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I am thinking of buying a 1972 corvette 454 coupe, low mileage (42,000) and aclaimed to be original, except the paint. Did the 72's have a tank sticker ? I am also thinking to buy a 1972 El Camino454 big block (needs restauration). Did the El Camino's have a tank sticker ,too? Seller claims that either car has not been apart. Have not seen either car yet, but will do so soon...
Art,
Thats what I thought, but was not sure. You may know the answer to an additional El Camino question. (hope its OK to ask a none Corvette question)But since its related...
I know that the St.Louis Corvette assy plant stamped the partial serial number next to the engine build code on the stamp pad. But on El Camino's assembled in Van Neys (sp ?) Ca, is it possible that the serial number was missing from the stamp pad ? All other numbers and are perfect,just no ser number.
I know, that happened when deales would, on occations, replace the engine after delivery with an "over-the-counter" replacement engine. If that happened, the numbers would be way out of synch, but not on the car I am looking at.
Some Chevelles (RWD A-Body) have a build sheet in the seat springs, but it does depend on the assembly plant and model year. I have a build sheet from a 1971 Monty Carlo (A Special in Chevrolet’s lingo) that was found under the seat springs. I can't remember if there were 5 or 7 plants building the RWD A-Body in that time frame, but you get the idea. Those, and most other cars are not as easy as Corvettes because each plant did it a little differently.
1972 Chevelles should have a VIN derivative on the engine block, but it might not be on the pad (although I believe it usually is – I’ll check that with my Chevelle sources and let you know for sure tomorrow). There were other locations used from time to time, and place to place. I found a VIN derivative for my 1976 C10 Suburban 454 on a small pad straight above the timing cover, the engine assembly number is in the usual spot. Alongside the oil filter is another place to look. That was called out as an alternate location for a number of car lines.
Remember folks tended not to leave Chevelles alone, and most Chevelle and/or Corvette owners do not obsess about these numbers like we do. At least they don’t until it comes time to sell the car and then it seems like a good way to maximize the return on investment.
Terry, I specifically said "intentionally" because Corvettes were and are the only ones that had/has a directive to PUT one in the vehicle-----the others were pure and simply over looked.
I don't question that, Art. I deliberately hedged by saying "usually." Guys restoring cars produced at different facilities have a heck of a time of it because they all did things a just little differently. We don't know how lucky we are dealing with a car that for the most part was produced at one plant.
Starting after January 1, 1969 (for the model year 1969) the Van Nuys plant (VN)on the body tag started stamping the vin sequence #'s down near the oil filter boss area, this surface is somewhat rough and the numbers do not necessarily "jump out at you". This was done for Camaros, I would check this location to see if Chevelles, El Caminos followed suit.
Van Nuys never built El Caminos or any other "A"-body vehicles; they only built "B"-bodies (Impala/Caprice) and Camaro/Firebird. El Caminos were built at Fremont, Baltimore, and Kansas City.
Yup, how could I forget the Ramos Arizpe plant in Saltillo; I built that plant, and the name of the hotel I lived in while doing so was the "El Camino Real"; had a phone in the bathroom, gold-plated fixtures, water you couldn't drink, and burros baying all night at the farm next door
GM bought the site real cheap without bothering to do any site checks or soil borings, and gave us the chore of building the plants (assembly and engine); we brought in a site crew to level the site, found it was all solid bedrock, and had to delay the program for 14 months while we dynamite-blasted 24/7 for over a year to level the site. Some bargain.
Thanks everyone. I was not aware of the fact, that they did not build El Caminos in Cal. That explains, why the build tab says: BL, that stands for baltimore, not LA. Vin number stated L for Los Angeles. Something was wrong with car, possibly,,,
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