FAQ |
Members List |
Social Groups |
Calendar |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
John,
Thanks for asking him. It must be interesting talking to someone who was there at the time they were built. Bob substantiates my suspicions on the bird glass, glove box bird, harness routing and seat belt. Since the washer nozzle also has two different parts shown for the LH '68, I still suspect some other reason. Kurt, My question comes from my own '68 with red custom trim interior option (554) and black belts. I am certainly not complaining because red/red is much better with the contrast. It’s more curiosity. I first noticed matching belts in the red/red ’68 of the ’68 Firebird Brochure then found that the matching color was supposed to be in the custom colored interiors. I’ve had my ’68 since ’69. The belt date codes match the car’s Jan ’68 build date. The Fischer oops that John’s friend Bob mentioned makes sense. (I’ve also somewhat suspected an inventory shortage during build.) Edit: Here's an old shot from before I replaced the covers. Both the belts and comfortweave were original in this shot: Last edited by JimFB400HO; 02-05-2008 at 07:40 PM. |
#22
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Some guys they just give up living And start dying little by little, piece by piece, Some guys come home from work and wash up, And go racin' in the street. Bruce Springsteen - Racing In The Street - 1978 |
The Following User Says Thank You to The Boss For This Useful Post: | ||
#23
|
|||
|
|||
That's not a common combo in Camaros, but I found two that I have info on.
One is Oct with black dlx (no belt dates to confirm originality). One is March with red dlx, original belts. I'd suspect it was a shortage issue. My seatbelt article is almost done and I've only seen red dlx with red interiors in the documentation. I'll see if I can't find an early 68 source just to confirm it wasn't a usage change. |
The Following User Says Thank You to Kurt S For This Useful Post: | ||
#24
|
||||
|
||||
That is very cool that you met this gentleman from Lordstown and I appreciate his input. I would like to chime in, not to steal any of his thunder, but hopefully to add some "color commentary" from my own experiences at GM assembly plants.
By way of background, I hired into the Chevrolet Flint Truck Plant in Flint, Michigan, in 1979. We were building Chevy and GMC pickups, Blazers and Suburbans on two assembly lines. I worked there as a production supervisor, but also in plant engineering and specifications, for about 8 years. After that I moved into an Engineering/Assembly liaison position and launched product in almost every truck assembly plant in North America (Pontiac, Flint, Oshawa, Fort Wayne, Janesville, Arlington, Silao, St Louis). As an engineer today, I continue to visit assembly plants related to the product I am working on (Mishawaka, in this case). Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
This is my favorite story about fasteners and the level of "control" of the assembly process: In my area, we used to make the attachments between the radiator support and the front of the fenders. It was difficult to see and difficult to access, so often those small bolts would crossthread or break the weld nuts loose and you would run a lot of repair. The bolts we were supposed to use, (part number 3846202, in fact!) were black in appearance and manufactured by a company called Ferndale Fasteners. Eventually, we discovered another bolt in the plant, made by a different manufacturer - Lang Manufacturing - that was phosphate coated (gray in color) that, either because of the coating or the thread shape, didn't crossthread as readily. After we made that discovery we used to sneak across to Line two during second shift, steal all the boxes of Lang bolts that we could find, and run them all night. At the end of the shift, we'd secure them in our lockers and go home. Day shift would run the black Ferndales all day, run a bunch of junk, and wonder how we did it. This kind of stuff (ie, black bolt vs gray bolt) is what drives the Corvette purists nuts (...serves 'em right... ). K
__________________
'63 LeMans Convertible '63 Grand Prix '65 GTO - original, unrestored, Dad was original owner, 5000 original mile Royal Pontiac factory racer '74 Chevelle - original owner, 9.85 @ 136 mph besthttp://www.superchevy.com/features/s...hevy-chevelle/ My Pontiac Story: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=560524 "Intro from an old Assembly Plant Guy":http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=342926 Last edited by Keith Seymore; 02-06-2008 at 10:23 AM. |
The Following User Says Thank You to Keith Seymore For This Useful Post: | ||
#25
|
||||
|
||||
No further questions for the Lordstown employee?
On a related note I just found out one of the guys I work with (DaveT) started at Pontiac in 1970 as a Reliability Engineer and Industrial Engineer. Let me know if you have any Pontiac specific questions and I will forward them to him for his input. I'll start a separate thread as well. K
__________________
'63 LeMans Convertible '63 Grand Prix '65 GTO - original, unrestored, Dad was original owner, 5000 original mile Royal Pontiac factory racer '74 Chevelle - original owner, 9.85 @ 136 mph besthttp://www.superchevy.com/features/s...hevy-chevelle/ My Pontiac Story: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=560524 "Intro from an old Assembly Plant Guy":http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=342926 |
#26
|
||||
|
||||
My '67 has only one traction bar(anti-wrap, radius etc.) in the rear. The bar(s) I'm talking about are mounted to the axle housing and then mount to the bottom of the floor pan. I have brackets for two on the housing but not on the floor. I'm having trouble locating the drivers side so I can run two. Are there supposed to be two bars? Thanks!
