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1970 SS454 built with 71 SS454 Trim??


Lightemup

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Hey everyone, I’m new to the family. I’m looking at a car VIN'd as a 1970 (6th digit is a 0). Owner says ownership also says it is a 1970. Here’s the thing, the bumper, headlights bezels, hood spear with ornament, rear bumper panel, taillights, trunk lock trim, and black SS panel, button door panels on the car are all 1971 features. The owner says he found documentation that has this was the last car built in 1970. Is it possible they used 1971 parts? I find it hard to believe someone would go to the effort to convert it. Another strange thing about the car is that it has a halo vinyl roof. That is the only thing on the car that says “1970”. I’m going to check if it has the numbers matching block. It does have the air compressor and black air lines, air shocks and shock protectors. I love these cars. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

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Wow, if what that owner claims can be verified, that could be one very rare and valuable first gen Monte!  However ... since it is well known that Chevy stopped building the '70 Monte Carlos with full halo roofs before July of that year, it seems doubtful.  Strange things have been known to happen "at the factory" but many of them turn out to be "at the dealer" or "in someone's garage". 

 

Let us know if it has a numbers matching block.  But, even if the block checks out, all of the '71 elements are very possibly the result of a "one off" production run from some creative person's garage.

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That is interesting. I do know of a 1971 non-SS Monte that has the SS rear trim. The owner who was at the Eastern Meet this year purchased it new and liked the look of the extra SS trim so he had the dealer install it. So it is certainly possible that after buying that 1970 SS that the owner liked some of the 1971 aspects and paid the dealer to make the swap.

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Thanks, awesome feedback. it has the leveling compressor, rear shock guards and black plastic lines. At least that’s what he told me, I’ll see it tomorrow. Do you know if the air cleaner decal was the same from 70 to 71? This one has the larger decal that is gray and white with 454 in big letters. I thought that was only used in 71. Everything on this car screams 1971 except the halo roof. I did read that the halo was only the first half of the year but also read some plants did it later as well (if they had the trim pieces). If the engine is not numbers matching and he has no documentation is there any way to tell it was built as an SS454? It also has Strato buckets with column shift, I read you could order buckets without console but without a build sheet I don’t know how you would prove that. As far as him saying it was the “last Monte” built in 1970, the last digits of the VIN are 102710. I don’t think it’s high enough.

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Henry,

 

I am not positive, but I believe the VIN numbers assigned at production were chronological unless GM assigned blocks of VIN numbers to individual plants to use as they built Montes (among other models).  Also, I don't know if Canadian built Montes got their own VIN series.

 

My '70 SS was built in Van Nuys in mid-October of '69 (relatively early build) and has a VIN of 128312 which is certainly higher numerically than his claimed "late build" VIN of 102710.  My other '70 was built in Baltimore in February of '70 and has a VIN of 156277 which somewhat supports chronological VIN numbering.  Maybe he'll claim they also started using the "new '71 series" of numbers for that '70 VIN.  Once you start pulling on someone's leg you either have to pull harder or eventually let go ...

 

Yes, Strato buckets and the console were separate options.  Although they were most commonly ordered together, we have seen several without consoles over the years and some are owned by club members.

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BTW, Henry, welcome to the club!  Guess I was so focused on your unusual find that you new member status didn't register at first.

 

This is a great group with a wide variety of knowledge, skills, experiences and opinions ... any/all of which are generously shared.  :grin: 

 

There's lot's of great info embedded in our forums so try the search function if you want to research a specific topic.  Also, check out the Tech Info section of the site if you haven't already.

 

Again, welcome!  Keep us posted on your potentially rare find.

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The grey 454 air cleaner decal was for 1971.

 

The body tag on top of the cowl on the drivers side will have the week it was built among other items. Take photos of both the VIN and body tags. We’ll be able to tell you more once we see the numbers on those tags.

 

If it was built in Canada you can request info from GM Canada to verify the options it had from the factory. The 7th digit of the vin will tell what plant it was built in.

 

I know of a few original Montes with bucket seats and no console.

 

My fear is that this car has been pieced together from seversl cars but possibly started as a 70 SS. It is not uncommon to see the wrong year parts on a Monte as the correct year parts car can sometimes be hard to find. Maybe the project started as a 70 SS in rough shape but they used a 71 donor car.

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The VIN and Halo top say 70. Everything else from what described is 71. I'm thinking like Canuck, a 70 shell was used as a done for a possible 71 SS. Keep us posted of your findings and welcome to the club!!

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Henry, Welcome to the club website boards.  We hope you like what you see here and will decide to become a full fledged dues paying member.  In reading through your posts I see you noted the 6th digit in the VIN as a "0" indicating it is a 70 but you didn't mention what the 7th digit was which will name which plant it was built in.  With that information we can compare the sequence to some of our Monte's from the same plant.  For instance, My 70 Monte has a "B" in the seventh position making it a Baltimore built car.  My car is a very late build in late June (according to the build sheet) and has a production sequence number of  (also referred to as the serial number) of 205043.  

