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oldspackrat was over last night and we noticed a third trunk lid that we had never seen. anyone know the story of the three differant stampings? i know of the flat one and the circle with the hole in the middle but this red one is not like any i ever seen. it has a circle rib that is differant than the 71 and 72 and does not have a hole in the middle.
FYI,
This entire thread is based on hardtop and post cars. None of this applies to Supreme or Convertible.
Last edited by jensenracing77; November 29th, 2017 at 04:21 PM.
i don't think it could be. it is on the blue W-30. this lid was changed but i don't think they had reproductions as long ago as this would have been changed?
I have discussed this with a few guys in the past,as well as just yesterday.There are 3 different styles on the undersides,for the 70-72 Cutlass 'S'/442 trunklids.There was a change somewhere during the 1970 production.The 71-72 had what we consider the 3rd style,and anyone that has an NOS trunklid will likely have the 3rd style,unless it was purchased over the counter,during 1970.I also own all 3 styles,and when we did Nate's car,his original was not perfect,but his NOS was different on the bottom,so we searched & found the correct one that was identical to the original.
It's nice to see more of you guys noticing this.Details like this will make for a perfect restoration.
Just wanted to add to this. I just picked up another 70 Cutlass last week. It is a very original car and has it's original trunk lid. It is a first week of June car and has the ring without the hole. I think this helps prove that this is a late 70 design.
Eric and Scott do have a great part of the market cornered, especially in the Hoosier state. I have dealt with both and can only say good things about both of them.
I haven't had too many convertibles to know if they also had the same 3 different styles. The one stevengerard posted looks like the 3rd or last style for the hardtops.
My 70 442 w30 2was built in the first week of january (a mid year build) so my lid should have no 2inch hole at all correct? Should be completely flat like in the first picture in this thread?
My 70 442 w30 2was built in the first week of january (a mid year build) so my lid should have no 2inch hole at all correct? Should be completely flat like in the first picture in this thread?
Is that B85 on the data plate by any chance? I may be interested in some of those moldings if you're parting out and if they are in nice shape.
Originally Posted by jensenracing77
Just wanted to add to this. I just picked up another 70 Cutlass last week. It is a very original car and has it's original trunk lid. It is a first week of June car and has the ring without the hole. I think this helps prove that this is a late 70 design.
I bought my rear wing off an old man with a '70 SX at a swap meet. Looking at the cars, they seemed like they had the same trunk lid to me, but my Uncle and the old man too told me there was a slight difference. I still don't know if that's the case, but we ended up just guessing for the holes we drilled. We were impressed with the way it went on, though!
Weird thing is, I asked the man why he was selling the wing off the car. He told me he took a wing from an early 80s style Trans Am and put it on because he liked the look better. (personally, I thought it was crazy...but I was getting a wing in great condition at a great price, so I didn't argue)
The Parts Place is Reproducing the First Style Trunklid
While at the place I buy parts in RI yesterday, I spotted a trunk lid in the box from the Parts Place. I asked the owner if he could unbox it so I could see if it had the new style rings and it didn't. The only difference between this and my original 1970 trunklid is that it has the holes predrilled for the spoiler on the inside (bonus), but not the other circles that came on the later 1970, 71, and 72 trunk lids. Seeing that I bought an original spoiler already (3 studs), I decided to purchase it.
Last edited by Johnd; March 9th, 2014 at 04:54 PM.
Reason: Added pictures
Bumping this thread because of several people asking about this. I fixed the pictures in the first post also. I have now documented more cars since this thread that had original paint trunk lids. This change was made near the end of May. I still can not confirm when the third style started but strongly believe it was near the very beginning of 71 model year.
Interesting thx Eric. I hear some people have had trouble with the lock area on the repros ?
I only have experience with one repop lid and it also had an issue with the lock area. My body guy said it was not hard to fix but also said the lid took more finish work than a good original.
I only have experience with one repop lid and it also had an issue with the lock area. My body guy said it was not hard to fix but also said the lid took more finish work than a good original.
Do you know what your body guy did to get it to work ok ???
Do you know what your body guy did to get it to work ok ???
I don't know. It was on another guys car but I did see it before it was painted and after. I will be talking to him this weekend so I will ask what he did. I think he said he had to file on it. Maybe they are not all punched the same.
Gold one is a hardtop W30 Dec. 69 built, original paint. Blue is second design?
The blue one would be the third design found on 71-72. I would love to see original paint late build 70 cars and early build 71 cars to see where the third started.
For some reason I always thought the smooth one was meant for cars with a rear spoiler? Doesn't the extra circle get in the way of the center spoiler mount?
After further investigation, you may be right. No way this lid is the original.
There are holes for the Cutlass trunk trim, not the small 442 chrome strip and
my 442 numerals don't even come close to matching up.
My 71 442 hardtop was built the end of August of 70 in Lansing and has the third style. It had original paint when I bought it
Thank you for the post. I would not be surprised if the third style was found on very late 70 cars. This information over time will point to a better time line of when the change was made.
Re fixing poorly stamped hole. Back a decade or 3 ago thieves popping/prying the trunk cylinder was common. Guys that I worked with had a die set that would reform the hole & key ways in the lid. don't know if it was universal, specific to GM or specific to car line within GM. 2 steel discs w/ pattern, bolt through the middle, place in & out of lid, door, etc, orient properly, tighten it down, remove, weld up any tears.
Don't know if it would help w/ repop lids but if one can be obtained (Ebay?) might assist in getting it decent.
Re fixing poorly stamped hole. Back a decade or 3 ago thieves popping/prying the trunk cylinder was common. Guys that I worked with had a die set that would reform the hole & key ways in the lid. don't know if it was universal, specific to GM or specific to car line within GM. 2 steel discs w/ pattern, bolt through the middle, place in & out of lid, door, etc, orient properly, tighten it down, remove, weld up any tears.
Don't know if it would help w/ repop lids but if one can be obtained (Ebay?) might assist in getting it decent.
Interesting---would really like to find one of these old tools and give it a try--
Came across this super late as usual but I figured another data point wouldn't hurt. These are from my original paint lid on my 70 S. Another first week of June car, the fifth to be exact.
Came across this super late as usual but I figured another data point wouldn't hurt. These are from my original paint lid on my 70 S. Another first week of June car, the fifth to be exact.
May 17th, 2012, 05:45 PM
