Reading 1970 Chevelle Buildsheets
Blocks 1 through 41
Broadcast
Copy sheets, commonly called 'buildsheets', are paperwork that accompanied
a vehicle as it was being assembled showing what components were to
be used during construction. These were not meant to be left in the
car once they were no longer needed at a particular workstation, but
rather collected and tossed in the trash once they served their purpose
or removed at the end of assembly by final inspectors along with anything
else that didn't belong in the car.
I can't stress this enough; it is important to note that not all plants were the same when it came to how information was included on these buildsheets. Although most of the blocks of data contain the same broadcast code (letters or numbers) for the same item from plant to plant, there are variations. Even the RPO wording in block 107 will vary from plant to plant for the same RPO and attention to these details is generally what separates an authentic buildsheet from a reproduction.
I have intentionally omitted some details about some of these differences and used an asterisk (*) character to indicate there are differences. So anytime a question is asked about a particular broadcast code, the assembly plant must be taken into consideration. All explanations and examples are based on buildsheets I have readable images of, both genuine and fake.
Atlanta and Kansas City buildsheets list origin as Lakewood and Leeds as the plants, respectively, this site still refers to them as Atlanta and Kansas City.
Any questions concerning your buildsheet can be addressed to me at . Be sure to include the assembly plant and as many specifics about the car that you know. A readable scan or photo of the buildsheet in question will also be helpful.
A typical 1970 Chevelle buildsheet for a U.S.-built Chevelle has 108 blocks of data pertaining to the assembly of the car. Not all plants used the same buildsheet form, some data blocks differ.
All broadcast codes are determined by parts overall required to build it and one option may require different supporting pieces. For example, a Chevelle equipped with A/C and/or power steering would require different brackets, pulleys, etc. from a non A/C or non power steering car.
I have NO good examples of a Flint, MI. sheet so that plant is omitted in the table below due to lack of data. The blocks are generally broken down as follows.
Where there are variations in the way data are depicted in a block, those will be shown with 'variation #1', 'variation #2', etc. Contact me for specifics and be sure to be specific about the block number and the assembly plant.
Blocks 1 through 41 -- Blocks 42 through 80 -- Blocks 81 through 123
| Block No. | Label & Information |
| 1 | JOB SEQUENCE NUMBER
~ Internal plant data processing number to track assembly. This
block can be blank (empty) or have an alphanumeric entry anywhere
from 4 to 13 characters in length. Arlington ~ variation #1 - 5-digit stamped number Atlanta ~ variation #2 - blank or 13 alpha-numberic typed characters depending on copy Baltimore ~ variation #3 - 6-digit stamped number Kansas City ~ variation #4 - 4-digit stamped number Van Nuys ~ variation #5 - 4-digit hand written number |
| 2 | DATE PRODUCED ~ (Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City) This block is usually left blank, however entries at Arlington have been noted with a 13 character alphanumeric similar in nature to the character set found on Atlanta sheets in block 1. |
| 2 | IGN KEY ~ (Van Nuys & Atlanta) Usually blank. |
| 3 | IGN KEY ~ (Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City) Usually blank. |
| 3 | COMP KEY ~ (Van Nuys & Atlanta) Usually blank. |
| 4 | COMP KEY ~ (Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City). Usually blank. |
| 4 | ENGINE NO ~ (Van Nuys & Atlanta) Usually blank. |
