oldzzy

Anyone know where i can get one of these Property of Oldsmobile Experimental Assembly emblems?

rocketraider

Seems like Hairy Olds had some of those, not sure. If he doesn't, he makes some gawjus Oldsmobile stained glass pieces.

If you could get a good camera-ready pic of a good one, the plate would probably not be difficult to reproduce as it is simply silk-screened onto the metal plate. But, don't know what kind of legalities you might get into.

A Pontiac friend has a 66 Bonneville Brougham that, when he ran it thru PHS, came back as originally invoiced to Pontiac Engineering and Special Projects, though it doesn't have any identifiers like the Olds Experimental plate on it.

Hairy Olds

I have a original plate but I'm holding on to that. They were a little more than just silk screened, the metal plate has a little depth to it. The plates were -as explained to me by a person that worked in that department- tags used on equipment that were used in the shop i.e.- lath, milling machine and so on. Not used on experimental pieces or so I'm told. The tag could be made but I would have to have a bunch sold before I would even consider it.

oldzzy

So ya don't know anyone else who would have one that they would part with then?

Hairy Olds

I did ask and so far none are for sale.

owen

I worked in Olds Experimental Assembly Department, was a journeyman "Experimental Auto Assembler" and still get together with retirees,
I never saw any Property of Oldsmobile Experimental Assembly emblems. Think someone is making that up.

Hairy Olds

From my understanding these tags were on machinery in that department. Any input would be appreciated.

owen

I don't remember seeing any tags like that. If company tags were on anything they would read Oldsmobile Div. GMC, and any tags would have been brass with black paint. Actually, there was not a whole lot of machinery in Experimental Assembly. No milling machines. I don't even remember a drill press, but we must have had one. We did have a small Hardinge lathe (used mostly for 'government jobs') and we had a valve face grinder machine, which was rarely used. We didn't use air wrenches, I remember that. Just hand tools. Old fashioned but that's the way it was. A new guy asked about using power wrenches once, and the boss told him that if he wanted to use power wrenches he could go work on final assembly.

Any machining to be done was done in the Experimental Machine Shop. They had everything a good modern machine shop would have, and they had some excellent machinists. We also had the Experimental Sheet Metal Shop, a big shop with sheet metal brakes and shears, and buffers, and a welding booth. These guys could make anything in sheet metal. Give them a print of a bumper or fender and they would make it from flat sheet stock.Also we had a paint shop with the best painters I've ever seen. And we had a wood model shop where they made full size wood mockups.Within the building with these shops we could do anything. Amazing. Product Engineering and the Engineering Garage were across the street.Experimental Assembly was a great place to work, a great bunch of guys, and lots of fun stuff. We built prototype cars and engines, race cars, special cars for executives, even a couple of cop cars. Way back, we built the Oldsmobile show cars in the department. Really special cars. Couldn't wear rings, watches, or belt buckles when we worked on them. Show car season meant 12 hour days, 7 days a week.
We've got an Experimental Assembly retiree lunch September 12. I'll show the guys this tag and see if anyone remembers seeing anything like that.

Koda

That is, in the industry, referred to as an Asset Tag. My company, Toyota, until recently, used a modern version of them (same size, color, and layout), so I do know what I am talking about. We now use sticker labels as they are now durable enough to last and save money.

The idea is that the equipment's number would be stamped into the blank spot on the Olds tag (ours were engraved with a barcode and number code as they are custom made). This allows for tracking of the asset. This is important because, for depreciation and tax write off purposes, you need to be able to know what equipment exists, and what has been destroyed and scrapped. Our accounting and finance dept wants a tag on each new piece of equipment, a picture of the tag on a form, and an overall picture and location in the plant.

There is no way this would have been put on any vehicle, ever. Vehicles are product, not equipment, and are not a physical asset of the plant. This goes along with another common error of the classic car guy, that of the "pilot car that somehow got a VIN and got sold." Never, ever, legally happened, and I would stay far away from any car that was supposedly a "pilot car." People don't understand the federal importance of a VIN. Until a car gets one, it is not a car, legally, and it can only get one in an official production environment. Toyota's hand made cars get no VIN and are never ran. Our trial cars (pilot cars) now get VINs but are federally prohibited to sell; back then they just no-VIN'ed them. No one in any car factory, today or back then, would waste time rehabilitating a trial car of questionable history, thus opening an opportunity for lawsuit, and put a VIN on it and send it out the door. It is much safer and faster just to scrap the whole thing. Yes, it's a waste of parts, but it saves time and lawsuits.

Source: production engineer in tier one automotive who deals in new car launches and new equipment. This is literally what I do.

DJS70cutlass

I have one of the originals as well. Has a little depth like HairyOlds said. Spent way too much for it on eBay a few years back

OLDSter Ralph

Koda is absolutely correct. Similar tags were used in all industries and the US Govt.

owen

I went to our Olds Experimental Assembly Department retirees lunch Sept 12, showed the guys the pic your so-called "Property of Oldsmobile Experimental Assembly" tags. Like me, no one else had ever seen such a tag. This is from the guys that actually worked there, but what do we know.