63 Factory Vinyl Top

[jeffs63SS]

Hello, I'm new here. Great site!!

Does anyone know what the cowl tag code is for a factory vinyl top on a 63 SS Coupe? I have been told that they didn't include a vinyl top designation in the PAINT section like they did in later years, and that it should be in the accessories section on the bottom line of the cowl tag. But no one I've talked to knows what the code was.

My car (Monaco Blue, blue guts, 327/300 4-spd) had a black vinyl top when I got it, and it appeared to be factory installed, including the nails around the front and back window chanels and under the lower C-pillar trim.

I'm doing a full frame-off, the chassis is done, and now the paint is done and I'm ready to start reassembling the car. I want to put a new top back on the car if it came with it from the factory, but not if it didn't.

Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks - Jeff

 

[Impalaguru]

I can't say for sure Jeff. I've only seen one vinyl top 63 and it was in a salvage yard in Wisconsin. I didn't check the trim tag

There is however one member here that has a factory vinyl top 63. Contact LongIsland63SS409. Mike should be able to give you some insight.

Please post your findings!! Also some pics of your car if you are able!! Monaco Blue is a great color that you don't see often enough!!

Ross

 

[mark johnson]

Yeah, they are rare. I remember in the late 70's, my father found a kind of uniquely optioned '63 broke down with a flat tire at a small motel in Springfield, MO. It was an Ermine White '63 plain Impala (non-SS) with a factory black vinyl top, 409-340 HP, 3-speed on the column. We brought it back to St. Louis and unfortunately, it was used as a parts car for a convertible. Yeah, I know, but nobody cared back then. I even have a picture of the car somewhere in this house.

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Mark,

The vinyl top option is indeed a rare option.

It is convertible material glued directly to the roof. I believe the material is called pin point?

The material does not look like vinyl tops of the late 60 or realy 70's.

I believe the 1963 factory repair manual shows how to install it.

Late Great Chevrolet of NJ documented my car several years ago. The documenation shows 3% of the Impala production had this option installed.

My car was built at the Tarrytown NY plant. Cowl tags differ from plant to plant.

Post a picture of your cowl tag.


Mike

 

[Skip FIx]

"It is convertible material glued directly to the roof. I believe the material is called pin point?"

That's what the black top on my red 64 looked like. I always wondered if someone had just added one.

 

[Impalaguru]

Mike,
Thanks for shareing your info!! I had a 64 SS several years ago that had a vinyl top added to it. It was of the material that you describe.

Also, I recently spoke with the guy that you bought your 63 from!! George Lynch. He was describing a car he sold several years ago and it rang a bell in my head and I connected it to yours. Not too many cars with your colors, vinyl top and an SS 409!

Ross

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Mike,
Thanks for shareing your info!! I had a 64 SS several years ago that had a vinyl top added to it. It was of the material that you describe.

Also, I recently spoke with the guy that you bought your 63 from!! George Lynch. He was describing a car he sold several years ago and it rang a bell in my head and I connected it to yours. Not too many cars with your colors, vinyl top and an SS 409!

Ross

What a small world!

Yes I did buy my car from George Lynch.

Did you by parts from him? I understand he has a lot of parts.

Interesting story about my car.

The car was built in Tarrytown NY and was sold in Queens NY by Reid Chevrolet.

My close friend worked at Reid Chevrolet in 1965 when the car was traded in. The woman that purchased the car said it was too big.

The car was then purchased by the partsroom's brother who lived in Rosedale Queens.

The day I went to look at the car I noticed that the car had two holes in the trunk lid. George told me that the dealer name plate was there.

Forty something years later my friend calls me up and said that he found a brand new never installed Reid Chevrolet nameplate!

The nameplate fit like a glove in the two drilled holes in the trunk lid!


Mike

 

[jeffs63SS]

The vinyl top option is indeed a rare option.

Post a picture of your cowl tag. Mike

I don't have a digital camera handy, but here's the cowl tag info:

03A
STYLE 63-1847 BODY AT17813
TRIM 843 PAINT 914
ACC. F 2LY 3Z

I know what everything means except the bottom line. I know 2L is for the 4-speed, and have read that 3Z is for metallic brakes (which makes no sense to me that Fisher body would need a code for a brake option??).

Don't know what F in group 1 means or what Y in group 2 means. If the car is a factory vinyl top car, then I would think that F was the code since it is in group 1 (which is where they put things like tinted glass, 2-tone paint, etc., that all have to do with the roof and windows).

Mike, does your car have a F in group 1 ?

The vinyl top option is indeed a rare option. It is convertible material glued directly to the roof. I believe the material is called pin point? Mike

Mike, could you possibly send me a pic of your car's top so I can see if it looks like the material that was on mine?

Thanks again for the help - Jeff

 

[jeffs63SS]

The day I went to look at the car I noticed that the car had two holes in the trunk lid. George told me that the dealer name plate was there.

Forty something years later my friend calls me up and said that he found a brand new never installed Reid Chevrolet nameplate!

The nameplate fit like a glove in the two drilled holes in the trunk lid!

