ZZ code on 1969 Camaro Z/28 trim tag

[Mark_C]

If you have a metal tag designed to be read from the front and you are making an impression in it from the rear using a digit or character, you are making an exact copy of that digit or character. So all the characters in the tag machine are normal, think of the trim tag as a paper credit card receipt (back in the day) and the trim tag machine as the old credit card machine. You put your credit card under the reciept and the machine rolls across it and makes an impression of your card in the reciept. All the info transferred over to the receipt by the raised letters on your card is perfectly legible on the paper copy (or the trim tag). If you were printing from the front you would need reversed characters, like they used to use when printing newspapers. You also would need to arrange the direction of the reversed stamps so that they read right to left (ie they would be legible in a mirror).

If you are stamping number in the surface of a material that is designed to be read from the same side, you need reversed characters like those used in the egg and gang stamps, used to place the partial VINs and engine suffix codes on the firewall and engine blocks.

[Kim_Howie]

Mark, think your last part over a little bit.

[Kurt S]

That's correct Mark. Most stamps are designed to read from the same side they stamp, ie they are reversed so that they stamp a surface 'unreversed'. This is the typical stamp.

It's atypical to have a unreversed stamp like this tag was stamped with. I don't have any stamps around like that in my pile of tools....
That was my only point.

[Mark_C]

I did think it over. Heres the engine gang stamp holder used to place the partial VIN and or the engine assembly codes on these cars. Note the characters (no the image is not reversed)


I guess if you consider reversed stamp characters the ones people would have in their tool box, and "normal" character stamps would be the rare ones then it would appear unlikely someone made these Z's in their garage.

[Kim_Howie]

Never mind

[Kurt S]

I think the 'normal' stamps are rarer, but they do exist. But I doubt you can buy them at your local hardware store.

Kurt

[x44d80]

Kurt or Mark, didn't the Pacer Camaro's used the "Z" character? Was it a larger font? I wonder if it came out larger because it was hand stamped? Also, I wonder if the guy who stamped it ordered the car and wanted a one off tag? Any other tags with unusal characters in them?

[Z28DZ]

My 69 has black houndstooth and the tag reads TR X713; have no idea what the X is for if anything - error, slow day at the tag machine, etc.

[rpoz11]

On Your X713 on your trim tag, what is the date code from you tag?
Prior to this post, on the Z in the Z11 on trim tags, all that I have seen stay within the font size of the numericals on that line. The X codes Ive seen seem to move left and right of the NOR and on D80 cars, this seems to occur more often than I assumed!
Also, was looking at Stubbing's VN Pace Car and his P357 stamped on his trim tag is alike mine, where the P actually splits the N and the 3, and that continues for the 357 as well, splitting the spacing unlike most Norwood Tags Ive seen; The letter fonts and the numericals fall right under the letters above them, inline per se. Just caught my eye and I thought I'd toss this in.
And lastly, in that 67 Pace Car from LOS, that H that is up hi into the top row of beginning manufacturer's line of declaration.
I guess there must be more deviations with the strikings of these. From now on I will take more notice of this on the cars I look at!