I am in the process of repainting my 67 Chevelle. When we got her stripped down to bare metal we noticed that the lower half of the right rear quarter panel had been replaced. The upper portion, looks original but appears to have had holes that were filled in. These holes correspond to those one would associate with a vinyl top trim. Note the left quarter panel has no such holes. Now the interesting part. The cowl tag shows no code for a vinyl top. I was wondering if all orignial fenders were "stamped" with holes for vinyl tops then simply filled in if not optioned that way? Any history would be helpful as it appears the only thing previously replaced was the lower half of the right rear quarter.
Happy Holidays one and all.

On my '67 I had to dril the holes for the trim. I found no holes under the paint.

If the holes were stamped and not drilled, my guess would be that the factory had two different quarters on hand and one found it's way to the R/S and the other to the L/S of your car. How were th holes filled? Of course, in 36 years, anything is possible, but it could have come off the line that way.

If the holes were factory filled, I would expect them to be filled with lead, not plastic filler.

As an aside you could also get the moldings for cars without 2-tone or vinyl roof covers by specifying D99 - Roof Moldings. It was very occasionally done. A '67 sedan that rolled off the line about 20 cars after mine had them, plus I remember a '71 base Chevelle coupe in my neighborhood from new having the moldings.

Thanks all for the great insights. To answer Cam's questions the holes were not filled by plastic filler but appear to be lead. I guess like RT says and we all know, anything was possible back then.
Thanks all.

There were no holes if the car didn't get a top. I "assume" the holes were punched or drilled on the line after the build sheet was read. Now, it is possible that the one side was punched before someone caught their mistake and then had them filled with lead. Sounds goofy, but very believable.

This is IF it happen at the factory. I am more inclined to think these holes have something to do with the new quarter that was spliced. They could be where the panels overlapped and a screw was put to hold the quarter while it was being welded.

Originally posted by MARTINSR:
There were no holes if the car didn't get a top. I "assume" the holes were punched or drilled on the line after the build sheet was read. Now, it is possible that the one side was punched before someone caught their mistake and then had them filled with lead. Sounds goofy, but very believable. Martin, that is probably exactly what happened. I have seen many mistakes like that. Ive even seen pontiac or buick 1/4 panels on one side of a chevy or vis versa. I've been building GM cars for 28 years and have seen a lot of things.
Besides, us lazy drunken ignorant union guys are lucky to get anything right.
Ron

It is a good thing these drunken union guys were building vehicles for ground use. We drunken union guys build jet engine parts for Boeing and Airbus. :D Brother I can believe anything was possible on an assembly line for a mistake or a cover up for a mistake.

I believe the holes were caused by body work sometime after the car left the assembly line.

Thanks all for your help and great insights.
Regards,
Bill

There was at least one Chevy dealer in the country that added a vinyl top to SELL the car!!

And perhaps in 1977, when 10 years old, that top was removed and the roof was repaired and repainted. All these cars have stories.....too bad it is not on the inside door panel.