66 or 67 Skylark or Special convertible?

[Bruce Chunn]

I bought a 66 Skylark and found many oddities later. The VIN and body tag indicate 66 Special. The engine code LL indicates 65 motor. The tail lights are clearly 66. The interior, fenders, rear quarters, hood, grille, and all emblems are clearly 67 Skylark. Single reservoir manual brake master cylinder so that's 66 only. Drum brakes I believe are 66 last year. One repaint original color. Fender skirts that are 67 only. No evidence of prior holes for Special emblems anywhere on the body nor does it appear that it's ever been in a serious crash. All trim is 67 Skylark. I'll post a couple pics. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks, Bruce

 

 

[joe_padavano]

The VIN tells you exactly what it was born as. The fact that someone has changed the engine and the trim in the last half a century doesn't mean the car is anything other than what the VIN says it is. The thickness of that repaint will cover any plugged trim holes. It's not some rare one-of-none factory assembly, it's been assembled from parts.

[rocketraider]

66=1966 model year

4=Buick

34=Special V8

67=convertible

FL1 I have no idea. Not even sure of the assembly plant in the VIN as I can't tell N or H.

 

But yes, this car is a 1966 Special V8 convertible that's had some 1967 bits installed along the way. Enjoy as is or correct as necessary.

[joe_padavano]

51 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

FL1 I have no idea. Not even sure of the assembly plant in the VIN as I can't tell N or H.

 

It's a Buick. "FL" is Flint, MI. I assume the "1" is line one or something. VIN plant code "H" is also Flint.

[joe_padavano]

 

06A = built first week (A) of June (06) 1966

 

TR 118-A is black interior

R-2 PAINT is Flame Red (R) with black (2) convertible top

 

 

The ACC codes on the cowl tag should decode as follows:

 

Group 1

W = Tinted Windshield

 

Group 2

X = ST300 automatic

 

Group 3

W = Carpeting (instead of base model rubber floor mat)

 

Group 4

F = Remote outside mirror

 

Group 5

K = Door edge moldings

Y = Deluxe seat belts

[Bruce Chunn]

Thanks for all your input, I appreciate it. The VIN and body tag are the defining items here and it's clear that the "Skylark" I bought isn't so, rather, a Special with an awful lot of window dressing. Somebody had to go to a lot of trouble to make this look the way it does. They even installed a Skylark dash and a 67 steering wheel. Obviously this was done a long time ago, as the telltale signs of age are present in the body panels and interior. On the upside, at least the car has the correct color, interior, transmission, as all the accessories check out. Seems weird that someone would order or the factory decided to build a Special with the accessories this one has, but I guess whoever ordered this one had their reasons. Sometime later, putting the 67 Skylark front end on is pretty straight forward as I understand. One body guy told me they would've had to change out the core support from the way it looks to hang the fenders and grille on without a lot of fanfare. The fender skirts confuse me a bit though, as they just weren't available in 66. Perhaps the 66 and 67 quarter panels were the same and 67 skirts could be added to a 66 later? Anyway, it'll make a nice driver when I get a couple bugs out. When I go to sell it, I'll have to note that it may have been owned by Johnny Cash of the "One piece at a time" fame. The title I got from the seller said it was a Special, which was correct, but I thought maybe it had been mislabeled. The seller adamantly said this was a Skylark owned by his late father and then by his late brother who had jointly owned it since about 1990 until this year. This ownership chain was true by all the paperwork I got but the model was in question. I pointed that out to the DMV folks when I transferred the title and they changed it to Skylark and sent me a title stating such. When I became convinced this was a Special, I went back and had them reissue as a Special on the title. Goes to show how things can get easily screwed up in the paperwork. Any thoughts on the 5C112958 engine code stamped on the driver side front block? I've had no luck with that and understand it should match the production number in the VIN which is 302354 which it obviously doesn't. I'm guessing that the 112958 on the engine was the production number of some car the engine came from. I don't know what the 5C means. The other stamp on passenger side clearly shows LL which is a 65 engine I believe. Also there's the blue/green paint on the block which had been repainted red. Perhaps this was yet one more thing someone did to make it look like something else. Many years ago (about 48) I owned a 66 Gran Sport (I know, don't remind me) with the 401. I believe those engines were always red. The 300 however is the blue/green usually in all the pictures I've looked at. Maybe one of you Buick guys can provide some insight on this engine number and color. Thanks again for all your help. I'm getting a clearer idea of what this animal is and isn't thanks to your comments. 

[joe_padavano]

5C112958 is the engine serial number. It is not a VIN derivative. The Protec-O-Plate in the Warranty Booklet provided with the original car this engine was born in would have this serial number stamped along with the VIN of the car and the transmission unit number. This was done for warranty purposes. The "5" first character is the model year, which is consistent with the "LL" designation showing this to be a 1965 model year 300 motor. My guess is that the original 67 was rusted out, the owner bought a 66 Special shell, transferred the parts, and dropped in the 65 engine. Not the first time something like this has been done.

 

 

[dustycrusty]

18 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

 

It's a Buick. "FL" is Flint, MI. I assume the "1" is line one or something. VIN plant code "H" is also Flint.

"FL"= Flint, Michigan,  "1"= Fisher Body plant #1.

 

That plant is its now a collection of pharmaceutical buildings and office spaces on Saginaw Street and Atherton rds. The last time I drove by it, there were two guys fighting in the middle of Saginaw Street right in front of the original office facade!