erke88

I was at a car show recently and was talking to a guy who owned a 70 Cutlass S. He told me that when he took the gas tank out of his car there was a build sheet placed on top of the gas tank from the factory. I dont know whether to believe him or not because the information he relayed while we were discussing oldsmobiles was not very accurate. Can anyone verify whether or not there is a build sheet wedged between the gas tank and the body of the car? Tempted to drop the gas tank to get to this information. Thanks!

cutlassgal

I wouldn't drop the tank just to look! Some build sheets were on top of the tank, most seem to be found under the back seat from what I've heard. Or under the carpet. Mine is up under her package tray area in the trunk. I have one piece of it that fell out and the rest is still under there, all brittle and old, lol! The guys assembling the cars didn't even have to keep the build sheet at all, so if you have one and find it, you're very fortunate!

erke88

Yeah I thought that may be the case. It's not under my back seat, under the rear package tray, or under the carpet.

Bluevista

Go!, Sandy, Go!
Not saying much but I couldn't of answered better myself.

I would drop the tank if there is no other documentation though, no big deal.
It would drive me nuts wondering if it's there or not.

erke88

HAHA yeah its starting to drive me nuts... Like I said, thinking of dropping the tank just to get to those papers... Thats documentation right there lol...All my car has left?

cutlassgal

I know what you mean.... knowing the rest of mine is under that package tray really makes me want to tear it out and replace it sooner than I planned, lol. Or should I say have Blue tear it out sooner than planned! Cha Cha!!!!

jaunty75

It's also been reported found inside one of the door panels. In other words, you could tear your car apart looking for it, and you might never find it because there was never a requirement that it be left in the car once it was assembled. It was used only on the line so that at each step along the way, the workers would know what options, etc. to add to this particular car. But there was no policy that they be left in the car as they were never intended for the final owner. Some cars have them, some don't. I read once that no car assembled at Lansing has one as the policy there was strict that none be left in the car, but I don't know if that means that no Lansing car has ever been found with one. Cars built at other plants might or might not have one.

Personally, I would not go through the bother of dropping the gas tank solely on the very outside chance that the build sheet would be there. I would only do it if I had some other reason to drop the tank.

Blk71SX

mine was indeed on top of the tank, folded in half, held in place by masking tape. discovered it while replacing the fuel sender.

assembled at Fremont

joe_padavano

I've had over two dozen Olds A-body cars in the last 35 years, and so far I've found exactly one build sheet. Ironically, this one was also on top of the gas tank, on a Framingham built car. It's more likely that there will NOT be a build sheet in the car, unfortunately.

My442

My Fremont built 70 442 had a perfect build sheet on top of the tank.

My previous car was a 69 Chevelle SS from Fremont, and it had a perfect build sheet on top of the tank too.

74 Omega

I found mine on top of the gas tank. It is from Van Nuys, CA
Its a little beat up, but if I took my time getting it out, it would be in better shape

Build Sheet 001.jpg

coltsneckbob

It seemed to be a game on the assembly line where to "throw out the build sheet" at Olds. I have spoken with many an expert on this and frankly Olds was the worst division of GM in so much as hiding the build sheet anywhere on the car.

I suspect that the build sheet was viewed as garbage by the line guys. Therefore, Olds, being a so called "high end" car felt it was not proper to hide the sheet in their vehicles. That I feel accounts for the fact that build sheets in Olds vehicles are much more rare then in other GM cars (such as Chevy).

Blk71SX

there is another thread on the forum showing Chevy, Olds, and Buick A bodies being assembled on the same line by the same people

coltsneckbob

That can be true, but that doesn't mean that the workers weren't instructed to "not hide the build sheets" in the higher end cars like Olds and Buick. I have no idea if this is true, but it is what I was told at the Old Nationals in NH a few weeks ago by some very knowledgeable Olds guys.

tomsw31

I have found many build sheets on Freemont built cars on top of the gas tank. It is not that big of a deal to drop the tank. I have never found one on a Lansing built car anywhere in the car. I have found broadcast cards in seat back and rear seats on many Lansing cars. My Lansing built convertible had the broadcast card for the car in the back seat back and another broadcast card for another convertible in the front seat back.

dc2x4drvr

Framingham car, build sheet, top of gas tank, broadcast card hogringed to back seat..

442much

Mine was under the backseat. Some are also in the door panels and on top of the gas tank. Some cars have more than one. Others have zip, zero, zilch. Wish I knew what I did with mine?

Bunser

This begs the question, what's the difference between a build sheet and a broadcast card?

Blk71SX

it may forever be a mystery. in my case someone made the effort to fold and tape the sheet rather than just wedging it somewhere.





a lot more info on the build sheet, such as the receiving dealer

Bluevista

The card is a card and the sheet is a sheet of paper?


My broadscast card was hog ringed to a back seat spring , says broadcast in one section on the top so I figure that's why it called that.
People call the sheets "broadcast sheets" and the cards "build cards" sometimes, very confusing.

