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It appears that my late (November) 1969 covette has rocker panels for a 1970 corvette. Can someone tell me if it is possible that these rocker panels were installed on the car during production?
Thanks,
EJ
Thanks,
EJ
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Re: Rocker Panels - L69 Convertible
EJ------
I've never heard of a verified case of this happening. Of course, that does not mean that it didn't. I would consider it unlikely, though. Here's why: the only reason that I could imagine that the 70 style panels would have been installed on a 1969 would be if the St. Louis plant ran out of the 68-69 style moldings AND the 70 style moldings were already available and in-plant. If such a shortage of the 68-69 style modlings occurred, it would have to have been a "spot shortage". The manufacture of the 68-69 style modlings did not cease at the time of the end of production of the 69 model. They were manufactured for SERVICE for many years. So, if they were manufactured for SERVICE, then they should have been available to PRODUCTION right up to the end. Of course, this still does not mean that a "spot shortage" might not have occured (e.g. a manufacturing problem with any one of the 4 pieces of the 68-69 rocker molding system----if any ONE piece were not available to St. Louis, they really could not have installed any of the molding).
One thing that you could check for is the presence of the "tabs" on the ends of the moldings. I can't describe these but, perhaps, someone could post a picture of them. These "tabs" were a peculiar feature of the parts used in PRODUCTION. However, they were also present on earlier SERVICE pieces, too, since, at least early on, PRODUCTION and SERVICE is identical. So, even if the tabs are there, it does not mean that the pieces were not installed post-production. But, if the configuration of the moldings is consistent with later SERVICE, then you will KNOW they were not installed at St. Louis.
Beyond that, keep this in mind: when the 70 models with the shiny new rocker moldings came out, some folks liked these better than the 68-69 "black" moldings. Some folks found that these moldings could be rather easily retrofitted to the earlier cars and, in doing so, "updated" the cars. Believe me, "originality" was NOT a big thing back in the 60's and 70's. "Updating" a car was much more popular. I knew some folks, myself, that retrofitted the 70-76 style moldings to 68-69 cars. That proclivity makes me suspicious in this case.In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Re: Rocker Panels - L69 Convertible
my 1969 vin 38161 has the black fiberglass rockers.Comment
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