...........RPO Codes..... Build sheets.... Do you have yours?...

[michaelmis]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Do you have any information that would help me decode my build sheet? The car is a 1950 Buick 56R.

Do you have an order form/any paperwork from the dealer for a Buick around 1950?</span></span></span>

I found that "D" has been used for clock,as well as a "power top" in later years http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/GM_Build_Codes However, this method of deciphering the codes would not work if I were to go back to my car and its build sheet. ie: my car does not have a "Centre Console"G, "tinted glass"E.

My car has a radio,clock,heater,windscreen washers,oil filter,dynaflow

There were two surviving build sheets in my car. There was also remains of some paper under the hood. My car was 16K miles when I bought it so it is possible that this could be a build sheet. I have not looked at the fuel tank, but this is another place they are found.Did the 1950 have four build sheets?

I have mine plus http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/519201/3 from another member to compare. If members have thier sheets and description of the options/build differences I may be able to "Fathom" some of the codes.

Do you know of a resource detailing all of the codes? Are the codes the same for all GM cars?

Related links I have found in my search include

http://aplsweb.com/Topics/TopicPix/RPO.pdf PDF with all of the GM codes used later

http://www.chryslerheritage.com/pg904.htm Chrysler Resource

http://www.cadillaclasalleclub.org/authenticate.shtml

Michael M

[Oldsfan]

Years ago, GM wasn't uniform with their RPO codes, as they are now. Current codes are used from year to year and are used by all divisions. Years ago, divisions used their own sets of RPO codes, and what held true for one year, didn't necessarily hold true for the next. The current RPO system came into usage in 1963.

You'll have to find some sales materials that list Buick option codes for 1950. I have option codes for 1950 Oldsmobiles, but I am willing to bet that they are different.

Paul

[Dandy Dave]

What??? No build sheets for a 1915 Buick???

Well, I guess I can get away with almost anything then.

Dandy Dave!

[michaelmis]

Paul, Thank you for your comments. I have started looking through the material I have for a list.

Interesting that what was good for one year was not good for the next.

Is it possible that the codes were like the Cider House Rules and they were hand written and posted at the factory door for each new model? Were they even common accross the plants?

I will keep looking through the material I have, as well as look for other owners with sheets.

Michael

[michaelmis]

Terry, Thank you for your email.

Yes my car was built in the USA and has all of the things that you identified by the codes.

Tell me how did you find out these? Are they similar for another year?

From what I know the build sheets were put in various places within the car. Under hood, on top of fuel tank, in seat springs. Workers on the line would look for codes that related to the parts they were fitting. That is the engine guys would look at the one under the hood to know if to fit heater hoses, the guy who fitted lights or blanking plates instead of lights would look at the one on the gas tank.

Again from what I have been told, the punch card was used for accounting/inventory and dispatch/shipment.

Thank you again for adding to the solution.

Michael

[michaelmis]

Hi Michael-

I just saw your post on the Buick club web site asking about production codes for your car. First, it is interesting to me that the codes you have were written out on paper as they were. I would have thought production codes for a 1950 Buick would have been on an IBM punch card. In any event to the best I am able to determine, the codes you have for your Buick code out as follows: (This assumes your car is a 1950 Super built in the USA.)

M - Dynaflow transmission

E - Glare proof mirror

G - Wheel covers on 50 series

H - Whitewall tires

C - Heater & Defroster

D - Windshield washer

F - Back up lights

There are no reference books available that will assist in determing what the production option codes mean and it can be a frustrating process trying to figure them out. You might want to take a good look at your Fisher Body plate on the fire wall. Any production option that some how changed how the body was built, usually was stamped onto the plate too.

Best wishes,

Terry

[michaelmis]

Hi Michael-

I have had an interest in the history of Buick for almost 50 years now and have acquired a large reference library on the subject. The codes you were trying to sort out are the same codes used to order the option on a Buick new car order form. No, codes often vary from one year to the next and they are usually not the same for another GM car line for the same year. I don't think there was a formula used to determine what code went with what option from one year to the next.

You may be correct on the build sheets being located in various places within the car. However, I tend to think that holds true for newer vehicle production, beginning in the late 1960's or early 1970's. I don't think it was common to find code information in a vehicle as early as your 1950 Buick. At least I haven't run across much of it over the years. It is all a fascinating subject. It has taken me many years to sort out what I know.

Did you check your Fisher Body plate for codes?? That might be of interest to you too.

Terry

[michaelmis]

Terry,

Unfortunately I do not have my car at the moment so am not able to check the plate on the car. It is our rainy season here at the moment and I do not have a garage, so my car is in storage away from my home. I will though check the plate as soon as I take the car out.

I know the loacation of the two sheets I have from my car. One was glued under the engin hood (the glue remains there now and the pattern matches the hole in the middle of the sheet), the other was in the springs of the front seat (discovered when the seats were taken out by the previous owner).

The thing for me to find is an order form for a 1950 car...... You have prompted me to think I have nothing like this in my collection.....

Like you I have collected lots of "stuff" on Buicks.

Unlike you though I have material just for one year 1950.

I am doing a lot of housekeeping on my website at the moment so it is a bit messy. i apologise for this.

Thank you again for your time emailing, I will continue with the quest and add an order form to my list fo things to find.