Allan R

Over the years, I've seen lots of you ask what the little color numbers and letters are on the firewall. They are stampings that were assigned to various inspectors who would stamp the cars firewall as it reached a checkpoint of production. Each Inspector got their own stamp. Don't know how the factory decided what inspectors got what color. Anyone who can add to this thread, please chime in.

Anyway I thought it would be helpful to anyone doing a restoration to be able to look at factory stampings to help them replicate the original look when doing frame offs and such. It will be interesting to see whether stampings were placed in similar positions or at what angles. I know the stamping kits are available on line. Just thought some of you might be interested in adding to the history and data for these cars.

IF YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF YOUR COWL WITH THESE STAMPINGS, PLEASE POST IT HERE FOR OTHERS TO SEE.

Too late for my car, but recently I was able to take this photo of an unmolested firewall on a car a friend was parting out a couple weeks back. If this car had any grease pencil markings on it, they are long gone.

1972 Cutlass S - Lansing Production 3G87H2M1XXXXXX

stevengerard

these are mine 1970

compedgemarine

I remember years ago there was an interview with one of the chrysler line workers who built alot of the hemi and other hot cars and they asked what some grease pencil codes meant. apparently there had been lots of debates among the "experts" on what they were. his answer was "depends on which ones, some of them were put there to tell the guys down the line which bar we were meeting at that night or where we were going for lunch". you could hear the jaws drop of all the guys who had been authenticating these cars and telling people their car was wrong for not having a certain mark on it.

Al Graaf

What a wonderfully funny story!

MDchanic

Makes sense to me.

They weren't building "classics." They were building cars.

- Eric

leepear

My car has two stamps and a chalk squiggle. The restorer did not put on the squiggle because he thought people would question it as incorrect. Lee

compedgemarine

yea, I always laugh when people or judges at a show complain that this or that is not exactly right. when these cars were built all they cared was that it made it off the line and to the dealer and if no one complained about a little imperfection then so be it. if you ever look at a unrestored nice original car you would be amazed at all the flaws.

Lady72nRob71

Well, just found this thread so i will toss in Lady's stamps.
She was born in Lansing also. 1972 Cutlass Supreme convertible, 350.

my72vert

Heres a picture of mine

oldzy

YY. Was hidden under the A/C thing.

Allan R

Does anyone know the significance of the double letters or the alpha numerics? Most of the double letters seem to be blue while the alpha numerics are yellow. (except for Steven)

Tony72Cutlass'S'

I wish i could see my stamps... but i'm TOTALLY subscribing to this thread.

That first car allan posted is SO CLOSE to my VIN.....

chrisneu68olds

I can't vouch for the grease pencil, but my quick Google search revealed the following:
According to Inline Tube, they were stamps that inspectors used before the car was released post-assembly. They used different alpha-numeric combinations and colors depending on what shift the inspector was on. ILT has these reproduction stamps available. These are screen shots of the catalog.

@AllanR - I would suspect that the angle depended on how sober the inspector was and what day of the week it was. Monday, straight on, Friday, lucky to hit the firewall. :-)

Allan R

Yes, I understood that the stamps were applied at specific times during the assembly; just not when?? The thing I'm not seeing with the ILT stamps though is the double letters like YY, TT etc

LOL, that's funny! Maybe also whether the home life was in the crapper or he hadn't had his morning coffee???

bennie442s

Firewall stamps found underneath the a/c evaporator box.

ctsplicer

Not on the firewall,but under the drivers fender on the wifes 64 Cutlass.

Allan R

Those were perfectly preserved. Hope you're going to leave them intact. After all they will be hidden when it all goes back together.

First time I've ever seen them like that. Thank you for the revelation!

ctsplicer

I thought it rather odd myself

kitfoxdave

here is my stamp in the middle of the firewall... (preserved by a TON of crud!)

72 Cutlass convertible

davebw31

Inline Tube is wrong!

The stamp(s) (at least at the Lansing Assembly Plant) were for:

1) Right after "Body Drop" the body was mounted to the chassis properly, all the correct number of body mounts were in the correct positions, and all hardware was installed and torqued to the correct spec.

2) Brakes were bleed and functioning

Think "these two items were the most important pertaining to safety"!

This was all done before the A/C evap. hsg. was installed. On non A/C cars the stamps are still in the approx. same place, just more visual due to the heater core case being smaller. All the inspectors were required to place the stamp(s) in the general area. Letter(s) or number(s) were assigned to the inspector(s) name to identify who did the inspection(s) and what shift.

