things that make you go Hmmm.. PO buffoonery & some AMAZING build sheet coincidences

[jocko]

So, I'm taking the PO's K-Mart seat cover off so I can install the correct olive custom cloth seat (from Tim at Truckseats!), and as I peeled the cheesy thing back, I found an original olive Cheyenne cover. Why ON EARTH would someone go to the trouble to cover something like that up... As I progressed, I kinda saw why, the Cheyenne cover had some rips in it, but in my opinion, still looked better than the cheesy, off-green k-mart special. Oh well. Ha.. The bottom half was a good bit worse.

HOWEVER, here's the weird part...

I knew the seat wasn't original to the truck - and I already had the original build sheet FROM my truck (this is the 71 Cheyenne Super Custom Camper). So, when I got the old non-original, but year-ish correct, bench seat out - I wasn't THAT surprised to find a build sheet for the truck it came out of. But then... the plot thickens. The first build sheet I found was under the bottom of the bench. Then I found another one in the springs to the top half of the seat. When I compared them, the first thing I noted was that one was a CE20934 model and one was a CE10934 model. So, kinda weird. It would seem that the top half and bottom half of my non-original seat were from DIFFERENT trucks. Weird enough, right? But possible.

Then it got REALLY weird. Started looking a little further. They were made on the SAME day. So then I started thinking perhaps there was a typo in the Model Number. Nope - the build sheets called out two different dealers in SoCal. And listed completely different options.

Then it got REALLY REALLY weird...

Here are the VINs:
CE141Z655316
and
CE241Z655316

The ONLY difference in the VINs is 1/2 ton vs 3/4 ton. I always thought that the last 6 digits were unique to THAT truck only. Or, is it possible that the VINS could have the last same 6 digits - but be different models, and therefore have a slightly different tonnage callout in the respective VINs??)

I'm in build sheet twilight zone... This was a VERY interesting investigation (I love digging into old truck build sheets and deciphering, but have NEVER seen this much of a coincidence). Was really leaning toward a typo, but after reviewing, the sheets clearly come from two different trucks, went to two different dealers, and had different options. The only common thread is that they were built on the same day, and had olive vinyl trim and both were Cheyennes - so, lends some credence to how the trucks were built - note they had different exterior colors, so this would make it look like they were grouped on the assembly line based on interior trim color and trim level... (cue twilight zone music). My assumption is that these two truck were in line on the assembly line and the seat builder dude mixed one's upper half with another's lower half when he assembled them - and one poor schmo got NO build sheet at all in his truck. Ha. All I can say is that the 3/4 ton truck looks like it would have been GORGEOUS: White with olive interior, and tons of options, incl custom camper, tool stowage, etc. Oh, and Buster was a lot of help... My bare interior was in good hands (paws).

EDIT!! Ok, NOW I see the diff - one VIN ends in 316 and one ends in 361. Which, by the way is 45 #s apart - and the job sequence #s on the build sheets are 50 apart. Starting to make a little more sense - glad to restore my faith that all last 6 SER # digits are unique)....

[med.bronze]

Thats a pretty interesting discovery. I know alot of guys who could care less about stuff like that but,like you, that sort of stuff interests me too.

[cool68]

good detective work. friend had a '56 Chevy wagon a couple of years ago, that ended up going to Australia. he missed having it so, found another one to fix up. turns out that both wagons were built at the same plant on the same day. ya never know.

[slow-1]

"My assumption is that these two truck were in line on the assembly line and the seat builder dude mixed one's upper half with another's lower half when he assembled them - and one poor schmo got NO build sheet at all in his truck."


I am one of those "poor schmo's" who didn't get a build sheet in the springs of my olive seat.

[Bob B.]

My brother does Mopars. Chrysler put the build sheets under the back seats, and it was not uncommon to find a car with build a sheet for another car in it, or once in a while multiple build sheets for a bunch of different cars in one car! Usually when you found something like that all the sheets would show the same color and style of seats, so the seats were probably getting mixed up on the assembly line. Since they were the same seats, it didn't matter. Maybe the case here.

