[minkos]

hello. can anyone explain (in more detail than the service manuals, parts books, etc) the body number sequencing as shown on the firewall trim tag? in particular, does the body number mean the sequential number of a specific style at that particular plant?

for instance, if a '66 46667 (wildcat custom conv) has a body number of BC 100, does that mean it was the 100th wildcat custom conv built at south gate that year or does it mean it was the 100th wildcat convertible (both regular and custom) made that year? i think its the first one. thanks.

[70 Electra]

The key is that the "body number" is the sequence number for a particular model and BODY PLANT, and is not an indication of vehicle assembly plant build number.

Thus, if your body number is BC100, it would mean that yours was the 100th body for a 46667 model that was built at THAT PARTICULAR (i.e. "BC") body plant. The "BC" body plant code is for the Southgate Fisher Body plant, which was part of the Southgate B-O-P (Buick-Olds-Pontiac) assembly plant complex.

Note, however, that some years and models had the bodies built REMOTELY from the vehicle plant that did final assembly on the car. For example, in 1960 ALL Buick convertible bodies were built at Flint's Fisher Body #1 plant---regardless of which vehicle plant performed the final assembly. Thus, a 1960 Buick convertible body will always have the body number shown as FBXXXX, including those with final assembly in Southgate, or anywhere else.

The interesting thing about this is that the body number of a 1960 Buick convertible will show where it fits within the entire production run of that model--regardless of final assembly point or VIN. So if 13,588 1960 LeSabre convertibles (model 4467) were built, there should be body numbers ranging from FB1 to FB13588. So if you have FB9207, you know that it is the 9,207th 1960 LeSabre convertible body built out of the model year total of 13,588.

In contrast, the 1960 Buick sedans and hardtops had their bodies constructed at the body plant associated with the location where their final vehicle assembly occurred. So the body number on these cars begins with a code that corresponds to the location indicated in the VIN. Examples of body number prefixes: BC for Southgate, BT for Arlington Texas, BA for Atlanta, BW for Wilmington, BK for Kansas City, etc. Here, the body number tells only the body build number (for that model) within that specific plant.

Of course, Flint-assembled 1960 Buick sedans and hardtops utilized the same Fisher #1 plant where the convertible bodies were built and therefore also had body numbers beginning with FB. Unlike most of the GM assembly & body plant complexes, the Flint Fisher #1 plant was located on all the way across town (Saginaw St.) from Buick's Flint assembly plant(s).

BTW, since 1960 Buick station wagon bodies were all built under contract at Michigan's Mitchell-Bentley Ionia Body Company, they are in the same situation as the convertible bodies, where the body numbers are sequential from 1 to final quantity.

Seems strange today, to build bodies in Michigan and ship them as far as the Los Angele for assembly. Although this practice disappeared for Buick convertibles and wagons, it still occurred for some specific products. For example, Riviera, Toronado, and Eldorado bodies were, for a while, built in Fisher's Euclid (Cleveland) plant. Euclid also built some of Chevy's station wagon bodies in the sixties. If memory serves me correctly, the body numbers for these cars begin with EUC or EU.

[minkos]

ok, thanks, that is what i thought. the body number sequences do not combine models, each model has a distinct "BC" numbering sequence (in the case of south gate). in other words, there was a 46667 with a BC 100 body tag and a 46467 with a BC 100 body tag, and so on.

cadillac in those years is much the same as the '60 buick convertibles and wagons, each body number is the xth body out of total individual model production for that year, since i believe all cadillac bodies (minus the commercial bodies) were built and finally assembled at the clark st. plant in detroit (FW).

but since buick built wildcats at 5 different plants in '66 for example, there were theoretically five separate 46667 wildcat custom convertible bodies each bearing the number 100, just the letter prefix indicating the body plant would differ-unless some of those 5 plants were final assembly only and did not have a corresponding fisher body plant.