 

Regarding the FULL HALO..  Mine has the full halo with halo extending across the front above the windshield and it is a very late production from 70 at the Baltimore Plant..  Unless our cars were painted all one color, meaning no vinyl top and not a two tone painted car, all of our Monte's had what was considered a Halo Roof which is showing a painted area between the roof gutter trim and sail panel trim and the vinyl roof trim or in the case of a Two Tone Painted car the painted area roof trim. (For a two tone painted car they used the same vinyl top trim as a vinyl roof to separate the two different colors).  The FULL Halo is referred to as the trim also extending across the front above the windshield with a painted area there too. 

 

The bottom line is, both styles are referred to as a halo roof but only the 70 had the Full Halo trim.  That said, we have not determined yet at what point any one particular plant may have stopped using the FULL HALO trim during the 70 model year.  Maybe that is something we could start a poll for our technical forum link.  The 70 was a kind of "Special Year" in that at some point it seems that some plants switched from the FULL HALO to the regular halo style used on the 71 and 72 Monte's.  It is our opinion that some of the plants, near the end of the production year, ran out of the FULL HALO trim and started installing the other kind of trim.  It also seems that some people had the dealer install a vinyl room at some point after their Monte came from the factory.  In these cases they may have ordered the 71/72 style trim and done it that way or they may have run the vinyl material all the way to the rain gutter and only use trim around the rear of the room.

 

The other thing we have not determined is when, on the 70 they quit installing the chrome trim at the bottom of the headlight bezel's.  This also was a 70 model year item.  Again, on my late build 70 from the Baltimore Plant, my 70 Monte also had this trim from the factory.  Again this is something that maybe we, as a club could take a poll to get production numbers on our members cars, based upon production number and plant to try to determine when that particular plant quit installing that trim too.  This is something that some have wrongly labeled as an early production item.

 

I hope this information has helped you for when you look at this Monte.  It sounds like an interesting Monte.  It is my honest opinion that the seller won't be able fully document his claims unless he has s build sheet.  While I agree with others that some of these items may have been dealer installed I know that back then cars could be ordered with special. 

 

I know of two different Monte's that have been special ordered (Verified by build sheets) with other than normal items.  One of them was a 70 Monte with an odd ball paint color.  In that case the owner had purchased a Pontiac Firebird in a specific color.  He ordered it because he loved the color.  Within a month of taking possession of the firebird it was stolen. (According to insurance statistics the Pontiac Firebird was one of the top stolen cars.  The buy loved the color of that Firebird so much he requested his Monte be produced in that color and the factory did it.  I saw this on the build sheet.

 

The second Monte I know of with special features is a very special car and one I would love to own.  It is a documented special ordered 71 big block 402 4-Speed Monte.  This was a Corporate Ordered Monte (COPO).  While this Monte was not an SS, it was ordered with the 71 SS blacked out area but without the SS badging in the back and it also has the 71 SS only rear bumper rubber strip.  Someday I may own this car if I can get the owner at the right time to sell it to me.  He has told me more than once he wants me to own the car but the timing has never been right when I have the money and he is willing to sell.  This is a fully documented car.

 

I am sorry for the long post but I hope it has helped you to understand that special orders back then were not uncommon.  Also with the low production number of the one he is selling I don't think it would be the last Monte ever produced.  That would be a hard claim to prove.  I am not sure about the production numbers for Canada built cars but maybe if it is a Canada built car it could have a lower sequence number than those built in the US.  Let us know what the 7th digit in the VIN is.

 

rob

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Awesome information everyone, thanks so much. Sorry, the full VIN is 138570F102710 (I’ll verify tomorrow and take a picture of the plate.) I’m thinking this car is a 1971. He sent me a copy of the rad support emissions decal to show it displayed the engine as a 454. I enlarged it on my iPad and in small print at the bottom it says “ this vehicle conforms to .......emissions....1971 model year....”. The only anomaly is the halo roof that could have easily been done during a repaint.post-24191-0-18995100-1531622509_thumb.jpegpost-24191-0-18995100-1531622509_thumb.jpeg

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The "F" in the 7th position of the VIN means it was built in the Flint, MI plant.  No one has ever found a Build Sheet in cars built there.  This owner's story is getting more fishy by the hour ...

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Welcome to the site. The letter F in the VIN for the assembly plant tells alot. Since no '71 Montes were ever built at the Flint plant, the BS flag is in the air and just inches from touching down. As was mentioned, if it had been built in Canada, the information on the car would be available. A photo of the cowl tag will be interesting to see. It's likely that that will quickly prove the guy wrong. There are a number of things, other than what you mentioned, that were different from '70 to '71. The dash lighting color, the dash knobs, dome light, possibly the color of the steering wheel and column, (depending on the interior color and if an actual SS, or not). Also, the wiring, the grille, the number of rubber hood bumpers on the fenders, the fenders, washer fluid hose routing, washer squirter location, the heater control valve location and design, and more.

 

The documents he has could be very interesting, too.

 

The VIN sequence numbers at each plant started at 100,001, so his VIN is an early '70 number, not late.

