mid year build sheets

[Keith B.]

It's been my understanding there was seven "build sheets" printed before the car was built and all was used in various stages of production, and one went to the dealer. if that is true what reason did the dealer need a copy? And at one point was the window sticker printed and attached to the window.

[Ralph S.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Having work at a Chevrolet dealer 1967-1972 in the new car dept. there was a copy in the car usually on the floor it was tossed in the trash during pre delivery cleanup.

[Larry E.]

Re: mid year build sheets

FWIW>Having gone to several Al Grenning's workshops he told us (IIRC) there where 12-13
pieces of paper generated to indicate all the info for each C2 made. Where are they now??
Larry

[Mark D.]

Re: mid year build sheets

This pic is of a build manifest with 30 torn corners. That is to say, there were more than 30 copies of the build manifest that were torn (removed) as the car proceeded down the line.
Photo courtesy of Frank Tetro

[Mark F.]

Re: mid year build sheets

It's been my understanding there was seven "build sheets" printed before the car was built and all was used in various stages of production, and one went to the dealer. if that is true what reason did the dealer need a copy? And at one point was the window sticker printed and attached to the window.

the Restorer10 steps before Roll-Testing: , affix to Owner Protection Plan pamphlet, and place in glove compartment.

9 steps before Roll-Testing: Rubber-stamp last six digits of VIN on computer pre-printed price sticker, apply water-based mucilage adhesive, and affix to side glass.

1 step after the Headlight Aim station: Final Inspection of all assembly operations performed on the Final Trim Line are checked, adjustments are made as required, all internal plant paperwork, inspection tickets, labels and Broadcast Copies are removed ("de-papered"), paint gets a final polish, and the unit is released to the truck or rail carrier for shipment to the dealer (or parked outside awaiting customer delivery at the plant).

1 step after that: The

[Tom R.]

Re: mid year build sheets

FWIW>Having gone to several Al Grenning's workshops he told us (IIRC) there where 12-13
pieces of paper to indicate all the info for each C2 made. Where are they now??

For years, back at the turn of the century (the one we are in now!), rumors all over the place that the cache of St Louis build records had been found. Needless to say, they were never produced. GM policy back then was that build records had no value to Chevrolet Division and once production year concluded, records were discarded. GM record retention policy required that assembly plants retain records for six months...thus inspiring the "record cache" rumors that persisted.

Chevrolet Motor Division GM Jim Perkins authorized former GM legal counsel Art Armstrong with a "special assignment" to search anywhere and everywhere within GM for Corvette and Camaro 1960-1970 build records. His report was published in the Corvette Restorer in the Winter 2001 edition. Before you run off to retrieve that Winter 2001 edition...the bottom line was that "In the end, no build records were discovered."

Of course today, the manifest (formerly the build sheet) is a gold mine for the Corvette Museum. New owners can have that manifest enshrined in paper, wood, marble and probably gold plated.

[Gary C.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Yes, both Art Armstrong and Ken Kayser searched high and low during their careers, even the salt storage facilities for Corvette build info and none was to be found.

There's conjecture that GM didn't want any build records retained after Ralph Nader's 1965 book.

Gary
....

[Michael J.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Yes, it is unfortunate that GM didn't have a Lois Eminger like Ford did: "While employed at Ford Motor Company, Eminger discovered that original invoice copies were being destroyed when no longer needed. These invoices are actually the #2 sales copy, and were one part of the multi-part form that also produced the window sticker that appeared on new car windows. Eminger felt this information might be of importance to people down the road, so she asked for permission to save these copies for future reference, and permission was granted by Ford for her to do so. In 1967, Lois worked in the Legal Department at Ford, and needed to research a particular 1955 Thunderbird. When she asked the people in archiving for the invoice, she was told that they were all thrown away after 10 years, which of course meant that the information she needed had been destroyed two years earlier. Concerned about this newly revealed information, she asked Ford management for permission to have the archive send her all invoices instead of destroying them. She received the OK, and from that point forward the original invoice copies were sent to her. When one considers the monumental task of storing all these invoices over the years, it's apparent Eminger's dedication to the classic Ford hobby was very strong. She said she stored the invoices in envelopes, each of which contained about 50 invoices.For many years, Lois Eminger supplied original invoices to Ford Motor Company vehicle owners. They only needed to provide proof of ownership for their vehicle, and pay a modest fee. Countless rare cars have been documented over the years thanks to Eminger's foresight to retain these invoices. In her later years, Eminger sold her invoices to Kevin Marti of Marti Auto Works [link opens in new window], who now provides them to owners with proof of ownership (copy of title or registration), and upon payment of a fee."

