I finally looked at my build date code, it reads 08E. 5th week of August! August 31st 1971 was a Tuesday. That was cutting it close! :Brow: When did they start 1972 production? o No:
Derek, I think it must actually be August of 70 not 71. Sometime in July is the cut off for the model year. Tim
Whoa, I guess that's cutting it even closer, as there was 1 day in the 5th week of August 1970 :shock: (Monday of course). Thanks for setting me straight guys!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Yep, now I know why they put the wrong build sheet in my GS! Man, it would have been nicer to have accidently thrown a stage 1 in there... :Brow:
No.... Your body was probably started on the Friday before, just finished on the Monday. :shock: My Fischer Body Final Sheet(or whatever Duane calls it :grin: ), has the date 8/31/70 on it, and my body dated 09A. I think the body plate was the last item installed upon completion. :bglasses: :3gears:
I believe the body tag, or trim tag as some call it, was actually installed first, Dan. Most I have seen have been covered with paint, sealer, etc. from the process of building the shell. Remember when I talked about the guy at the front of the shell attaching something a few threads back? He was attaching the body plate/trim tag to the shell. This operation was done at the very beginning of building the body, as soon as the toe board/dash/floor pans were welded together. In other words, at the first station on the body build line at Flint Fisher Body. I am not sure of other plants as the process was different with the GMAD built bodies, I'm sure.
Yeah, you're right Brad... I really was thinking about the generic body shell for tha "A" body coupe, meaning all welded panels in place. The order as I see it :laugh: 1) Paperwork fresh off the printer (Fischer Body Sheets) to build a car. 2) Make a Fischer Body plate (maybe a vin also), & take it & the paperwork out to get a shell, fasten the tag(s) & leave paperwork in the dash. 3) Shell metal gets prepped & painted. 4) Once dry, the shell is then trimmed out according to the paperwork. 5) Shipped to Buick final Assembly How'd I do? o No: :TU:
Dan, I think you're pretty close. The building of the body took several steps in different "jigs" to properly make a shell. The trim tag was attached to the shell in the very first step of making a body...when the toe board (firewall)/front floor pan/dash was attached together. I don't believe they built bodies and stored them and then went and picked one up to produce a complete body, attaching the trim tag at that point. Rather the information was "broadcast" to many different stations along the Fisher Body line and in sequence. In other words, they started a body and all the various stations along the body build line received the information for that body and the first station, as soon as the body was "started", attached the trim tag to it at that point.
