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Even though Fisher Body was originally a separate
company and made bodies for not only GM but Ford, Studebaker, Hudson
and others. GM purchased a 3/5ths interest in the company in 1919 and
purchased the remaining stock in 1926. Fisher Body Division usually
occupied the same property as the final assembly plant. The body shells
were painted and the majority of the interior installed before the bodies
were "delivered" to the final assembly plant.
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While there is an ongoing debate as to the
meaning of the series/model number on the body plate, consensus is it
is meant to be the trim level being assigned and not a designation between
6-cylinder and 8-cylinder engine to be installed. The bodies were built
on a separate assembly line and the Fisher Body plant did not care if
the car was to have a 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder engine as there was nothing
during their assembly process that required a distinction. This means
a Fisher Body plate with a series/model of 13411 does not mean the car
came with an 8-cylinder engine just because the third digit (4 in this
case) is an even number.
I have numerous 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1967 Chevelle and/or El Camino
models where the first 5 digits of the VIN do not match the series/model
on the body plate; meaning the body plate may show 66-13211 as a 1966
V8 300 2-Door Sedan and the VIN has 13111 meaning a 6-cylinder 300 2-Door
Sedan. There are several examples shown in the Atlanta Body Plate area,
the Fremont Body Plate area, and the Baltimore Body Plate area. There
are also several examples of body plates with the third digit being
an odd number.
Exactly why some Fisher Body plates had an even or odd series designation,
and is not consistent, is not known. Naturally the 13817 and 13867 series/model
body plates would be exempt from this anomaly since these two designate
the SS396 series.
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The links on the left will display various
Fisher Body Number plates from those final assembly plants. As you will
discover the various plants presented basically the same general information
but each plant was still unique in the presentation (or lack) of other
information. Neither Atlanta nor Framingham assembled the El Camino.
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The trim tag date is when the body shell was welded together at
Fisher Body, not when the body finally got to Chevrolet and went
through final assembly. Typically it took 2 days (4 shifts) to go
through the Fisher Body process and another 1-1/2 day (3 shifts) for
the final assembly process.
High-work content options/styles weren't "batched", as it
unbalanced the main assembly line (like running two or three
convertibles in a row on the Fisher side or many A/C's or bucket
seat/console
jobs in a row on the Chevrolet side); that's why there was a
schedule bank between the Fisher side of the plant and the Chevrolet
side, so the high-work content stuff could be scheduled to the main
line at predictable intervals so individual line operations didn't
get over-cycled. You also need to consider whether the car was built at a
traditional Fisher Body/Chevrolet plant (where each plant was
separate, and they were operated by two different GM Divisions), or
whether the car was built at a GMAD (GM Assembly Division) plant.
GMAD plants were operated by one Division, and their
operations/processes were integrated based on what made sense for
the assembly process, not by whether the parts and tooling were
released by Fisher Body or by Chevrolet. GMAD plants had total
control of the assembly process and production scheduling from the
first welding fixture in the Body Shop to the roll-test machines,
and had much more flexibility in how production was scheduled and
tracked; they operated differently (and more efficiently) than the
Fisher Body/Chevrolet plants. There is no absolute relationship between the
trim tag and the
calendar. The build date was for Fisher's use and they changed the
date at their discretion. A week is a generally a week in the body code, you just can't
say that the "A" week started on the 1st of the month, or the "E" (or
"D")
week ended on the 30th of the month. Generally the "A" week of the month is the first FULL calendar
week of a month. For example if the month ended on a Tuesday, then
that whole "assembly" week was part of the previous month even
though there was only one calendar day in that month. There are
exceptions to that statement and differences from one assembly plant
to another so it’s not really worth worrying about. Using the VIN
numbers is a much better way of
determining when in a month a particular car was built.
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The Fisher Body number is sequential for the
particular series/model. That is, a 13817 SS396 2-Door Sport Coupe built
the 4th week of July, 1966 would have a higher body number than a similar
13817 SS396 2-Door Sport Coupe built the 3rd week of July. However,
both 13817 SS396 2-Door Sport Coupes would have a lower body number
than a 13617 Malibu 2-Door Sport Coupe built in March of 1966. Why?
Simply because more 13617 Malibu models were built than 13817 SS396
models for 1966.
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The Fisher Body number has absolutely nothing
to do with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or engine type installed
in the car. The VIN was one of the last items assigned to a vehicle
as it rolled off the plant's assembly line and all Chevelle models were
numbered sequentially from that plant regardless of model or series.
See the VIN section for more information.
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As far as I know, Fisher Body number plates
are not required by law in any state and have been known to be swapped
or reproduced to verify a "numbers matching" car. Always look
for the VIN plate if you are in doubt. If the VIN plate has been changed,
that is a violation of the law and you should stay away from that car.
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September of the previous calendar year was
generally when new models were released. This meant a plant shutdown
during August for retooling. The earliest Fisher Body number plate I
have is the third week of August, 1965 and the latest is the second
week of July, 1966.
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El Camino Fisher Body Plates are found in the
El Camino Specific section.
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1966 Chevelle/El
Camino Production Year Calendar
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Body assembly dates are shown on the tag as
a 1- or 2-digit number and a letter for month and week. Because some
month's weeks are only 1 or 2 days in some cases the following is assumed
for the days in the week. Week "A" are dates 1-7, "B" are dates 8-14,
"C" are dates 15-21, "D" are dates 22-28, "E" are dates 29-31.
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