| 5 | ENGINE NO ~ (Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City). Usually blank. |
| 5 | TRANSMISSION NO ~ (Van Nuys & Atlanta) Usually blank. |
| 6 | AXLE NO ~ Usually blank. |
| 7 | CARB NO ~ (Van Nuys & Atlanta) Usually blank. |
| 7 | TRANSMISSION NO ~ (Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City). Usually blank. |
| 7A | DATE PRODUCED ~ (Van Nuys & Atlanta) Usually blank. |
| 7A | CARB NO ~ (Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City). Usually blank. |
| 8 | BODY NUMBER
~ Fisher Body number. Arlington ~ Top of block - Includes 'BT' plant prefix the same as the trim tag. Atlanta ~ Bottom of block - Includes 'AT' plant prefix where trim tag only indicates 'A' Baltimore ~ Bottom of block - Includes 'BB' plant prefix where trim tag only indicates 'B'. Variation #1. Kansas City ~ Bottom of block - Includes 'BK' plant prefix where trim tag indicates 'KAN'. Variation #2. Van Nuys ~ Top of block. Includes 'BL' plant prefix the same as the trim tag. |
| 9 | VEHICLE IDENT NUMBER
~ Plant vehicle sequence number. Generally centered - 6 digit
plant sequence number below series/model/year/plant character
sequence. Van Nuys ~ Bottom of block. Arlington, Baltimore, & Kansas City's 6 digit sequence number is the same font as the job sequence number found in block 1 and the same font is used by Atlanta. Van Nuys used a larger font than the other plants for the sequence number. In all cases, the series/model/year/plant character sequence (e.g., 136370A) is the same font as the remainder of data on buildsheet. Occasionally the sequence number will get printed either in block 8 or will span blocks 8 and 9 indicating this number was printed either before or after the majority of the buildsheet data. |
| 10 | SCHED NO DATE
~ The significance of the SCHED number is dependant upon the
plant; the date is the scheduled date for the car's assembly
to begin. The data are presented in one of five formats. Arlington ~ variation #1 samples 01-0257 & 05-0361 Atlanta ~ variation #2 samples 89 02-16 & 92 02-19 Baltimore ~ variation #3 samples 04 02-02 & 21 02-25 Kansas City(1) ~ variation #4 samples 08 02-11 & 09 04-14 Van Nuys(2) ~ variation #5 samples 18 09-18 & 31 03-31 |
| 11 | FRAME ~
Coded frame type (XU for coupe, XV for convertible, XT for sedan,
XX for sedan pickup, XS for Monte Carlo, etc.). There are 3
variations depending on assembly plant. Arlington & Baltimore - variation #1 Atlanta & Kansas City - variation #2 Van Nuys - variation #3 |
| 12 | STRG KNUCKLE ~ Code will vary depending on engine type and whether power steering is ordered. |
| 13 | FRT. SPRING ~ Code will vary depending on overall car weight and ride height requirements based on options. Code is shown as a double 2-letter code such as 'AQ AQ'. |
| 14 | REAR SPRING ~ Code will vary depending on overall car weight and ride height requirements based on options. Code is shown as a double 2-letter code such as 'BE BE'. |
| 15 | FRT. SHOCK ~ Code will vary depending on overall car weight and ride height requirements based on options. Code is shown as a single 2-letter code such as 'TA' except Van Nuys which includes a hyphen and a second 2-letter code. |
| 16 | REAR SHOCK ~ Code will vary depending on overall car weight and ride height requirements based on options. Code is shown as a single 2-letter code such as 'ZY' except Van Nuys which includes three hyphens. |
| 17 | STAB. BAR ~ Code will vary depending on overall car weight and ride height requirements based on options. Code is shown as a single 2-letter code such as 'OE' except Arlington & Baltimore who include a hyphen and a third letter. |
| 18 | CARB ~
Atlanta, Arlington & Kansas City - variation #1. Baltimore - variation #2. Van Nuys - variation #3. |
