Paint decode for 69

[kenmerr80]

I just recently purchased a 69 Z 28.    The stamp calls for it beings as follows:   52   52PNT      So this means the car was garnet red top and bottom from what I research.    But this car has a black vinyl top.    Shouldn't there be a B next to the 52 denoting it.    The car was repainted years ago to a different color and perhaps they added a vinyl top but I cant understand why.   I have no protecto plate or any other info with the car.     Would there be any chance that the factory may have stamped it wrong?   Or is it safe to say that a previous owner added the vinyl later on?   thanks for any input

[lakeholme]

Odds are the vinyl was added later.

[ko-lek-tor]

A pic of the Tag plus the car, itself, would go along way toward determining what you have. Anything else would just be speculation at this point. So, post some pics please and I am sure you will receive a conclusive answer. Welcome to the site, by the way.

[william]

A vinyl roof covering required Fisher Body to weld studs above the drip rails to retain the molding clips. If they were added later they would be the screw-in phillips head style. Possible but not something a body shop is likely to duplicate. Would require some dismantling but could answer your question.

Are you certain the body tag is original to the car? What is the tag date and VIN?

[kenmerr80]

Thanks for the welcome, and I will take some pics this evening and add to this thread.   I am hoping that the tag is original, but I feel that I may end up being one of those buyers that got "had".    

On the firewall tag I have the following:     ST6912437   NOR221926BDY      TR 71B      01B      52 52PNT   X77

VIN:   124379N578154

I have looked extensively at this site trying to determine a lot of the codes, have understood some, and confused my self on the others.  Here is what else I know on the car.    The tranny is stamped 3925660 and also has the partial VIN stamped on it as well so I guess I'm good there.(although a previous owner had cut and patched the sheet metal on the hump for some reasons).  The rear end is confusing-it has a stamp of 3969341 which according to this site was used in late 69 but this car is stamped to have been built in Jan (01B).   Now to the engine-the fella I bought this from said it was the original 302 but the heads and intake had been replaced.  I had a red flag go up right there.   But on the area on the forward driver side below the head it is stamped as follows:  V0108DZ...but there is no partial vin stamped beside it like diagrams indicate.     The paint code is 52 which is garnet red and the car was repainted blue some time back.  In nooks and crannys I find the red paint which kind of helps match it to the tag but it could be coincidence.     What do you gents think about all of this???    thanks

[william]

The car sounds ok based on the data. The VIN fits the 01B build date; engine date of January 8 is also in range. The partial VIN would be stamped next to the oil filter, not on the deck. The car may have had a Hurst Super Shifter in it at one time, requiring the tunnel mods. Rear axle is not original as the 3969341 casting entered production around August 1969.

Get a good photo of the body tag. Usually easy to tell if it has been off the car.

[BULLITT65]

Welcome to the site, I hope much of your car turns out to be legit. It is always nice to see another 52 52 car out there. I have seen many 52 B cars. Please post some pics of the tag and the car

[firstgenaddict]

Garnet red with Red guts... nice, one of my friends has a 52 52 718 X33 RS which was built in January as well.

[kenmerr80]

OK starting to get a bit worried, as if i may have 2 cars that were put together and they happened to be the same color.   Just spent several hours scrubbing grease and taking down numbers again.   Still confused...   
Trans:  has the matching vin stamped on it but also has P9T28B....doesn't the T make it a Dec of 69!??   it has the 3925660 on it as well
Engine:   after scrubbing forever i found the vin stamp by the oil filter and it matches, but the front stamp reads V0108DZ
Rear End:   lots of gunk to scrub through but am 98% confident on what i read was a cast date of J159,  3969341NF, and on the axle C PM 1024

Think Ive got a pieced car....confused....thanks for any input

[kenmerr80]

eager to get these pics up but it says they are to large, but they are not...

[z28z11]

If you need a resizer, download the free Obvious Idea Light Image Resizer - quick and easy way to compress images from digital cameras or (particularly) cell phone cameras. I use it all the time to reduce my iPhone pics, works great, and best of all - free.

