Is there record of who had what number or letters and what shift they were on? Not that it is a big deal but would be neat to know what shift the car was stamped on.

 

The core support was pre-assembled (all supports. etc. spot welded), painted, ready to install. Just shortly after body drop, brake lines hooked up from chassis to mstr., heater/A/C hsg. installed, the core support with inner fender plates (inner fender wells) attached (bolted to core support), two line workers, picked up the "assembly", with each line worker holding the core with one hand and the other hand at the rear of the inner fender plate, and literally threw it on to the chassis. I use to walk by that spot often and while they were moving towards the chassis the whole thing flopped and wobbled like crazy! Always wonder why I never saw them drop it. The core support bushings were pre-installed. After the core support assembly was finessed in place one of the line workers would install the bolt/washer thru the support and bushings and another line worker in the "pit" installed the lower washer/nut, using an air ratchet tightening the nut to allow movement later on down the line for frt. sheet metal alignment. The same line worker then would somewhat "align" both inner fender plates and install the self tapping bolts. Front fenders were installed not to long after core was installed.

 

jensenracing77: those records are long gone, I am sure! Contact the Olds History Center as an awful lot of records were found about 5 or 6 yrs. ago in an old vault located in the Lansing Assembly Plant that was discovered by accident. The vault was discovered by volunteers working for the History Center and REO Museum. I was told by one of those volunteers that some of the records went back to the 1902 Curve Dash model assembly, with parts numbers, quanities, sub-assembly codes, etc. None of the parts were matched to any VIN numbers, which was a bummer!

 

Heres a couple from my 70 W-30

 

Thanks. That is interesting. I always assumed the fenders were assembled to the core to make up a sub-assembly/front clip assembly.

Did you ever get to see the black-out paint process for the undercarriage/frame? Was this done for the frame once fully assembled with suspension items and or was there a paint application after body/frame mount? Was the axel, a-arms, spring etc painted or bare metal before the black out process….thanks

 

Great pics. I'm also noticing the paint drips on the firewall so I'm thinking the production schedule for these cars was pretty tight.

Dave - how many minutes between cars on the line?

 

Allen R: cannot tell you, do not know that. I was focused on how they were built, quality, following procedure per assembly manual, etc. Ask daveH, as he is a better source for that info.

Del70; No, never really paid any attention, however I saw the final product in the Final Assembly Bldg. across Logan Street and it was a "hit or miss", usually a miss during 70' model run as we were building'em as fast as we could. 69' model run seemed better and also during 71-72. As a note my "brass hat" 70' W-31 F-85 I bought had hardly any paint on the required items to be painted and it was produced on May 10, 1970. The frames were already painted when delivered from supplier. Springs were natural. Front suspension was natural. Rear end and upper rear upper arms natural. "Paint fogging" per assembly manual was not very consistent or followed as it should have been!

 

I shouldn't trust my memory, but Dave H. has posted before that Lansing final assembly was churning out about 96 cars per hour in the early 1970s. He stated that this was the highest production rate of any GM plant, and that Lansing also had the lowest reject rate of any plant.

 

BlackGold: I think you are right. I remember that figure of 96 per hour from DaveH. I can attest to the statement that DaveH also said about the highest production of any GM plant. Also, we had the lowest cost per car and the lowest warranty claims for 70' model run, so profit for Lansing Assembly was very high!

 

I have SS on my firewall behind my vacuum tank 1st week of June '72 begin build date

 

Scot, look to the left and see if you have B stamping (Like Steve's). It might be under the AC box though.

 

No other stamps that I am aware of but there may be some behind the A/C box that I haven't broke into yet. I do have a refrigerant leak but I am hoping for o-rings/seals or accumulator before I get into the evaporator.

 

My '70 W-31 Post Coupe stamping.

 

Jonz W-31" "holy crap Batman that car has the N9 Calif. Emissions option" said Robin! You better take real good care of that system, as there is little if any parts floating around. I have never seen any parts for the N9 system on Ebay, at swap meets, or Olds parts suppliers, since early 80 s! Basically the 71-72 are the same thing, except the sensor at the opening of the air cleaner snorkel..........

 

Yes Dave, the cars original owner was in California when he ordered it. This car by far is the most interesting and fun muscle car I have ever owned. It has quite a history. Thank you for the information. Your knowledge is well appreciated.

Jon

 

70 442 - Lansing - early production.

 

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.[/QUOTE]

You are correct, almost everyone upgrades the OAI hood. My '71 442 will also retain the hood stripe, as originally ordered new by my brother. Since it was a daily driver, he did not trust the run-off system to keep water/salt out of carburetor. Also planned to order a W-30 two years later, but as we know, the design changed. My brother is also rebuilding a 442, but will build it the way it the way he wanted to order it in 1971.

