67 Frame Stencils

[Ed M.]

My restoration is proceding slowly, but finally, my frame is done and it's time to start putting shim marks and stencils on. And, I must tell you, confusion reigns. I sent away for Quanta's frame kit and this is the stencil I got back for vin 6607:

303196-12-1-66

3900200-33 Now, I know that 303196 is the AO Smith part number

30 to 34 is the sequential lot number

3900200 is the GM part number

-12-1 is the date the frame was produced which, in the 67 model year, should be about 2 weeks from the assembly date of the car.

-66 I believe is wrong. It should be GC for Granite City, where the frames were manufactured.

The NCRS third edition judging manual states: "Both the date and part number appear upside down as viewed from below. Part number 390.0200 appears closest to the ground. The number 309.196.2X appears above it. (THE LAST DIGIT, X, MAY BE ANY NUMBER 1-0)."

The following are stencil examples taken from supposedly original frames. All frame stencils in this post are shown right side up for ease of reading. They all need to be turned upside down when applied, as the frames were manufactured and stacked upside down and the stencils applied right side up.

vin 9XXX

3900200-33

303196-1-18/GC

vin 122XX

3900200-33

303196-GC-2-14

vin 14XXX

303196-

3900200-1-14-GC Wow. None are identical. Not only that, but the juding manual says 3900200-2X and two of the three examples are 3900200-3X. Only 2 of the 3 would be correct when turned upside down. Help.

A note of interest: my engine assembly date and frame production date are both 12-1-66. Is that what they mean when they say "all numbers match?" ONLY KIDDING.

Ed

[Tom B.]

Re: 67 Frame Stencils

Ed,

I recently looked at the Joseph A. Tripoli, Jr. book "Corvette Chassis Restoration Guide 1953 through 1972". I don't know if you've referenced that book but it has some information about the 67 stenciling you have. At the same time I had also looked at the 67 JM (2nd Ed) and I agree, the all-around information is somewhat confusing when all the sources (including Quanta's info) are compared.

I'm not sure, but I have a tendency to believe that your stencil should not have the "66" at the end of the date. The Tripoli book has a photograph example (as well as a couple of charts) that show the 67 stencil to have a "month-day/GC" marking. I also noticed that it was "/" (slash) GC, and not "-" (dash) GC in the example photo and charts.

The other thing his book reference states (page 14) agrees with what you mentioned, Ed, that the 67 frame stencil-date precedes the assembly date by approximately 2 weeks.

What I have had confusion with is the hand written lumber crayon date. Page 14 of Tripoli's book states that a lumber crayon was used to mark the date on the 1963 - 1966 frames, since the paint stencil for those years were not dated. It doesn't mention anything about whether a lumber crayon date does or does not appear on the 67 frame, and it somewhat implies that it doesn't. I have heard one or two people make reference to the lumber crayon date (regardless of year) to be the "pull date" of the frame. I'm not sure about that and at this point I think that unless I found an original lumber crayon marked date on my 67 frame then I would be hesitant to put one on it. I don't know but maybe there is another place to reference the hand written lumber crayon date. TBarr #24014

[Jack H.]

Re: 67 Frame Stencils

Hint: Frames were final assembled upside down at St. Louis. So, when you go to make 'tick' marks for shim count, you might want to invert yourself (your hand) so stroke appears correct (heavy beginning of stroke at 'top' of arc and lighter end of stroke at 'bottom' of arc) in terms of 'upside down' frame orientation....