danreckner

I bought a 71 Cutlass S basket case a couple years back and was planning on doing a modern resto on it until I found that there was some strange stamping on the cowl tag. There is an "11" is stamped into the tag (rather than embossed from the back like the rest of the info) between the body number and the "BDY". I have not been able to find any info about this on the web and would do a historic resto if this is something rare. Any help would be appreciated.

old98owner

This is an inspector stamp. Apparently this car had some sort of issue that needed a close look from an inspector. If the car has an odd option on it, like factory A/C which was odd for the time, it might have needed a close look from someone after the car was finished.

These inspection numbers can be stamped anywhere on the cowl tag.

Sometimes cars were randomly inspected for quality control.

German cars at the time were inspected by many inspectors who knew only their part of the car and you can find, if you know where to look, inspection marks all over them. US cars normally had only one inspector, and when he was happy with the car he stamped his number into the cowl to show that the car was ready to ship.

danreckner

Thanks for the info old98. Is there somewhere I can go to get documentation about what original options and equipment that this car had? I know there is a Pontiac Historical Society that can tell you everything that came on your car from the factory. Is there any service like this for Olds?

wmachine

That very well may be an inspectors stamp, but an inspectors stamp on the cowl tag is highly unusual on Oldsmobiles. And there was more than one inspector at various times. The primary function of the inspector was not so much quality control as it was to make sure the correct components were going into the right cars.

wmachine

Unfortunately, Olds does not have such records (unless your car was built or sold new in Canada). Since your car was built at the Fremont plant, you may find a build sheet hiding in the interior. First place to look is behind and under the seats.

danreckner

Machine, If not an inspectors mark, do you have any ideas of what else it may be??

danreckner

Unfortunately, the car is pretty much a basket case, so the interior hasn't been in the car for some time. Thanks for the info!!

Allan R

Guys, I have something that may interest both of you. First this information is not from 1971 when the cowl tag in question (danreckner) was built. This is about the 1972 models and relates to Quality Control.

GM initiated the SENTINEL [Oldsmobile Quality Program] that was launched at the start of the 1972 model run (read 1971 June???July?? August???)

According the GM sources at the time: "As new Oldsmobiles proceed along the assembly lines in Lansing, they undergo literally hundreds of quality control inspections that are normal steps in the carr assembly process."

After the cars were fully assembled ALL of them went to the Sentinel system for final reinspection of mechanical, elecrical and visual recheck. Some of the cars also were subjected to a brief road test. All this information is taken directly from the Oldsmoible Public relations dept. official press release dated March 1972. (Hey, that means my car got the full meal deal inspection!!) I'm attaching a couple of pics (original GM B&W glossy) that shows the facility "in action". You can even see the SENTINEL sign at the entry of the facility.

I know this doesn't help solve the problem of the 1 1 stamp, but I thought you might like to see this info. If any of you want a photocopy LMK and I'll see what I can do for you. The document is original so I'm willing to do a one time run of color photocopies. Cost would be the cost of photocopy and postage. LMK

old98owner

You say the seat has not been in the interior for some time...

Do you mean the seats and springs are out of the car and gone, or do you mean they are just in need of serious repair?

The build sheet, by now, is likely a tattered piece of paper that will crumble when you try to pick it up. I have always found them to be stuffed into the springs under the front passangers' seat or stuffed into the spring of the seatback of the back seat.

I am only guessing here, but I have always assumed that the reason they were under the front passangers seat was because this is a spot that is easy to reach if anyone wanted to check the build sheet against what was really on the car.

danreckner

No, I still have the seats (and yes they are in need of some major repair). I just meant that the car was completely disassembled when I bought it. I will have to check in the springs though (might get lucky).

Allan, how many pages is that booklet? I am always interested in lost info from the muscle car days...

old98owner

Allen R....

Very cool information. I love a mystery, hopefully other will continue to dig into this.