The card doesn't have all the options, just what Fisher Body needed to know I guess.
I have cruise and I'm not sure if it would be on the Fisher card, it could be dealer installed according to the Oldsmobile dealer installed equipment list in the Sullivan resto guide.
It shows C60 -A/C, U58- AM/FM radio and B39 - carpeted load floor.

img051web.jpg

Destructor

Mine was on the tank. Assembled in Framingham, Mass.

wmachine

Okay, let's clear up some confusion here. What BV posted in a "Broadcast Card" This is a Fisher Body document, just like the firewall data plate is a Fisher Body tag. It has information that relates to the body. Prior to '69, the only type of "cards" like than were small tags with even less info (posted below).
What I've posted is a "Build Sheet". This is an assembly plant document. Yes, logically more info than a Broadcast Card.
One can find either or both.

507OLDS

Where the build sheet might be depends on where the car was built.Every Fremont,CA-built car that I have parted,had a sheet on top of the tank.The Lansing cars usually have the sheet somewhere in the seat,behind the bucket seat plastic back,or under the carpet.Some have none because it was actually one of the orders for the workers to do a final clean,& dispose of the sheets.I've had a few Frammington cars,& those sheets were also in the seats.

wmachine

I'm not sure who was saying what at the Nats, but:
Instructions were to throw out the build sheet in the trash. At Lansing, at least for sure. This comes from more than one source, including a least one line worker at the Lansing plant in the late '70s. These were not instructions that were that critical, obviously, but they existed, none the less. Not known if the instructions came down from GM or Oldsmobile, but if they were more localized, it makes more sense that other plants had different (or no) policies.
And I can tell you for sure that that you will be *very* hard pressed to find a Lansing build sheet (read that as nearly impossible). In fact if anyone finds one, I really like to get a copy for my research. They're just that rare.
(And I mean a Build Sheet, not a Broadcast Card.)

TK-65

Never seen a Lansing build sheet. Ever. Well, except in this pic.

Blk71SX

that build sheet looks VERY familiar

coltsneckbob

In a way glad to know that. My car is a Lansing and I have looked everywhere......though would have been good to know before I did all that searching

442much

My car is a Lansing car and it had one.

jaunty75

Cool. Can you scan it and post the scan?

442much

I don't know what I did with it. I found it in the early 80's (80 or 81). The car was a daily driver. I know I didn't throw it out but I didn't save things for the car like I do now. It was under the back seat. It had the spring shape on the paper. I suppose it's possible that there might be another one on the gas tank, but I'm not going to pull the tank to find out. Any way to reach up and feel around for something? I suppose after all these years, if it wasn't in the car it would be dust. The thing that bothers me is that it was in really good shape. Never found a card however. Of course if the wife found it it's history. She threw out my original AM-FM-8 track four years before I knew it. Boy, you wouldn't have wanted to be around the house that weekend. Luckily I found another at a swap meet for a buck. Now I'll have to start looking again.

jaunty75

Found another what? Another 8-track, or another wife? I've seen both at swap meets, and for about a buck each!


Too bad about not keeping the build sheet. But back in 1980, you probably weren't thinking of the Cutlass as a collectible car that you would still own 30 years later and would one day want to document the history of. As you said, the car was just a daily driver.

Oldsmaniac

66 Sfire from Linden NJ, build sheet atop gas tank. 66 Delta Conv, same, 67 Cutlass 4dr same, 67 442 Lansing, nothing.

442much

I have to start looking again. As I said, I know I did not throw it out. I should have put it back in place. Until now, never knew they were anything special in Lansing cars. Now, it really bugs me that I can't find it. The radio was a buck. The wife...ah yes...the wife. Not what I'd call a car person. She is a people person, which I've explained to her that's what the car crowd is. We've all seen these cars 100 times. It's the people that keep us coming back.

jaunty75

Well put.

jaunty75

Now tell us, did you actually drop the tanks on all of these just to get the build sheet, or did you do it for other reasons and found the build sheets along the way?

TK-65

I shouldve said 64-72 cars. Never seen or heard of one.

70sx

I found my build sheet on top of fuel tank 8/2010 -40 yrs after being built.Not in the best of shape but the car will soon be for sale & the only way too document a true SX is the build sheet.My build sheet still has the y-79 & L31 option codes that i needed so it was well worth the effort for me.

Blk71SX

that weathered piece of paper could be worth several thousand dollars. mine is in a saftey deposit box

Cameo White

Along the lines of TomsW31 post: We search for these things and are happy to find them, but.....

He said he found 2, one for his car and one for another car.

Check them out thoroughly. My 69 H/O had one broadcast card in the back seat--for a body shell number a few digits higher than my car. Mistake on the line? Seat replaced at some point and the numbers just happen to be close together? Who knows!

wmachine

Those anomalies are not really that rare at all. I know of numerous instances like both of your cases even in 1965. The car assemblies were not an exact science. The broadcast cards traveled with the body, but usually came with/in the seats (always did with earlier years). If a series of the same black seat went into the cars on the line, it really didn't matter which seat went into what car at that point. The cards were not of any use beyond that point, and there was no purpose to having the seat with the correct card in the correct car. The only thing that mattered was that it was the right seat and the line kept moving.