I am in the process of doing a mild restore on my 71 coupe and found two styrafoam blocks in the very rear corners of the cabin. They both have part numbers 3922301. Are these actually suppose to be there or is this a Bubba thing? You can see the styrofoam wedge shaped block in the picture.
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Also when I pulled the carpet I found "AC 437" written. I am assuming this means an Air Conditioned Sport Coupe on the assembly line.

Any insight would be appreciated.

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Those appear to be the insulation blocks that go in front of the wheel well behind the doorjamb down in that hole which goes down to the number 3 body mount. Keeps dust and noise from the wheel well out of the car.

 

That makes more sense than where they are now. I also found three small pieces of paper with "J.P. Stevens Co. INC" with 1971 Corvette Carpet info (part #, color etc). Is this original manufacturer or a repoduction carpet company.

 

Yes, the foam blocks were installed at the factory and are supposed to be there. The blocks should also be installed where they are now, mounted vertically at the rear of the storage area (the installation is illustrated in the AIM). They really didn't provide much in the way of insulation or sound deadening, but served more as a filler to allow a flat mounting surface for the vertical portion of the rear carpet.

There were foam rubber isolators that mounted forward of the vent drain hoses on 1970 Corvettes, but I am unsure if this practice was carried over to later yeas. These pieces were actually a black foam rubber and do not look anything like the foam blocks in your photo.

You are correct on the numbers found written on the fiberglass in the storage area of your car. The "437 AC" identifies a Corvette coupe with air conditioning.

You are also correct in that J.P. Stevens was the original supplier of carpet for your car.

Regards,

 

Thanks Rowdy. In the picture with the sytrofoam there is also a rubber piece that I found is that what you are talking about going in front of the drains?

 

You know, I completely missed that in your first photo... Yes, the black foam rubber piece that is on the floor of the rear storage compartment should actually be installed forward of the drain hose and pretty much conforms to the contour of the inner body panels.

I would also think that this is illustrated in the AIM (Assembly Instruction Manual). Do you have a copy of the AIM? It is a really useful tool when trying to identify some of these parts and how they are installed.

Regards,

Stan Falenski

 

I do have an AIM, except I don't have an idex with it. I went through it twice, must have just missed these items.

Thanks again

 

AC for air conditioning

437 could be the job number. Just curious, but does your VIN end with 937?

Here's a second "437".


You might also find 437 (or just 37) on the passenger's side of the tranny tunnel. 495 on this sweetie.



If it's still there, might also be on the lower right side of the cowl under the hood.

If memory serves, J. P. Stevens was the supplier for the original carpet.

 

That's probably the major shortcoming of the AIM... It can be real difficult to find things... At least until you've been through it a few hundred times!

You're welcome... Have fun with that restoration!


Mike,

The number in that location is almost always a 437 (coupe) or 467 (convertible). The guys in the body assembly area put it there so that guys farther down the body line knew what body panels to put on.

You'll also see option codes written there as well if it required some sort of action by the body line. Air conditioning required that the bottom of the rear vents be capped off, so the "AC" notation was made. One of your photos shows "UA6" because someone on the body line would have to add the bracket for the relay, horn, and probably drill the hole for the switch as well.

The job number was usually written on the outside (the vertical portion of the rear storage area facing the rear of the car), on the passenger side transmission tunnel (as in your photo... which is where my '71 is marked), and again on the engine side of the passenger footwell. Of course, other panels were often marked as well, the application of those markings is not nearly as consistant, however.

Curious about the M40 code in the one photo. Any thoughts about what would have to be changed on an automatic equipped car? Different tunnel cutout perhaps?

Regards,

Stan Falenski

 

RPO# 437 means Sport Coupe. I assume at the point in the line when it was written verts and coupes looked the same.

 

That's it exactly.

All that number did was let the guys installing the exterior body panels know whether the car was going to be a coupe or convertible.

The body line at St. Louis was seperate from the rest of the Corvette production line. From what I have heard from people who worked there or people who visited while it was in operation, it wasn't a whole lot of fun to be there... Especially in the summer.

Regards,

Stan Falenski

 

I made an index for my 71' AIM (78' as well). Send me your email address if you want it. It is an Excel file.

 

Wow! Sounds good to me and thank you!


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