Chevelle Restoration and Authenticity Guide 1970-1972. Dale McIntosh
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1970 and 1971 in regard to the 454-ci engine being SS-specific, but nothing in the 1970 or 1971 VIN indicates which original engine was installed in the car.
Protect-O-Plate
In 1971 and 1972, any optional V-8 engine could be ordered with the SS option. The problem here is these three optional V-8 engines could also be ordered without the SS option. So, documentation such as a warranty card (Protect-O-Plate) showing the original engine identification is of no help in determining if the SS option was also ordered, and a matching-numbers 350- or 402-ci engine cannot be used as a determining factor in 1971 or 1972 of the SS option.
Cowl Tag
The Fisher Body number plate—also known as a trim tag, cowl tag, or firewall tag—typically does not list options on a US-built Malibu. The Oshawa, Ontario, assembly plant did show RPO codes Z15 or Z25 on an SS454- and SS396-optioned Malibus in 1970. The practice did not continue in 1971 or 1972, making it much more difficult to visually identify an SS-optioned, Canadian-built Malibu. The Kansas City assembly plant is suspected to denote the SS option on its trim tags with the letter L stamped below the lower body color number. This is believed to mean a change in body trim from standard Malibu trim to SS trim, but while it is a popular belief, there is currently no published documentation to support this theory. Suffice it to say a Kansas City-built Malibu without this L is most likely not an SS-optioned Malibu but possibly is if the letter exists on the trim tag.
Beginning about February 1970, Kansas City-built Malibus began appearing with either the letters B or W stamped below the upper-body-color number/letter to indicate black or white sport stripes. The RPO D88 sport stripes could be ordered on any Malibu sport coupe, convertible, or El Camino without the SS option as well, so either B or W could be stamped without the L letter. While not definitive proof, it is something to look for.
None of the other 1970–1972 assembly plants put any identifying codes on their trim tags that might help.
Hire a Professional
If you are not well versed with how to determine if your candidate is a legitimate car, it is worth a few thousand dollars to have the car inspected by someone who does concours restorations for a living and get their well-respected and expert advice before the purchase. This could save you thousands of dollars in the end by not paying a premium for a, shall we say, highly suspect or fake car to begin with. This inspection can also determine what original and correct parts are on the car now and what is needed to be purchased or rebuilt. The inspector can also look for overall signs of previous restorations to determine how much labor might be involved to bring the car up to quality standards.
The inspection can also determine if the correct and original driveline is intact or if the car has been rebodied or the engine ID stamp and partial VIN stamps are legitimate. All of these factors will then give you a good feeling about proceeding with the car or turning it down and continuing your search for a better candidate.
Always use an inspector who is an expert on the type of car you are interested in purchasing. Do not use a generic classic car inspector, as they will not know any of the nuances that an expert in a specific car will know. Ask for a detailed inspection report. More often than not, the inspection report can be used as a bargaining tool to negotiate the price of the car. In almost all cases, the lowered price will cover the entire cost of the inspection, so in essence, it cost you nothing and gives you peace of mind as well as a valuable report to keep with the car.
I’m not suggesting that car appraisers cannot be helpful as well, but often they do not know what to look for in determining a true SS-optioned Chevelle and may be biased toward the person paying for the appraisal.
How Do I Know the Car Is What It Is Claimed to Be?
Documentation for a car is always good and can give you peace of mind on an initial purchase. This is particularly true in the case of 1970–1972 Chevelles and their assembly plant broadcast sheets, commonly called build sheets. These build sheets will show when the car was built and what options it was built with. Assuming the build sheet is authentic, it can go a long way in determining just how real the car you are buying and/or restoring truly is. A build sheet will also give you the car’s original exterior color, interior color, and seat type.
Be careful with build sheets. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who will create a fake build sheet for a car and even age it to look authentic, plus charge several hundred dollars for their work. Luckily, these build sheet creators have not perfected their art yet and often use broadcast codes or verbiage from a different plant, making them fairly easy to spot as being fakes. Some assembly plants put some numbers on the Fisher Body Number Plate from the build sheet, so this is one method of checking a build sheet against a particular car.
Body Broadcast and Chassis Broadcast Build Sheets
Prior to late 1969, only the Fremont, California, and the Framingham, Massachusetts, assembly plants used the build sheet form. Other plants have two forms of paperwork used to build Chevelles: a body broadcast copy sheet and a chassis broadcast copy sheet. The former was used on the Fisher Body side of the plant and the latter by the final assembly side of the plant.
In 1970, the Baltimore build sheet showed the Z15 SS 454 CONVER option verbiage for the SS454 option along with the optional LS6 V-8 454 CI 4 B verbiage for the LS6 engine. A build sheet such as this is invaluable in documenting your Chevelle. (Photo Courtesy LS6 Registry)
While the SS396 option is not specifically noted, there are several clues in this 1969 Chevelle body broadcast copy sheet. First is the model at the beginning of line 2: 13639 is a Malibu sport sedan, so it is automatically disqualified as an SS396-optioned Chevelle. The engine option code entry in line 2, box 11 has a single dot where an internal RPO code would be used for an optional engine. The dot indicates the standard V-8, or 307-ci engine in this case, was to be installed. (Photo Courtesy ChevelleStuff.net)
Where the body broadcast copy sheet was used on the Fisher Body side of the assembly plant, the chassis broadcast copy sheet was used on the final assembly side. The car’s model, engine type, and several other pieces of information match the body broadcast copy information. In addition, the chassis broadcast copy sheet has the engine identification code on line 3, box 172: DC is for the base 307-2 engine.
Typically, a body broadcast copy sheet will show the series/bodystyle along with the build sequence number. The series/bodystyle, model year, plant designator, and sequence number make up the VIN. The chassis broadcast copy sheet will show the same VIN information along with the engine code.
A typical chassis broadcast copy sheet shows parts to be used for final assembly. It will include an internal sequence number, body color, engine identification code, transmission type, various pulleys to be used on the engine, front suspension pieces, and various other parts used to complete the car.
Warranty Card
Another form of verification is the warranty card, or Protect-O-Plate, first used in 1965. This metal card was created at the assembly plant and lists the car’s VIN, original engine identification information (engine build date and identifying suffix code), transmission type and date, and rear end date and ratio code. Be aware these are now being reproduced as well, so again, buyer beware. The original warranty card will verify a 1970 SS-optioned Chevelle by the engine code for the L34 or L78 396-ci engine or the LS5 or LS6 454-ci engine. For 1971 and 1972, since both 350-ci engines and the 402-ci engine could be ordered with or without the Z15 SS option, the card will only verify the original engine, not whether it was ordered with the Z15 SS option or not. Only a warranty card for the LS5 454-ci engine will truly verify a 1971 Z15 SS-optioned Malibu.
The Protect-O-Plate was stamped