| 19 | PROP SHAFT ~ Representation of painted stripes on drive shaft. Most engine and transmission combinations required a different prop shaft (a.k.a. drive shaft) whether it was due to length, u-joint combinations, etc. Generally dual 2-letter codes separated by a hyphen such as 'PK-OR' except Baltimore. Many drive shafts actually have 3 stripes; it's known 396 & 454 drive shafts do with the 3rd stripe being orange. Whether orange is common to other engines isn't known and could physically identify a 396 or 454 drive shaft to the worker who would then only need to look at the two colors depicted on the buildsheet to determine the correct drive shaft. |
| 20 | EXHAUST ~ Code will vary for exhaust manifold depending on engine. Some engines at some plants have a 2-letter code and some have a 3-letter code. |
| 21 | FAN CLUTCH ~ Either a 2-letter, 3-letter, or 4 digit code depending on other options, such as 'I Z', 'V CH', or '92 10' depending on plant and/or options. |
| 22 | FAN PULLEY ~ 2-letter code depending on engine and options. |
| 23 | VAC FITTINGS ~ Single letter or 3-digit code depending on engine, options, and plant. |
| 24 | DP SEQ NUMBER (data processing sequence) ~ May consist of a 6-digit number alone, a combination of a 6-digit number and a 4-digit number, or a 6-digit number plus a 2-digit number followed by a 4-digit number and will vary depending on the plant and date. Some plants will also have part of these numbers stamped on the trim tag in varying degrees. Four variations for the use of numbers in this block. |
| 25 | MODEL ~ Consists of the 5-digit series/model number of the vehicle; such as 13637, 13667, 13680, etc. |
| 26 | TOP ~ If the vehicle is (1) two-tone, (2) convertible, or (3) is equipped with a vinyl top, a 3-letter code is used to depict the top color such as BLU for blue, BLK for black, WHT for white, GRN for green, and GLD for gold. If the car is a solid color top and bottom, the box will have 3 hyphens (---). |
| 27 | ENG (engine) ~ Contains the last two characters of the engine suffix ID code. Baltimore has a variation. |
| 28 | TRANS ~
Transmission code with variations. Arlington, Atlanta, Kansas City, & Van Nuys - variation #1 Baltimore - variation #2 |
| 29 | AXLE ~ A 2-letter code that matches suffix ID. |
| 30 | ALTER ~ A 2-letter code depending on options. |
| 31 | ALTER PULLEY ~ All examples to date have 3 hyphens as the pulley was normally part of the alternator assembly. |
| 32 | START MOTOR ~ 3-number code for appropriate starter motor assembly. |
| 33 | FUEL PUMP ~ 3-number code for appropriate fuel pump. Codes vary from plant to plant. |
| 34 | POWER STRG PULLEY ~ 2-letter code for appropriate pulley if applicable. |
| 35 | CRANK PULLEY ~ 2-letter code for appropriate pulley. |
| 36 | V BELT GROOVE 1 ~ 2-letter code for appropriate pulley as applicable. |
| 37 | V BELT GROOVE 2 ~ 2-letter code for appropriate pulley as applicable. |
| 38 | V BELT GROOVE 3 ~ 2-letter code for appropriate pulley as applicable. |
| 39 | V BELT GROOVE 4 ~ 2-letter code for appropriate pulley as applicable. Van Nuys variation. |
| 40 | AIR PUMP & PLUG ~ TCS-x (where 'x' is a number) when applicable. Numerous variations. |
| 41 | AIR PULLEY ~ Multiple variations among plants. |
Blocks 1 through 41 -- Blocks 42 through 80 -- Blocks 81 through 123
[ Back to Buildsheets ]
TRIVIA FOR THIS PAGE
The logic of some of the block information defies a rational explanation. Below are some examples.
(1) The SCHED NO DATE for Kansas City is formatted as the workday of the month, the month and date. For example 01 02-02 means the 1st work day of the calendar month (01), the month (02) and date (02); February 2, 1970 (Friday) was the first work day in February, 1970. The date 09 04-14 means April 14 (04-14) was the 9th workday of April, 1970.
(2) The SCHED NO DATE for Van Nuys is formatted as the date of the month, the month and date. For example 18 09-18 is 18th calendar day of September 18, 1969 & 31 03-31 is the 31st calendar day of March, 1970. Why the calendar date is repeated is not known.
