After looking in all the obvious places (above the gas tank, rear package tray, upper and lower rear seat cushions) to find the build sheet for my Fremont built '72 Supreme, is it possible it could be under one of the front seats?

Just a thought..

 

Are you referring to under the carpet under the front seat? There exists a modest chance a previous owner found it and thew it away.

 

Not under the carpet, but tucked into the seat spring, maybe?

 

Deliberately taking apart a car just to look for the build sheet is a fool's errand. As Vintage Chief points out, unless you're the original owner, there's a chance a prior owner found it and it's long gone. It's also possible that there never was one in any particular car. Just because they were known to have been left in and have been found in cars produced in the other-than-Lansing factories doesn't mean that they were left in every car produced in those factories.

Besides the "obvious" places you've looked, what about, in addition to in-the-front-seat-springs as you suggest, under the carpet, as has been mentioned, or inside one of the door panels? I've heard of build sheets being found in those locations as well. In short, while there are locations where they are commonly found, they could, in fact, be anywhere in the car.

 

Try looking above the headliner

 

Make no mistake Jaunty, I'm not on "seek and find" mission to hunt it down. All those places I've looked were whileI was I was working on a project. 😀

 

If I ever have to replace it, I will.

 

If you drop the gas tank others have found them there..... Tedd

 

I found two identical build sheets in a Fremont built '69 442 I once had, one under the rear carpet on the passenger side and one under the rear carpet on the drivers side.

Brad

 

It seems finding the build sheet is akin to finding the Holy Grail for classic American car enthusiasts. It is clear that not every car left the factory with one, From some plants almost certainly no cars left with one.
Clearly they weren't meant for the buyers or even the dealers, if this was the case they would be in the documents given to the new car buyer.
I understand they were to guide the assembly line workers as to what particular items to fit in the cars as they came down the line, I've heard them likened to the notes for a short order cook in a diner, only relevant while the car was being assembled.
There are some members who are much better informed than me about what went on in the production plants, perhaps one of you could enlighten us as to the real purpose of these sheets?

Roger.

 

I always thought the purpose of these sheets was rather obvious. They list everything about that particular car. All of the options that are on it. The dealer to whom delivered. Production date. Everything. They were likely vital when the car was built and traveled with it down the assembly line. When the car came to the last line worker, he either threw it in the trash if he worked at Lansing or taped it to the top of the gas tank if he worked at any other plant.

I can understand why people want them. They're a cool piece of literature about the car and proof as to what options came on it from the factory, something especially important if you're trying to prove that the car is a real 442 or whatever. They'd probably be less desired if dealer invoice records were kept by GM during those years, something they started doing with the 1977 models. I have the dealer invoice for my '78 Toro, and I'm guessing it pretty much duplicates what the build sheet would show, so I don't feel compelled to try to find the build sheet, especially since the car was built at Lansing and therefore there isn't one to find.

I can understand people wanting to find them. But I don't see the point of taking the car apart to look for it.

 

I’ve never found any such build sheet but have found plenty of wine and whiskey bottles!

 

I found mine under the rear seat, in the metal frame, passenger side.