<VV> How was the VIN assigned/attached on 69s?

[Dave Newell]

Hi Dave,
The division of responsibilities harks back to 1927 when Fisher became part of GM, and even earlier. Essentially anything related to controls, instruments etc. that was directly related to the operation of the car was the car division's responsibility. That included the heater and later A/C since they were dependent on the the chassis for their operation. Anything involved with the operation of the body (window regulators, latch hardware etc.) was Fisher's job.

The division of labor wasn't always cut and dried. For example, Chevy paid Fisher to install the rear antenna cable under the right hand sill plates. But the front carpet or floor mat, normally a Fisher part and their responsibility, was installed by Chevy. Fisher simply threw it in the back seat on their side of the plant, because Chevy had operations to do before it could be installed. 

The "soft trim" parts including the dash pad were installed by Fisher. Also the glove box door and its surround. The instrument cluster assembly, less switches, was installed by Chevrolet but they didn't make it...it was made by the AC Spark Plug Division!

Thanks for your interest...this is fun stuff.

Dave

---------- Original Message ----------
From: <dave at arborlea.com>
To: Dave Newell <chevrobilia at juno.com>
Cc: <kaczmarek at charter.net>, <BobHelt at aol.com>, <virtualvairs at corvair.org>,  <whubbell at umich.edu>, <whubbell at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: <VV> How was the VIN assigned/attached on 69s?
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:20:03 -0500

Dave - thanks for an excellent explanation.  That makes sense!  I had not
realized the instrument cluster and dash assembly were Chevy items and not
Fisher installed.  I would assume the dash pad was Chevy also, which would
have allowed the VIN tag installation prior to it's installation.

It never occurred to me that the dash would not have been done by Fisher -
seems like a body part to me :-)  Had I looked at the assy manual it would
have been obvious I guess.

Dave

On Fri, 1 Oct 2010 20:10:24 GMT, "Dave Newell" <chevrobilia at juno.com>
wrote:
> Hi,
> Thanks for copying me, Bill...I'm glad to help. You guys are on the
right
> track, but you have to understand how Fisher and Chevrolet worked
together
> (or didn't work!) in those days.
> 
> Fisher was essentially a captive supplier to the car divisions. The
> Chevrolet side of an assembly plant would order a body from the Fisher
> side, specifying the model, color and options (only the ones which
> concerned Fisher though) so they could build a specific car that a
dealer
> had ordered. Yes, of course, Fisher put on their body plates with their
own
> body numbers before anything was even painted. The sequence of those
body
> numbers on Fisher's line didn't concern them much, especially since
bodies
> were routinely shunted off for repairs or special operations like the
> convertible top installation. And the body numbers were only in sequence
> within a particular model. What mattered was when Chevy received the
body.
> 
> Fisher never knew what the the VIN would be when they sent the finished
> body over to Chevrolet. When the bodies arrived at Chevrolet (remember,
the
> two plants were physically separated) they went into a "body bank" area
> that could hold over 200 cars, hanging on clamping cradles. At Willow
Run
> and the other plants there was an office by the exit from the body bank,
> where each body in its cradle was put on the Chevy line for the first
time.
> The production superintendent in that office (notably Dale Hooker at WR)
> determined which cars could be built (were the all the parts on hand for
> rare options, COPO parts etc. and in the right colors?) and could hold
back
> bodies until he was informed the parts were on hand. He also spaced cars
> with extra operations apart, as with air conditioning, lest the
dedicated
> A/C installers go nuts. Then he assigned the body a VIN, and Chevy did
> everything possible to keep the cars in numerical order on the line.
> 
> And those are some reasons why Fisher body numbers aren't always in
order
> when compared with Chevy VINS.
> 
> At that point the build sheets were broadcast by teletype to all the
> assembly stations throughout the Chevy side, specifying which parts to
use
> for that particular car.
> 
> Enter '68 and the the dash mounted VIN tags, which were still installed
on
> the Chevy side, with the windshield already in place. Since the
instrument
> cluster, light & wiper switches, dash harness etc. weren't yet installed
> (they were Chevy's responsibility), there was enough room to use a
fixture
> and put the tags on. The rivet holes, of course, had already been
punched
> at Fisher when the sheet metal was stamped at one of their plants.
> 
> This is greatly simplified, but hopefully will give you some insight. 
> 
> Dave
> 
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