There is one other thing to consider and to be grateful for. For years we, as in the Buick nuts, only had a single assembly manual available to look at, and for many model years we had none at all. Many were the original “first job” editions and had very little revisions to the pages. That all changed when a Buick Engineers assembly manual collection went up for sale on e-bay. When revisions were done to a page, engineering would send the new pages to everyone that had an assembly manual. That way the books were up to date. This particular engineer replaced those pages to a fault and once the model year was over he would retire that book and start on the next one. He saved all his manuals and I believe they ran from 66 thru to and including the 72 book. He may also have had the 65 book but I do not remember. Anyway once they hit e-bay I contacted everyone that bought one and got a copy made. Some of the guys sent me their original books to copy. The 66 book has some pages that when un-folded are almost 3 feet long. I ended up copying them on our document printers. Much of the factory information we have today is all due to the do diligence of a single engineer. Just wanted you to know that. Duane
Thanks Duane! I could see the numbering system being an issue on the assy line with, for example, same width painted vs. chrome and I'd assumed the nomenclature convention was consistent between the early/late 14" & 15" but based on your 2nd comment & 3 different assy. manual copies (one of which is from you), all I had was the 10/24/69 revision page I posted (actually appears to be a new page was drawn as there's nothing in the rev. block). Do you have the earlier page that shows the 7.0 & 6.0 codes? Assuming that date is around when the change occurred, I could see my 10E body possibly having a mix of 6.0 & WE chrome wheels. Also, IIRC, that 10/24 date corresponds quite closely with the sales bulletin announcing the availability of the 15x7 options. I wouldn't be surprised if it also corresponds to one of the revisions of the wholesale order form. Fascinating story on the origins of the books. I'd actually wondered about that. I've never poured over the '72 but didn't realize there were so many revisions. I also have a late '71 GS so... Thanks for all of your input & wealth of information. It adds so much to what we attempt to do.
I don’t know if the early 70 AM has an earlier version of that page. Sometimes they were replaced, as they should have been, and the info is lost. Often you need to go to the previous production year’s page to see what was going on at the end of that production year. ........and sometimes, you just have to sweat it out and look at a bunch of original parts, cross reference everything, and then figure it out. Welcome to my world. Sometimes I really wish I was not so inquisitive and did not have the need to figure out a bunch of answers to a bunch of dumb questions. Oh well. Duane
OK, I checked the earlier 70 assembly manual and it never had that rim/wheel chart page. The one you referenced (page 10-3.2) was first used in the later 70 AM and is dated 10/24/69. This is the first time the code letters when ever used on the rims, so you have your answer as to when the letter coding started. Also, if you go to the cover page for that section (page 10-1.0) it doesn't even list that page, so once the new page was inserted, the new cover page was never replaced in that particular AM......or they never developed a new cover page for that section. Duane
Thx. I figured that was the date when the letter coding started & now makes sense why there were no revisions. I guess my AM that doesn't have that page is an earlier "version." Seems there wouldn't actually be versions of that book per se since it was continuously being updated throughout the model year. Are there only 2 of them have ever surfaced?
You are correct, by Buick Engineering’s rules there should only be a single version around, and it should have all the revisions in it, but that is not the case. For 1970, There are 2 different copies out there, a fairly early incomplete copy before the GSX info was added, and another mid-year almost complete copy with all the GSX info. (But it is hard to read. The original copy was blurry so any copy of it will be the same) For 1971, There is an early copy out there but I don’t use it much, so I don’t remember how complete it is. The copy I use is basically complete and is very readable. It has most of the revisions in it, but I don’t believe the revisions go all the way to the end of the model year. For 1972, There were 3 basically complete copies out there. An early, late, and an even later version. The last version is almost identical to the late one, but has a few more revisions in it. However, it was still not late enough to capture the changes to the glass codes that occurred late in the 72 production year. I think the only factory info that catches that is from a dealership bulletin. It may have never made it into an assembly manual. Duane PS, If you want to get an idea of when your assembly manuals were developed go to the front section (either the “0” or “1” section where they list all the option codes and what they encompass, and look at the date at the top of the pages. That will give you an indication of when the books were developed.
So much information from one small question..... love it. Duane you have a plethora of info locked up in your head. All of us are thankful.
Ok , I'm raising up more questions on this wheel codes. I have 3 wheels with MI ? 12 7 VJ See photo. Did Canada have different stamps?
OK, Without looking it up I think the “VJ” codes are for a later year Buick chrome wheel, with a different offset. Someone posted my 15” wheel chart on this thread, but I don’t believe anyone posted the 14” chart from my article. I also updated my wheel articles to include both 14” & 15” wheel codes at one time. I know the VJ codes are there. Duane
Note, Be very careful with using the above chart. There is some incorrect information on it…….,…..so if you use it get ready for some wrong answers. Just look at the 15” info. They list the “WP” wheels as 71-87, and don’t even list the 71-72 WM wheels. That chart might be good for the big car wheels, but it certainly does not work for the A-bodies. That is one reason why I did my a-body articles, to put out the correct information. Duane
I don't know where I got that chart, Duane. I thought I had your 14" chart and found that one while looking for it.
So according to the above chart. 71, which is what they were on. But I wasn't putting much faith in they were correct. Thanks for the chart.
Again, The above chart is WRONG. If you had a 71 a-body Buick with 15” Chrome Wheels they would be “WM’s”….which are not even listed on that chart. Duane
By the way, I checked my 15"x7" wheel article and I never mentioned anything about the "VJ" rims. My chart says the "WP" wheels went from 1973-1977, and shows that the WG, WM, and WP wheels all had a back spacing of 4 3/8". I also talked about the 15" wheels Buick made that look like the Chrome wheels but are painted not chromed, and have trim rings. They carried a "WZ" code. Also, IIRC the VJ wheels have a different back spacing then the above wheels, and were made after the WP wheels. Duane
And...just to add to your bag of knowledge... The 15x7's "WG look a likes-deep lug well, non-brushed chrome centers" from defunct Specialty Wheels Inc. (Troutdale, Oregon) were 4-1/4" backspacing. And...the current 15x7 WG look a like from Wheel Vintiques with deep lug well/ non-brushed chrome centers have a 4" backspacing. Edifying the enthusiastic enthusiast.
What the rim reproducers have been doing is sliding the same rim “in and out”, in relation to the center hub, in order to replicate the width of the outer lip. That way they can reproduce both the 70 and 71-72 styles with the same parts. But when they do this the back spacing changes. The original “Buick” 70 & 71-72 style rims are long gone. Duane
