65 Power Steering option

[Ronald L.]

Re: 65 Power Steering option

My order for a 1965 396 coupe was placed in April of '65. Power steering not available as per the sales manager at the dealership where I worked
My view has been these many years that, and continues today, that the P/S option was not available on the L-78 engine. My P & A catalog of August 1965 does not list any of the components necessary for a 396 P/S installation. A year later, ( August 66 ) the components are listed for the 1965 -66 396 / 427 engine option matching the part numbers as listed in the '65 Assembly Manual. These may have been listed in an earlier printing of the '66 P & A, most likely at the beginning of the '66 production year. When was the N40 P/S option released ? My guess is with the start of the 1966 Corvette production year. My view is not in agreement with the '65 Judging Guide.
Ray

[Jack M.]

Re: 65 Power Steering option

Ron- Who said Chevy was giving anything away for FREE? I mentioned they CHARGED for the N40 option (with whatever engine), and the price was already listed in the 1965 price schedules.

I'm posting one photo, and more PDF files from 1965 & 1966.
In this initial 1965 AIM photo, we see a date of 2-2, but no specific year given (unlike a similar FULL DATED page from the 1964 N40 AIM):
Power Steering - 1965 CORVETTE ASSEMBLY MANUAL (N40 - 7).jpg

Looking at the 1965 Power Steering AIM page of N40 - 1 (PDF Attachment #1), it notes that Sheet #7 was added on 1-25-65.
Reviewing the 'dates' on all the other 1965 N40 pages (PDF Attachment #2), the two digits seem to reflect 1964 & 1965 on respective sheets.
Therefore, I believe that the 2-2 date in the above image was indeed for February 2, 1965.
(I've also included the full PDF for 1965 & 1966 for UPC N40 - 1... Attachments #3 & #4)

Building 20 test L78 Corvettes specifically with N40 seems a little excessive to me... then again, I'm just a nobody, and wasn't present to know for sure.
You can write them all off as non-ordered vehicles, but I'd like a little more proof.

When I mentioned going 'up the ladder', it was simply checking with the Regional Zone for clarification.
For a few quick examples of ordering documentation errors, consider some I can easily recall:
a) In 1963, when Corvette added tinted windows, the documented price for ALL windows was LESS than just the windshield.
I seriously doubt Chevy actually charged LESS for that A01 option... do you feel they implicitly followed that document price?
b) In 1966, some ordering documentation showed F41 with the L36 engine... but I have early paperwork were Zone rejected an order.
c) Also in 1966, some Corvette ordering documentation shows paint code 976 as Marina Blue (instead of Nassau Blue)...
Can people with builds during those few months claim they have a RARE 1966 color?

These are just a couple examples of documentation errors that existed over the years...
And in my opinion (thus far), I believe the lack of ordering docs for L78 & N40 was another simple error.
Your 'proof' that it did not exist is fairly equal to my 'proof' that it did exist... so without better 'proof', we are just rendering an opinion/guess.

[Ray K.]

Re: 65 Power Steering option

Jack,
I appreciate your response and comments. Certainly some degree of validity in what you have offered in terms of support for your opinion. I also checked the date of the drawing and it is as you referenced 2-2 but not the year. Who knows what GM / Chevrolet actually did. No doubt there were errors and discrepancies over the years in the ordering / production process. I had a conversation with Mark Nagy earlier this morning - he says you two know each other well.

The dealership where I worked in San Diego delivered a fair amount of Corvettes. The 396 / L-78 units were limited but believe a total of 6 or perhaps 7 were delivered. Mine was the 4th Corvette such car with 2 more or maybe 3 following later in June or July time frame. I checked out each and every 396 Corvette that came through and none had power steering option. The first one was a black coupe with outside exhaust. It got road tested by many service people and sales people, myself included. There was a road behind the dealer where you could do a burnout and a short hard run. Some very late production cars could ( possibly ?? ) have had the N40 option. However, my opinion rendered will remain as previously stated, not available / produced. If anyone has a original window sticker or a dealer factory invoice to substantiate the N40 option, I think we would both welcome it.

Ray

[Keith B.]

Re: 65 Power Steering option

Does anyone have drawings from Saginaw for the BB PS parts?

[Ronald L.]

Ron- Who said Chevy was giving anything away for FREE? I mentioned they CHARGED for the N40 option (with whatever engine), and the price was already listed in the 1965 price schedules.

I'm posting one photo, and more PDF files from 1965 & 1966.
In this initial 1965 AIM photo, we see a date of 2-2, but no specific year given (unlike a similar FULL DATED page from the 1964 N40 AIM):
[ATTACH=CONFIG]115583[/ATTACH]

Looking at the 1965 Power Steering AIM page of N40 - 1 (PDF Attachment #1), it notes that Sheet #7 was added on 1-25-65.
Reviewing the 'dates' on all the other 1965 N40 pages (PDF Attachment #2), the two digits seem to reflect 1964 & 1965 on respective sheets.
Therefore, I believe that the 2-2 date in the above image was indeed for February 2, 1965.
(I've also included the full PDF for 1965 & 1966 for UPC N40 - 1... Attachments #3 & #4)

Building 20 test L78 Corvettes specifically with N40 seems a little excessive to me... then again, I'm just a nobody, and wasn't present to know for sure.
You can write them all off as non-ordered vehicles, but I'd like a little more proof.

When I mentioned going 'up the ladder', it was simply checking with the Regional Zone for clarification.
For a few quick examples of ordering documentation errors, consider some I can easily recall:
a) In 1963, when Corvette added tinted windows, the documented price for ALL windows was LESS than just the windshield.
I seriously doubt Chevy actually charged LESS for that A01 option... do you feel they implicitly followed that document price?
b) In 1966, some ordering documentation showed F41 with the L36 engine... but I have early paperwork were Zone rejected an order.
c) Also in 1966, some Corvette ordering documentation shows paint code 976 as Marina Blue (instead of Nassau Blue)...
Can people with builds during those few months claim they have a RARE 1966 color?

These are just a couple examples of documentation errors that existed over the years...
And in my opinion (thus far), I believe the lack of ordering docs for L78 & N40 was another simple error.
Your 'proof' that it did not exist is fairly equal to my 'proof' that it did exist... so without better 'proof', we are just rendering an opinion/guess.

[Joe L.]

Re: 65 Power Steering option

Does anyone have drawings from Saginaw for the BB PS parts?