Engine sounds legit, especially if the gunk over the VIN above the oil filter housing has been on there since time began. Tranny sounds O.K., VIN's are a heck of a lot harder to duplicate on the trans surfaces due to most are stamped with a VIN, not many exist without one, so it is a good bet that it probably is original. Rear does sound like a replacement, maybe even as a dealer warranted item (hence the casting number shift). Speaking of shifters, it was a popular thing to replace the original Hurst shifters with a vertical gate, or a Pro Shifter like I did, which required expanding the shifter hole to accommodate the shifter clearances. Not surprised -

[z28z11]

   
Trans:  has the matching vin stamped on it but also has P9T28B....doesn't the T make it a Dec of 69!??   it has the 3925660 on it as well

Forgot to add - decodes as Muncie, 1969, December 28, M21. Good match - good ratio, too.

[kenmerr80]

   
Trans:  has the matching vin stamped on it but also has P9T28B....doesn't the T make it a Dec of 69!??   it has the 3925660 on it as well

Thanks!  But am i missing something if my cowl tag says built in jan 69 as well as the motor but the tranny was built in dec of 69.   

Forgot to add - decodes as Muncie, 1969, December 28, M21. Good match - good ratio, too.

[kenmerr80]

Downloading the app-thanks for the info

[z28z11]

The 1969 code on the trans is the model year, not the production year - that should be a December '68 build, precedes your car assembly by a couple of weeks -

Regards -

[z28z11]

Downloading the app-thanks for the info

One last tip, and I'll quit taking up so much of your time - when you resize, pick something like 640 X 480 for the sizing - good fit with resolution to spare. Click and drag your file and resize - it will save a copy in whatever folder you want to place it, you can rename and store from there. Works for me -

Regards -

[BULLITT65]

So your transmission looks good. The "9" is for model year, not build date. So a m-21 built December 28 of 68 , motor looks ok jan 8th, the rear end I am having a tough time with the C PM 1024. At this point it looks like your car is ok except for the rear end possibly.

[kenmerr80]

Boy i feel like an idiot!!   Guess i shoulda read the decoder a little closer!!    I can rest ez now lol.  Your not taking up my time at all-i'm like a kidin a candy store since i got this car saturday.   Ive been working on the owner for 12 years and the car has not moved since i first saw it.   Again thanks for the tips on the pics

[z28z11]

No problem. I fully understand the excitement of chasing down info, especially when you've been waiting to get your hands on the car for a long time. I felt the same way when I brought home the last one, a '68 Z, even though I had worked on the car for 16 years, and fully documented it when my buddy bought the car. Still a tingle when you get one home after trying for so long a time -

Congratulations on landing a great car - looking forward to seeing it. Keep on posting -

[kenmerr80]

Just rolled it off the trailer and started with the brush

[69Z28-RS]

that looks more like turquoise/aqua than blue...?   In what state (of the US) did you find it?

[kenmerr80]

Cowl/vin

[kenmerr80]

Hard to make the vin out by the oil filter but with the light at the right angle its slightly visible

[kenmerr80]

that looks more like turquoise/aqua than blue...?   In what state (of the US) did you find it?

Alabama    You wouldnt beleive the 100's of cars this guy has crammed in warehouses

[BULLITT65]

What a find, good for you! Looks barn fresh

[BULLITT65]

I gotta think you got one of the better cars he has stored away. What other cars does he have worth mentioning?

[z28z11]

Looks pretty straight from this angle. Sure has been in storage for a while - like that dust. At least the car was in the south - any farther north, and it might not have survived the road salt during storage.

If that's an original right side mirror, it's rare to see. Looks like the rims are 15's - be great if they are YH's. Car looks to be fairly intact.

Cowl hood is questionable on the January cars, but it's possible. It would have been pretty early, a lot of dealers weren't aware at this point that they could be ordered.