__________________
"Trust me friend, a hundred years goes faster than you think." -Kenny Chesney "Go fast, turn left, hang on, go straight, go faster...who wouldn't wanna piss off 900 angry horses?" 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400 Coupe 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Monza 110 Convertible 1965 Oldsmobile F85 Cutlass 350 HO Coupe, soon to have Olds 403 1970 Chevrolet Nova 383 Coupe, NEW! 2007 GMC Sierra 5.3 Z71 Ext. 2007 GMC Yukon 5.3 SLT |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
the auto cars only got one and the manual cars got the two i beleive! but on the 67 like mine the axles came with both brakets on them, that is why its hard to find the drivers side components.
|
#28
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
You asked some friends about other LOR products (full-size Chevys) and they have found 3 other tags with RPO codes on them. All 3 were stamped Z21, one convertible, 2 coupes. 10D, 03C, and 06C/D. The Z21 was stamped in the same position as the D80/B80 on this Firebird tag that has been discussed. Interesting that it that one of the cars was way back in Oct. I'm surprised it's so infrequent; Z21 (exterior style trim) shouldn't be that rare of an option. So maybe not all tags were stamped. ANY MORE INFO KURT S? Or The Former Lordstown Employee? Last edited by 1969T/A; 04-14-2008 at 02:40 AM. |
#29
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
The only new data is the 03B Firebird that is stamped B80 on the tag. It was on ebay and was discussed in the forum a while back. |
The Following User Says Thank You to Kurt S For This Useful Post: | ||
#30
|
|||
|
|||
Ask him about D-80 cars. I worked with a tech who was a Pontiac tech, working on fgfs when they first rolled off of the line. According to him, a D80 car didn't mean that it as a t/a. I don't see what reason he had for lying; after all, we had this discussion over 20 years ago, back when it wasn't cool to own such a pos car. Even so, you have all these 30 year old experts--here and other places--who know everyting there is to know about firebirds and they forbid anyone to discuss such issues.
|
#31
|
|||
|
|||
My father started at Lordstown assembly plant as one of the first employees as well and retired a computer guy from the same plant under EDS. Very interesting what really happened back then. He has shed alot of light on assembly etc. Nice post.
__________________
JJG |
#32
|
||||
|
||||
jamesgennock, can you get him to relate some ingo or post here?
The more info on the process the better I think.
__________________
John Wallace - johnta1 Pontiac Power RULES !!! www.wallaceracing.com Winner of Top Class at Pontiac Nationals, 2004 Cordova Winner of Quick 16 At Ames 2004 Pontiac Tripower Nats KRE's MR-1 - 1st 5 second Pontiac block ever! "Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts." "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." – Socrates |
#33
|
||||
|
||||
Any More Info On 1969 Firebird "LOR Coded Tags" ?
I'm Willing To Pay $15.00+ A Magazine Each For The April '78, Aug '78, & Sept '79 Issue's Of Hot Rod Magazine! Last edited by 1969T/A; 04-25-2008 at 10:03 PM. |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Are those the issues with the ta conv. search info ? |
#35
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
I just bought the Aug '78 & Sept '79 today. Now, I just need the April '78. |
#36
|
|||
|
|||
Humm have those stored in plastic tubs in the garage loft.
Will have to dig them out. If my failing memory serves me right this topic started with someone writing in to the editors in the mail bag or mail room section,correct? |
#37
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Yes , I had those magazines at one time but not any more .I actually bought one of the ta conv. by tracking those guys down from those letter to the editor write ins about who owns the 69 ta conv. At the time Hot Rod had posted that there were only 5 ta conv. built but soon after it was discovered that there were 8 . I also found one (69 ta conv) in a H O newsletter in 1977 and soon parked that one in my garage . |
#38
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Any pics of it you can post? |
#39
|
|||
|
|||
No , I don't . The one I found in H-O's newsletter was a automatic and it was in New Orleans (1977) . I purchased it a couple years later . It is now in R.L. collection .
Also in the Hot Rod mag. letter to editor section was the White on white 4 speed that was in Pittsburgh and is now in Las Vegas I heard. That car changed hands many times . I recall 4-5 cars being reported being found in that time period in Hot Rod . |
#40
|
|||
|
|||
no,he doesnt still have it.he raped and pillaged and moved on.
|
Reply |
|
|