Rhett, how does one determine if a "6" or a "9" or an "S" is right side up or upside down? Especially when the characters are so randomly stamped as in this example? I know Buick used funky looking "9" characters that are easily determined but these stamps look rather conventional. I also noticed it appears the 6`s or 9`s are also stamped on the trans in addition to the VIN? What`s up with that? Is that typical for `70 cars? Tom
Plus the guys doing the stamping could make decisions on the spot. I have seen this before in production environments. One guy might like the upside down b and the other the 6 or 9 which are the same, depending on how you look at them.
Lol...but at least those characters are less generic, referring to the base of the "2" and the base of the "9". I`m curious now to check if they stamped a "6" into the Nailheads with the same character turned upside down; if I had to guess I think they they did! Lol... Tom Mooney
Just to show that not all 1970 Buicks had the VIN gang-stamped on the block. This is not my car but is a well-known matching numbers Stage 1 that is owned by a prominent Buick collector. It also shows the funny looking 9 being used as a 6 on this car. I worked in a car factory for a few years (Nissan) and I saw that with any operation done by hand in that high-volume production environment, their only goal is to get the product out of their workstation.
Beautiful car - I saw it in yoor shop & didn't realize it was buckets/col. but I was just a little tired when I was there.
The stamps aren’t necessarily justified evidence… 3 or more discrepancies at once kinda point in the negative direction, sure all can have various degrees of explanation, but that doesn’t make it true. Also I wonder if the same guy stamped both the engine and tranny at the assembly line? How drunk or new was he? And why didn’t he have the right tools or training? Curious . Ochams (corrected) razor simply put “ the simplest answer is usually best. All things being equal. (to keep the argument going).
All the number stamp sets I've seen come with 9 total stamps...0-8...the number 6 is meant to be also used as the 9. Earlier in this post, someone asked about the 5 on 5 wheel mounted on the right rear. What's the story on that?
The big car wheels on the rear end were just stuck on there to roll it around. Those wheels will just barely squeeze on to the 4 3/4” bolt pattern…but don’t try and tighten the nuts down. You’ll ruin the wheel.
Here are photos of the engine stamps in my '70 GS Stage 1 car. The engine in this car is completely original. It has never been out of the car and has never even had the intake manifold off. It is difficult to see in this photo, but that shift stamp is 189 with the 9 being made using the upside down "b". It also appears that the first S from the "SS" engine indicator is made from a modified 8.
This engine bay shot further validates that the power steering brackets were originally gray phosphate.
