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Originally Posted by Bigd400
Yes thanks, that does help make some sense of it! So all the panels would have been made in 1969 or what ever year the car is made? They would of just stamped so many pieces and what they had left would just be spare parts for that model?
The car has had some body work done in the early 70's and I was just trying to figure out what has been replaced..
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I expect body panels were stamped on a regular basis to keep up with demand for any given production year so the week date should precede the date on the cowl tag. The cowl tag has a code that identifies the week that Fisher Body began building the body shell and associated components. So for example....a 1969 model year car body that begins assembly in the first week of Dec 1968 should have body panels stamped anywhere in the 44-46 week range. Similarly a car that begins assembly on the 20th week would expect to have panels stamped several weeks earlier (17-19th weeks). Of course exceptions do exist so it helps to keep that in mind.
It is worth noting the body is built, painted and trimmed at the body plant prior to mobilizing it to final assembly plant where it gets mounted to the engine/chassis and then fitted with the front clip, bumpers and misc pieces. Prior to the GMAD consolidation, the body plant was Fisher Body and a separate revenue center for all GM divisions. By 1970 or so, Fisher Body was phased out and General Motors Assembly Division had taken its place so it's a little fuzzy around that time as to what operations took place where.
It helps to understand how these cars were assembled in order to restore them in a correct fashion. Generally speaking, the basic process of building a car remained the same no matter who built the body (Fisher or GMAD).....the body plant built the shell with the stamped panels necessary for whatever body style they were building. The cowl tag contained the necessary info for most all items the body plant was responsible for. Things like model, body style, color, upholstery color and style, glass, trim moldings etc. The body plant provided a fully painted and trimmed car from the firewall back less the front seats, front carpet and dash components (forward wiring harness, steering column, instrument cluster, HVAC assembly etc).
Engines and transmissions were built at a single factory and shipped to each final assembly plant where they were set in a chassis just prior to the body arriving from the body plant (which was nearby.....like next door to the final assembly plant). Once the rolling chassis was ready, the body was attached and then the front clip was installed along with the dash components, steering column, forward carpet, front seats, bumpers, fuel tank etc.
Some variations exist depending on the model but the general process is about the same. This means the body, doors and deck lid was built, painted and assembled at a different location from where the fenders, hood and endura noses were painted. This likely explains why the stamping codes are different on those parts that were made, painted and bolted on by the Final Assembly Plant compared to the parts made at the Body Plant.
Several sub assemblies were made by vendor suppliers off site and shipped to the Final Assembly Plants such as frames, steering boxes and pumps etc. Its all very fascinating.
Sounds like an interesting car you have there and should make for an interesting project.