Chassis Broadcast Sheet

[jdv69z]

So I know finding the body broadcast sheet in a 69 Norwood built Camaro is very rare. How often do chassis broadcast sheets turn up? It seems like these would never have been in the car since they traveled with the chassis assembly. Only one I have seen a copy of is ZL-1 #2. Does the CRG group have many of these?

[william]

Quoting from John Z's excellent article about 1st Gen Camaro assembly:

By the time the car got to the Final Line there were Broadcast Copies all over it, under it, and inside it, as all the various feeder lines used them too. Each installation point for conveyor-delivered components had a trash barrel to pitch the copy that came taped to the subassembly, and there were several at the end of the Final Line.

I have been involved with 1st Gens going on 42 years. Maybe I have seen a couple dozen Norwood Broadcast Copies in that time; Kurt has more experience with them. I have a real one [not a copy] that was in the folder with other paperwork from the cars' delivery. Sometimes they were retained during new car prep, most often discarded. They were generated by Chevrolet when the assembled body was in queue for release to final assembly. As received, about 90% of the interior was installed by Fisher Body; no need to remove trim panels or look inside the seats.

http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml

[BULLITT65]

I have seen about a dozen or so 69 norwood cars on ebay over the years with the broadcast sheet. I have often wondered where these were found on the car. I have heard inside door panels, under the rear seat, under the carpet, and in the headliner. Maybe it could have been in all those areas, if it was just floating around at that point.

[jdv69z]

Wouldn't those typically be the body broadcast sheet, as opposed to the chassis sheet? I can see assembly lines workers using the body broadcast sheets inside the car, but wouldn't the chassis broadcast sheets be with the chassis assembly prior to the body/chassis marriage? And if left at all, be located somewhere on the chassis outside the car?

[william]

I have heard inside door panels, under the rear seat, under the carpet, and in the headliner. Maybe it could have been in all those areas, if it was just floating around at that point.

Mostly BS. Broadcast Copies did not exist when Fisher Body was installing the interior. Fisher did not install the front carpeting so the possibility exists one could have been left there. Have yet to hear of one though.

Fisher had its own docs and although very rare, they have turned up inside headliners and under carpeting.

[william]

Wouldn't those typically be the body broadcast sheet, as opposed to the chassis sheet? I can see assembly lines workers using the body broadcast sheets inside the car, but wouldn't the chassis broadcast sheets be with the chassis assembly prior to the body/chassis marriage? And if left at all, be located somewhere on the chassis outside the car?

From John Zs article:

The "Broadcast Copy" (often called the "build sheet" today) included the sequence number, VIN, identification number, dealer code, order number, and selection codes for virtually every part that went on that car. There were two types of Broadcast Copies: the Body Broadcast Copy (BBC) was used on the Trim Line and Final Line, and the Chassis Broadcast Copy (CBC) was used on the Engine Dress, Chassis, and post-marriage overhead Chassis Line. There was some level of duplication on both Broadcast Copies, which were standard Chevrolet forms used in most Chevrolet plants.

The workers at Norwood were very good at removing and discarding Broadcast Copies.

[BULLITT65]

Ok so you obviously have seen a lot more docs found. Where does the broadcast copy tend to be located on a norwood car if at all?
Where are some of popular spots to locate any docs fisher/chevrolet on a car you suspect has never been torn apart?
thanks

[william]

Wrong impression. It is very rare to find production documentation in a Norwood car. Back in the '80s I probably dismantled a few dozen and never found anything. The Gibb ZL1 BCs exist because they were left inside the car and he saved them. Apparently that was common but most dealers discarded them during prep.

I had a 1970 Chevelle fairly new; there were BCs in the seat springs and stuck inside the front fenders. I suspect that is where these rumors come from but they do not apply to Norwood Camaros.

[68camaroz28]

Thanks Bill for some excellent information.
I'd like to share what we found in our Nova where many build sheets were commonly found. Our son's L34 Nova was restored and what was found was actually two build sheets. We believe by the last digit of the build it might have been two cars prior and had very few options but there we had it, our Nova build sheet along with another cars. They were tucked in the bottom of the back seat and the top one is son's car and the bottom car is a red with black std. bench. Note the sequence # 226 vs ??4, hence the thinking it might have been two cars before.

[z28z11]

I also owned a '70 LS5 Chevelle up until 2011 - during my attempt to sell it on eBay, some kind enthusiast let me know that Atlanta built Chevelles like mine had the broadcast copy glued to the back of the door panel (the only place I had not looked for it). To my very great relief, the copy was right there, absolutely perfect condition, glued very firmly to the door panel, with every last detail including the shipping info, dealer code, dealer and LS5 documentation that I needed to prove out the car: the dream of all of our collective Norwood production fellow Camaro owners. Although I have the dealer invoices on two of my Camaros (luckily the '68 Z is one of those two), I wish all of them had the BC's as well.

Keep on looking -

Steve

[JKZ27]

I found one under the back seat of a 1968 LOS Firebird that I had. Not that uncommon for LOS, I believe. I also found one in my Norwood built 1979 Z28 but I guess a lot changes in a plant in 10 years.
I still see them in new Buicks and GMCs taped to the seat or in the trunk and they go in the trash.

[z28z11]

I bought an '85 Z new, had one tucked up under the driver's seat springs. Still have it, but it's very different from the early ones. At least it lent some credence to the "under the seat" theories -

Steve

[KurtS]

It is very rare to find production documentation in a Norwood car. The Gibb ZL1 BCs exist because they were left inside the car and he saved them. Apparently that was common but most dealers discarded them during prep.

Agreed. Very low chance that docs are in the car waiting to be found (except 69 LOS cars).
Dealers either discarded the copies in the car or put them in the dealership's new car file.

[stovebolt]

In 1972 I bought a brand new Buick Skylark coupe. While on the lift for it's first oil change, I walked around the car checking out the chassis and found the broadcast sheet tucked in a frame slot just in front on the rear bumper. Of course, nobody cared back then.

[william]

Heard that the Corvette plant puts a build sheet in a bag and tucks it into the frame somewhere.