The idea is to document various inspection markings, etc.
I believe that this might best be divided into 3 threads, 1967, 1968 and 1969.
We could document: placement, color of marking, picture of marking, type of marking used (paint, stamp with paint, sticker, crayon, etc), also what each marking means, also where to buy stamps and paints and stickers, etc to reproduce these markings.
Does anyone have an original car or knowledge that can get us started?
I would suggest reply with year first then part marked then how marked then other details.
Perhaps Geoff can make this a seperate topic as I believe it is important enough. These answers could be transferred to the webpage for each model year.
Send more of them! Do you have undercarriage pics of 68 birds, too? I´m looking for them for years! Tried the PY online forum, too - without success... John aka 67Firebird400 promised to email me some of his pics but unfortunately he couldn´t find them on his discs anymore...
That T/A, no matter how incredibly nicely detailed, is a restoration.
Original sources are getting more rare, and should be documented before they are all gone. My '66 Le Mans still had the paper tag on the brake drum and the paper tags on the springs, as well as a crayon mark on the firewall. There should be at least a few Firebirds that are as well preserved.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
That T/A, no matter how incredibly nicely detailed, is a restoration.
LOL That is very obvious! It's one of the 7 1969 Trans Am convertibles. We can all learn from the research that was put into it when it was recently restored.
But what did they use for a reference during restoration? I thought I heard this car was less than pristine when restoration started.
Every restoration is an interpretation. Even if colors are matched, paint formulas will be different. If marks are recreated, the meaning and relevance of a particular mark to a particular car is lost (unless it is copying a mark that was already on the car, and lost during restoration). And each plant had its variances that must be taken into account.
I'd rather see pics of a car in a field with crayon marks on the firewall; pics of an old barn find with the paper tags still in place (Roderick's car comes to mind as a prime resource), and vintage photos.
I am about to refinish a '68 400 driveshaft. The pink stripe is still visible. There is no red stripe like the T/A pic, I wonder what the significance of that is?
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
But what did they use for a reference during restoration? I thought I heard this car was less than pristine when restoration started.
Every restoration is an interpretation. Even if colors are matched, paint formulas will be different. If marks are recreated, the meaning and relevance of a particular mark to a particular car is lost (unless it is copying a mark that was already on the car, and lost during restoration). And each plant had its variances that must be taken into account.
I'd rather see pics of a car in a field with crayon marks on the firewall; pics of an old barn find with the paper tags still in place (Roderick's car comes to mind as a prime resource), and vintage photos.
I am about to refinish a '68 400 driveshaft. The pink stripe is still visible. There is no red stripe like the T/A pic, I wonder what the significance of that is?
Have you ever heard the saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"? These pictures were a gift to us from an owner who's peers would rather hide what they have.
Did you see that small yellow mark on the pumpkin in the first picture? It would be good to cross reference that to your 68 and see if the 68 markings are similar to 69.
Did you see that small yellow mark on the pumpkin in the first picture? It would be good to cross reference that to your 68 and see if the 68 markings are similar to 69.
Found them. Yes, as best I can tell from the angle, they look similar. Note mine is a Safe-T-Track so that might have significance. I did duplicate it when I got it cleaned and painted.
Good to see that your original markings are very similar to the one on the 69 TA. This lends circumstantial evidence that at least some of the markings spanned years. There must have been some universal standards for the markings. I know a great source for GTO factory markings that may also be similar.
I have lots of unrestored origional areas on my car--everything that isn't included in a color change paint job--and all of it's in exceptional, unmolested condition. Any key points of interest?
One intersting thing is some of the wedges of scrap-like metal used to shim various points during the build. I don't recall how many. And I don't know whether it's something "custom built" on each car during assembly, or a standard placment during builds.
I'll have the car on blocks soon, might be earlier than usual, hoping to have a suprize when it rolls out for next year, so I might weasel under and document some of the untouched areas.
By the way, those posted pictures don't even come close to a reasonable facsimily of correct factory construction.
Every restoration is an interpretation. If marks are recreated, the meaning and relevance of a particular mark to a particular car is lost (unless it is copying a mark that was already on the car, and lost during restoration). And each plant had its variances that must be taken into account.
I agree. I think you should replace what you find. It's not a grafiti contest - if you don't see it, don't add it, IMO. Lots of cars out there with restoration grafiti covering the underhood. Firewall blackout would cover the writing on the firewall. The only marks that I see consistently are the NOR PBT inspection marks. Not done at LOS (for sure) and LOR (pretty sure).
And I don't believe every inspection was made on every car. Sometimes only some cars were inspected as a spot check or test to see if the proper job was being done. So duplicating other cars' marks might be incorrect for what was done to your car.
Some inspections were always done at some plants such as the pink inspection paint on the rear end pigtails.
Almost all the photos are gone from this thread....any way to get them back?
1967 Firebird 400/4spd all numbers matching 1971 Camaro Pro ET Drag Car 1970 Camaro real Z-28 (needs everything) 1963 Impala 409 dual quad 4 spd 2003 Victory Vegas 2009 Pontiac G8 GT (My wife says I have a problem.....)
Older thread, but have some pics of the assembly marks on my 69 T/A during refresh. Searched for the 69 T/A vert images on the net to compare but couldnt find anything current. Any chance of restoring the 69 vert images, links? Also, if anyone wants to view the restoration to date, I can post up some progress images..
Here's a few rear diff. marks OE/recreated. Not all are shown. Have all original pics as well. 2 pink on the upper case boss, 1 blue on the front carrier area, 1 yellow at the drain plug area(large like above member) 1 green on the right axle/backing plate, 1 red/brown on the left plate (not shown). ZH on rear cover. Have some frame, D shaft, booster and firewall.
It's one of the 7 1969 Trans Am convertibles. We can all learn from the research that was put into it when it was recently restored.
![[Linked Image from img120.imageshack.us]](http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1968firebirdmc5.jpg)
![[Linked Image from img179.imageshack.us]](http://img179.imageshack.us/my.php?image=00000001kb0.jpg)
