1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

[Ray K.]

I'm in the process of sending my A/C compressor out to be restored and before I do, I'm trying to find a new reproduction "one piece" AC compressor Frigidaire and Caution foil decal/label for my 1965 A/C coupe. It was built in late July of '65 and the original AC compressor has a one piece foil label on it (shown below), of which I have not been able to find.

According to the 6th edition technical and judging manual (ref page 179 and JPEG #17-7), the one piece label was used on "mid to late" AC cars, which mine is (date code on label is 060751 = June 07, 1965, shift 1 with a casting date of: E205 = May 20, 1965).

I've tried to find one thru Paragon, Corvette Central, Dr. Rebuild, etc to no avail. All of them state that a two labels were used on all '63 thru 1965 with air conditioning. According to them the one piece label was used on 1966 and 1967 AC cars (note: these labels have green font, not orange, for their caution verbage).

Can anyone help?
Thanks.
Ray

[Page C.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Hi Ray
This is a photo of the original compressor from my late June 1965 327/300 car. It's also the correct one piece decal like yours. Also note the added tape that indicates a change in the freon charge to 3.00 lbs. on both decals. Your added tape indicating the 3.00 lbs R12 is in better shape than mine. If I were you, I would keep the original decal. I know of no repro decal that comes close to these originals.

[Peter M.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Ray,
You could try a sign shop or print shop. I had some labels made (not AC compressor) that weren't being reproduced and they were perfect. There was a minimum price/quantity but it wasn't unreasonable.
When I restored one of my compressors years ago I masked off the label before painting it, it wasn't perfect but it did preserve the original.
Kind regards

[James W.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Ray,

I agree with Page. Use your original since it is in good condition. Mine is in far worse condition than yours or Page's. Maybe we should all get together and share the cost to have some acceptable repro's made?

James

[Leif A.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

A qualified restorer will be able to salvage your current label. Who are you sending yours out to??

[Ray K.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

All,
I had planned to send it to Dom Tallarita. Although I haven't send him my compressor yet, I did send him JPEGS. In follow-up communication with him, he was cautioning me about retaining the original label. He indicated that AC compressors usually have rust on the inside, and when restoring them, they typically get dipped in a stripper and go thru an acid wash (to remove the inside rust). He stated that he has done a few restorations keeping the one piece foil label, but, in his opinion it was "like having a black door on a green car." Again, this is his opinion only.

With that being said, I'm open to any suggestions on a possible printer source as well as willing to consider sharing the cost to re-create the one piece foil label.

Thanks everyone.
Ray

[Mike B.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Hi Ray,

I've done quite a bit of research on A-6 compressors on the TDB and some of the folks responding to your thread here helped me a lot. Thanks Page and Peter!

I'll send 3 separate posts to report what I've found on '64 thru '66 labels. I'll need to, so as to clarify my points. There appears to be continued usage of the previous year's labels going into early production of the next model year. Let me post file photos of compressors contributed from folks responding to my TDB research. Again, thanks guys.

1st, two shots of 1964 separated labels. Mike

[Mike B.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

OK Guys,

Now for the '65 labels. From what's been reported to me, I see that the early '65s may have leftover '64 style separated labels. Look at the first photo. This clearly shows the separate Frigidaire label. Then the labels change to a one piece label with orange instructions unique to earlier '65s. Look at the first sentence under the caution. It ends with the word "high". This continues through the '65 year, then it changes to the type label that you have Ray. Your first sentence under the caution ends with the word "pressure".

As Page mentioned, along the '65 AC production, freon pressure was reduced. This necessitated the modification to the labels with a black correction label over the old 3.75 LBS. R-12. Here come the '65 shots. Mike

[Mike B.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

So from what I can tell, there were 3 different style labels for the '65 compressor model #6550133. The later style '65 label (Caution 1st sentence ending in "pressure") was carried over into the 1966 production year. Somewhere in the fall of '65 around November, the model #6550133 changed to model #6550113. The label changed to an all new style with a green lower caution section. This is the style label that's being reproduced.

Hope this helped guys. Here come the '66 labels. Mike

[Ray K.]

[Mike B.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Hi Ray,

Well I'm certainly no expert on this subject. But I have received genuine photos of original unrestored compressors. Lots of them. Most are Corvette originals. Some are not. But they all show the trends that I've observed.

Anyone?
Mike

[James W.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Here is a picture of my A/C compressor label from my later production'65, VIN 2209x.

Any thoughts as to why some show a Code No. and some don't?

James

[Ray K.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

James,
I'm not sure why your compressor's foil label doesn't have a code no. on them. It's my understanding that the code number is the date that the compressor was assembled. It should be prior to your build. What is the casting date shown on yours?

My '65s late build (VIN #2267x) compressor date codes all "line up and sequence correctly): Compressor casting date is E205 = May 20, 1965. Code number is 060751 = June 07, 1965, shift 1. VIN #2267x was built during the 3rd week of July 1965.

What interests me about your label is that yours seems to be the two piece label, and, referring back to Mike's jpegs, it looks like yours is an early '65 built compressor, used on a late build '65 (your vette, VIN#2209x, was about 580 units before mine). This seems strange (along with no code/date number). . . . . . might want to double check your casting date . . . .
Ray

[Mike B.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Hello Ray and James,

During my compressor research I've run across anomalies along the way. I've seen very long lapses of time from when a compressor end plate was cast to when the compressor was assembled. I've also seen very long lapses of time from when a compressor was assembled to when it was installed on the car. Pretty hard to find owners who can absolutely attest to the originality of all parts on their cars. Original or very early owners of the cars that reported to me were rare.

Thanks James for posting this shot of your compressor. I'm seeing another trend forming here. I agree with Ray that your compressor shows strong evidence that it has two separate labels. But now I'm beginning to suspect that the early '65 labels are not exact carryovers from '64. Close, but not exactly the same.

The first difference I've noticed is the upper black and white label of my file shot of an early '65 compressor and James' compressor when compared to '64 upper labels. "Product of General Motors U.S.A." is wider on the '65. There's also a wider gap between the words above the "3.75".

My file shot of the early '65 compressor didn't show the lower label area. Now I've got one thanks to James. The lower label on James' compressor shows evidence that it's not as wide as the one on the '64. From the remaining orange letters on his label I feel the instructions may be the same as the '64s. Compare the '64s to James' photo. I'll make it bold where James' remnants line up:

CAUTION

REFRIGERANT FLUID UNDER HIGH PRESSURE
DO NOT DISCONNECT ANY LINES WITHOUT

1. WEARING PRESCRIBED SAFETY GOGGLES

2. FOLLOWING PROCEDURE OUTLINED IN
THE SHOP MANUAL

Here's 3 separate compressors to compare the evidence. First is the '64. Second is my early '65 file shot. Third is James'. Compare my file shot to James'. Take care, Mike

[Mike B.]

Re: 1965 A/C Compressor One-Piece Foil Label/Decal

Hi Guys,

For some reason a paragraph dropped off when I posted the photos just below.

Well James, there you go. The only file photo I've got of an early '65 has an identical label as yours. And they both are missing any dates or codes in the serial number box. They both don't have the black correction tape over the 3.75 LBS R-12 like the one piece '65 labels do either. I've just recently found out about the early '65 labels. I'm definitely going to do more research on this. I've got lots of examples of the one piece labels. Thanks for posting this.

I'm with Ray. It would be good to hear what casting date your compressor has. I know it's hard to see the casting date with the compressor installed on the car. I've been successful holding a cellphone camera under the compressor muffler with the flash either on or off. It would be great to see a shot.

Take care,
Mike