1963 chassis detail kit

[Sander B.]

[Chuck S.]

Re: 1963 chassis detail kit

Sander, in his book Corvette Chassis Restoration Guide, Joseph Tripoli shows the stencil format for 63 as:

3819263
303106 - (*), where (*) = blank, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5

Is 2P what your original stencil showed? These books don't always contain accurate information; I'm just confirming out of curiosity and to alert you.

Quanta may have included an additional stencil in case your original stencil had some anomaly (additional spaces, irregular spacing, etc), and you wanted to "cut and paste" to build a stencil exactly like the one on the original frame. For that purpose the number order would have been unimportant, and they may have deliberately reversed the number lines, and identified the primary stencil with a penciled note, in order keep them separate.

[Sander B.]

[Chuck S.]

Re: 1963 chassis detail kit

Sander, based on what Tripoli is showing in his book, the frame stencil will not show a date for C2 frames 63-67; frame stencil dates first started in 53, ended in 62, and restarted in 68. Based on that, if the VIN stamp on the frame matches your car's VIN, that is as good as it gets for "birthday matching".

The first line of your stencil (3819263) is the GM part number for the 63 frame. The second line (303196 - *) is the A. O. Smith part number used on all C2 frames from 63-67, but the suffix numbers (*) would have been different for each model year. Tripoli is showing this same frame stencil format for all model years 63-67.

The paint on your frame looks original, but it is still in fairly good condition. That makes me wonder if the frame ever had a stencil. If that is the case, then you have to decide if you're going to put it back to it's original condition of having no stencil...OR...if you're going to restore it like judges are going to expect it to look. I seem to remember that C2 stencils can be judged, but I'll defer to the C2 experts.

If you decide to use the stencil, I would confirm that the configuration Quanta sent you is correct. Unless someone here says it's fine, Tripoli's book would have raised concerns for me. Maybe I have only served to "muddy up the water" for you on this issue.

Tripoli's book shows the "P" as being on ONLY ONE model year frame stencil...56. Once more, I can't guarantee everything in the book is 100% accurate...it would be nice to have Tripoli's information confirmed or debunked by some 63 restorers here.