Parts

[Lyndon S.]

When parts like carburetors and starters ect. Were made did they make batches of a particular part number
for the whole MY or did they just make them on a as needed?

[Terry M.]

Re: Parts

When parts like carburetors and starters ect. Were made did they make batches of a particular part number
for the whole MY or did they just make them on a as needed?

Add alternators and distributors to your list. The answer is -- it depends.

The only whole year batches we have noticed for the early C3s are for the low-numbered options. Think the number of carburetors or distributors for the 200 LS6 production engines. Or the number of L88 starters which also fit ZR1s. It is pretty common to find that starter on ZR1s a couple of years out -- if one can say anything is common when the high volume year is 25. There might only be one or two or three batches of tri-power center carbs for automatic transmission application as well.

More common engine accessories were batched, but probably at the rate of many hundreds at a time throughout the model year, and of course some of those applications spanned several model years so the batches just kept coming and the size or frequency of those batches could easily be adjusted for changes in customer demand.

I would assUme the same general batching took place throughout Corvette production up to and perhaps into the C4 era, but at some more recent time "just in time" delivery became the mantra and every part has a specific vehicle destination -- often identified by a sequence number. Parts for the most part are no longer batched.

What causes you to ask? Do you have something in mind?

[Lyndon S.]

Re: Parts

I was just reading a old restorer article in where the author was re doing his carburetor . And in the seventies he had given his original one away. Then he was able to find one that was real close to when his car was built. Just got me thinking about how carburetors and such were built. Then throw in a strike or two, and I can see why NCRS uses a 6 month window.

[Terry M.]

Re: Parts

I was just reading a old restorer article in where the author was re doing his carburetor . And in the seventies he had given his original one away. Then he was able to find one that was real close to when his car was built. Just got me thinking about how carburetors and such were built. Then throw in a strike or two, and I can see why NCRS uses a 6 month window.

There could have been transportation related delays = weather for example. Also not all the work stoppages were at St Louis or the UAW. One of those work stoppages was a nation wide Teamsters strike. Nothing moved by truck for quite some time, and the Corvette plant, and likely all other automotive assembly plants, stopped.