My wife's 69 has '70 body panels (front fenders, at least), and I always assumed that somewhere in the past, someone replaced the front end. However, there is NO sign of ever being in a wreck, and all the wiring and vacuum stuff, etc, etc seems to be of the period.

I had pizza on Friday with a friend that used to work on the assembly line supply side for GM during the C3 days. I told him about the apparent "wrong" fenders. However, he said that the cardinal rule on the assembly line is, "nothing stops the line!". He told me that often near the end of a MY production, the line would run short of current MY parts and accessories and the next MY parts would be used to keep the line moving. That includes body parts, radios, etc, etc. He said this is why when you sometimes go to a parts store, you get a part that isn't the same as the one that is on your Vette or Buick or F150...whatever. "So, just because your wife's 69 car has 70 fenders (waffle vs. gills) on it, it doesn't necessarily mean it didn't come from the factory that way", he said.

Dayam! Could that be the reason the brake booster on my 93 Jeep GC is different from any of them I try to buy from various parts stores around town??? Hmmmm.... Veddy intorestink!!

P.

 

There's the occasional story of bolt-on Corvette parts being carried over, but I'm not buying the '70 body panel story.

This story is way overused by people making excuses for their cars. (not saying you are) Whats the build date?

PS: how "below I-80?"

 

Being that last day of production '69s are known to have '69 style fenders, there's not much chance that an earlier built car would have '70 style fenders.

The back side of the panel will usually show signs of whether it's OEM or aftermarket as will the bonding strips.

 

I have on my 71 drivers side just in front of the door on the fender
4026449723 GB 71
3919723 and the right side 404645GB, 3912391
I assume these are part numbers and should be for a 71 ???

 

Hi,
I know the line kept moving, but.....
I find it hard to believe that Chevrolet would deliver a car with 70 flares on the front and 69 rear quarters.
I can't imagine the original owner accepting a car that looked like that.
Selective memory!?!
Regards,
Alan

 

Still interested in what the build date of your wife's 69 is. The story about hanging 70 fenders on a 69 car on the production line is just that, a story. I'm sure that things like brake components or other "unnoticeable" parts might have gotten mixed toward the end of model years, but fenders are kind of important to the appearance and identity of the car. Doubt a buyer would have accepted it that way. I'm betting your 69 was in a fender bender (cracker?)and these are what the repair shop found at the wrecking yard. I saw a 69 at a Vette show last fall on which the gill slits on the driver's were crooked and were rising from the rear to the front on a strange angle. The passenger side was completely normal. Must have been some sort of body work attempt at converting a later fender to the 68/69 configuration.

BTW, several years ago I was having my 69 Mustang convertible judged in a car show and the judge mentioned that he had a 69 vert as well, and it was parked "right over there". I looked over at the parking area and his car had 70 front fenders on it (the side marker lights are different) with 69 headlight buckets. The whole car was painted the same color, so it wasn't a work in progress. Sort of freaked me out since he was in the process of judging the correctness of my car. He, however, was aware they were the wrong fenders. They'ed been on the car when he bought it.

 

Yeah, I'm very dubious about the 70 fenders...figured it was in a fender cracker, as you pointed out. No frame damage, far as I can see. Before my wife bought it, it had been "rode hard n put away wet"! The wire harness was butchered by attempts at installing various sound systems. On and on... Little by little we're restoring her back to her glory. Looks like a new front end (?) or at least fenders to "make it right". It's going to be a long road, but there's no hurry to get it all done at once. (Hard to read the VIN number when it's driving by anyway)

P.

 

About 25 miles, as the crow flies.

P.

 

Does your wife's 69 have fender gills or the 70-72 style vents? Are the front marker lights 69 style or 70 style? All four fenders or only the fronts?

There were pilot line 70 models available for press review late in the 69 model year run, but none were supposed to have been sold to the public.

 

My '69 was built September 11th and thus is known as a 2nd design '69 because production continued until the end of the calendar year due to the lengthy UAW strike. Some changes were made incorporating the '70 model year parts but I'd bet the farm that front fenders were not included. Your wife's car must have been wrecked.

"After a week off for inventory and tool changes, plant production of the 1969 model resumed on Monday August 4, 1969. A number of changes were associated with the resumption of production; these included the raised white letter tire option, and the ZL1 (engine) option. Other 1970 casting number and part number changes were also introduced at this point on these late 1969 Corvettes." Rick Bizzoco, 1968-69 Stingray Guidebook

 

My coupe was built October 16th, 1969, so it must have incorporated those late model changes. Still has gill slits, though. I've been told that some 69s received 70 cylinder heads. If the 427 and 454 heads were the same, I guess it could have been possible on the BBs. Obviously, no reason why it couldn't have happened on the SBs. I got dinged last fall at an NCRS judging for having a cylindrical vacuum canister for my windshield wiper doors. I think the late cars switched over to the pie plates and some mechanic working on the car replaced the canister with the "correct" 69 configuration. Does anyone know if the pie plates and the cylinder canisters are totally interchangeable?

 

My car still had the first design vacuum can. And there were no rebuild kits available in the early '70's. When I went to my local Chevy parts counter, the new piepan was all that was available. It was an easy changeover if not 100% legit. But my car was a rescued drag car and was quite, for want of a better word, molested when I bought it second hand. A NCRS judge would go bonkers picking apart all the non factory parts.

 

Not quite totally; they function the same; they mount in different cowl brackets.

Coffee Can


Pie Pan