C3 69 matching numbers question

[John A.]

My engine was built on 12/04/68. What would be acceptable build dates for aux equipment such as water pump, starter, alternator, and carbs? 6 month prior? How is 9 months prior viewed?

Thanks

[William C.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

First, what engine combination are we talking about here, and what is the build date of the car? Carbs and Alternator are installed at the Final assy plant and have no reference to engine build as such

[Chuck S.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

Without considering any other information, like strikes or other production scheduling anomalies, my opinion is that 9 months may be a little long to be normal, but it is acceptable.

If it were me, I would ideally try to keep build dates under 3 months prior to the CAR BUILD DATE for everything you named except for the water pump. Dates for parts installed in St. Louis are more relevant to the car's build date since they were installed during the car assembly.

I would prefer the casting date for the water pump (installed in Flint) to be within 3 months prior to the engine build date. Engine build dates, particularly on low volume optional engines, CAN SOMETIMES precede the car build date by several months; but in that case, I would still expect the casting dates on the block, intake manifold, heads and water pump to be grouped pretty closely.

Keeping your dates within 3 months will be tough; there aren't infinite choices when looking for used parts.

[John A.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

Bill,

Thanks for responding - Its a L68 / 4 speed / vert. The car build date is 2 Jan 69.

[John A.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

Chuck,

Thanks for the info. Finding parts within a 3 month window WILL be harder. Is there any distinction made between parts that are dated before the build date (say 6 mths) vs parts that are dated post build date? Or are they all considered EQUALLY incorrect?

Thanks again

[Chuck S.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

No. Parts with casting/assembly dates AFTER the car build date are no-brainer, absolutely, positively incorrect, because such would defy logic...it just wasn't possible without a time machine. Better have a really good story and documents to back it up if you want the judges to believe that one.

For judging, I believe any dates up to one year prior are acceptable, simply because anomalies happened and the only way to cover all those possibilities was to simply have a blanket statement that one year preceding was acceptable. If the dates are within that one year window, then not a lot of attention is paid in judging to exactly when the dates fall or their pattern. Hint: If you can't find something inside three months prior, then six months or even more will work just fine.

If you are attempting to determine if a car has all it's original parts, then you would look a little closer, and ideally, to expect to find what I described earlier. Exceptions may be explainable if you have enough information.

[Patrick H.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

John,

On my 71 and 72, virtually all accessories were built within one (1) month of the car. Yes, four weeks. And that's typical for what I've seen.

The only exemption on my cars is the water pump on my 71. It was from August 1970 on a mid June 1971 car. And yes, it was the original pump.

Patrick

[William C.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

Patrick has given a very good description of "normal" production. For a car to work very far outside this range, it generally would have to be at the very end of the model run where there is occasionaly a "cleanout" of parts from the back of the storage area. If I were building a car, I would try to stay within the 4-6 week timeframe. The parts cost the same, so don't be in a hurry.

[Harmon C.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

John A part with the correct part number but the date not within the six month window would get points and would be much better than a part number being wrong. Lyle

[John A.]

Re: C3 69 matching numbers question

Thanks - the hunt continues!