1962 VIN question

Out of curiosity I have been researching my 1962 Electra 225 convertible VIN and have a couple of questions. Internet searches show 1962 VIN starting at 501001 but mine is 8I2007405, therefore 1962 Electra built South Gate. Its production date is 12D so December 1961. Would this mean it uses a 1961 sequence? 1961 starts 001001, meaning the 6404th built? Body number is BC 231 (231st Electra convertible?).

Secondly, in 1961 Dec 1st was a Friday, so would build date 12A mean this day or does it indicate full weeks only? I ask this because 12D could mean either 18th to 23rd, or 25th to 29th. Assuming production lines were closed 25/26th (at least) it would narrow down the actual production date to either the week prior or the few days after Christmas 1961.

Cheers

Rick

8I2007405

8 = Series 4800 (Electra 225)

I = 1962 model year

2 = built at South Gate, range was

007405 = sequential number, range was 001001 to 020852 for fullsize cars (B and C bodies) and 501001 to 527089 for midsized cars (Y-bodies)

Body number of 231 would indicated 231st Electra convertible built at South Gate and VIN indicates it was the 6405th fullsize car built at South Gate.

Thank you Sean

I had not found any reference to the different sequencing for fullsize and midsize numbering so that explains it perfectly. That should mean my car would have been down the line on the 27-29th of December, that certainly narrows it down! I have heard that convertible bodies were not built at every plant, not sure if that is correct? By the way, my car originally came from not too far from you, Shelton WA way back in 1986.

Thanks again

Rick

Hi Rick and Sean, I spent my working career at the GM assembly plant in Baltimore. It was a Fisher Body plant and an adjoining car division plant just like Southgate was prior to the formation of GM Assembly Division in late 1968. The VIN tag and the body data tags were installed to the body at the end of the body shop prior to paint. Even in our plant which built cars at a rate of 60 per hour it took 24 hours of production line run time to build a car from start to finish. This included time for the body to pass thru a washer, a drying oven, a sealer application line and drying oven, a primer spray booth and oven, a sanding line, a second primer booth and oven, followed by paint booths and drying ovens.

following this it went to what was called Hard Trim, followed by Soft Trim. The names are indicative of the work. After this the body was complete. The Fisher body work was complete. In Baltimore we had was called "the Body Bank". They bodies were staged in lanes by type and scheduled for delivery to the Chevrolet side of the plant. The Chevrolet side had a schedule of what bodies were coming and had started frame construction to match. After the body was released from the "bank" it received the instrument panel and proceeded to the "Body Drop" where it was lowered on the Chassis. Fenders, hood and bumpers were then installed on he Final Assembly Line. All this is to say that while the body tag may indicate the last week of December, your car may not have actually been completed until after the first of the year. People talk about not wanting a car built on a Friday. Friday's weren't near as crazy or the last day before Christmas or New Year. Back in the early 60's GM was not off the whole week between Christmas and New Year. I hope you like a little history. Jim

Thank you Jim for all the extra information you have provided! It's great to fill in the gaps in the history of these cars and without any owner history to my car prior to 1986 I will take whatever I can get and certainly appreciate your reply. Do you know if convertible bodies were only built at limited plants or was it more widespread?

Rick

Thank you Jim for all the extra information you have provided! It's great to fill in the gaps in the history of these cars and without any owner history to my car prior to 1986 I will take whatever I can get and certainly appreciate your reply. Do you know if convertible bodies were only built at limited plants or was it more widespread?

Rick

Hi Rick, I really can't definitively answer your question. I know Baltimore built Chevrolet convertibles in 1962 and up thru 1972, which was the last year. Your Buick was built in South Gate California and logic tells me that convertibles were also built in other plants because of the logistics involved with building them in a west coast plant only. A whole lot of shipping costs would be incurred shipping them back to the east coast. The Baltimore plant was set up to build all models. When I started in 1968 we built all Chevrolet and Pontiac A body models, 2 door, 4 door, convertible, station wagon, and El Camino models on the same assembly line. It was probably not the most cost efficient way to do it. Other GM assembly plants built the same cars. Car production was probably assigned to plants according to the demand.

One interesting sight I observed when I started my GM career was seeing full size Buick bodies being transported by trunk from Fisher Body plants in Ohio to the Buick plant in Flint. I attended college in Flint, Michigan. Maybe some old timers from the Buick City Plant code shed some insight. Jim

The mention of "rate per hour" and "assembly line time" is something not usually mentioned when vehicle assembly is discussed, BUT certainly a part of the total production situation. Much has been mentioned about "line speed", but not how long it takes the finished vehicle to appear from the time the chassis hits the line and starts the process of vehicle assembly (for a frame-body vehicle rather than a "unit body" vehicle).

Enjoy!

NTX5467

There was a time when convertible bodies were only built at Flint and then shipped to other plants for final assembly if needed. But by 1962 convertibles were also built at other plants. I've seen 1962 convertibles with bodies built at Flint MI, South Gate CA, Wilmington DE, Kansas City KS, and Linden NJ.

The 1966-1970 Riviera bodies were built at Euclid OH and shipped to Flint. The body tag lists the build plant as EUC for Euclid and the VIN lists the build plant as H for Flint were final assembly took place. 1966-1967 body tags from Euclid have an F in the upper right corner that indicates the body was shipped to Flint for final assembly.