I doubt this will be the last cowl to sport numbers such as this and it will be fun to get to the bottom of just what these numbers mean.

danreckner

Actually, I posted this to a site a couple years ago when I first bought the car and didn't get much response. However, someone did email me and say they had a they same stamping on a 67 442 Holiday Coupe (I think that was it, but it has been a while so my memory may be a little faulty). But he hadn't been able to find out any info on it either.

old98owner

By the way, much of my info came from my memory. I rebember talking about this to a GM plant empoyee in 1967.

Could he have been telling me about a pilot operaton?

I know some cars were damaged on the assembly line. In his words, "Some are even totaled out." These cars were sent to a special area to be reworked, and this area was even featured in the plant tour.

Most of the cars in the re-work area needed paint work or the car would just not start. None of them stayed there very long.

Hopefully others can add to this discussion.

wmachine

For sure!! This is a great forum to gather and exchange info. Especially since this is not an exact science.
Allen, I'll look to see what I may have on the Sentinel program. If I don't have that, I'd be interested in a copy, but e-mailed scans would be fine with me.


There also is the difference from plant to plant to consider. Lansing was certainly the main plant, but things were not always done the same at all plants.
You mention the repair areas, I was in and out of the Ford Lorain Ohio Assembly Plant circa '73-'74 (Torinos and Thunderbirds), and that is exactly what they had: A repair shop for cars damaged on the assembly line. I recall seeing the cars lined up at the shop. They were fixed and set on their way. So you could buy a brand new one that already had repair!

Allan R

Ok, I know this is the Olds in me coming out...... What did you expect from FORD? Yup, I think every automaker on the planet has some cosmo specials on the road sold as new.

I know Ford made some nice products, but my loyalty was always with GM..... unless.....I needed a truck. I loved Ford trucks from the time I was knee high to a grasshopper. They just were great workhorses on the farm. And they sure cost a lot less than a car back in the day. Not that GM didn't make trucks either, I loved the styling and riding in the box on all the sacks of "stuff" . Try that today and see how far you get b4 the cops stop you.

73/74 T Birds? Hmmmmm, sorry....yawwwnnn. Floatier than a Buick. 73/74 Torino??? Ummm, ok Starsky and Hutch had a cool looking one. But then again they had a "friend" called 'huggy bear'. But other than that????.....
Had a buddy with a 73 Torino. Seats were low and no support. Blind spots?? Back and both sides. Danny was lucky he only drove it on the highway. Rode like the queen mary.

old98owner

For the historical record the plant I was in and out of was the Arlington plant. I remember they made Buick-Olds-Pontiac there and everyone called it the BOP plant. Say the word 'Bop' like in Be-Bop.

I know they made the LeMans and GTO there at that time and some Chevys, but I really don't recall any Olds. But then, it has been 42 years.

My442

I worked at the Framingham BOP plant in 1972 (Code "G").

There was a big rework area where cars would go if the repair could not be done on the line.

If I remember correctly, it was department 11, or repair. That stamp probably is the inspection stamp to "OK" the car for relaease to shipping.

All of the other inspections were done and signed off by the inspector punching out his stamp on a paper traveler that hung on the front of the car.

wmachine

Do you remember seeing build sheets? It's not unusual to find Framingham cars with their build sheets. I know circa '67 ones, behind/under seats, on top of gas tank. In fact I have a '67 build sheet from a 442 that was parted out a long time ago, was on top of the gas tank.

2blu442

A couple other places I've found build sheets are behind the hard plastic on a bucket seat, under the console, and on a full sized car behind the drivers door panel. John

old98owner

This is a great thread. I have slready learned several new things.

Bennyeggs

sammy

I have a 3 on the cowl done the same way-I was told two things about that number.

1-that it was a number used that designated the car had a paint option, usually associated with a performance package
2- that it was a cradle number-whatever that means

ROCKET VAPOR

Dan, you are not the first to ask about the additional stampings on the Fisher body trim tag, my Fremont 03D build of 1970 has a "1" stamped horizontally in the same area.

Here is another post about the same subject.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-body-tag.html