Were these cars good quality when new? The reason I ask is that I just finished stripping the seam sealer off the inside edges of the trunk lid on my Arlington, TX built 68. About half of the 30 or so spot welds were no good. On most the skin was melted but there was no fusion to the trunk frame! 3-4 were broken. The bottom edge was really bad. The frame was a little short and with the bad spot welds had popped out of the skin for about 10". 20 minutes with the MIG welder and grinder and things are good to go. I'm just curious if this is typical?

Were these cars good quality when new? The reason I ask is that I just finished stripping the seam sealer off the inside edges of the trunk lid on my Arlington, TX built 68. About half of the 30 or so spot welds were no good. On most the skin was melted but there was no fusion to the trunk frame! 3-4 were broken. The bottom edge was really bad. The frame was a little short and with the bad spot welds had popped out of the skin for about 10". 20 minutes with the MIG welder and grinder and things are good to go. I'm just curious if this is typical?

Maybe the same guy who welded up your trunk lid installed the carpet in my car. I found the want ads from the Fort Worth Star Telegram on the day my car was built embedded in the tar insulation. I've heard lots of stories about spotty quality on the line. Remember, these cars were built by people - not robots - so if a worker was having a bad day, was new on the job or it was Friday at 4:45 there might be some lapse in quality.

This thread reminded me of this item I found on eBay.

GM Coffee Cup

I found some old UAW flyers jambed under my Judge's back seat. Must have been for extra "cushion"!
Steve

Personal opinion is that the 1968's were MUCH higher quality than today's offerings. True, there were some lemons; but in general, good quality.

Jon.

I'd argue that the quality of parts that went into our cars is better than what's used in modern cars but the fit and finish of new cars is light years beyond what the factory put out 40 years ago.

I've heard about the poor quality cars that were built on Mondays and Fridays. Something to do with the quantity of beer consumed by line workers on bowling nights and weekends.

My father in law worked at the Fremont Ca. Plant (GM intermediates)on the night shift from 1964 to 1983. He's told me some interesting stories about Monday or Friday cars. Liquid lunches, F#&k management days and general mayhem. On the other hand, Tuesdays through Thursdays, very solid, pretty good fit finish was the usual. Luck of the draw, I guess... http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_wink.gif

My Baltimore built 69 convertible came from the factory with no seam sealer on the front floor pan seam.

Gee, I wonder why the floor pans rusted?

Friday car....after lunch maybe?

now i want to go in and pull up the carpets and find that GM water cup..

i would surely keep it though. if you get a PHS doc does it tell what date the car was assmebled? with that info you could easily find out what day of the week.

I was looking through back issues of Car&Driver last night and came accross this story:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...e-from-UAW.jpg

My '68 is a Freemont Car, the build quality is excellent. You would be amazed at how well the car and its construction has held up. How can I tell the build date? The invoice date is 12/30/67.

I think the closest you can come to build date is the month and week.
It's coded on the data plate and placed near the top of the plate.
It consists of three characters; A two digit numeral (01 through 12) and a single letter (A through D).
The numerals represent the month and the letter represents the week in the month.
For example, 05B is the second week in May, 12C is the third week in December, etc.

Paint jobs come to mind. Lousy. Plus cars were mass produced. You ever wonder why the trunk lods have gaps? Doors to fenders or rear quarters? That's why restorations are tricky getting everything to line up. It's because it probably never did when it was built. You bought it, took it home, and your neighbor pointed out everything wrong with it because he was a Ford or Chrysler guy. Dealers would re-align or adjust any complaints. When I bought my new 70 GTO, the hood never seemed to close properly where it would line up with the driver side fender at the hood hinge. When I pressed it down hard, I bent the top of the fender at the hinge area. I took it back and they repaired it. Every car used a windshield and rear window used a ribbon caulk. Some were just barely making a sealed bead. Leaks and rust followed. Mondays and days after holidays were generally considered bad days for cars to be built.