freqmonkey1968

I've been a member on here for a long time but never got around to posting before......
I already know there have been a thousand questions asked about the difference between '68 and all other year hinges....I understand the difference....but my question is different.
My '68 Cutlass Supreme has what I "believe" to be the original hood, both hinges and both fenders still on it. My driver's hinge only has two mounting holes to mount the hood to the hinge and my passenger side has three. (Again, to mount the hood to the hinge, not the hinge to the fender.)
I have found a picture on here where the original poster's pic is the exact opposite of mine, this all came to my attention when I acquired another hood off a '68 Cutlass where both sides had three bolts to mount the hood.
I also have no spacers between the two so I'm pretty sure it's been apart before.
Not particularly important I guess since I could probably jam a spacer in the non drilled hinge, but it's more a curiosity for me....has anyone else noticed the difference in the '68 only hinges?

allyolds68

There was an early assembly manual change dated 9/25/67 that went from two bolts to three. Your car must have gotten one of each

freqmonkey1968

I do know it's an early build car based off the sequence number in the VIN but I haven't fully researched it all yet. That makes sense though, thank you so much for the information.

rcorrigan5

You can check the trim tag on your driver side cowl (just under the hood) to determine the build date of your car. There should be something like a two digit number, followed by a letter. The first two digits tell the month and the letter gives the week of that month. For instance, if the time build code on your trim tag said 09C, the build date of your car would be September (09), the third week of that month (C), 1967 (the '68 production year started in mid-August 1967).

Randy C.

freqmonkey1968

I wish I could decode it but unfortunately the original trim tag has been pried off the cowl for some reason and I didn't get it with the car. It sure would answer a lot of questions though. Other than approximating using the sequence number, is there another way to possibly determine a build date range?


Brian

rcorrigan5

I would say that, if you posted your sequence #, you might get some input here on where about your number might lie date-wise.

Randy C.

freqmonkey1968

That's a good idea, thank you.


My sequence number is 102613, built in Fremont. If anyone happens to have a close number and know the build date of their car, I would definitely be interested in knowing about when mine was built.


I don't remember right off hand what the cast date of my motor is but I do know it doesn't necessarily always correlate. However mine might be early enough that it does.....

JohnnyBs68S

My '68 has only two bolts between the hinge and hood. I haven't checked the trim-tag, but does this fact imply my car was a very early build (in the first ~5 weeks)? My car doesn't have shoulder belts, so I know it was built before 1/1/68.

allyolds68

Like Lansing, BOP plants followed the assembly manual. I've heard that it took a little longer to make changes at the BOP plants but don't really have any hard evidence or timeline as to how much longer that was.

For reference, the 7028253 carb for the 68 442 4 speed was added by assembly manual revision dated 4/29/68. The first known casting date for a 7028253 carb is 6/1/68 so it's doubtful that they started using this carb until early June of 1968

freqmonkey1968

I don't have shoulder belts either, and for what it's worth since I don't have my trim tag, I DO have the original motor and the block was cast Sep 28, 1967. So.....mine was built between presumably Oct 1ish to Dec 31 1967....a little more evidence of a possible delay in following production changes?