[Nova Research Project]

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Where would I find a chassis sheet in this car ?? Or did it hit the garbage can after it was built at the factory ?? Thanks for the input.

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If it was not in the glove box then you probably will not find it.

This applies to 3rd gen Novas.

There are build sheets and there are build sheets. What I mean is that the build sheet that most people find before 71-72 model year was the Fisher Body build sheets [The FB UOIT sheet (Uniform Option Identification Tag) sheets as JohnZ said above]. The GM build sheets were called Broadcast Sheets. The Fisher Body build sheets were probably called broadcast sheets too. Only us enthusiasts call them build sheets.

The one in the seats was used on the Fisher Body side of the factory. This sheet was printed at the seat sub assembly area. They would pull a sheet off of the printer and build the seat according to the trim code box on the sheet. The trim tag was tucked in to the seat springs to identify the seats after they were taken to the line. They were loaded on racks according to SEQuence number. The Sequence number was a daily run order the cars were in as they set on the line. If the car was still on the line at the end of the day that was OK. The sequence numbers were big enough to allow that. The sequence number was reset each morning.

The Fisher Body line worker would have the cars running down the line. He would look at the sequence number crayoned on the body or the similar build sheet taped to the front of the firewall. He would grab the seat that matched the sequence number. Now, if the rack had all or several of the same trim type seats, the worker would not always grab the exact seat by sequence number. More than likely he just looked at the door panels and grabbed the seat the same trim type as the door panels. That is why it is common to find a Fisher Body sheet with the wrong body number.

This paper style Fisher Body sheet was replaced by the punch card style. This happened as Fisher Body was absorbed into General Motors Assembly Division in the 71-72 time frame. Build sheets used after the consolidation were a combined version of the Fisher Body and the two GM build sheets.

The GM build sheets were called Broadcast Sheets. There were Body Broadcast Sheets and Chassis Broadcast Sheets. There are very few know copies of the GM Broadcast sheet used before the consolidation. Lanny Weatherford has one that he displays with his original car. See the May 1996 Edition of Nova Times. After 1972 the Broadcast sheet changed to the black and white landscape 8.5 x 11 sheets. I have seen several of these with cars posted on ebay.

Fisher Body sheets were used by the trim guys. So the sheet could be found under or behind any of the trim pieces. I.e. behind the door panels, the carpet, the head liner, the package tray, the dash pad. Even under the tar paper floor sound deadener. The likelihood of finding this tag under the car or in the engine compartment is very slim. The very fact that they were in the interior and protected is why they have survived.

The RPO codes listed on the sheet are Only the codes that Fisher Body needed to build the body part of the car. They did not list every code the car had. It also listed the codes necessary to get the job done. If you ordered a console and a standard 3 speed. It would only list D55. If you did not have the console it would only list M20. It would not list anything that GM installed which did not need Fisher Body to prep the body. In 1970 it did not even list the engine RPO. Starting in 1970 they did not even list the Engine RPO any longer.

The gas tank was a common place to place the GM broadcast sheets on FULL FRAME cars. This was a ready place to look to see what the chassis needed before it was mounted on the body. So when the LOS plant added the Nova to the other cars they were making, they still continued to tape them to the gas tank. If you have a 71+ LOS car then look there.

Just a reminder The Nova Research Project is seeking copies of any and all broadcast sheets, shipper copies, window sticker, and POP that you find in addition to the Trim tag and VIN information.

Thanks,
Greg