1967-1972 Factory Chevy/GMC truck reproduction assembly manual

[r8rs4lf]

Just picked one up yesterday.

Can someone help me make sense of this thick book? No table of contents. I did see a few pages in the back of the book that kind of looks like a table of contents, but I don't see any way to distinguish the chapters.

I was not able to scan through this one before purchase as it was wrapped, but it doesn't really show steps and pictures like a Haynes. Man, I haven't said that name in a while.

[cbeerman]

There is a link to an index in this post

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=842638

[r8rs4lf]

Originally Posted by cbeerman

There is a link to an index in this post

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=842638

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar! Thanks!!!!

[Rambler62]

The manual makes no sense what so ever. Page xx will have front right fender and next page is rear tail gate. The wife sat and went thru it and put papaer clips on what we would be working on. I have one for sale cheap if anyone needs one.

[Keith Seymore]

It is set up UPC order.

1 = body stuff
3= front axle
4= Rear axle
5= brakes
6 = engine
7 = transmission
10 = tire and wheel
11 = cooling

Etc

I admit it is terribly clunky but a good engineering specifications guy or inspection clerk could find their way around pretty fast.

K

[r8rs4lf]

Originally Posted by Rambler62

The manual makes no sense what so ever. Page xx will have front right fender and next page is rear tail gate. The wife sat and went thru it and put papaer clips on what we would be working on. I have one for sale cheap if anyone needs one.

I just noticed that the manual does not have page numbers.

OK, so is there a better alternative?

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

It is set up UPC order.

1 = body stuff
3= front axle
4= Rear axle
5= brakes
6 = engine
7 = transmission
10 = tire and wheel
11 = cooling

Etc

I admit it is terribly clunky but a good engineering specifications guy or inspection clerk could find their way around pretty fast.

K

Yup.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by r8rs4lf

I just noticed that the manual does not have page numbers.

OK, so is there a better alternative?

You have the spreadsheet(?), and can do what I did- go in and number all the pages. Doesn't take all that much time, and once you're done, you're done.

I don't understand why GM did it this way. I worked in aerospace and defense over a 30 year period, and you can rest assured that the DoD and other entities kept us (mostly) on the straight and narrow. There were MIL standards, many of which were morphed into ANSI and ASME requirements.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by r8rs4lf

I just noticed that the manual does not have page numbers.

OK, so is there a better alternative?

Yes, buy the CD version. It is searchable.....

https://www.amazon.com/Chevy-Pickup-...s%2C131&sr=8-1

Don't buy it here though. Ebay is cheaper but I couldn't get the ebay link to work.
.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

I don't understand why GM did it this way. I worked in aerospace and defense over a 30 year period, and you can rest assured that the DoD and other entities kept us (mostly) on the straight and narrow. There were MIL standards, many of which were morphed into ANSI and ASME requirements.

Been that way since the late 1930s.

Everything in the GM Engineering Specifications world ties back into the UPC/FNA (Uniform Parts Classification/Functional Name Address): the vehicle architecture, the grouping of RPOs and VDS (Vehicle Description Summary), the part number naming and grouping of the engineering part release.

Like many things, once it is set up and working there is a hesitancy to change it. The engineering mainframe parts list system (EPL) at GM has been in use since the early 1960s and still going.

K

[Keith Seymore]

I wrote a thread on how this all works but is at another site and this forum won't allow linking.

It's too much information to retype here. Go to GM squarebody dot com and search my name for "Why do we have RPOs anyway?" if interested.

gmsquarebody . com/threads/why-do-we-have-rpos-anyway.45494

K

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

All of this work was managed by a special sub group within Product Engineering called "Engineering Specifications" (or the "Specs" group).

They are the ones that maintained the database, helped the Design/Release Engineer write the ECA or EWO properly (and to accomplish his actual intent and foresee any unintended consequences), decided on the model code designations and VIN structure, pulled the RPO codes and associated part numbers and broadcast (pick) codes, and input the data (and published all the documentation and quick reference charts so everybody else would know what was going on).

