[The Boss]

Early build, vin #226870L100801, Van Nuys Built, code 26 26 Lucy blue with code 218 black deluxe interior. Correct original 70 hood, original nice fenders, pot metal tail panel, numbers matching YS motor & T400 trans, SR carb, open 12 bolt, original date coded dog dish rims. Interior is complete but needs to be redone, original seats & console, PS, PDB, no gauges, 70's aftermarket radio.

Car needs quarter patches & trunk floor...and a full resto - frame rails are spectacular.

Where would you guys put the value on this one?

[RamAir]

strikes me at 8geez

[fiedlerh]

That could easily be from the first week of production. Jim M. at PHS says he gets very few info requests for early production cars and it appears survival rate is lower. I suppose part of it is because they trend to be plain-Jane floor plan cars to fill the pipeline as opposed to customer special orders.

[johnta1]

Cool Formula!

Is this the one that was by you?

Interesting that you have found another metal tail panel.
(I've never even seen one in person before)

[The Boss]

This one was very close John, the 70 TA is close but a little further away. This Formula has been in the basement of this barn since 1998.

This one was likely built on the same or within a day of my 4spd w/Air Formula which was also Lucy blue over black (standard).

[Bentwheelbob]

TA? Did someone say TA?


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[70FormulaCA]

Originally Posted by The Boss

This one was very close John, the 70 TA is close but a little further away. This Formula has been in the basement of this barn since 1998.

This one was likely built on the same or within a day of my 4spd w/Air Formula which was also Lucy blue over black (standard).

Interesting, my blue (currently black) Formula over black standard was built (#70L1004xx) inbetween your 4spd Formula and the one in the basement.

[The Boss]

Metal tail panel on yours as well I would assume?

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

TA? Did someone say TA?


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http://www.ebay.com/itm/191562959470...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[70FormulaCA]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Metal tail panel on yours as well I would assume?

I actually don't remember. Car is stored a couple hours a way. Will check this weekend.

[Transamric]

0L100801 should be a 02A build date code, likely scheduled for assembly the 3rd (Tuesday) or 4th (Wednesday).
Wonder how it got clear cross country? Could be an interesting story.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Transamric

0L100801 should be a 02A build date code, likely scheduled for assembly the 3rd (Tuesday) or 4th (Wednesday).
Wonder how it got clear cross country? Could be an interesting story.

Tag

[Transamric]

Interesting. It appears this Formula was built well out of sequence, by the VIN. Here's why I say that. Check this list of Van Nuys FB's with their known scheduled build days.

L100147 01C 210218 Jan. 21st
L100346 01D 260626 Jan. 26th
L100422 01D
L100555 01E
L100677 02A
L100696 02A 020474 Feb. 2nd
L100801 01D 270610 Jan. 27th
L100816 02A 040162 Feb. 4th
L100981 02B
L101091 02B 100490 Feb. 10th
L101098 02B
L101197 02B

When a car shows a late out-of-sequence date, we can assume the car may had been damaged before it made it to the final assembly line and went off to the "Body Shop" building for repair. But with this one being early in the volume run, not sure I have a logical explanation for it.
If Giles is lurking about, maybe he might be able to offer an explanation.

[Judge273]

Educate me as to what's out of sequence? A week on trim tag?

[johnta1]

What's the body numbers on them in comparison?

[Transamric]

Originally Posted by Judge273

Educate me as to what's out of sequence? A week on trim tag?

Post #13 pretty well explains this.
True, it's only one week out of sequence. It should have been built Feb. 4th rather than Jan. 27th. But out of the 902 '70 Firebirds I have data on, this is pretty unusual.

[giles]

A week out of sequence is not unheard of, particularly early in the build like this one. Could have been held up for a part later in the build sequence. Or stuck behind something else on hold in the body bank. The body bank at some plants could hold more than a hundred car bodies. Not sure about VN. Now a month would be a little unusual.

[Transamric]

Originally Posted by giles

A week out of sequence is not unheard of, particularly early in the build like this one. Could have been held up for a part later in the build sequence. Or stuck behind something else on hold in the body bank. The body bank at some plants could hold more than a hundred car bodies. Not sure about VN. Now a month would be a little unusual.

Thanks for the quick reply Giles. But unless I'm missing what you're saying, the reasons you've suggested would cause a build to be out of sequence later, not early. I agree it's not that unusual to have some builds held back making them late. But this one is out of order early. Correct?

[The Boss]

What does the 270610 number reference?

[Held for Ransom]

Van Nuys is a little like Fremont. While Fremont started at day 1 of production, 01xxxx and went to 99xxxx, then started over at 01xxxx. Van Nuys used the first 2 numbers to signify the day of the month. The other numbers would signify the order of when it went down the line that day.