Mike

I have a 65 Chevelle that has holes from a dealer name plate from Don Allen Motors in Buffalo. I have been told that it said "by Don Allen". Do you know anybody in the Buffalo area that might have one of those?

Thanks - Jeff

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Jeff,

Is there a number stamped after the 3Z?

The 3Z is for super sport.

Mike

 

[Impalaguru]

Mike,
I got a couple trim pieces from George.

That's a really cool story about your car!! The history behind these cars is really fascinating!!

Ross

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Jeff,

I am no expert on cowl tags. They differ from plant to plant.

I did however have Verne Frantz of the New Jersey Late Great Chevrolet club document my car.

Verne does an outstanding job documenting our vehicles.

I attached the link for you:

http://www.jerseylategreats.com/doc/docservice.html

When I get a chance I will take a picture of the top for you.

Mike

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Mike,
I got a couple trim pieces from George.

That's a really cool story about your car!! The history behind these cars is really fascinating!!

Ross

Ross:

George was a really nice person to deal with also.

I think he owned the car for 20 plus years before selling it to me.

I lost my father in 1996.
What was really scary is that when I was checking out the engine numbers the pad stamping is his birth date March 5th.
How cool is that! I knew right there I had to buy this car.

Mike

 

[jeffs63SS]

Jeff,

Is there a number stamped after the 3Z?

Mike

There is a 9 hand-stamped (indented instead of raised) over on the right hand side of the tag. I was told that was a designation of which body jig the body was assembled in? Is that correct?

Jeff

 

[jeffs63SS]

Ross:

I lost my father in 1996.
What was really scary is that when I was checking out the engine numbers the pad stamping is his birth date March 5th.

Mike

Now this is getting a little weird - my birth day is March 5 (1967), and if I recall correctly the pad stamp on my engine (327/300) is March 5 (1963)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Jeff

 

[k9hotrodder409]

Hey Mike, Now this is REALLY getting wierd! I sold my 425 hp 409 to George Lynch out of my aqua '63 that is shown in my album. He brought Don from Don's East Coast Restorations with him to my house to look at the motor.I think that this is the same George Lynch you bought your car from. He picked up the motor with a moving van with a lift gate the next day. I remember the truck not fitting in the garage.:eek: We wheeled the motor to the end of the garage and George asked how much I wanted for the stand. He bought it on the spot.He and his family were members of the Long Island Chevrolet Owners Association that I was president of for 16 years.Ken ( WENGINE) was the club newsletter( CLASSIC LINES ) illustrator. George is a great guy and my wife and I still get X-mas cards from him and his family each year. He had lots and lots of neat parts as did I. He always entered his cars in the "Chevy Showdown " car show at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow the club ran every August. Kenny was one of the chief judges at the show. What a small world.

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Hey Mike, Now this is REALLY getting wierd! I sold my 425 hp 409 to George Lynch out of my aqua '63 that is shown in my album. He brought Don from Don's East Coast Restorations with him to my house to look at the motor.I think that this is the same George Lynch you bought your car from. He picked up the motor with a moving van with a lift gate the next day. I remember the truck not fitting in the garage.:eek: We wheeled the motor to the end of the garage and George asked how much I wanted for the stand. He bought it on the spot.He and his family were members of the Long Island Chevrolet Owners Association that I was president of for 16 years.Ken ( WENGINE) was the club newsletter( CLASSIC LINES ) illustrator. George is a great guy and my wife and I still get X-mas cards from him and his family each year. He had lots and lots of neat parts as did I. He always entered his cars in the "Chevy Showdown " car show at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow the club ran every August. Kenny was one of the chief judges at the show. What a small world.

Butch:

It is a small world indeed.

Yes it is the same George Lynch.

He did say Don's East Coast did the resto on the car.

Very cool. Did you ever see my car in person?

Mike

 

[k9hotrodder409]

Hey Mike, SO WIERD!!! I can't remember seeing a '63 with a factory vinyl top ever. When we had the "Chevy Showdown" in August we always took pictures and the club had a video library. Kenny ( WENGINE) was a judge at the show so I'm thinking that he might have seen it . If George still had it there might be some pictures in the club archives.I have to try and find the tapes and the picture box to see if your car was lurking in the background.If you could tell me when the car became yours it may help.My wife,myself and Kenny left the club around 1990. I hear that the club is still around but not doing much.I think the membership is around 25 or so people. I can tell you that when I joined in 1978 we met in a guy's basement in Islip with 9 guys. When I left we had the membership up to 225.:eek:That is why we had the manpower to put on the car show every year. Lots of good memories with that club.

 

[LongIsland63SS409]

Pictures of the past with my car would be very cool.

I purchased the car seven years ago in April 2002.


Mike

 

[k9hotrodder409]

Hey Mike I will try to watch the "Showdown " tapes this weekend to try and see a '63 with a vinyl top. I don't have the records anymore that would tell me what cars George would have entered. The picture box is just too full to attempt to go through it this weekend ( too much going on) I will let you know what I find. Butch