NUMBER HELP--ATTN : JOE LUCIA

[Don S.]

The grill oval from my 1955 vette has a number stamped on the inside of it. The number is 3706432. Is there any way that this number can be used to reveal whether the grill oval is an original or a repro.
thanks

[Joe L.]

Re: NUMBER HELP--ATTN : JOE LUCIA

Don-----

GM #3706432 was the original part number for the grill molding assembly used for 1955 Corvettes. It would be illegal under US trademark laws for any reproduction parts source to place this number on a reproduction of this grille unless it was authorized to do so by GM. The only way that GM authorizes this is through the GM Restoration Parts Program. As far as I can tell, there is no licensee for reproduction of this part. Consequently, there would be no one authorized to place this number on the part.

Is it possible that some reproduction source of the past (or present) produced the part and emplaced the original GM part number on it? Yes, anything's possible. The best way to use this number to determine the originality of the part would be to compare it to the number on a known original part. If the characters and other configuration of the numbers are pretty much the same, I'd say it's a good bet that this is an original part. In any event, I strongly suspect that it's an original part.