Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

[Hugh P.]

Were there ever two different sizes in the chrome letters for the rear facia?
If there was, how would the nubs on the back side of the letters line up with the factory rear facia holes?

[Joe L.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

Were there ever two different sizes in the chrome letters for the rear facia?
If there was, how would the nubs on the back side of the letters line up with the factory rear facia holes?

Hugh-------


As far as I know, the letters contained in the GM #3927929 letter unit were always of the same size. If there had been a difference over time then I would expect that a new part number would have been issued to reflect that change.

However, the letters contained in the 1974-75 letter unit, GM #6260519, could very well be of different size than the 1968-73 referenced above. I do not know that they were of different size but they could have been of different size. I do not think that if they were, the difference would have been very great, though.

[Tom R.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

However, the letters contained in the 1974-75 letter unit, GM #6260519, could very well be of different size than the 1968-73 referenced above. I do not know that they were of different size but they could have been of different size. I do not think that if they were, the difference would have been very great, though.

Joe & Hugh
Yes, 73 and earlier letters are different than 74-75. 1974-75 letters; the backsides are straight and fit the urethane bumper; 73 letters are smaller and horizontally elongated contrasting with 74-75 letters that are larger and squared. Images in the 73-74 TIMJG show the differences.

[Hugh P.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

Joe/Tpm,

The reason that I was asking specifically about the 68-73 letter units, is I was recently made aware of a "smaller" or "larger"
letter set of the CORVETTE letter set. Specifically obvious for the letter T.
I am not sure if that is what you were referring to Tom with respect to 1973 version.
I discussed a letter set for 68-73 with an individual and he said the letters T were too small
and is looking for larger T'S now.
I never heard of larger and smaller letter sets, for 68-73 and don't remember any that
are advertised to make sure that they designate which letter set size.
Letter sets always list complete sets as good for 68-73
Does any of this make sense?

[Joe R.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

There is a significant difference between the 69-73 3927979 and the 74-75 6260519 sets and they are not interchangeable!

JR

[Hugh P.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

I must not be communicating this clearly, but I do appreciate your responses.
My message never mentions any model year except 68-73.
I was told that this individual purchased a 68-73 Corvette letter set.
He said he knew for sure that 2 versions of 3927979 were available for 68-73.
I told him that I never heard of any differences of the letter set for 68-73.
The strange thing is all of the letters back nubs of each letter fit in the facia holes, but the T'S
definitely appear shorter when viewed from the rear when installed.
That's the mystery to me.

[Gary C.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

Hugh,

That begs the questions; 1)where was the number set purchased from?, 2) what was the part number on the envelope?

Gary
....

[Hugh P.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

I think I will just accept Joe's response. No sense trying to explain the "small" T's
If there were two then a new part number would be taken out to differentiate.
GM wouldn't bring a new part into the system without a new p/n.
Not my problem.
Thanks all.

[Hugh P.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

Gary,

Purchased from GM dealership long ago. Still in original blue/white/black GM box all 8 fasteners in blue/white/black envelope. Made in USA Printed in USA.
Envelope for fasteners has Instaseal Boise Cascade also with 4002 number on inside flap. Fasteners black cap/brown
Box not dated but has code OA6 ON END FLAP. Inside shade of box is a brown color
Also 515 marked on one inside fold flap and 32 and Flashhold script on other inside flap
1 #3927979
GR. 12.182
LETTER UNIT
Box Genuine GM Parts
Made in USA Printed In USA
General Motors Parts Division General Motors Corporation Detroit, Michigan

[Gary B.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

According to AIM, 3938140 Letter Unit were the same from 1968 through 1973. It DID NOT include the 9420202 nuts to hold them on. They are listed separately in the AIM. The same letter units are used from 1968 through 1973, according to the AIMs I have.

The GM parts book lists 3927979 Letter Unit, which included the letters with the nuts, hence a different number. My 4-73, 4-72 and the 11-73 Parts Books list the same part number for 1968-1972.

Gary Bosselman

[Joe L.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

According to AIM, 3938140 Letter Unit were the same from 1968 through 1973. It DID NOT include the 9420202 nuts to hold them on. They are listed separately in the AIM. The same letter units are used from 1968 through 1973, according to the AIMs I have.

The GM parts book lists 3927979 Letter Unit, which included the letters with the nuts, hence a different number. My 4-73, 4-72 and the 11-73 Parts Books list the same part number for 1968-1972.

Gary Bosselman

Gary-------

As a purely academic point, units are rarely, if ever, used in PRODUCTION. The 1968-73 AIMs specifies "3938140 Letter Chart". This refers to a chart of that part number which most likely includes the individual part number for each of the letters. These part numbers are, of course, PRODUCTION-only part numbers. Unfortunately, whenever these "charts" are specified in the AIMs (as they are for quite a few other items) we do not have access to them. Admittedly, though, this is all a very minor point and, in the scheme of things, quite academic

As you mentioned, for SERVICE the the letters were supplied as a UNIT which included all of the letters plus the fasteners. So, if someone needed only one or two letters, they were out-of-luck; they had to purchase the complete unit. I've even seen some of these "missing letter(s)" units for sale on eBay which are probably the left-over of someone needing only a few of the letters for replacement. The remainder have been "kicking around" and now they're being offered for sale (I suppose to someone that only needs one or more of the remaining letters).

In any event, I'm quite sure that the letters contained in the SERVICE unit were exactly the same as the individual letters used in PRODUCTION. No way would GM have created two sets of tooling, one for PRODUCTION and one for SERVICE, especially for relatively low volume items like these. However, there is one scenario I could see where SERVICE parts could differ from laterr SERVICE parts or differ from PRODUCTION. If the tooling for one of the letters wore out or broke, a replacement mold for that letter might be "off" spec and get by. Curiously, that would most likely involve the "E" or the "T" since those molds would be used twice as much as the molds for any other letter. I have no knowledge that this ever actually occurred, I just raise it as a possibility,

[Ron G.]

Re: Rear Letter Unit 68-73 Corvette P/N 3927979

I believe all of you have covered it perfectly. However, I have my original set and (2) over the counter NOS sets and they are all the same configuration. The two new old stock sets that I have were purchased approximately 35 years ago.