I remember a dumb joke back in the day about a driver not being able to see in the foggy weather, and mistakenly thought the hood stripe was the painted road line.....

 

I remember a dumb joke back in the day about a driver not being able to see in the foggy weather, and mistakenly thought the hood stripe was the painted road line.....[/QUOTE]


Very funny, you made me laugh out loud. Good for him for keeping the stripe, it's nice to be distinctive. I'm building mine with the options that I would have ordered if I had the chance. Thanks for the post.

 

Not a stamping, but noticed this on the firewall today....974 is visible..which of course is the trim code on the build sheet(box43) . the car is an early build out of Freemont....

 

I have a 69 Cutlass built in Fremont, CA. I am trying to figure out the correct firewall markings. The posts here discuss stamped markings, but mine has original crayon markings, with a bit of them obliterated. What is left appears to be 94 and something else, then a P/59. Does anyone know what all was marked by the Fremont plant?

 

In a moment of brilliance (ha ha) I think I might have answered my own question. I believe it might be the interior and exterior color codes, as mine are 942 and 59. Could that be it?

 

Possibly. But the car would still have had firewall stampings. They were required to prove they had been inspected by a qualified person.

 

Hummm. I bought the car from an elderly neighbor who was the original owner. I would think if there were stamps they would be apparent, as I would suspect that the stamps would last longer than crayon marks. There's not even a stamp inside the fan housing as others have mentioned. Maybe the Fremont plant played by different rules. Somebody recently told me they had worked there. If I remember who it is I will ask them if they know about the inspection marks. Another mystery!

 

If you noticed above^^', my car is an early build out of Fremont, and you can clearly see the trim code written on the firewall....is this similar to yours?

 

Although it's in a different area it is similar to mine. See my pic on the earlier post. That looks like the interior code, did you see another number indicating the exterior paint code? Also, did you see any inspection stamps on your firewall, as mine didn't have any. I bought a new W31 back in 1970 and it was built in Fremont too. I looked thru my old pics but I don't have any showing the firewall.

 

MVC-004S.jpg

From a 70 Cutlass W31.

442s017.jpg

From a 70 442 (Lansing-12B build date)

 

There are 4 of these stamps under the hood, 1962 Jetfire:


2_zps4023e0f0.jpg

 

What kind of car? Model and year? Location under the hood? First of those stamps I've ever seen.

 

1962 Jetfire. 2 of the stamps are on the firewall, 1 each on left and right braces.

 

All W machines were Lansing built!

Pat

 

1970 Cutlass convertable Lansing built

 

My 69 H/O still has the faint markings and there is a story behind it there are ZZ in blue right in the middle of the firewall and EE in yellow a few inches to the drivers side , will post some pics later

 

Pilfered this from a post by firefrostgold. He was showing different hose clamps and I noticed this stamping. His 1970 R350

 

I read (inlinetube) that in the Texas plant they would stamp the area on the firewall where the hoses came thru then also stamp the hose itself so there would be no mix ups. The hose stamp would wear off quick. They stamped radiator hoses I guess anything that could get mixed up especially AC cars. I guess the Texas boys were either not that bright or had a serious union where you can't do anyone else's job.
Or just maybe inline made the whole thing up to sell even more stamps. Little pricey I might add.
My Cutlass a Texas born has no, zero, nadda one stamp. And that is 1972 all original dirt & rust I'm removing off my wall it was not repainted. I got ripped off, now how the hell am I supposed to know where all these hoses go.

 

The firewall stampings on your car could be behind the AC firewall evaporator unit. I've seen examples of that before. The firewall was stamped before the installation of the engine compartment AC components. There's absolutely no predetermined place where the inspectors were required to stamp - just somewhere on the engine cowl from what I've seen.

 

I'd like to apply these stamps to my current 1971 442 restoration.

ILT wants $60 for two stamps. Does anyone have a set they could loan or rent me?

I would gladly pay for shipping charges.

This is an older stamp I saw on a '64 F-85 in a salvage yard;

2012-10-01154629.jpg

2012-10-01154638.jpg

 

Very cool. Someone else had a stamp like that on their early (I think it was a 63/64 Jetstar) production car. It was not only on the firewall but on the fenders as well IIRC.

 

Those were on my 62 Jetfire Turbo car. See photos earlier in this thread

 

My 69 Fremont 442 also had the yellow markings like yours. Not the stamps of the Lansing cars but still pretty cool. I tried making a copy for after the firewall is painted I will put the markings back.

Sean

Not sure why CO is rotating the image oh well...

 

Did you notice how both are the same on top of the divider that goes corner to corner but on the bottom my pic has an N1 and yours has an O1?