Realoldspower.com

My442 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1964

I swapped out my gas tank today on my 70 442. When I dropped the tank and lifted the tank mat, there was a mint build sheet.

My car was sold new at Ruddell Chevrolet-Olds in Port Angeles, Washington. It was a customer ordered car, built in Fremont California, with a build date of 12-11-69.

How cool is that?
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1970 442
455, 3.91s, OAI
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Sherwood Green, Pearl Gut

69 455 cutlass · Joined: 12 Mar 2005 Posts: 634 Location: New Jersey

Nice
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66 olznut · Joined: 21 Feb 2007 Posts: 322 Location: Left Coast

I've yet to drop my tank, and it's also a Fremont car. Gotta get it back from the body shop first......
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buzzbomb · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 6456 Location: Wickliffe ohio

my 70 cutlass was a freemont car shipped to nevada. I found 3 build sheets in the car. One above the gas tank, one behind the left door panel and another under the rear seat!
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Danny Wiseley · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 603 Location: West of Lubbock

Congratulations!

orange442 · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:53 am Post subject:

Thats cool! I have not yet dropped the tank on my W-31. It only has 55k original miles and the tank still has a 1969 date on it so I know it is the original. I hope Lansing put the build sheets in the same place that they did in Fremont! Cool

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1970 W-31 F-85 Post 4-speed-DOCUMENTED!
1970 442 Post 4-speed 1 of 1688 produced!
1970 Cutlass (W-31)Wagon
1970 SX
1972 442

507olds · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 5006 Location: Erie,Pennsylvania

I've dropped everything on everything,& there's nothing. Most of my cars were original,unmolested cars,but no papers.Oh well,what can you do.Hang onto your original tank,as I think there is a date code stamped in it.
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Brian Trick
thetrickfamily@yahoo.com
814-440-3553
70 W30's
72 Supreme 507

las27563481 · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 5059 Location: Middle Tennessee

Fun71 · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:48 am Post subject:

Its a good feeling when you find the build sheet, isnt it? My 70 Supreme was a Fremont car and the build sheet was under the tank mat, too.
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Kenneth

1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible - Daily Driver

4speed455 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 522 Location: Hayward CA

My 70 supreme convertible, also fremont car sold new in las vegas, only had a build sheet under the rear seat, and its crumbling pretty bad.
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vette442 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1882 Location: McMurray, PA

daveh · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 5638

.....in fact they were supposed to remove all debris from the cars prior to final inspection and cleanup. Build sheets included. Lansing was pretty strict on that. The ones you find were overlooked or not removed in the process before they were buried.

There are many different ones. The BOP plants had different processes than Lansing because they built different make cars on the same line at the same time. Each of them had their own process in their home plants, so no way BOP could satisfy everyone and stick to their process. Also they did not have the Fisher body split from the car division plants like Lansing,Flint, and Pontiac. Therefore the process could be different as they didn't have a "paypoint" where Fisher sold the body to Olds, Pontiac or Buick and shipped it from their plant to the car assy plant by truck. BOP plants were on the same property and connected with a huge conveyor.

One of the more subtle process differences was the rivetting of the VIN plate to the dash. The windshield was already in at the cars built at Lansing (and Flint, Pontiac), so the rivets had to come up from below. At the BOP plants, the windshield went in much later in the process, so the rivets went down from the top. You can do that on a Lansing car with the windshield out, if you need to re-rivet a VIN plate.....(Not that anyone would do that.....) Laughing

Many others, but it shows if you're totally anal on how your car was actually built, it depends upon where and when.
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ozzy4ever1 · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:44 pm Post subject:

507olds · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 5006 Location: Erie,Pennsylvania

Dave,
My Lansing cars have the rivets both ways.Some have the rosette facing down,& some have them facing up.Did the time of year or shift have anything to do with this?
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Brian Trick
thetrickfamily@yahoo.com
814-440-3553
70 W30's
72 Supreme 507

daveh · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 5638

Ozzy:

YUP. Not sure if all the BOP plants did theirs the same way, but could be either way depending upon their process at the time. We had no choice except come up from the bottom.

Brian:

NOPE. Process at Lansing was the same, windshields were already in when the body came to us (Instrument panel was not, we did that part). No way in the world to rivet that from the top down with the glass in there. It was the first operation on the body line (2nd floor).

Somebody had to be in there. Also virtually impossible to come up from down below with the I/P in place.
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