[jocko]

Originally Posted by slow-1

"My assumption is that these two truck were in line on the assembly line and the seat builder dude mixed one's upper half with another's lower half when he assembled them - and one poor schmo got NO build sheet at all in his truck."


I am one of those "poor schmo's" who didn't get a build sheet in the springs of my olive seat.

I can send you one! I've got 3 from this truck now, only one was right though...

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by jocko

The ONLY difference in the VINs is 1/2 ton vs 3/4 ton. I always thought that the last 6 digits were unique to THAT truck only. Or, is it possible that the VINS could have the last same 6 digits - but be different models, and therefore have a slightly different tonnage callout in the respective VINs??)

Very interesting find. Thanks for posting.

The answer is yes; the VIN sequence can be duplicated by different prefixes, usually model numbers or plant codes differences.

As an example, I asked for the Pontiac documentation on a Fremont built GTO, VIN 23575Z123456; the information they sent accidentally was
23575P123456. Took me a year to notice, but it suddenly made sense why nothing was making sense!

K

[Keith Seymore]

As an aside, I should mention I've got 35 years in GM product design and assembly, across 10 or 12 different GM assembly plants.

The build sheets were intended to be thrown away at the end of the line (there was no specification to place them in a specific spot for posterity). If you find one it just means someone was being lazy and didn't throw it away. It was easier to simply leave them where they landed andbuild the vehicle up around them, which is why you find them in the seat springs, under the carpet (with goop sprayed on them) or trapped between components with a screw or bolt shot through them.

K

[faribran]

Keith, thank you for sharing the trivia........ this is one of the reasons i come here.

[jocko]

Great info Keith, thanks very much. Good to know that the serial portion if the vin can be duplicated if it has different prefixes associated with it.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

As an aside, I should mention I've got 35 years in GM product design and assembly, across 10 or 12 different GM assembly plants.

The build sheets were intended to be thrown away at the end of the line (there was no specification to place them in a specific spot for posterity). If you find one it just means someone was being lazy and didn't throw it away. It was easier to simply leave them where they landed andbuild the vehicle up around them, which is why you find them in the seat springs, under the carpet (with goop sprayed on them) or trapped between components with a screw or bolt shot through them.

K

People tend to thank military folks for their service. That's fine and dandy, but I wanted to thank YOU for your service at GM. You've had a hell of a cool career, for a very long time. Congrats

[Mister-B]

Oh, and Jocko never under estimate the desire in the 70's to cover everything up with another layer of fabric or plastic. Kinda like those clear sofa covers and carpet runners my grandparents had. Hell, my truck even had fabric covers over the sun visors and dash pad

[downbytheriver]

cool cattle dog!

[Keith Seymore]

You are welcome and thank you for the feedback.

I'm never quite sure how much to share (and where) so your comments help me to tailor my responses.

K

[Keith Seymore]

One more thought (lol) -

VIN sequences normally start at 100001, but special cases could result in a differing starting point.

For example, in my time GMCs started at 500001; in some of the vintage passenger car plants V8 equipped cars started at 100001 but six cylinder cars started at 600001.

The Product Planners and Plant Management had to be pretty darn confident that they wouldn't built more than 500,000 Chevy's or 600,000 V8's in that particular plant or they could/would duplicate the VIN in its entirety - which would be a violation of Federal law.

Also - I'm sure you all know there was no correlation between VINs at the various plants. Each one started at 100001 (or whatever) and worked its way up independently based on line rate, production volume, downtime, strikes, part shortages or anything else that could affect productivity.

Said differently, Flint Assembly might be in the 300000 range by the end of September (as was the case with my truck) while Fremont might only be at 120000.

K

[slow-1]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

As an aside, I should mention I've got 35 years in GM product design and assembly, across 10 or 12 different GM assembly plants.

The build sheets were intended to be thrown away at the end of the line (there was no specification to place them in a specific spot for posterity). If you find one it just means someone was being lazy and didn't throw it away. It was easier to simply leave them where they landed andbuild the vehicle up around them, which is why you find them in the seat springs, under the carpet (with goop sprayed on them) or trapped between components with a screw or bolt shot through them.

K

So I guess its a good sign if you didn't find a build sheet in your ride...thanks for sharing your insight into the mysterious world of old vehicles.