Rocketbrian

Great info Dave. I wish we could document all your Lansing Olds knowledge for reference purposes and general info. Great stuff.
The stamps on my Lansing built 442 only have a single letter and a single number, rather than the double letters often seen. Perhaps mine came off a special hand built line, making it very valuable. Ha!
It spells A one. Can't get better than that.

marxjunk

my may built post car has the letter M in yellow crayon...its a Lansing car..and thats it..nothing else

davebw31

To add, about Inline Tube being wrong about when/where inspectors stamped the firewall, as there was "line inspectors" all along the line from the chassis line onwards to the "final assembly line". This was all a build up to the interduction of the "5/50 warranty" for the 70' model year. The resources Olds (and other div.) provided was devoted to the "quality of the product" to reduce warranty claims for the 70' model run. Hence why I was temp. transferred to the "Quality Control Dept." from the Service Dept. were I was originally assigned when I first went to work for Olds. Glad I was, as that is how I got in to the inner circle of engineering, the race program, and unlimited access to the assembly line in 69'! Then in Oct. 1969 I was drafted to work on five sections of the 71' service manual till I finalized/edited the sections assigned and finished for printing in June 1970. Then back to Quality Control assignment till I left in April 1973.

1970cs

Had mine out yesterday and had the camera out so here is mine! Lansing build 2nd week of June 1970.

chocolate apocalypse

The only markings on my firewall:
firewall2_zpse6315e25.jpg
E729DFB2-A1F9-478C-8E85-E184B04D2C48-2008-0000005ACEEC0110.jpg

ddd777

I have the same blue Y. (see attachment)
72 Cutlass Convertible.
Lansing.

It seems as if I am missing something that was attached to the firewall, from the looks of the 2 screw holes to the left of the marking.

Anything original that might have been there?

stevengerard

Looks like the vacuum canister used to be there

Rocketbrian

You are missing a plastic vacuum tank that operates your vacuum motors under your dash. It is used on the A/C cars only.

Allan R

That's really cool. My cowl tag shows body 442325. Did you ever find a broadcast card from your car during the disassembly? It will have the actual production date on it. Nice color - Saturn Gold with white vinyl top.

chocolate apocalypse

Unfortunately no, the interior was completely redone by a previous owner so if the card was anywhere in there it is long gone. At least the original owner kept everything. I have the owners manual, protect-o-plate even the letter from Oldsmobile thanking him for his purchase. Once I have the funds it will go back to being Gold/White vinyl top/White interior. The original owner's wife lives in town and it would be cool to show her the car when its at least road worthy if not completely finished.

Rocketbrian

That's great Allan that you like that colour combo. My 71 442 I am presently restoring is also Saturn Gold with a white vinyl top, 53 A, and a white bench seat interior. It is a striking colour combo.

Allan R

Why haven't we seen your build thread on this, did I miss it somewhere? I know you've been looking for parts but you should start a thread on your car. Then we could also see what it looks like before, during and after.

orange442

Here is my 1970 flattop (W-31) wagon built in Lansing.

orange442

This is my 1970 F-85 W-31 built in Lansing of course. I will see if I have any stamps on any of my other cars and take some pics of those.

Rocketbrian

Well Allan, this will be a slow five year project, where I am disassembling the car (done) and restoring every part and storing away in tubs. This year the body is going to the bodyshop (fenders, hood, trunk lid there now) and when this happens, I will begin a thread. I also have been acquiring options, so it will be built, as if I had ordered it new. If I started a thread when I bought the car in 2010, it would be agonizing slow. So, there you have it. This will be an interesting thread as the entire roof will be replaced due to vinyl top rot. Amazingly, the rest of the car is almost rust free.

Allan R

Thankyou! Any other stamps feel free to add no matter what car it comes from. Just identify what they are. Look forward to seeing what else you might have.

Brian - slow threads are good too. Sounds like your goals are very similar to mine for optioning out the car. BTW get lots of detail shots of that striping on the fenders, doors and quarters before it goes to paint. You going to keep the Y73 stripe?

Rocketbrian

You going to keep the Y73 stripe?[/QUOTE]

Oh ya, I love that skunk stripe; as you know, a one year only item. It seems alot rarer than the W25 hood, and cheaper to boot! When the time is right , I'll start the resto thread.

Greg Rogers

I thought my firewall stamp was never there or had been removed or painted over. But now that I removed me evaporator housing etc I see it behind the cover- way up inside the fender. Here's pics:

Allan R

Great pics Greg. Do you know what factory your car was built at?

Greg Rogers

Was built in Lansing.