70-72 A/C Compressor Date Code

[Norm C.]

The 4th edition 70-72 judging guide describes the date code as mmddyS. It states the S= shift. However, after seeing confirmed original A/C 1131002 A6's... all date codes are ending with either the digit 1 or 2. ie 101911 which to me is an Oct 19 71 build date followed by a 1. YES, I did a search in the tech archives. Lots of discussions on how to read or get new foils with the correct dates and or model numbers,,,, but none discuss the judging description of what that last digit should be or its translation? Do any of the 70-72 judges or other's know what is the correct date translation? Thanks in advance for any help offered!!!!

[Larry M.]

[Norm C.]

Re: 70-72 A/C Compressor Date Code

Larry.... MYSTERY SOLVED..OUTSTANDING!!! Not sure I would have ever thought of it identifying a work shift. Thanks for the quick reply!!!

[Terry M.]

Re: 70-72 A/C Compressor Date Code

Norm:

S= shift worked to build the compressor. 1 = days. 2= evenings. I don't think a night or graveyard shift (shift 3) was ever worked. So when making up a new sticker for your car AC, if you know the shift, then use that number. If not, take a guess…….either 1 or 2 will work just fine.

Larry

As someone who has worked a job that is shiftwork for over 45 years, let me obfuscate the issue.

Commonly shifts can be eight hours long, ten hours long or twelve hours long; however any other number of hours can also constitute a regular shift.

Depending on the timekeeping policies of the location, first shift can be either the day shift or the night shift. It depends on the timekeeping policy of the employer.

Some policies count the hours as being entirely on the day the shift starts, regardless of what day they are worked. Some night shifts begin at 10 PM and some begin at 11 PM, and others at midnight. When the shift begins is the date when the hours are recorded if that is the policy. Thus using this system the first shift begins Monday morning (between 5AM and 9 AM are commonly the starting time for eight hour shifts with no overlap, however any other time can be chosen). Now make those shifts ten hours and you have to know if there were only two ten hour shifts or if ten hours is to allow for an hour overlap at the beginning and end of each of three shifts. I am not trying to overly complicate this. In my time I have worked in all of these situations and more.

On the other had if the worker's time is recorded on the date the majority of it is worked, and the night shift starts 9 PM or later, one gets the first shift of the week beginning Sunday night at 9 PM, and the second shift begin Monday morning at 5 AM and the third shift Monday afternoon at 2 PM. Throw ten hour shifts into this mix and the first shift is still Sunday night, but the beginning and ending times change.

It is possible that different plants have different timekeeping policies, and some plants work eight hour shifts and some ten hour shifts. Look at the hour clock that is cast into cylinder cases and other cast parts. Most, if not all, of these clocks show ten dots. Foundries commonly work ten hour shifts. Some castings have a shift pointer. The shift symbols are D = day, N= night, M = middle. The number of shifts could have changed from time to time to account for changes in production requirements.

I hope I have confused the situation sufficiently that one will feel the strong urge to ignore the shift indicators just as most judges do.

[Larry M.]

Re: 70-72 A/C Compressor Date Code

As someone who has worked a job that is shiftwork for over 45 years, let me obfuscate the issue.

Commonly shifts can be eight hours long, ten hours long or twelve hours long; however any other number of hours can also constitute a regular shift.

Depending on the timekeeping policies of the location, first shift can be either the day shift or the night shift. It depends on the timekeeping policy of the employer.

Some policies count the hours as being entirely on the day the shift starts, regardless of what day they are worked. Some night shifts begin at 10 PM and some begin at 11 PM, and others at midnight. When the shift begins is the date when the hours are recorded if that is the policy. Thus using this system the first shift begins Monday morning (between 5AM and 9 AM are commonly the starting time for eight hour shifts with no overlap, however any other time can be chosen). Now make those shifts ten hours and you have to know if there were only two ten hour shifts or if ten hours is to allow for an hour overlap at the beginning and end of each of three shifts. I am not trying to overly complicate this. In my time I have worked in all of these situations and more.

On the other had if the worker's time is recorded on the date the majority of it is worked, and the night shift starts 9 PM or later, one gets the first shift of the week beginning Sunday night at 9 PM, and the second shift begin Monday morning at 5 AM and the third shift Monday afternoon at 2 PM. Throw ten hour shifts into this mix and the first shift is still Sunday night, but the beginning and ending times change.

It is possible that different plants have different timekeeping policies, and some plants work eight hour shifts and some ten hour shifts. Look at the hour clock that is cast into cylinder cases and other cast parts. Most, if not all, of these clocks show ten dots. Foundries commonly work ten hour shifts. Some castings have a shift pointer. The shift symbols are D = day, N= night, M = middle. The number of shifts could have changed from time to time to account for changes in production requirements.

I hope I have confused the situation sufficiently that one will feel the strong urge to ignore the shift indicators just as most judges do.

Terry:

I have worked my share of shift work in the chemical plants, but not 45 years like you.

JohnZ told me that the St Louis Corvette Plant worked two shifts: days and evenings. Back during this time (1960's), most of the chemical plants and Chicago steel mills worked the typical 8-hr shift (days, evenings, nights). I didn't get introduced to the 10-hr or 12-hr shifts until later in my life (1980's and beyond). And these were in down South and in non-union plants. So I based my reply on the ASSUMPTION that the Harrison/Fridigaire (probably union) machine shop guys worked the typical (of that time) 8 hr shift like the St Louis Plant guys and other GM assembly plants.

I now understand that this assumption might be in error. However, as we both agree, it doesn't make any difference.

Take care my friend.

Larry

[Terry M.]

Re: 70-72 A/C Compressor Date Code

Larry
My career has been in the electric utility business where people seem to want power 24 hours a day. Roughly half was spent in union jobs working three eight hour shifts, but since I have been in management the shifts are now 12 hours or 16 hours. I should hasten to point out that it has been the nature of what I do that has required the shiftwork, and there are many utility employees, both union and management, who have more conventional work hours and know nothing about shiftwork.

I have read John Hinckley's posts about the St Louis Assembly Plant shifts.

In the GM foundries of the mid-1960s into the 1970s there were, for the most part, two non-overlapping ten hour production shifts, but there must have been some workers who kept the furnaces running and maintained the equipment who were working around the clock and on weekends. I very much doubt they shut the furnaces off for weekends or holidays. When they shut them down it was to re-line them and that would have taken more than several days. In any case the dated output of the engine foundries (both Saginaw and Tonawanda) involved those two ten hour shifts.

I have no easy way to determine what shifts would have been at the supplier's plants, so we are back to the "how much does it matter" question again.