Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

[David R.]

The reason I ask is I checked the birthday book and it said my car was produced around Nov-2-1964. Nov-2, I believe would be the first day of production after the Oct strike (Sept-16 TO Nov-1). The last car made on Sept-16 was VIN # 101425 and mine is 101566, So.. would 141 cars go down the line in one day ?

Dave

[William C.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

Don't know for sure, but with two shifts you would only be looking at about 8 cars per hour, well within the normal range of Corvette builds

[Wayne M.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

The reason I ask is I checked the birthday book and it said my car was produced around Nov-2-1964. Nov-2, I believe would be the first day of production after the Oct strike (Sept-16 TO Nov-1). The last car made on Sept-16 was VIN # 101425 and mine is 101566, So.. would 141 cars go down the line in one day ? ..

Dave -- they were producing anywhere from 85 to 95 cars/day for a 6-day week, from December 6th thru 31st. The reason I say Dec 6th is that I've never seen a St.Louis trim tag with anything earlier in November than the 6th (D6) [and I've been taking notes for 30 years ]. Now unless they started the line (post-strike) earlier and ran only A-bodies, I can't see how any Corvettes were completed on the first 5 days of November, 1964.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

Here's the trim tag off 1965 convertible VIN 01497 (found in boneyard in Spokane WA). Your's will probably have the "65_194x7" long style format, like this one.

Notice stress marks around the '9'.

[David R.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

Dave -- they were producing anywhere from 85 to 95 cars/day for a 6-day week, from December 6th thru 31st. The reason I say Dec 6th is that I've never seen a St.Louis trim tag with anything earlier in November than the 6th (D6) [and I've been taking notes for 30 years ]. Now unless they started the line (post-strike) earlier and ran only A-bodies, I can't see how any Corvettes were completed on the first 5 days of November, 1964.

Wayne: I will look at the trim tag tonight when I get home. So, the D6 means Nov-6th and what does the stress marks around the 9 indicate?

Also, is a "A" body a corvette?

[Wayne M.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

Wayne: I will look at the trim tag tonight when I get home. So, the D6 means Nov-6th and what does the stress marks around the 9 indicate ? ...Also, is a "A" body a corvette?

Dave -- yes, A-code bodies (trim tag, upper right) were Corvette bodies built in Ionia Mich, and shipped to St.Louis to be added to the S- Corvette bodies. So if yours is an A-body, the STYLE code may not apply as I show in the pic. 'D' is November for bodies of both sources.

The stress marks are what the REAL experts (not me ) look for on certain characters on the trim tag. All you ever wanted to know about TT's can be found in NCRS publication "Authentication Library, Volume One" for the C2 trim tags.

[David R.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

Wayne you were right it's D7 on my tag. I wonder why they have those birthday books that only give you an appoximate date when the day is stamped on the car?

Is the D7 the date the body was made or the date the car was assembled?

Sould the date coded parts on my car (1965) be '64 or "65 for a car built in Nov-7-64?

Would you think parts should be dated before Sept-16-64 strike date?

Dave

[Wayne M.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

Wayne you were right it's D7 on my tag. I wonder why they have those birthday books that only give you an approximate date when the day is stamped on the car?

They haven't amassed enough data points for accuracy.

Is the D7 the date the body was made or the date the car was assembled?

Not necessarily; it's the date the trim tag was riveted on, while still on the body production line. For S-bodies [which yours is] it could also be the date the finished car rolled off the assembly line, if the body was finished early in the shift of the same day. This does not apply to A-bodies, which were rail shipped from Ionia MI, and subject to inventory handling at St.Louis, so lag is much greater.

Should the date coded parts on my car (1965) be '64 or "65 for a car built in Nov-7-64?

Definitely 1964 calendar dates -- nothing with 1965 dates, except reference to 1965 in the VIN tag and the STYLE line on the trim tag.

Would you think parts should be dated before Sept-16-64 strike date?

Yes, I think most Corvette sub-component suppliers also took time off to avoid building inventory. For instance, my D6 car has trans P0916 and the diff is AP0917, ie. before the strike started. BTW, if the trim tag on 01425 is any indication, (B27) the strike at St.Louis didn't start until sometime on Sept 27th or 28th.

[David R.]

Re: Nov 1964, How many cars would normally go down the assemby line in 1 day?

I'll have to collect the other dates codes off the car to see what parts have been changed out over the years. Thanks Wayne


Dave