If it was put on your car at the factory and has a

[69LM1]

Today's riddle of the day:


If it was put on your car at the factory and has a GM part number, is it original even if it was not an RPO?



Rich

[earntaz]

As been stated for many, many years -- if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck ... it must be a duck!

If it was put on your car at the factory and has a GM part number, is it original even if it was not an RPO?

IMHO -- YES!

OK -- let the debate begin ... get ready, GO!!!

But more importantly -- have a very Happy and Safe Independence Day all ... TAZ

[Day2_69Z]

An RPO not supposed to be on . ...but the factory put a GM #'ed RPO on it any how ?

Then it's OK for that Car !
. :::::''Only As STATED::::
Not an REGULAR PRODUCTION OPTION

COPO's.... special paint are just a few.....right ?

[PeteLeathersac]

Not sure what exactly you're asking but I'll say yes as RPO implies optional equipment available yet lots of non-optional GM # parts were factory installed on every car built.
Like 67-69 Camaro rear window trim...regular equipment w/ GM part #'s originally/factory installed on every car built also nothing optional available so no RPO required.
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[69LM1]

So.... The story from the original owner, Ron Terrell, is that when he worked at the Norwood plant building motors, he found out about the upcoming COPO program.

He went to the local Chevrolet dealer, Queen City, and ordered a new Camaro COPO. Back then, you were able to work your car on every station on the assembly line, and Ron did. This is probably the only COPO in existence that the original owner actually built on the assembly line.

What was common back then was when the &quot;guys&quot; knew someones car was coming down the line, Ron said things would &quot;fall&quot; onto the car. Hence this discussion.

For detail, when Ron saw the Tin Soldier for the first time in decades, his first comment was that the GM Locomotive water temperature gauge that he said &quot;fell&quot; onto the Tin Soldier on the assembly line was still on the car. The intake is obviously different, but that is the gauge.

He snagged this very gauge from the GM Locomotive division and installed it on his 427 motor that he built, at the factory while he worked there.

Just a crazy story and one that got me thinking about the question if that made this &quot;original&quot; equipment from the factory!

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

Obviously, not a COPO or RPO, but was installed on the car on the assembly line.

Just a thought on this Saturday.

Rich

[ss427copo]

YES, things happened on the line back in Norword. When I attended The Norwood Reunion two summers ago with Phil Borris's invite, the stories from the union and non-Union stories shattered many &quot;experts&quot; claims. Like the one where a worker, knowing his car was on the line, simply nodded or winked his eye and an option got installed, notwithstanding the RPO sheet. It was not the norm, but it happened!

[tom406]

This &quot;Build A Car Workshop&quot; approach was not without risks. A friend of mine who managed a Ford line in Dearborn recalled a workers car going down the line. A real basic car, didn't even have a radio. But it DID have a radio antennae for some reason. Inspectors flagged it and checked the car, finding a radio hidden inside a side panel. Owner-to-be was fired.

Of course, it did work out sometimes. Same friend of mine ordered a full size Ford in 1970 and had his friends in the engine plant tag a motor for him that had been earmarked for an exec. Instead of the basic 429 he must have ended up with a PI or CJ spec engine. He says it hauled. That's a car whose VIN would not have truly reflected its factory-installed configuration.

[69LM1]

Of course this is just an &quot;anomaly&quot; in the grand scheme of things, and more so since it was a locomotive division part that was put on an automobile.

It's really nothing more than a cool old story and just had the brain thinking about what &quot;original&quot; meant.

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

Not that Tin Solider would be going back to &quot;restored&quot; condition. That would be a crime.

Rich

[jl8z28]

The Late 69 Z 28s 11A have a 2003 distributor and have been found in the one's that have their original distributor not a480 and it is a delco and there is no listing for it what about that

[DW31S]

That stuff happened at other plants, too. I know a guy here in Maryland (actually twin brothers) who assembled Chevelles at the (now defunct) GM plant in Baltimore. He tells me how he ordered a Monaco Orange/White/White SS396 Convertible for himself and his brother. Well, mysteriously that car somehow left the line with a 427 under the hood. It also had a few more creature comforts than the build sheet reflects. Another good one is this.....while my father managed &quot;City Olds&quot; in part of 1965 (he also managed &quot;Anderson Olds&quot; in part of 1965), a certain White/Black '65 Cutlass 2dr (NOT a 442) hardtop arrived off the car carrier with a 425 engine installed. One of the line mechanics bought it and surprised many a street racer around town with it. I try telling some newcomers in our hobby about stories like these and I am greeted with a raised eyebrow and a look like they think I've lost my mind. Only old graybeards like myself understand that while not common, this kind of stuff really did happen. The locomotive gauge discussed above is way cool and if I owned that car, would stay there for life.