[Keith Seymore]

I also noticed these reproduced assembly manuals are missing the title block on the individual pages.

That's pretty crucial information to be missing, too.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...1&postcount=37

It's like if I gave you a book to read and trimmed away all of the margins plus about an inch of text all the way around. No wonder it doesn't make sense.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

I don't understand why GM did it this way.

It also helps distinguish parts that are used in different areas of the vehicle but the same part number.

The pointed 5/16 bolt that is used at the nose of the fender on every truck might be released in UPC 11E like this:

3846202 UPC 11E FNA 0001A
Bolt - Front Fender to Radiator Support LH Qty 7
Bolt - Front Fender to Radiator Support RH Qty 7

CK000 00 & all

Whereas if that same bolt was used to hold the catalytic converter shield on light duty trucks then it would be in the frame UPC as well:

3846202 UPC 2B FNA 0100A
Bolt - Cat Conv Shld to Frame Qty 3
CK100 03/06/16 & LB4/L07/L09

Plus any of the other dozens of places that bolt is used.

That helps with inventory control and part tracking.

K

[Steeveedee]

^ That's as may be, but no part numbers are evident in the Assembly Manual. Identifying a part as a screw and a quantity, yes. But with no part number, the worker is lucky that the correct items needed are binned near their station. Given that a worker is only going to be working on a vehicle at the current revision, I can see why the title block wouldn't be necessary for that year. But the book doesn't take that into account when it claims to be the standard for that many years.

[cbeerman]

I could be wrong but for the most part the book is divided up by model year with the random page of a different year thrown in every now and then.
Using the CD pdf version
It starts (page 1) with the 1968 introduction

1967 3891774 Pages 3-478
1968 3918854 Pages 479-582
1969 3940194 Pages 583-758
1970 3965174 Pages 763-819 * with some 1971 sprinkled in
1971 3975764 Pages 820-1009 * includes the UPC info Keith was referring to
1972 No id Pages 1010-1063


I found 2 Descriptions in the index that are not in the pdf (I didn't look at my printed copy) which may throw off the content descriptions

Page 9 transmission / rear end identifiers

Page 351 Fuse Block & Under Dash Wire Schematic

[Steeveedee]

Could be. I hadn't noticed, but I've only used it a couple of times, and not recently. That makes more sense.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

^ That's as may be, but no part numbers are evident in the Assembly Manual. Identifying a part as a screw and a quantity, yes. But with no part number, the worker is lucky that the correct items needed are binned near their station. Given that a worker is only going to be working on a vehicle at the current revision, I can see why the title block wouldn't be necessary for that year. But the book doesn't take that into account when it claims to be the standard for that many years.

Part numbers were in the assembly manual.

Assembly manuals were model year specific (not multiple model years). At the end of the model year we threw the whole thing out (comprising several three ring binders) and started over with all new sheets for the new model year.

Title blocks appeared on every page.

I guess what I am trying to convey is you all are not seeing in the reproductions what we actually used back in the day.

Or even now - PAD/PDM sheets are still in use today - albeit accessed electronically.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Also - the regular line workers never referred to the assembly manual.

They were trained by the guy before them, who was trained by the guy before them, etc, etc, all the way back to the beginning of the year when they were trained by the Quality Man (the foreman's hourly RH man) or the foreman himself. Like a formal game of "Telephone".

If there was a specific question about a part or a routing the Quality Man or the Foreman would go back to the Production/Inspection office and review the appropriate page(s) with the quality personnel and then bring the answer back and implement it.

K

[Steeveedee]

That makes a whole lot more sense. When I was on the line, it was just as you said- someone showed me what to do and where the parts were, and went. Those jobs are of short enough duration- of course- and not that many parts can get put on in the time allotted. I was amazed at some of the jobs like the guys putting bumpers on. ~60 seconds to install a front bumper. Tapered punches and air tools for the win, and properly aligned to boot. Or the tire installation area. 5 lug nuts at once. Crazy.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Also - the regular line workers never referred to the assembly manual.

