Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

[Joe R.]

As a follow up to Dick Capello's recent posting about AO Smith door rivets, is there a location on the main body where there is an easy-to-distinguish difference between AO Smith and St. Louis bodies?

I ask this because in theory, a pair of AO Smith doors could have been mounted on a St. Louis body (although I have heard that they don't fit well).

I'm interested to know if there is some feature on the main body, similar to the rivets on the doors, that differs in a recognizable way. I know of several differences in the finishes that were used on AO Smith bodies, but I don't consider that to be a reliable indicator.

Some people have told me they can tell the difference by sighting down the side of the body and looking at the profile of the fenders, but that seems rather subjective to me and is hard to define. It would be nice if there were some feature on the main body that is as easy to check as the door rivets.

[John H.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Joe -

The trim tag on an A.O. Smith body is markedly different than a St. Louis trim tag; plant-applied characters are double-spaced, and there's an "A-" prefix on the "Body" number.

Also, if the car is unrestored, the transverse riveted reinforcement on the bottom of the underbody below the front seats will show green zinc chromate primer instead of black (A.O. Smith didn't have a black prime paint system).

[john daly]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

At a regional once I was shown a feature on the hood to fender fit where the hood was high to the fender about half way down on known no-hit Smith cars. Other Smith cars at the event appeared to have the same feature.

john

[Joe R.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Hi John:

I was trying to identify clues that might be helpful if the trim tag was either missing or was suspected of having been changed.

So far the only clues I know of are the door rivets, the finishes on some components such as the one you mention, and the PW dimple that has been the subject of previous discussions on this board that seemed to end up inconclusive.

[Wayne M.]

Look to the firewall

I'm no expert but I believe some of the rivets holding firewall clips differ between Ionia and St.Louis. Refering to the ones that were installed prior to bonding together of some the various firewall panels [plenums] (ie. center, dash-to-underbody, L & RH panel), and that access for replacing these rivets using original type rivets and methods is impossible without breaking the panel adhesive bond. Check out section UPC 1 of your AIM.

You are correct in that much of the other differences mentioned already could be intentionally replaced with less effort.

[Kirk McHugh]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

John,

That is exactly how my hood fits and it has always driven me crazy because it look bowed in the middle. I've checked the distances front to back and side to side and they all look pretty consistent. Always thought it had something to do with my AC unit spinning oil on the hood and weakening it causing it to bow. Interesting, and much more exciting, thought that it is a hallmark of a non-hit AO Smith body. My car is a 67 vert 327/300 with an AO Smith body. See tag below.

TRIM TAG

CHEVROLET DIV. GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

I03 DETROIT MICHIGAN
STYLE 67 467 | A-2731 BODY
TRIM STD. | 972 PAINT

[Gerard F.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Joe,

Wasn't there something about the hood weatherstripping, where the St. Louis cars had a stud at the end, and the AO Smith cars didn't (and just had adhesive)? At least on 67's.

Jerry Fuccillo
#42179

[Rex T.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Kirk,

My no-hit California 67 coupe A.O. Smith body exhibits the same hood fit as you describe. Now I feel a little better about that percieved "misfit".

Rex

[John H.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Rex -

My June '67-built A.O. Smith no-hit convertible hood fit follows the same pattern with the slight "bow" relative to the upper surround.

[Joe R.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Hi Jerry:

Yes, that is another difference, although it is easy to change.

[Wayne W.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

There are lots of little differences, but if you want one that you can see without much trouble, look at the rivets on the lower rail of the windshield frame. You can see them through the wiper grille. Two of these rivets go in the top of the wiper transmission bracket. St. Louis bodies have small round head rivets, AOS has large flat rivets.

St. Louis

[Wayne W.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

AO Smith

[Joe R.]

Re: Detecting AO Smith vs. St. Louis body

Hi Wayne:

Thanks, that is a great tip. I just checked my 67 AOS body and indeed, it has the large flat rivets. While a determined counterfeiter could certainly change these, they are not likely to get attention from someone doing a "casual" trim tag swap to make a 67 AOS body become a St. Louis big block, side pipe car.