1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code mean?

[Scott S.]

Car is a '67 L79 with a build date of January 11, 1967.

The original steering damper (or dampener? JG calls it a "stabilizer") is bluish-gray, and dated "11 A 66":

Pliacell
3178100 .............. ll A 66
Delco Products
Dayton Ohio U.S.A.


I'm guessing the 11 and 66 in "ll A 66" means November 1966, is that correct?

What does the "A" stand for?

For years 1964-68 (excluding 1967) these steering stabilizers all appear to have had Julian date codes, no letter (e.g., 319 - 65).

[John H.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

Pliacell
3178100 .............. ll A 66
Delco Products
Dayton Ohio U.S.A.


I'm guessing the 11 and 66 in "ll A 66" means November 1966, is that correct?

What does the "A" stand for?

Scott -

That's the same date code format Delco used on the F-41 front shocks; with that format, 11A66 would be January 11, 1966.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

Scott -

That's the same date code format Delco used on the F-41 front shocks; with that format, 11A66 would be January 11, 1966.

Hi John,

Is it a reasonable possibility that a steering stabilizer dated January 11, 1966 would be an original production part on a car that was produced exactly one full year later, on January 11, 1967?

1967 I have found has an alpha-numeric date code (e.g., "6 A 66", #4 below).


Here is a summary of the other examples in the archives:

1. 1964 L75 300 HP car, steering shock absorber painted gray, marked DELCO Product #3178100 dated 74-64.

2. Car with early 1966 build date, damper is marked near the fixed end "PLIACELL", "3178100" and to the right of it says "319-65". Under that line it says "DELCO PRODUCTS DAYTON OHIO USA".

3. Car with build date of March 4, 1966 had the “Pliacell, 3178100, Delco Products, Dayton Ohio USA” dated 354-65, believed to be original.

4. Car with early 1967 build date has original steering shock, it's gray, with a date of “6 A 66” on it.

5. March 19, 1968 ( VIN #14222) build date has the steering damper, dated "321 7".

[Ronald L.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

I have one (complete asy) with the damper dated 220-66.

That equates to a part used on the last 66 car built or more probable a 67 since that date is August 8, 1966.


A year is a real stretch IMHO as the plant was in full production and these would not have been stuck in the corner at the end or beginning of the model year. We cleaned all that kind of stuff up the last week of production, sometimes two.

[Dale S.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

After reading this post this AM, I went out to the garage and pulled (it was under the bench since the 1970's when I put on the power steering) my stabilizer( dampener) on my March 30th 1967 build date Corvette. After much cleaning I found all the above mentioned data except the date. It has " 75-67 clearly stamped in it. It still has some gray paint on it. I took it off in 1972 or 1973. Dale

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

I have one (complete asy) with the damper dated 220-66.

That equates to a part used on the last 66 car built or more probable a 67 since that date is August 8, 1966.


A year is a real stretch IMHO as the plant was in full production and these would not have been stuck in the corner at the end or beginning of the model year. We cleaned all that kind of stuff up the last week of production, sometimes two.

I was also thinking a year was too long, I just don't know why someone would have put an older used steering stabilizer on the car, or why the original would need to be replaced so early in its life. The stabilizer that was on the car when we took it apart was a service replacement, dated "068 76". I have the receipt for that part, dated June 22, 1977.

The car has been in the family since November 1976, I found the 1966 ("ll A 66") steering stabilizer inside the Delco service replacement box from the June 22, 1977 stabilizer purchase. So it would appear that at some point in the car's first 10 years someone replaced the original steering stabilizer with a used example from 1966?

The previous owner (1972-1976) drag raced the car for two summers in "B" stock, and he removed the evaporator box and A6 air conditioning compressor from the engine bay to save weight (they came with the car, my Dad re-installed them). So the previous owner may have also removed the steering stabilizer for racing reasons, and probably wasn't concerned about what stabilizer went back on it before selling the car. I will add that question to the list for when I speak with the previous owner again.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

After reading this post this AM, I went out to the garage and pulled (it was under the bench since the 1970's when I put on the power steering) my stabilizer( dampener) on my March 30th 1967 build date Corvette. After much cleaning I found all the above mentioned data except the date. It has " 75-67 clearly stamped in it. It still has some gray paint on it. I took it off in 1972 or 1973. Dale

Thanks for checking, Dale. Yours is the first example I'm aware of to have a Julian date code on a 1967 model year. Besides the (now questionable) example I have dated "ll A 66", the only other example I could find in the archives of a 1967 model year car where a steering stabilizer date was mentioned was an early build date car with a stabilizer dated "6 A 66".

If the dating is to be interpreted in the same way as the F-41 shock absorber dates, then "6 A 66" is a January 6th, 1966 steering stabilizer, on a car that was stated as being "body build date of Sept 6, 1966. Car was assembled approx Sept 30, 1966".

So far, the only two examples of a steering stabilizer with a non-Julian date code format are both dated January, 1966.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

My 66 L79 built very early Feb 66 has 319-65

Hi Rich,

Yours was one of the examples I found in the archives (see post #3 above, item #2), but the month of production was not mentioned in the Thread I found, thank you for adding another data-point. The dates on these steering stabilizers are not judged, I'm just always interested to learn new things about these cars.

[Rich G.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

Scott

I just deleted that post when I realized it was redundant.

My 66 L79 trim tag is F07 (St. Louis) and the engine assy is Jan 20th

Rich

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 original Steering Damper -unique to '67, what does letter in the date code m

Scott

I just deleted that post when I realized it was redundant.

My 66 L79 trim tag is F07 (St. Louis) and the engine assy is Jan 20th

Rich

Not redundant at all! The old Thread just said early 1966 build date. More specific data (e.g. early February 1966) is always helpful and appreciated.