62 Bel Air 2 dr sedan

3

394olds

Member
Help! I just bought a 62 B/A 2 dr post 409/409 and am trying to establish it's lineage. It has a QB block, 690 heads and what looks like a repro air cleaner. Generator has the large pulley but it goes down hill from here. Trans is a Muncie. Steering column is black and wheel is black on a car with an original red interior - go figure. Car is low mileage - 62K showing. Has headers - yech!

How can I build a case pro or con as to what this beast was when built. The VIN decodes to a B/A 2-dr V-8 car. The fuel line is under the pass A-frame and is 3/8. Help!
 
Tom Kochtanek

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 13
Nice acquisition!

Welcome to the Board, and congrats on your new acquisition! I hope it turns out to be everything you expected.

The main components you want to check will be those engine parts that are specific to the 1962 build. The block should have a casting number ending in "068". Next up is the suffix code located on the front passenger side pad on that block. It should have a capital "T" for "Tonowanda" and then a series of numerics that hopefully will correspond to the sequence number on your VIN tag (that tag is the one located in the door jamb of the driver's side door).

The cowl tag on your firewall can tell you a bit about the vehicle, where it was made, what colorsfor the exterior and interior, and some accessory codes. The latter are harder to pinpoint, and may vary from plant to plant. Verne Frantz is the wizard in this area, you might contact him when you run into detailed questions. He lurks here as well :). He also maintains a "registry" of these X frame cars, and you can submit the details of what you know to him on a form so he can add that to his growing database. GM did not keep such records, so they need to be reconstructed from existing vehicles that are know or determined to be factory original.

That same cowl tag carries a body style, factory designation, and sequence number that can help you determine within a few days when your car was assembled. Any components on say, the engine, should have been made before that assembly date. Often the block and heads and other parts carry date codes that you can verify and compare to that "born on date".

It sounds like you are heading towards making this a "factory correct" or "period correct" vehicle, and if so you will need to document as many parts as possible. Things like the trans and such can be found (but probably not your original tranny) that might be considered "period correct" and you can put these back as replacements, if so desired.

There are other considerations, like ballast resistors, tachometers, and so forth that are clear indications of 1962 builds. Others can surely list these, as we have discussed this often (with some degree of agreement/disagreemnt!). I suspect someone can point you to previous discussions that have attempted to cover such topics.

Good luck with your sleuthing, I hope you turn up satisfactory results!

Cheers,
TomK
 
3

394olds

Member
exhaust manifolds

Thanks Tom. I discovered this car was originally black - it is now ermine white. It has headers which will leave the vehicle as fast as I can get them off the car!
Are the reproduction exhaust manifolds indistinguishable from the factory pieces?

You mentioned that the ballast resistor can be a discriminator on these factory cars. Where was it mounted and what indicates an original build?

I'll check the 068 block and rear end code today.

The car came out of central PA and was a Flint build car.

Thanks for your help. Any other ideas? Have a good 409 day!
 
3

394olds

Member
mystery B/A 409

Thanks Tom for the link. It is very helpful. I checked my block today and it is a 068 block - good news. I also examined the hole for the shifter and found it to be a very smooth professional cut with a 3/8 to 1/2 inch radius in the corners - again very smooth. Fuel line is definately under the pass A-frame - as I understand the link it - this means the car was a dual exhaust car at a minimum - correct?

Thanks for the help. Where in the site should I continue my questions or is this OK here?

Good day - "Newbie 409 guy"
 
Tom Kochtanek

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 13
Ask away!

This is as good a place as any to ask questions. Glad to hear that you've got a '62 block. Next you can check the heads, rear end, big parts like that. Hope those check out as well :).

Does yours have a tach? We had a interesting discussion a while back about factory tachs on 62s. All 62 409 cars had the four speed and I'm certain had dual exhausts.

Best,
TomK
 
jim_ss409

jim_ss409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I don't think any body's making 1962 style, 409 exhaust manifolds. I know Showcars and Phil Read have the 63-64 style 409 manifolds. They're more like shorty headers, but they're cast iron of course. Here's a link to the Jersey Late Great Chevy Clubs vehicle documenting service. If you read the page you'll see they know many of the accessory codes, they might be able to tell you more about the way your car left the factory.:dunno The guy that does the decoding is a big W engine fan.:cheers http://www.jerseylategreats.com/doc/docservice.html
 
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