Help IDing Center Console Bezel
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Melting Slicks
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From: Confusion
Help IDing Center Console Bezel
I found a box with the GM tag and part #6497604, also handwritten on the box 72-76. The bezel inside has the number 6491171 on the back, what year is this bezel for? Thanks........................Bruce
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Melting Slicks
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From: Confusion
Apparently I have an NOS 69-71 bezel in a 72-76 box?!?!?!?! I don't recall how this happened, I know in 92 I put an NOS one in my 69, maybe I bought an extra one just to have and it came in that box, I don't remember putting one in my 75, that one was cracked but that's how I left it (talking out loud). On ebay is one just like mine and he has it as 69-71 so that is what I have. There is a sticker on it from Riks Corvette, but it definitely is NOS, not a repro.
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Almost, if not all 69-76 Center Gauge Bezels are cast "6491171 - 69" on the back. The 69-71 was discountinued maybe 30 years ago, while the 72-76 was still available up untill just a few years back. The difference between the 2 bezels is in the upper left corner front. On the 69-71, the openning for the seat belt warning lens is about 1/2" x 1/2", with a housing to hold the push button that turns off the seat belt lamp, under the lens openning. On the 72-76, the openning for the seat belt lens is about a 1/2" wide by about 1 1/2" high as the light was on a timer and didn't need the push button. Starting in the late 70s, the Corvette parts books said to use the 72-76 bezel in 68-71s, by buying the larger 72-76 seat belt lens with the bezel. For many years now, a couple different companies have been taking the 72-76 bezel and installing an insert in them to convert them for use in 69-71s. Since they were being converted from the 72-76 bezel, if the vendor reused the Delco box, it still had the 72-76 part number on it.
Because of all of this, you can't go by that casting number on the bezel, or the part number on the box. Instead, you need to look at the bezel itself and see if it has the insert installed in the left upper openning for the push button. If you have a large openning, for just the lens, than it is a 72-76 bezel in a 72-76 bezel box. If it has the plastic push button insert installed in it by some sort of adheasive, instead of cast into as original, then it is a 72-76 converted to 69-71. If the insert for the button is cast into the bezel as part of the original diecasting, you have a very hard to find original 69-71 bezel.
Because of all of this, you can't go by that casting number on the bezel, or the part number on the box. Instead, you need to look at the bezel itself and see if it has the insert installed in the left upper openning for the push button. If you have a large openning, for just the lens, than it is a 72-76 bezel in a 72-76 bezel box. If it has the plastic push button insert installed in it by some sort of adheasive, instead of cast into as original, then it is a 72-76 converted to 69-71. If the insert for the button is cast into the bezel as part of the original diecasting, you have a very hard to find original 69-71 bezel.
Last edited by gbvette62; Jun 14, 2010 at 01:31 PM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,359
Likes: 15
From: Confusion
Almost, if not all 69-76 Center Gauge Bezels are cast "6491171 - 69" on the back. The 69-71 was discountinued maybe 30 years ago, while the 72-76 was still available up untill just a few years back. The difference between the 2 bezels is in the upper left corner front. On the 69-71, the openning for the seat belt warning lens is about 1/2" x 1/2", with a housing to hold the push button that turns off the seat belt lamp, under the lens openning. On the 72-76, the openning for the seat belt lens is about a 1/2" wide by about 1 1/2" high as the light was on a timer and didn't need the push button. Starting in the late 70s, the Corvette parts books said to use the 72-76 bezel in 68-71s, by buying the larger 72-76 seat belt lens with the bezel. For many years now, a couple different companies have been taking the 72-76 bezel and installing an insert in them to convert them for use in 69-71s. Since they were being converted from the 72-76 bezel, if the vendor reused the Delco box, it still had the 72-76 part number on it.
Because of all of this, you can't go by that casting number on the bezel, or the part number on the box. Instead, you need to look at the bezel itself and see if it has the insert installed in the left upper openning for the push button. If you have a large openning, for just the lens, than it is a 72-76 bezel in a 72-76 bezel box. If it has the plastic push button insert installed in it by some sort of adheasive, instead of cast into as original, then it is a 72-76 converted to 69-71. If the insert for the button is cast into the bezel as part of the original diecasting, you have a very hard to find original 69-71 bezel.
Because of all of this, you can't go by that casting number on the bezel, or the part number on the box. Instead, you need to look at the bezel itself and see if it has the insert installed in the left upper openning for the push button. If you have a large openning, for just the lens, than it is a 72-76 bezel in a 72-76 bezel box. If it has the plastic push button insert installed in it by some sort of adheasive, instead of cast into as original, then it is a 72-76 converted to 69-71. If the insert for the button is cast into the bezel as part of the original diecasting, you have a very hard to find original 69-71 bezel.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-...Q5fAccessories
I will check mine
Last edited by corvetteload; Jun 15, 2010 at 08:55 AM.
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