66 fender tag - weird stamps

[MetalManiacAZ]

I was looking at my 66 300's fender tag today and saw two codes I never noticed before: w1 and y7. I never realized they were there because they are reverse stamped. Was this an "oops" at the factory i.e. they forgot to add these two options until the plate was embossed? Attached it a pic of the tag and build sheet. I felt like an archeologist when I extracted that sheet from under the rear seat fill panel. Sheesh!

 

[69CoronetRT]

Was this an "oops" at the factory i.e. they forgot to add these two options until the plate was embossed?

No. Those are either typical inspection stamps for that plant and year OR related to production of the Body In White (I've not seen enough research to know for sure...)

Here are some other examples of the same thing.

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

Ah, very cool! I'm a total nerd for that stuff. It seems like every time I do a repair and hit something with brake clean, I find another "treasure". I'm not going to concourse restore her, but I plan on fully documenting all inspection marks and reproducing them when it comes time to paint. More of a tribute to the dudes who assembled my dream car. Thanks for the insight!

 

[jollyjoker]

Final inspector's stamp, I believe . . .

 

[69CoronetRT]

Final inspector's stamp, I believe . . .

Given that the tag is not bent, how did that happen?

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

Is that possibly a Jefferson Avenue specific characteristic on these plates? I don't remember seeing that mark on my old 65 Plymouth that was from Hamtramck.

 

[69CoronetRT]

Is that possibly a Jefferson Avenue specific characteristic on these plates? I don't remember seeing that mark on my old 65 Plymouth that was from Hamtramck.

Yes. Different plants did things differently.

 

[jollyjoker]

I believe all of the ones shown (w/ the numbers stamped in) are Jefferson Avenue tags. A Wilmington, Delaware assembly car seems to have kind of an odd shaped "punch" through the metal tag, in the same location.

 

[jollyjoker]

Given that the tag is not bent, how did that happen?

You got me to thinking, and I need to do some more research on this. Need to find out if the metal tag was attached before the paint process, or came down the line attached to the car by a wire or something, then attached. I think it's unpainted metal under the tag, which would lead me to think that metal plate was already on the car when painted. It's hard to tell, but I think the "stamp" came after the paint was applied, and have evidence of bare metal (or rust, now) in the stamp. Hard to say, since most of our cars have been repaint If you look at the photo of the silver "29" tag above, you can see where they whacked it a little harder than the other ones, and it is kinda bent in a little . . .

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

You got me to thinking, and I need to do some more research on this. Need to find out if the metal tag was attached before the paint process, or came down the line attached to the car by a wire or something, then attached. I think it's unpainted metal under the tag, which would lead me to think that metal plate was already on the car when painted. It's hard to tell, but I think the "stamp" came after the paint was applied, and have evidence of bare metal (or rust, now) in the stamp. Hard to say, since most of our cars have been repaint If you look at the photo of the silver "29" tag above, you can see where they whacked it a little harder than the other ones, and it is kinda bent in a little . . .

If you look at my tag, you can see the "1" has paint in it. Obviously my car has never been repainted. I'll pull the tag and send a pic of the underside so we can all see what's up.

 

[69CoronetRT]

If you look at my tag, you can see the "1" has paint in it. Obviously my car has never been repainted. I'll pull the tag and send a pic of the underside so we can all see what's up.

Stamps were, typically, attached pre paint indicating they were fixed after the body in white assembly was completed and before paint. (When the tags were actually fixed to the body is another topic of research.)

This leads to the reasoning that the stamps cannot be final inspection stamps.

 

[LocuMob]

Belvidere also stamped the upper right corner.

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

Bare metal, guys.

 

[Jeff Skibenes]

I was looking at my 66 300's fender tag today and saw two codes I never noticed before: w1 and y7. I never realized they were there because they are reverse stamped. Was this an "oops" at the factory i.e. they forgot to add these two options until the plate was embossed? Attached it a pic of the tag and build sheet. I felt like an archeologist when I extracted that sheet from under the rear seat fill panel. Sheesh!View attachment 450107 View attachment 450108

What is the "rear seat fill panel"? I am trying to locate the build sheet on my 66 Newport. Its not attached to the underside of the bottom rear seat which is where I thought it would be. I have heard from someone that Chrysler sometimes put them above the gas tank, but that seems very unlikely to me.

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

What is the "rear seat fill panel"? I am trying to locate the build sheet on my 66 Newport. Its not attached to the underside of the bottom rear seat which is where I thought it would be. I have heard from someone that Chrysler sometimes put them above the gas tank, but that seems very unlikely to me.

Rear seat filler is the curved plastic pieces between the rear seat and the side panel. It should be attached to the floor with 3 screws. My build sheet was taped to the floor, halfway under the plastic filler piece. You'd still see it as soon s you pop the rear seat. I've also seen them stuffed in the front seat backs.

 

[LocuMob]

Check the rear seat back also.