67 oil cap

[Ken Seddon - 25329]

Hello all - my 67 BB has an oil cap that is dark olive/black in color with a large S on the logo. It is not spray painted and has a paper gasket. According to the judging manual there alos needs to be a SM in a circle. That logo is not on the cap. Any ideas what I have and if it will work for judging?

thanks,
Ken

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 oil cap

Ken-----

It could be that it's a later replacement. Or, it could be that it's original. While many original caps had the "SM" stamping on the body of the cap, I'm not so sure that all did. For one thing, the "S" on the rivet and the "SM" on the body of the cap is redundant; both refer to "Stant Manufacturing Company". Usually, this sort of redundancy is not seen on manufactured parts. However, I do know, for sure, that SOME original caps had both markings. Whether they ALL did, I don't know.

Later, the "SM" disappeared from SERVICE caps and only the "lonely S" remained. At some point, if not from the beginning, someone must have figured out that the 2 stampings were redundant. However minimal, it costs money to apply a stamping to a piece, so why do it twice? Also, while GM insists on a manufacturer's ID on most parts (per blueprint requirements), they don't want this ID to be too prominent or, in many cases, identifiable by the consumer. As far as the consumer is concerned, all parts are to be considered GM parts.

[mike mccagh]

Re: 67 oil cap

joe: i agree with the redundancy theory but GM's desire to keep mfgr identity under wraps doesn't make sense regarding the cap in that the S on the rivet , which as you mentioned continued thru service availability, is considerably more conspicuous than the sm within the circle. i've judged quite a few bowtie 65 thru 67 big blocks and all had both identifiers.i also removed a bi-stamped cap from a late 70's chevette years ago. regards, mike

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 oil cap

Mike-----

I expect that about 99%+ of vehicle owners would not associate the "S" or the "SM" with Stant. Folks like us do, but most people wouldn't. On the other hand, if Stant had stamped the caps with "Stant", folks would know, for sure, the origin of the cap. In general, I don't think that GM would have accepted a piece made for them and stamped with the full name of the source. There are exceptions to this "rule" but they are few and far between. The vast majority of GM parts that are manufactured by others for GM have only a very "cryptic" manufacturer's ID on them.