OK, I have been asked to decode one of these and the Info I need to do this is too much to write in a PM or e-mail, therefore I am putting it here. The 80 Column Punch cards are location smart. I developed a key that I can use to decode them, but in order to use it, the sheets need to be full size and not scaled up or down in size. The easiest way to make the "punches" easily visible is to put a black piece of paper behind the card and then photo-copy it. That way the punches show up as black rectangles on the light colored card. I will also include all the other info I require below. This will make it a lot easier to decode for me and will minimize any phone calls I might need to make to qualify information. The cost for decoding one of these is $35.00 What you will receive back (Via Snail Mail) is a list of the codes along with the decoded information in an easy to read format. Disclaimer: I decode only Original Build Sheets. This does not mean your car was built in accordance with these sheets, I have found errors in the past. Also I will not create a Build Sheet for a car, so don’t even ask. Items NEEDED to be included with the order. (Via Snail Mail Only) 1. Full Name 2. Address 3. Phone # (With times to call, in case I need to ask a few questions.) 4. Fax # and/or E-Mail Address (If applicable) 5. Paper copy (Not Original) of Original Build Sheet (Cleanest Untouched Paper Copy) with the punches highlighted as stated above. (Fax and/or e-mail copies are often too hard to read) (Clean e-mail copies can be sent in addition to the paper copies if available.) 6. If needed a Second copy, with the codes “Inked in” to make them more legible. 7. Full Vehicle Identification Number 8. All information from the Fisher ID Plate on the firewall 9. Check made out to: Duane Heckman 120 President Ave. Rutledge, Pa. 19070 Tel # (610)-544-8252 (after 7:30 PM eastern) Below is a pic of one one these cards with the black paper behind it to show off the punches. Thank you. Duane
The nice thing about this type of build sheet is that I can decode even oil soaked sheets with no writing on them. I had to do that for a customer, and was able to document his car as a Stage 1. Duane
...if you're not an IBM 80-Column Punched Card Character Code geek, definitely worth cost, especially considering Duane decodes all that data for you. Most confusing thing about Glove Box Copy is that printed info at top doesn't align with punches (printing is 60 columns, punches 80 columns), and printed VIN is in different order than punched. Interesting tidbit: "DATE PRODUCED" is only printed on card, not punched. Another tidbit, for IBM punch code geeks only: Early IBM coding had 39 characters (A thru Z, 0 thru 9, and 3 special characters & - /). Buick card only used letters and numbers, but forward slash special character punch code falls between letters "R" and "S," making letter "S" punches "0" and "2" not "0" and "1" as one might expect next letter in punch sequence to be...
Yeah, Mark Macoubrie helped me decode the IBM cards. He got me most of the way there and then I figured out the last few pieces. After that I developed the “key”. The various “Build Sheets” use different coding systems. The GMAD Broadcast sheets (like you see on the Chevy’s) uses UPC Option codes and the parts are usually coded with the last 3 numbers of the part number, or by a color code. The Flint Build Sheets use what they call a Manufacturers code and it is specific to those sheets. There were no keys available for those codes, so it took years of cross referencing known cars vs their sheets to figure everything out. I did the same type of thing to figure out the parts codes on the GMAD sheets. What I found out was interesting. Some of the plants used colors to designate the parts while others used partial part numbers. It gave me an insight as to how the different plants were set up. All in all it was interesting to figure out what the codes stood for on the sheets. Many times I had to look at the codes on the cars to figure out what the sheets were referencing, especially regarding the Fisher Body sheets. Every one was a quiz. Duane
