Production date

[Railroadman]

Well I looked through the various links, and tried a search, but didn't find an answer. Either I missed it, or it's not there, so I'll ask directly.

Is there a reference for approximate (or exact) build date for my '66? Engine block shows April 2nd, so I'm guessing a week or two after that? Flint truck, F146691.

Thanks!

[60-66]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...your+1966+vins

[Railroadman]

Thanks - I added mine to that.

I looked at the first 3 pages and the last, it appears that the month is about as close as you can get? I'm also into Corvettes and there is a site which will give you the actual date of production (with a slight margin of error of a day or so). My '64 Vette is a May 26th car. But of course there were a crapload more trucks built than Vettes.

With the engine assembled in Flint and the truck itself as well, there was probably a fairly short lead time? A day or two? A week? No big deal, just curious and interesting to know when the thing rolled off the line.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Railroadman

Thanks - I added mine to that.

I looked at the first 3 pages and the last, it appears that the month is about as close as you can get? I'm also into Corvettes and there is a site which will give you the actual date of production (with a slight margin of error of a day or so). My '64 Vette is a May 26th car. But of course there were a crapload more trucks built than Vettes.

With the engine assembled in Flint and the truck itself as well, there was probably a fairly short lead time? A day or two? A week? No big deal, just curious and interesting to know when the thing rolled off the line.

Yes (on all counts).

That is - it is much easier for Corvettes. Not only did they capture the data, but it was one assembly plant, one assembly line, one product, one shift of production, and a fairly moderate line rate.

Trucks can span across seven or eight locations, with multiple lines per plant, and two (and even three) shifts of production, at line rates of up to 60 or 70 jobs per hour. That's one complete vehicle off the end of the line every minute.

Also - you are correct about there being a margin of error around the dates. I followed my pickup down the line as it was built and drove it to the shipping building myself. You might see where this is heading: the date reported in the paperwork is off by one day.

You are correct that the engine, being built in Flint, would precede the truck build by a few days to a couple weeks. Delays are longer if the engine was built in Flint and then shipped to Oshawa, or Fremont, or Atlanta or wherever. Depends on when during the model year, too, as startup tended to be slower and then ramp up until the production machine is fully up to speed.

The fastest I've seen is from the Pontiac passenger car plant. The engine casting, machining and build took place on the same piece of property as final vehicle assembly. For my '65 GTO, built in Pontiac, the date range from the time the block was cast to the time the completed vehicle drove off the line was 9 days.

K

[Railroadman]

Thank you, Keith! Good info from one who knows. And I also enjoyed your intro link- a diverse and interesting career! I'm sure it can be said for you as with so many others in various careers - if they had ever told you back when you started, how things would be today, you would have questioned the sanity of whoever was saying it.