1965 Labor Strike / Engine Assembly Date Question

[James W.]

Did the October 1965 labor strike at the St. Louis assembly plant have any impact on the Flint engine plant assembly dates during that same time? I am looking at an early November 1965 built Corvette with a 327/300 and want to know what block casting dates and engine assembly dates I should be looking for.

Is it possible to have a Corvette with early November 1965 final assembly date with an engine assembly dated in October of 1965?

Thanks,

James West

[John H.]

Re: 1965 Labor Strike / Engine Assembly Date Quest

James -

There were no strikes at St. Louis in 1965 - only in the fall of 1964 and 1966.

[James W.]

Re: Thanks John! *NM*

[James W.]

Re: Correction... October 1964 Labor Strike

John,

I was incorrect when I wrote the first post regarding the labor strike in October of 1965, so I'll ask the question again but referencing the (fall)October 1964 labor strike.

So my question is still did the October 1964 labor strike at the St. Louis assembly plant have any impact on the Flint engine plant assembly dates during that same time? I am looking at an early November 1964 built Corvette with a 327/300 and want to know what block casting dates and engine assembly dates I should be looking for.

Is it possible to have a Corvette with early November 1964 final assembly date with an engine assembly dated in October of 1964?

[Mike E.]

Re: 1965 Labor Strike / Engine Assembly Date Quest

James--
It's entirely possible even without a strike. I'd say that (and look in the next RESTORER, there will be an article on how a strike affects production dates) even a September assembly date would be quite likely.

[John H.]

Re: Correction... October 1964 Labor Strike

Yes, that's reasonable, but the engine better not have a casting dated or pad stamped between September 25th - October 4th; that period was a NATIONAL strike against GM, which shut down everything. The continuing month after that was a LOCAL strike only at St. Louis.

[Wayne M.]

About those UAW strike dates ...

John -- Sept 25th date as the start of the nationwide strike is also the same as mentioned in the 1965 TIM&JG, but it says that a national agreement was reached with GM on October 6th (close enough to your 4th Oct).

The NCRS book goes on to say that delayed settlement of local issues caused the St. Louis plants to remain on strike an additional month, until Nov 6th. And this timing is backed up by my observations. ie. Flint "870" assy dates of P0925 (no later); S-bodiy trim tags B25 (none later). Then, trim tags starting again D6 (Nov 6th, one of my cars has this trim tag date code).

But what gets me is if all plants except St.Louis were back to work on Oct 4th (or 6th?), why do final monthly serial numbers for most of the 17 Chev (incl. BOP) assembly plants show ZERO automobile production for the month of October 1964, with the only exceptions being Willow Run (Corvair), GM Truck & Chevy Van, Janesville, Kansas City, Los Angeles (passenger and (again) Corvair).

So during the month of October 1964, the only demand for "870" blocks or 4-speed Muncies would have been at Janesville (pass.), Kansas City (Chevelle) and Los Angeles (pass.), and very few of total production at these 3 plants would be equipped with these engines and transmissions.

This tends to agree with my observations over the years. Have never seen an October 1964 (J) cast "870" block, nor a F10xx October assembly, or a P10xx assembly date on an early '65 Muncie.

So my question is did Flint MI and Muncie IN stay shut until early Nov '64 since only 3 out of 15 plants(of 17 total) that would have a demand for these engines and transmissions ?

[James W.]

Re: 1965 Labor Strike / Engine Assembly Date Quest

Mike and John,

Thank you both for your responses.

Merry Christmas!

James West
Omaha, NE.

[Wayne M.]

Boy, that crow tastes great ...

John --- no sooner had I posted yesterday about no vehicle production throughout most of the Chev/BOP domain during October 1964, than up pops on eBay an 870 block cast J-26-4 and assembled F1029EE (in a 327 powerglide Chevelle, probably at Kansas City, as it was the only plant producing this model during October).

This is the first time I can recall seeing October activity, during the 27 years since I've owned my early '65, and have had an interest in such trivia.

Strange that Flint casting and engine assembly were active during this last week of the month, even though Flint passenger car and truck lines had ZERO production (still on strike ?) for October. I figured if UAW was on strike at a geographic location, that meant ALL plants in that general area.

[John H.]

Re: Boy, that crow tastes great ...

Wayne -

I don't recall the exact details, but UAW local 600 was an "amalgamated" local, which covered several of the plants in the Van Slyke/Dort Highway/Saginaw Street corridor, but not all of them. In those days there were 29 GM plants in Flint, and many of them had their own local unions. It would not be unusual for many of the Flint plants to be back at work when the National strike was settled, with some others still out until their local contracts were settled. I can't begin to tell you what a PITA it was to deal with that crap every three years, especially at a location (like Lordstown, where I spent six years) that had a "militant" local that constantly defied their National leadership.