69 VIN's

[Philip A.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Yes, Thx Mark. That is great info!

[Richard K.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Not totally related, but a fun story about how the line workers tried to have a little fun, and hopefully maintain their sanity during a busy workday.
When I started to restore my '69, in found a penny tucked inside/beside the door sill wiring set under the carpet, and when I checked it, it was dated 1969. I've kept that silly little penny for many years in a safe place.
At a national convention years later, I was looking over a '69 that was going to go through Bowtie judging. In my snoopyness, I stumbled across a penny that was laid on a ledge inside the engine compartment next to the mounting bracket for the wiper operating mechanism. I let the owner know, and when we check it for the date........................you guessed it.............1969. He never knew it was there.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL

[Terry M.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Thanks Terry,
Just spoke to him and he verified his trim tag is L 21, the same.

Good to hear.

Just to cite another example, but again a different year:
I own 1971 #12,677 Trim tag H18.
A good friend owns 1971 #12,703 Trim Tag H19

Our belief is that my car had the trim Tag attached late in the day of March 18 and his early in the day of March 19. It is entirely possible that both cars exited the assembly line on the same workday, but then again since March 19, 1971 was a Friday maybe not.

FWIW: Both cars have the same Power trains. The engine assembly date, alternator, starter, carburetor and fuel pump dates are the same on both cars, however the transmission assembly dates are different. They do have different rear axle ratios, so those assembly dates, not too surprisingly, are different. We both enjoy how in some ways our cars are similar, and in other ways they are different. Since we live only about 100 miles apart, we frequently get to partake of these pleasures. Although we were good friends before either of us owned these Corvettes, the cars have made for a great bonding opportunity. I hope you can share similar experiences with the owner of the 1969 car next to yours.

[Mark F.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Mark: I doubt there are significant differences between the mid-year build process and the early C3 process unless we get down to specific work stations. And even at that, there is probably little difference.

Your quantification of the build process fails to note that the work on the chassis, beginning with the Chassis Upside Down Line, occurs concurrent with the work in the body and paint shop. This would have been true for both the C2 and C3 St Louis builds. I am not going to do the math, but I suspect it may change the number of work stations you cite between the application of the VIN & Trim Tags and the completed car station.

One of the reasons I made no attempt to get into the details of the St Louis car build is for just such complex reasons. I believe it is sufficient to state that SOME time passes between when the trim tag is attached and the complete car exits the assembly line. Put another way: I prefer to deal with horseshoes and hand grenades rather than pool balls. :-)

Hi Terry,

Excellent observation! forgot about that...
So, as I see the Plant layout and if I counted correctly, it looks to me like the FUDL, EDL and CL lines are separate from the Body Lines...(see attached pdf, too).

Subtracting those stations out I now get 153 stations after VIN attachment...
I also see some of the lines have different names than what John had in his presentation...

Does this look better to you now?

1. Body Shop (BS): 27 stations
2. Paint Shop (PS): 28 stations
3. Hard Trim Line (HTL): 63 stations (1^st station attaches VIN and Trim Plates)

4. Frame Upside-Down Line (FUDL): 14 stations (not continuous with the Body Lines)

5. Engine Dress Line (EDL): 26 stations (not continuous with the Body Lines)
6. Chassis Line (CL): 25 stations (not continuous with the Body Lines)

7. Body Drop (BD): 2 stations
8. Final Line (FL): 54 stations
9. Roll Test & Toe-In (RTTI): 5 stations
10. Water Test (WT): 3 stations
11. Final Paint Repair (FPR): 3 stations
12. Final Trim Line (FTL): 11 stations
13. Headlight Aim 1 station
14. Final Inspection 1 station
15. MSO, Invoice, Car Shipper, etc. 1 station

St. Louis Plant Layout separate lines highlighted_001.jpg

[Terry M.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Hi Terry,

Excellent observation! forgot about that...
So, as I see the Plant layout and if I counted correctly, it looks to me like the FUDL, EDL and CL lines are separate from the Body Lines...(see attached pdf, too).

Subtracting those stations out I now get 153 stations after VIN attachment...
I also see some of the lines have different names than what John had in his presentation...

Does this look better to you now?

