MCfan Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 When I removed the back cover of my passenger's bucket seat today, I was pleasantly surprised to find an original Build Sheet for my 1970 402/M20 Monte! It was folded and hog-ringed to the frame along with the original seat back upholstery and a section was literally "glued" to the seat frame by something sticky (probably spilled Coke). After some careful extraction, it turned out to be 98% complete (upper left corner is missing). Used the wife's steam iron to flatten out the wrinkles and tears and found that only two hand-stamped digits were missing. It is far more complete and readable than the poor copy of a wadded up Build Sheet that a former owner had found stuffed in the rear seat springs. Both clearly show the LS3, M20, G80 and G94 RPOs that verify the drive train but the new one shows a lot of additional information that was unreadable on the first one found. Fortunately the two digits missing from the new Build Sheet are clearly shown on the other one, so I now have all of the data that was used to build this car. Now I can get back to my original project which was to understand how the bucket seat back latches work and how they might be operated with a solenoid that was energized by opening the door. If anyone has a photo or any information on the factory power seat back locks, I would sure be interested. BTW, it is relatively simple to remove the back cover of a bucket seat. Lay the seat forward, remove the three screws along the bottom edge, press a putty knife into either side of the manual release button housing in the upper seat back and pop it out. Finally, remove the two screws that are under that housing and lift the seat back up and off the two retaining brackets at the top of the seat back. Good luck to anyone who goes searching for a Build Sheet in the seat back - I hope you find one, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripleydale Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Beautiful build sheet for a sweet car. Congrats on the find Dennis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Nice find indeed! Gotta love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heff Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Congrats on the find Dennis, has to be a great feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black07ss Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 That is so cool Dennis!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I know that feeling, congrats Dennis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Awesome Dennis, such a simple thrill We are so happy to find a 40+ year old piece of ripped up faded paper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71 MONTE 4 YA Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Congrats on the find!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71MonteCarloMD Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Dennis, I know how it feel as I found mine last week under rear seat, but was only able to save 2/3 of it Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VE3HZZ Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Hey now you can sell it on e-bay as an original build sheet with PHOTO documented PROOF of authenticity Great find, thanks for sharing. Does this mean your car is now worth THOUSANDS MORE Good fortune smiles on you this day indeed...congrats. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I found one in the bottom portion of the rear seat in my 70 Monte that is also hog ringed into place. I have left it in the seat for now intil I recover the seats in the future. I already have a decent build sheet intact for the 70 Monte so I'm not in any rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddiddle Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Cool find Dennis. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Nice find, I found one behind the cardboard in the front seat back. Mine is a bench seat. But it was in great shape you can see all the info too, I have it in a frame now. Its amazing how finding a peice of paper excites us. It is a sickness But one im proud to say I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70mcarlo Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Great find! Congrats Dennis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Nice find!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overdrive Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Congratulations on finding the sheet! That's always a good find. The one in the seat back of of my SS was for a different car with matching interior. Luckily, I found the correct one inside the upholstery of the rear seat. I've always found it very interesting how the factory operations went. The factory trim shops had their own build sheet copies to use as they covered seats. They obviously had workers covering rear seats while others were doing fronts, as many have found sheets in both the front and rear seats. I've noticed also that it's not uncommon for a car to have a sheet for a different car. Both of our cars are that way, and I've read a number of times where others have found the same. So far, every time I've seen or read about this happening, the non-matching sheet was in or under a seat, and not somewhere else in the car. I believe the seats were assembled and set aside with others that may or may not have been identical, to wait for the car to come along on the line. The workers would then install the closest seats available. Sometimes the chosen seat had the right sheet inside, sometimes not. This would explain how my car had a different sheet. Before I bought my SS, the previous owner had only found the non-matching sheet inside the bucket seat back rest. She posted a question about where else to search in the car on this site. Someone replied that since the car had the wrong sheet, the car had had the seats changed years after assembly, but this is not the case. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCfan Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 So far, every time I've seen or read about this happening, the non-matching sheet was in or under a seat, and not somewhere else in the car. I believe the seats were assembled and set aside with others that may or may not have been identical, to wait for the car to come along on the line. The workers would then install the closest seats available. Sometimes the chosen seat had the right sheet inside, sometimes not. This would explain how my car had a different sheet. Your suggestion makes a lot of sense, Dan. That may be exactly why the SS car that Troy recently found had a non VIN-matching build sheet because the interiors were identical and there were only 35 VIN numbers separating them. This assumes the non-matching build sheet was found in one of the seats, of course. The assembly line worker may have grabbed the first seat that looked right without checking which VIN it was actually built for. Although, it's hard to imagine a dedicated, highly paid, card-carrying American Auto Worker doing something like that ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overdrive Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 They didn't have any idea which build sheet was inside the seats and didn't care. The build sheets were to be thrown away, but some workers found it easier to leave them in the cars. Aren't we glad they did? By the way, I'm an A member of the IBEW. I carry a card. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCfan Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 The build sheets were to be thrown away, but some workers found it easier to leave them in the cars. Aren't we glad they did? Yep ... especially if they match the VIN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Congrats Dennis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans '70 Z20 Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 When I removed the back cover of my passenger's bucket seat today, I was pleasantly surprised to find an original Build Sheet for my 1970 402/M20 Monte! It was folded and hog-ringed to the frame along with the original seat back upholstery and a section was literally "glued" to the seat frame by something sticky (probably spilled Coke). After some careful extraction, it turned out to be 98% complete (upper left corner is missing). Used the wife's steam iron to flatten out the wrinkles and tears and found that only two hand-stamped digits were missing. It is far more complete and readable than the poor copy of a wadded up Build Sheet that a former owner had found stuffed in the rear seat springs. Both clearly show the LS3, M20, G80 and G94 RPOs that verify the drive train but the new one shows a lot of additional information that was unreadable on the first one found. Fortunately the two digits missing from the new Build Sheet are clearly shown on the other one, so I now have all of the data that was used to build this car. Now I can get back to my original project which was to understand how the bucket seat back latches work and how they might be operated with a solenoid that was energized by opening the door. If anyone has a photo or any information on the factory power seat back locks, I would sure be interested. BTW, it is relatively simple to remove the back cover of a bucket seat. Lay the seat forward, remove the three screws along the bottom edge, press a putty knife into either side of the manual release button housing in the upper seat back and pop it out. Finally, remove the two screws that are under that housing and lift the seat back up and off the two retaining brackets at the top of the seat back. Good luck to anyone who goes searching for a Build Sheet in the seat back - I hope you find one, too! Be sure to go to a craft store like "Michaels" and get yourself some acid free clear protective pages. Like the scrap booking guys use. This will prevent further deteriation of your build sheet in the years to come. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Nice find. In good shape too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its Just Me Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Sweet...and congrats. I found mine today too...going to post photos in the SS454 forum now. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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