They were trained by the guy before them, who was trained by the guy before them, etc, etc, all the way back to the beginning of the year when they were trained by the Quality Man (the foreman's hourly RH man) or the foreman himself. Like a formal game of "Telephone".

If there was a specific question about a part or a routing the Quality Man or the Foreman would go back to the Production/Inspection office and review the appropriate page(s) with the quality personnel and then bring the answer back and implement it.

K

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

That makes a whole lot more sense. When I was on the line, it was just as you said- someone showed me what to do and where the parts were, and went. Those jobs are of short enough duration- of course- and not that many parts can get put on in the time allotted. I was amazed at some of the jobs like the guys putting bumpers on. ~60 seconds to install a front bumper. Tapered punches and air tools for the win, and properly aligned to boot. Or the tire installation area. 5 lug nuts at once. Crazy.

Working almost 18 years in on assembly line at a Car plant,

I remember one of the first questions I asked.

If your running 60 units an hour, how does one person bleed the brakes in a minute?

[Steeveedee]

Too funny. I worked installing the banjo clips on the diff and the brake lines, after attaching the lines to the wheel cylinders. If I got behind, the guys bleeding the brakes at the next station got a bath, if the lines weren't tight enough on the wheel cylinders. They bleed and pressure test the system to 2000 PSI. What a mess. A story from 55 years ago.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Working almost 18 years in on assembly line at a Car plant,

I remember one of the first questions I asked.

If your running 60 units an hour, how does one person bleed the brakes in a minute?

A man after my own heart!

I was either assigned to or launched product in about a dozen GM assembly plants over a 40 year period (starting in 1979).

When I was visiting, and we had some downtime, I would ask my host "hey - show me the paint shop". Or "hey - show me where they put the VINs on".

They were always happy to oblige and show off a bit. I wasn't being manipulative - I sincerely wanted to know. And it helped me understand the overall assembly process and how it might apply to the mid 60's process (Pontiac Michigan in particular).

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Working almost 18 years in on assembly line at a Car plant,

I remember one of the first questions I asked.

If your running 60 units an hour, how does one person bleed the brakes in a minute?

So you probably already know - we used an "Evac/Fill" process.

The brake system was completely assembled and the m/c attached to the machine, which sucked all the air out of the system, held vacuum, and then released brake fluid to flow into the pipes and wheel cylinders and calipers. All in about 45 seconds.

The brake system was then tested so that normally by the time the chassis got to body drop you had a complete, functioning, verified brake system.

The only time we bled was for a repair (leak, or R&R). They would attach the pressure bleeder and open all the bleeders at the wheels and just let it ride on down the line for a while before closing everything off and retesting.

The same evac/fill process was used for A/C systems.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

That makes a whole lot more sense. When I was on the line, it was just as you said- someone showed me what to do and where the parts were, and went. Those jobs are of short enough duration- of course- and not that many parts can get put on in the time allotted. I was amazed at some of the jobs like the guys putting bumpers on. ~60 seconds to install a front bumper. Tapered punches and air tools for the win, and properly aligned to boot. Or the tire installation area. 5 lug nuts at once. Crazy.

I did the front bumper job for exactly one day, as part of my engineering training.

Salaried employees could work on the line in a GM UAW shop - as long as they didn't displace an hourly worker. The assembler could sit and read the paper all day as I did his job.

They guy on the RH side of the line would pitch the bumper across the pit and the LH side guy would catch it, swing it into position and bolt it down.

This job also installed the front tow hooks as required. I managed to drop a tow hook on my trainer's foot, which he was not happy about.

I still managed to pass the audition, though.

K

[Steeveedee]

He wasn't wearing safety shoes?