1. Body Shop (BS): 27 stations
2. Paint Shop (PS): 28 stations
3. Hard Trim Line (HTL): 63 stations (1^st station attaches VIN and Trim Plates)

4. Frame Upside-Down Line (FUDL): 14 stations (not continuous with the Body Lines)

5. Engine Dress Line (EDL): 26 stations (not continuous with the Body Lines)
6. Chassis Line (CL): 25 stations (not continuous with the Body Lines)

7. Body Drop (BD): 2 stations
8. Final Line (FL): 54 stations
9. Roll Test & Toe-In (RTTI): 5 stations
10. Water Test (WT): 3 stations
11. Final Paint Repair (FPR): 3 stations
12. Final Trim Line (FTL): 11 stations
13. Headlight Aim 1 station
14. Final Inspection 1 station
15. MSO, Invoice, Car Shipper, etc. 1 station

[ATTACH=CONFIG]109436[/ATTACH]

I defer to your superior knowledge.

You put a lot of work into analyzing John's descriptions. Thank you for all that effort.

[Sal C.]

Re: 69 VIN's

In or around 1985, myself and partner Ray Zisa brought a 1972 ZR1 to Knoxville to run through the auction. When we brought the car into the staging lanes we noticed the car right in front of us was the exact car that preceded ours down the assembly line. I cant even fathom what the odds of that happening could be. However this post might have just blown that possibility right out of the water. Any way....Merry Christmas!!!

[Drew P.]

Re: 69 VIN's

In or around 1985, myself and partner Ray Zisa brought a 1972 ZR1 to Knoxville to run through the auction. When we brought the car into the staging lanes we noticed the car right in front of us was the exact car that preceded ours down the assembly line. I cant even fathom what the odds of that happening could be. However this post might have just blown that possibility right out of the water. Any way....Merry Christmas!!!

Hello Sal,
The other 1972 Corvette VIN 16639 was it higher or lower ?
Side Bar: The North East Chapter had 3 Regional meets in Farmington CT in 1993-1994-1995.
I was the Chapter Judging Chairman at one of the meets there were (2) 1966 Corvettes with the VINS one serial number apart and had cars place on next to each other.
Best Regards,
Drew Papsun

[Mark L.]

Re: 69 VIN's

July 21 Trim Tag suggests it came off the line on the 22nd, possibly 23rd.
It would be interesting to know the Trim Tag date on 5452 to compare.

Body build date is not the same as production date.

Both cars were completed on the same day per the GM factory records.

[Philip A.]

Re: 69 VIN's

HI Mark. Im not sure I saw your post to my question referencing VIN's. In your post you say both cars were completed on the same day. And I see you are a historical Doc coordinator. Were you able to find my VIN that give you that info.?
Thx Phil

[Mark L.]

Re: 69 VIN's

HI Mark. Im not sure I saw your post to my question referencing VIN's. In your post you say both cars were completed on the same day. And I see you are a historical Doc coordinator. Were you able to find my VIN that give you that info.?
Thx Phil

Phil,
Your vin is in the database. Apparently you have not ordered a SDR. You can get the dealer info and the date the car was completed and moved to the shipping area.

[Philip A.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Mark that good to know, thanks.
After seeing your post I looked into to the docs section to order But apparently i looked at the wrong thing because it said i had to have documents copies to send in.
Will look to see where it says SDR.
Thank you.

[Leif A.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Mark that good to know, thanks.
After seeing your post I looked into to the docs section to order But apparently i looked at the wrong thing because it said i had to have documents copies to send in.
Will look to see where it says SDR.
Thank you.

Philip,
Try the link below.

https://www.ncrs.org/services/historic-document-service.php

[Philip A.]

Re: 69 VIN's

OMG I totally looked right over it. Found it and ordered, thx Mark

[Mike E.]

Re: 69 VIN's

Good to hear.

Just to cite another example, but again a different year:
I own 1971 #12,677 Trim tag H18.
A good friend owns 1971 #12,703 Trim Tag H19

Our belief is that my car had the trim Tag attached late in the day of March 18 and his early in the day of March 19. It is entirely possible that both cars exited the assembly line on the same workday, but then again since March 19, 1971 was a Friday maybe not.

FWIW: Both cars have the same Power trains. The engine assembly date, alternator, starter, carburetor and fuel pump dates are the same on both cars, however the transmission assembly dates are different. They do have different rear axle ratios, so those assembly dates, not too surprisingly, are different. We both enjoy how in some ways our cars are similar, and in other ways they are different. Since we live only about 100 miles apart, we frequently get to partake of these pleasures. Although we were good friends before either of us owned these Corvettes, the cars have made for a great bonding opportunity. I hope you can share similar experiences with the owner of the 1969 car next to yours.

What a coincidence! I have a good friend who lives about 100 miles from me that has a 1971 built 26 cars earlier than mine.😊