Author Topic: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215  (Read 8747 times)

KurtS

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Re: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215
« Reply #15 on: May 06, 2017, 03:18:12 AM »
I've never seen repairs noted like that. Maybe a little paint mark......

Whatever it was for, it wasn't common.  The stamp doesn't fit in the area very well. And that's paint, not ink. The paint stays around a lot longer and yet noone has seen it before...
Kurt S
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bertfam

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Re: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215
« Reply #16 on: May 06, 2017, 03:19:31 PM »
Well, I contacted Lars Grimsrud about this and here's his reply. (He gave me permission to post his reply but only if I added that "This is only an educated opinion on my part since I have no factual information to back it up".)

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I've rebuilt over 700 of these carbs, and many of them have been original, untouched carbs. I've never seen a red "R" on any carb, and I agree with your comment that there is no way that it's a pick code for the assembly line worker to install a "Rochester" carb.  They wouldn't have cared, since the Rochester and Carter built carbs were used interchangeably. I've never seen a true Rochester carb with an "R" code.  It's more likely that it's an inspection stamp or an indication that the carb may have been "reworked" after some issue was found on the line.

As for MY opinion, when I worked at Oak Systems in the late 1970's, early 1980's manufacturing cable TV converter boxes, we did something similar. If a box failed the final test, it was reworked, tested and then shipped if it passed the tests. The technician that reworked the box, stamped their inspection stamp on the bottom of the box and it was noted in the boxes history sheet that it failed the initial test and had to be reworked. We kept history sheets on every box made in case it came back for warranty replacement. This gave us a way to track problems.

I believe that your carburetor failed a test at the Rochester plant, had to be reworked, then re-tested and finally shipped to one of the vehicle assembly plants. At some point during the rework/final testing phase, it was stamped with the red R to indicate it had been reworked. Kurt has stated that it's paint and not ink, and it DOES look like the PTB ink stamps Norwood used on the firewall, so he's probably right. Either way, it's rare!

I also contend that the strange code stamped on the base plate is an indicator that the base plate itself was replaced. (This also explains why there's no date stamped on it.) The code is probably the reworker's stamp or perhaps an inspection stamp.

Again, this is only MY opinion but Lars did agree that it made sense. But without a LOT more carbs showing up with a red R, and/or that funky stamp on the base plate, we may never know for sure.

By the way, if you're not familiar with Lars, do a Google search and you'll find he's probably (in my opinion), THE leading authority on the Rochester Q-jet! He even has a WIKI PAGE!!

Ed

HawkX66

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Re: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215
« Reply #17 on: May 06, 2017, 03:40:42 PM »
Thanks Ed. I have definitely heard of Lars ,but I'm surprised to see him say he's never seen one with the R. We've been talking about this over on Yenko.net also. Check out this link. There are pics of several original qjets with the same stamp. Your theory about being reworked is very plausible IMO. I've worked on several electronics assembly lines when I was young. Whistler was one. We wouldn't scrap a unit if it just needed to be recalibrated or something.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=793522&highlight=ink+stamp

http://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1352046#post1352046
Dave
69 SS396 X66 L34 M21 BS
Z23 711 U17 Hugger Orange
Semper Fi!

bcmiller

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Re: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215
« Reply #18 on: May 06, 2017, 04:46:17 PM »
I have never seen a red R like that before. I have dozens of 67-74 Quadrajets. I have had hundreds in my hands and seen with my own eyes.

There is a carb restorer from Denver that I see once in a while. If I remember I will ask him in June.
Bryon / 1968 Camaro SS 396 coupe - now old school 468 big block
1967 Camaro RS/SS 396 coupe L35/M40 - 4 generation family project
Looking for 68 Camaro with body # NOR 181016

bertfam

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Re: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215
« Reply #19 on: May 06, 2017, 05:04:06 PM »
I can't comment on other divisions since I know very little about what was done over there, but from the posts it seems like it was more common to see the R on RAM air cars!! I don't buy the "prototype" theory though. I still believe it's probably something to do with reworking a carb that failed final QA.

But again, these are all just theories and until we find some kind of documentation stating what it is, it's all just guessing.

Ed

HawkX66

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Re: BB 69 396 L34 Carb 7029215
« Reply #20 on: May 06, 2017, 08:05:37 PM »
I can't comment on other divisions since I know very little about what was done over there, but from the posts it seems like it was more common to see the R on RAM air cars!! I don't buy the "prototype" theory though. I still believe it's probably something to do with reworking a carb that failed final QA.

But again, these are all just theories and until we find some kind of documentation stating what it is, it's all just guessing.

Ed

Agreed on all accounts. After seeing the pics of all the ones with the date stamped and on production cars, the prototype theory I'd have to say is busted for sure. I'm just glad to see it's not just on my carb like it might have been done by an a/m rebuilder or something. I'd still like to dig some more and see what turns up.
Dave
69 SS396 X66 L34 M21 BS
Z23 711 U17 Hugger Orange
Semper Fi!