivered car)

K-66 transistor ignition

MA-6 Heavy Duty Clutch (not possible since this was only available with L-71)

N-14 Side mounted exhaust

N-37 tilt-tele column (from your report, we know it doesn't have this).

So, if the car does NOT have power brakes or transistor ignition, then the "missing line" pretty much has to be N-14 side mounted exhaust, assuming the power steering is original to the car.

However, if the car DOES have either of the above two options and they appear to be original to the car, and assuming that the power steering is original to the car, then the car could not have originally had side mounted exhaust.

Keep in mind that both power steering and side mounted exhaust are 2 of the most commonly added items post-PRODUCTION by owners. Power brakes are much less likely to be added and transistor ignition is not too commonly added.