1969 door alignment wedge

[Peter S.]

The TIM&JG mentions that (pardon my paraphrasing) the door alignment wedge ceased around roughly serial 22,212 on coupes. I cannot find a notation or revision in the AIM showing that it had been removed. I also would expect an additional change to account for alignment issues, or were these parts deemed not necessary?

My '69 (#29536) does not have the wedge, but appears to have the holes drilled for it. Is this correct?

Peter

[Peter S.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

I'm referring to the 5th paragraph on page 20. I've also attached some pictures of the mounting location on my car. The page in the AIM is J163 in which I see no reference to a revision that removes the alignment wedge.
DSC_7026.jpg

Apologies, but door jamb photo will not load for some reason. The door picture does show where the alignment block should reside, which involves the same question.

[Edward B.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Pete, I have a late 69 convertible so I can't help you with your question, but in Bizzoco's "1969 Stingray Guidebook" (1994), it states on page 25 that they were deleted late in 1969 on the Coupe since the Coupe was a more stable body than the Convertible. He doesn't give an exact date or a VIN number, but shows a picture of 733203 without the wedges.

Ed

[Peter S.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Thanks Ed. I forgot to check Bizzoco. I also did not check the back of the TIM&JG to see if there was a memo for the change, I will give that a look tonight. I'm looking for some form of official direction at the plant that told line workers not to install the parts.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

I'm looking for some form of official direction at the plant that told line workers not to install the parts.

That would be the AIM. The document on the line before the change would mention the part. The document afterwards would not show it. It's very unlikely that any of the AIMs around today would be available in both versions.

Keep in mind that a given page of an AIM is only accurate for the cars that were on the line at that precise moment. Yesterday's car and tomorrow's cars may may/not be the same. Accordingly, any one AIM may not actually represent any car ever built.

[Peter S.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Hey Mike,

The last revision UPC 1 (Doors), sheet K8 is on March 17th, 1969, so well before this change. I didn't consider the possibility that this page may not be the latest revision. I'm curious if anyone has a later revision of this page. Also note that the rev block is full.

I'm not sure why the AIM would have a hodge podge of incompletely revised pages though. Maybe this is a bad assumption, but I would think that the AIM would be comprised of the final revision of each page?

[Michael W.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

but I would think that the AIM would be comprised of the final revision of each page?

It's not by a long shot, nor would that be an improvement. Such an AIM would reflect the configuration of only the very last cars built on the final days of production. Not of much use to anyone else.

In a perfect world, we'd have available a copy of each of the multiple revisions that each sheet went through during the production year and know the date when they were introduced and superseded on the assembly line. A restorer could then custom assemble a copy of an AIM that represented what was being used on the day(s) car moved down the line.

I think we're lucky to have them at all. Most other cars don't

[Peter S.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

A restorer could then custom assemble a copy of an AIM that represented what was being used on the day(s) car moved down the line.

Challenge accepted.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Challenge accepted.

Peter
You will not get far with the challenge until you learn to properly refer to the AIM pages. I will offer you, as I have many others here, your first AIM lesson.

The page number you cite is good only for the version of the AIM printed by your vendor. Anyone who has a copy of the AIM from Drafting Graphic, the part of Chevrolet that produced and cataloged the original AIMs, will have no such page numbers. AIMs purchased from a different vendor than yours will have different page numbers. So long as you cling to these alpha numeric page numbers you will not succeed in your challenge.

The proper pagination system used by all AIMs refers to a UPC number and a Sheet number/letter. These are usually found on the bottom center of the page, but can be in other locations on the page. An example would be UPC 12, Sheet A1.

Using the UPC, Sheet system anyone can find the page you reference in any version of the AIM. Thus you may eventually succeed in your challenge.

For more on AIMs John Hinckley wrote a story for The Corvette Restorer some years back. That story is also on the on-line pages of The Camaro Research Group. I urge you to take the second step of your journey there.

http://www.camaros.org/AIM.shtml

[Peter S.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Hi Terry,

You're right, I got lazy. I'll make the correction with the UPC and sheet number. I know better.

[Graeme B.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Hi Peter , my July 17th built car does not have the wedges , Graeme.

[Gene M.]

Re: 1969 door alignment wedge

Keep in mind the revision dates on the AIM need to precede the assembly line implementation of the change. The time lag between sign off and assembly line implementing change can vary weeks/months. Typical that unless safety change the parts were run out till revision started. That is why the NCRS typically gives a serial number range for change over from an older configuration to the new one. Sometimes the change is on one side of the car and not the other. I've seen this on 7/16 threads the 5/8 vs 11/16 hex bumper brace nuts in early '67, fronts were different than rears.