[Dan L.]

Re: mid year build sheets

So, in 1967, whose idea was it to attach a copy to the fuel tank. Was it a corporate decision?

[Mark F.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Yes, both Art Armstrong and Ken Kayser searched high and low during their careers, even the salt storage facilities for Corvette build info and none was to be found. There's conjecture that GM didn't want any build records retained after Ralph Nader's 1965 book. Gary ....

Yes, Gary,

And I'll bet willingness to share documents (at least engineering docs) at Ford dwindled after the huge awards following the Pinto rear end collision cases.

My recollection (IIRC) of part of the winning prosecution's strategy in those cases was "if you made engineering changes relating to anything coupled to "safety", you were admitting that the previous product design was defective." Whether my recollection is correct or not, that logic (whether you agree with it or not) would certainly quell willingness to share anything.

[Keith B.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Keith,

CORVETTE BUILD ORDERS 1965 – 1966 Parts 1 & 2 by Al Grenning in Volume 28 Numbers 1 (Spring 2001) and 2 (Fall 2001) of the Restorer explain the whole thing.

And, per John Hinckley's C2 Assembly Process Presentation (available in the Database of Restoration Documents [DoRD] Sticky Post), here’s what he said about paperwork (italicized):

10 steps before Roll-Testing: Protect-O-Plate is created on an Addressograph machine from inspector’s notations on Chassis Broadcast Copy (’65-’67), affix to Owner Protection Plan pamphlet, and place in glove compartment.

9 steps before Roll-Testing: Rubber-stamp last six digits of VIN on computer pre-printed price sticker, apply water-based mucilage adhesive, and affix to side glass.

1 step after the Headlight Aim station: Final Inspection of all assembly operations performed on the Final Trim Line are checked, adjustments are made as required, all internal plant paperwork, inspection tickets, labels and Broadcast Copies are removed ("de-papered"), paint gets a final polish, and the unit is released to the truck or rail carrier for shipment to the dealer (or parked outside awaiting customer delivery at the plant).

1 step after that: The MSO (Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin), the Dealer Wholesale Invoice, and the dealer’s copy of the Car Shipper are created and mailed to the dealer, and the unit is reported to the dealer and to Chevrolet-Central Office as “produced”.

thanks for that. that answer that part of the question.


Now with Marks picture of the torn off copies blows the theory of seven being printed. so it seems a lot was printed off.

[Gary C.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Computerization with IBM card punch machine automation at the assembly plants

[Edward C.]

[Tom R.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Now with Marks picture of the torn off copies blows the theory of seven being printed. so it seems a lot was printed off.

I'm a skeptic. It doesn't mean thirty copies of the same document...it could have been thirty different Corvette Order Copies batched together. Think about it...why would an assembly plant print thirty copies of the same document? What's known is that 7 copies were made and distributed to the different production lines in the plant. John Hinckley describes much of this in his series of articles.

As well...these documents were printed on a teletypewriter using computer paper and dragged through via the holes on the paper margins...many of examples still exist that show that. Sheets were torn apart and distributed and only afterward, through some need, stapled together in batches. We know that in 73, a dealer ordered thirty Corvettes in primer, ordered the factory to paint them black! So these deviations are not out of the norm.

[Larry E.]

Re: mid year build sheets

Yes, both Art Armstrong and Ken Kayser searched high and low during their careers, even the salt storage facilities for Corvette build info and none was to be found.

Gary
....

JMHO>All the above statement means they could not find anything "ON THE GM PREMISES". The "Mother
Load" or part of it could have been taken(smuggled)out of the GM premises by someone who knew how to do this. It could still
be sitting in the basement or garage of this person or transferred to someone elses. I'll stick with what Alan
Colvin told me years ago that through all the reasearch that he did; he claimed "they do still exist" (somewhere/someplace)