 

The load leveling air compressor and the actuating arm on the control valve will have the date codes stamped on them. There are other parts on the car with date codes, too.

 

As Rob described, if a first gen has a vinyl roof or 2 tone, the trim from the factory is called halo or full halo.

 

Dan

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So right out the gate...... No Canadian Built montes have a Letter in their Vin number. They are all numbers even the ones built and then shipped and sold out of the USA. The tool and production line stopped and changed in the 4th week of June of 1970 and Monte's being assembled after that, didnt go backwards in parts but did go forward from the last production line. Such as having 1971's in production that may have had a 1970 cigarette lighter (knob wise) installed or headlight switch (knob) installed. But they never went backwards as in all the parts you are mentioning.

 

Here is another way to look at it as well......

The 1970 Chevelle SS was the most popular year chevelle and now in collector desire the best year to have. We had customers come in to buy front and rear bumpers and grills and headlight extentions with extra headlamps and forward harness. and now your 1971 or 1972 was the popular wanted 1970.

Same for the Monte Carlo..... when it comes to production numbers and desired cars with the Strike by GM, the 1971 SS was the lowest production number SS out of the 2 years and in some sense the more desired Monte besides the whole U and W code car's in 1972 which were not out at that time only 70's and 71's. And at that time the 71ss was the one to have and the same as the Chevelle clone it over to look like a desired 1971...

 

Last give away to see the BS would be to pop the hood open and check where the fenders are bolted on at the rad support. Are the fenders completely flush or do they have the step up difference in the two bolts. The bolts to hold on the horns and hood latch on were also different with the now introduced 12 point bolts......

let us know on the bolts what they are and the fenders if flush mounted.

 

Because the 1972 is on it's own even though we have had lots of claims of a 1972SS 4spd car's being original and bought from End of the Rainbow Motor Products. If I had a Plain Jane 1972 and just my thoughts I would Clone it over to a Custom just because it's more rare...... That supports the 1970 cloned to a 1971 thoughts.....

 

I think when you read Rob's comments and Dan's, Aaron's,Dennis and Mine you should have your answer..

 

Darren

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Yep, being that this is a Flint built Monte and the sequence number being so low this seller has given some very fishy information. I don't know how much of this information was made up by him and how much of it was passed on to him from a previous owner.

 

I think we have debunked many of his claims already, especially, based upon the sequence (serial) number that it is a late production Monte with the factory installing 71 items. We love stories like this seller is telling, not because we like to prove them wrong but because we love "rare" Monte's with an interesting story. This doesn't make these Monte's more valuable but what fun to hear such an interesting story.

rob

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UPDATE !! Ok, went to see the car.....drum roll please...I bought it! The cowl tag supports the VIN as it being a 1970 built in Flint, Michigan. The power train is not numbers matching (didn’t think it would be) the last 4 digits on the block did not match the VIN. The powertrain appears to be out of a 1971, it’s a 454 with TH 400 and 12 bolt posi. It runs great, handles well and goes like a scared rabbit. It was reported to be originally from Texas, underneath is so incredibly clean. Seller says the posi is 2:56, it idles nice at 50 mph and is a little sluggish off the line so I suspect that’s true. Interior has Strato buckets, no console. It has some issues, blower fan not running, ac missing the condenser. It has power windows, all work. The fenders have the “stepped” mounting at the rad support, I think this means they are 1970? Anyway, what I bought was a nice 1970 Monte that I suspect will be hard (or impossible) to prove what it was born as. It looks to have a 1971 454SS powertrain and trim. It runs great and looks great. All this for less than the price of a basic Monte with a 350. Its not a pure bread but then again, l myself am a “mutt”. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

post-24191-0-55925200-1531676310_thumb.jpeg

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Mine is a 70 but I liked the look of the blacked out tail panel that I incorporated it into my theme. I would like a BB motor but it goes plenty good with the 350

post-1188-0-96003600-1531679805_thumb.jpeg

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under the heater box on the firewall, right below where the blower motor duct is....there is a partial VIN stamped, it will be upside-down looking at it, so if you ever have to remove the heater/AC box you can compare the dash VIN to the one stamped on the firewall

 

sadly the only way to see it is by removing the heater/AC box or maybe by removing the blower motor and using a bore scope

 

another thing to check is the steering shaft at the steering box

 

if the end plate is welded on...it's a small block steering shaft

 

if it has a retaining bolt and can be removed...it's a big block steering shaft

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Congratulations on your purchase! Looking forward to more pics.

 

What documentation did he produce to support his claim of being the last 70 built at the Flint plant?

 

Dan

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The 1970 radiator support is different than the 71/72 radiator support. 1970 fenders and headlight bezils will not bolt up to a 71/72 radiator support.

 

I also say the car in this thread is a 1970 car and received at least a complete front end swap, in addition to the rear 1971 SS badging.

 

Henry, can you give us the full stamped code off the engine block? On the protruding deck under the front or the passenger side cylinder head. It'll tell us what the engine originally came in and it's year.

post-201-0-57804200-1531702789_thumb.jpg

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