[BULLITT65]

looks like a million bucks after some soap and water.  awesome to see them being discovered still

[kenmerr80]

I cant begin to list the cars but here are a few that caught my eye over the years.   A mid sixties corvette w the split back window and stock 427, 69 rs convertible 350, a 69 z all original with the plain hood no spoiler and factory deletes but has the all 4 discbrakes-said he would be buried in it but it hasnt been cranked in 15years he said

[kenmerr80]

Thanks

[BULLITT65]

it would be neat to see pics of those. How were you able to talk him out of that beauty that you have?

[z28z11]

Quite a find. Amazing transformation.

BTW - cowl tag looks perfect (and original). I'd stay after the guy until he parts with several more of these jewels, particularly if he has a JL8 Z with deletes of any kind.

[kenmerr80]

I will do my best to get some, his son and i were pretty good friends in our college days, many years ago i went with his son to one of these warehouses to get a air compressor, we walked in and my jaw hit the floor.  Been after this one since bc i knew what it was (thought i did at least)      Guess he got tired of me bugging him for years

[kenmerr80]

Quite a find. Amazing transformation.

BTW - cowl tag looks perfect (and original). I'd stay after the guy until he parts with several more of these jewels, particularly if he has a JL8 Z with deletes of any kind.
[/quote

Hugger orange too, with the most random garage items sitting all over it

[z28z11]

Quite a find. Amazing transformation.

BTW - cowl tag looks perfect (and original). I'd stay after the guy until he parts with several more of these jewels, particularly if he has a JL8 Z with deletes of any kind.
[/quote

Hugger orange too, with the most random garage items sitting all over it

I wish you had never mentioned Alabama and Hugger Orange Z's in the same sentence. We're in for it now - just wait until Gary reads this post -

[BULLITT65]

X2

[kenmerr80]

Thanks again for the help fellas

[BULLITT65]

I look forward to seeing your future posts about all the details on the car. What are your plans for it?

[kenmerr80]

Restoring it back as close to original factory as possible.   I am pleased to learn that the vinyl top is not original-so i can do away with that-not a fan even though some are

[69Z28-RS]

that looks more like turquoise/aqua than blue...?   In what state (of the US) did you find it?

Alabama    You wouldnt beleive the 100's of cars this guy has crammed in warehouses

I'm in Huntsville, and I once knew a Z28 that looked like that one here in town, but it disappeared long ago..  Are you in Alabama as well?

[BULLITT65]

any original paper work with the car or p.o.p.? I agree with z28z11 likely a flat hood car, I also noticed that the flapper parts were m.i.a. Going to put a flat hood on it too?

[kenmerr80]

that looks more like turquoise/aqua than blue...?   In what state (of the US) did you find it?

Alabama    You wouldnt beleive the 100's of cars this guy has crammed in warehouses

I'm in Huntsville, and I once knew a Z28 that looked like that one here in town, but it disappeared long ago..  Are you in Alabama as well?

I live in the Troy area-car came from here too.   Could have been the same

[69Z28-RS]

If you ever drive your new Z28 up near Huntsville, let me know.. and we can get together and swap war stories..

[kenmerr80]

Yes will be in the market for a flat hood eventually, flappers-i knew there was something missing!  No signs of paperwork yet, havent been brave enough to look under the seats-had to remove several rat nests from areas-gonna get a vacuum to the interior tomorrow-been focused too much on the #s, but keeping my fingers crossed some goodies are locked in the trunk(no key for it)

[kenmerr80]

If you ever drive your new Z28 up near Huntsville, let me know.. and we can get together and swap war stories..

I sure will!

[kenmerr80]

So it has taken me 11 months to change fluids, fuel lines, plugs, new points, etc to run it after over a decade.   Fired up like a brand new one!  Pulled it back into the shop to start going through things more thoroughly and listing items.  Took a valve cover off to get an id on these heads (as mentioned the previous owner informed me these were not original) and what a disappointment I found  333882 stamped on them.  From what I've always been told that these make great boat anchors haha.   Will keep updating but wanted to add life back to thread since the Z is alive again (or will this be classified as a partial Z for now)

[69Z28-RS]

a factory Z28, with it's original 302 is a 'whole Z' to most of us here..