ZRXGreen

Good Morning All,

Something here of interest for you, hopefully. At the end of March, I began the process of dropping my gas tank in order to get to the tank sticker, and to update the almost 50 year old rubber gas lines that connect to the tank.

Although very time consuming, everything seemed to be going along very smoothly, so much so that I thought I would have the tank lowered and removed that day. I had my son out there helping me, we disassembled everything, drained the gas out of the tank, and began to start maneuvering the tank to drop it down. While rotating the tank in place, I was able to just barely see the tank sticker. I was looking at it from a very severe angle, (basically looking at it flat from the edge), and I was hoping to see some evidence of letters or writing. I couldn't see anything. It just looked like dirty, fragile, old paper, and was ripped in the spot I could see it (near the tank strap). I figured the rest of it was ripped, destroyed or missing as well. I thought, "What did I get myself into, and why??"

To make matters worse, although I originally thought I would be able to slip the gas tank down past the mufflers, I now saw that was impossible. The muffler (or mufflers) would have to be removed. At that point my son and I decided to call it a day.

Work, family life, etc. got in the way naturally and it was a couple weeks before I could get out there to attempt to see if I could remove the muffler(s). During that interim period, I really began having second thoughts about having started the whole process. There had been a couple nice days where I could have had the car out, but because mine was apart, it didn't move. All for what I figured was a partial, or hopelessly faded sticker. Not good.

At one point, I was debating whether or not to put it all back together the way it was, but in the end figured I was that far already and would try to see it through.

When I finally got out there to try to remove the exhaust, I did not have great expectations that the exhaust hardware could be removed without special tools, thinking for sure it would all be fused together. Again, I was pleasantly surprised when all the bolts and clamps came off pretty easily. As I should have learned from before however, nothing goes easy. The pipes were hopelessly fused together and there was no way I was removing either muffler, meaning the tank was going nowhere. At that point, I thought I would just try to heat them up with a torch (which I don't have) at some point. I knew I would be seeing a friend of mine in a couple days who is a welder, so I figured I'd show him a picture of the pipes and get his opinion.

When I showed him the pics, he said he would be able to remove the mufflers, no problem. But he did say an acetylene torch would be the best route, and offered to stop by the next day with his set up.

Well, that was last Friday, and working on only the driver's side, within about 20 minutes we had the muffler off and the tank dropped.

Laying on my back, I bench pressed the tank out from under the car and set the tank down on the garage floor. I immediately looked to the tank sticker, and was really surprised at how small it was. I had just assumed it would be the size of a regular piece of printer paper. Looking at it closely, in the daylight coming in from the outside, I was able to see printing! It was just covered in a thick layer of dust. Getting the softest bristle paint brush I had, I gently brushed off the dust from the sticker and was able to read almost everything! Super exciting! I will attach pictures of the process and of the sticker.

ZRXGreen

Alan 71

Hi ZRXG,
Well!
Very interesting photos!
But better is such a good example of a Build Sheet.
But even better is the very nice convertible it describes!!!!
You must be very pleased!
Regards,
Alan

What are the last 3 digits of your VIN sequence number...657 by any chance?

dmaxx3500

good job

ZRXGreen

Thank you Alan! The last 3 of my VIN are 886.

Alan 71

Hi ZRXG,
Well I guessed wrong!!!!!
But that number goes PERFECTLY with the 386 on the Build Sheet !
Nice!
Regards,
Alan

ZRXGreen

Thank you Alan!

ZRXGreen

I'm curious to see what the consensus of the group is on my next question. While communicating with ed427vette, he suggested that if I decided not to try to remove the tank sticker, I could always "seal" it in place, using a heavier gauge clear plastic and duct tape. (He is one of those great guys, as many of you are that is always willing to help.)

It seems to me that if I choose to remove it, it should be pretty easy (famous last words), as you'll notice that the line of glue goes around all the words, so if anything else rips, it hopefully won't rip where the printing is.

What are the pros and cons of leaving or removing as you all see it? Is value affected either way?

Thanks!

Thanks!

F4Gary

Curious, how is car paired with a tank sticker? I don't see a vin number on the sticker.
And how does the 386 match with 886?

MuskieAL

Hi ZR,

That's probably the most legible 48 year old build sheet I've ever seen!! Thanks for sharing.

jr9170

jr9170

Greg

Yes jr, that's exactly what most stickers I've found look like!

ed427vette

On tank stickers there are no full VIN numbers. However, there are a set of three hand written numbers which run from 1 to 500 that will coincide with the last three digits of the vin.

On this particular sticker, the number 386 goes with a vin that ends in 886 which is 500 away and correct. This seems to work for cars 1968 and newer. On some 67's the vin number can be off by 2 or 3. On 68 and 69's there is usually only one set of three digits written on the tank sheet. On 70 and newer you will often see two sets of three digits. One will correspond to the vin, the other is some form of job number.

On 69's that have fake tank stickers you will often see just a job number written that does not correspond to the vin. I see this often on fake 69 stickers as the person who was making them had done some poor research....on the fake 69 sheets they would write the three digit number that they see written on body panels on the car. They didnt do that on 69's. It started in the 70's and only when both numbers are written in on the top. The only other exception is in 69 between VIN's 712000 and 717000. During this period for some reason one of the line workers hand wrote 4 digit numbers on the lower section of the sticker which were the last four of the vin. Its not on every single one, but on many between that time.

The tank stickers can also be traced back to specific VIN's by use of the Order Number and Ident Number that is on all tank stickers and window stickers. However, this info is not available to the general public. NCRS has this information and they use it as part of there verification process.

Part of the Ident Number is missing on the OP's tank sticker as its located in the left hand corner of the sheet, but the order number is present. Both numbers are unique numbers to each car. Its common to have the left hand corner ripped on the tank sheets. Its probably due to how the line workers torn the page off multilayered print outs.

marshal135

Nicest tank sticker I've ever seen, very nice condition underneath too!
Tough call Bridgehampton blue or Steels City grey both great looking colors.
Very nice find.
What is economy axle ?
Marshal

jr9170

jr9170

ZRXGreen

ed427vette

Thanks for the kind words.

Alan 71

Hi,
Here's another example of a tank sheet as Ed describes.
89...the last 3 digits of the car's sequence number 589
186... written in crayon in several places on the car.
Regards,
Alan





Under the rear window. (Perhaps the R indicates the car got a radio?)


And then there's this: