I believe they thought a convertible was more dangerous with buckets, I have no idea why, maybe also because Insurance put a premium on any car with buckets VS. A bench thinking, a bucket seat guy was more sporty crazy driver , and bench being a more conservative person behind the wheel.
Just grasping here....could it be that the metal horseshoe shift handle got too hot in a convertible???
Wanted to ask. If the 71 Stage 1 had a leftover 70 block, would it have the bigger 5/8" oiling hole that 71's had?
Someone, like possibly an engine builder, may know exactly when the oil passage changes were made. JW might know. The only info I have is from the Factory Engine Plant Booklets, and it would show the model year info only, if I even have one for the 71 model year. Regardless, this car was a mid-production 71 car and would not have had a 70 engine, leftover or not. Duane
Another thing, The “thicker” frame on the big blocks only works for the coupes and they have a different part number and letter code. The convertible frames for a particular year are all the same. There is no differentiation between Small and Big Blocks. I had a 70 Olds 442 convert and a 70 Chevelle 350 convert and both had the same frame numbers & letter codes. Duane
They start production at the end of the summer. That is why they have the “new model year cars” coming out in the fall of the previous year. Duane
So today he found the serial # on the OW (W30 Trans) and its not a match to the Vin. So not 1 of 81 Stg1 convertibles. Fingers were crossed for 2 wks. Fat chance I guess.
At this point, with no ID information available, and it being a 71 convertible, you can’t even prove it is a big block car. If it was a coupe you could tell by the frame numbers. Maybe if you dropped the tank you might find a build sheet that matches the vin. Duane
I assume no Protecto-Plate? @Duane makes a good point about dropping the tank. Beyond that there's much circumstantial evidence that it is/isn't orig. a 455 car (most ppl doing the 350/455 conversion miss something). If you want a list of stuff to check, surely we could do that. But, all is not lost yet. If it is original paint, the emblem holes for the wide pin Stage 1 emblems are unique to that emblem & while it's certainly possible someone found original paint fenders from a Stage 1 with the correct date code & in the same color/patina, it'd be highly unlikely. I think that level of circumstantial evidence would even hold up in court. I'd go look at it and while doing my inspection & if it does appear to be orig. paint, take a peek at those fender emblems & if they're wide pin, I'd tell the owner there's no way to even verify it's a 455 car let alone a Stage 1 & make an offer assuming it's a 350 car & hope you get lucky w/the build sheet (&/or that the microfiche, which supposedly exists, eventually surfaces), knowing w/confidence that the circumstantial emblem evidence proves beyond any reasonable doubt that's it's an original Stage 1 car.
Exactly, A built sheet would be the only possible savings grace at this point. I think you are saying that the factory pin holes are wider than the aftermarket Stg1 badge pin spread. BUT if the owner got his hands on real S1 badges- certainly possible back in the day, that theory still leaves reasonable doubt. And YES! Thank you for the offer - I would love a list of things to check. The possibility of this being a 350 car or - even not GS still exist. The current owner purchased this from an Estate where the owner had passed, and the kids were selling his car collection. They had no background on the car. The new owner got a good buy on the car and is offering it as a flip or he may keep it. This new owner is an aquaintence whom I purchased my 69 GS from abt. 30 yrs. ago (which I still own along with my 68 GS 4spd convertible) Early on he told me the carb was not original. I will post a pic here, curious if it matches the 72 350 distributor. He seemed to believe it was aftermarket. He also said the intake was 71 on this 70 455. I dont know what the difference is.
The original 70-72 Stage 1 fender emblems used a “wide” spacing between the 2 pins that hold it to the fenders. For years all you could get were the “narrow” pin emblems, so what Dano is saying is if you have the wide pin emblems on “date coded” correct fenders, that would be an indication that it is a correct car. If the fenders have the “narrow” pin emblems, then what they did was put the later style Stage 1 emblems in the original “350”” emblem holes. This was done countless times during restorations of these year cars. The other things Dano is talking about are all “bolt on” items which are easily changed and offer absolutely no proof. Case in point, I once bought a 71 Skylark Coupe that had everything put into it from a wrecked 70 455 GS. The owner I bought the car from totaled his 70 GS and put all the goodies in the 71 Skylark. This included the front disc brake assemblies, front and rear springs, entire drivetrain, trans crossmember, e-brake cables, throttle cable, ie. everything. After that he wrecked the 71 car and I bought it to make it into a GSX look-a-like driver, which I used as an everyday car for years. Without the build sheet there is no proof for the car in question here, everything else is just bolt-on. Duane PS, As far as the emblem “pin holes” in the fenders, one of my “pet-peeves” is seeing crooked emblems on fenders of restored cars. I see this all the time and it drives me crazy. When I started working on my 70 Chevelle SS look-a-like, I bought a pair of original “SS 454” front fenders and had the bottoms repaired. That way the new emblems would be put in the factory holes and would look correct.
If it's orig. paint & correctly date coded fenders, then if the S1 emblems were added there'd be another set of holes for the old 350 (BMD) or 455 emblems that could at least be seen from the backside (Idk if S1 emblems would cover them from the front but I'd take a insp. mirror just in case) so one way or the other proof beyond a reasonable doubt that it is/isn't a Stage 1. Have you asked about &/or has he looked for a Protecto-Plate?
Glad to have found another one. It would be the second one I know of that has SCO bucket seats. Can you post a few pictures of the interior, specifically the seats and the shifter?
