Bought a 71 Skylark Custom recently. Has all the original glove box items but I've never seen this one. Little help from you guys? No build sheets found so far. thanks. Chris
I believe its called an IBM card and has something to do with the shipping process when leaving the plant. Cool find!
It's a punch card, watch this video :TU: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oaVwzYN6BP4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Chris. There are various versions of the IBM punch card. Your's is the one that shows options. Nice find. 1971 Skylark Custom 2 Door Hardtop Zone/Dealer 19-507_The Gosnell Chevrolet Buick Co. Russellville, Arkansas W__Sandpiper Beige 8___Dark Brown Top 156_Saddle, Vinyl Notchback B5__Turbo Hydra-Matic 350 Transmission C6__Power Steering 17.6:1 D1__Sonomatic Radio F1__Whitewall Tires G78-14 I6__Air Conditioner L1__Soft-Ray Tinted Glass U6__Electric Clock V1__Deluxe Wheel Covers
Stage 1's HAVE been documented with those... They were supposed to be removed by the dealer once the car arrived.
Thanks to all for the replies. Jim, thank you much for the decode. I have no build sheets for it so this will have to do. which are the deluxe wheel caps? does it speak to which steering wheel came on it? When I got it, it has a different steering wheel with after market wheels. Top is a tan / sandalwood thought not dark brown. Someone added a luggage rack too. Here are some pics that I taken if anyone cares. http://s919.photobucket.com/albums/ad31/usasquint/71 Skylark Custom/?start=all
Chris. The top may have been replaced at some point. The code on the trim tag "F" matches the the sales code of 8 on the punchcard. The code for a sandalwood top would be "E" with a sales code of 5. Sorry for the poor quality scans below, but the Skylark Custom should have come with the steering wheel as pictured. There should be an ample supply of 15" Saddle rally wheels available if you wanted to replace yours. The deluxe wheel cover is in the center of the second scan.
"Crazy thing is somebody somewhere would know how to make that thing readable. " Yeah well that would be me. Duane
You can do it... Card uses IBM EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code)...letters/numbers represented by 2 (hex) punches...numbers are "F0" - "F9", cap letters "C1" - "C9" for A - I, "D1" - "D9" for J - R...rest of alphabet not used on card... Top to bottom, there are 12 "lines" on card...values are C, D, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... Columns are read l to r...numbers are single punch ("F" punch implied) in 0 - 9, letters two punches with punch in either "C" or "D" and a 0 -9 value... Reading column 1 (Plant) you get "C8" which is letter "H"...for Flint, reading columns 19-23 (Model) you get 4-4-4-3-7...and so on... Great find!
Actually a Hollerith card invented by Herman Hollerith. His company in a merger became part of IBM. Card was developed for the 1890 US census, but the origins come from significantly earlier. A weaving loom to make blankets, tapestry, burlaps sacks, etc. is the true genesis of the Hollerith Card.
you dont even have to go thru that much trouble -- the car info is typed across top option codes are below that -- Your key codes are also on the top so having this on the internet is not a great idea.
This brings me back to high school and Fortran coding INFO IN PUNCH - with Headings along bottom that have differring titles from those typed on top Plant = H frame number =149629 = YIN Charge to 19507 + dealer code model year +1 although color is typed as WW - punchs are XX heres a little guide card to make reading the punchs easier - first three rows indicate are letter groups (and 0 if no other punch in column)
True...punched card invented by Hollerith but coding is strictly IBM... ---------- Post added at 07:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 PM ---------- ...S thru Z starts at E2 rather than E1...making E6 = W...began programming on 029 in '60s, can't help remembering this stuff...
Thank you all to those that weighed in on the card. I knew there were guys out there that were smart on these. I can't find a build sheet so far on the car so this card is all I got. Key codes are on the card but the I believe the column is not original to the car. The knobs are all different, it has an early eighties steering wheel, and there is a plastic collar on it wear the shift indicator connects. Don't think there should be plastic there. Would the card normally specify if tilt steering came in the car? Cuz it has tilt now.
The card does specify if the car came with tilt steering, and the answer is that it did not. Duane PS. Even though the "punchouts" are supposed to follow the typed info along the bottom of the card I have found examples were the info did not match. I recently decoded one of these for a 69 GS Conv and the punchouts were quite different from the code. It was almost like they used an earlier version card when stamping the info into it.
