I have a 67 chevelle I just purchased and am trying to figure out if it is a SS or not. The code on the firewall tag is not a 138 but is a 136 which I thought was a Malibu. The car has all of the SS trim in all the right places and all of the holes look to be factory. There are no indications off old Malibu trim holes having been filled. The car has a 12 bolt rearend and has disk brakes which look to have been on the car a long time. Anyone that can give me any other telltale signs of whether this is an SS car or not would be greatly appreciated. thanks

I have a 67 chevelle I just purchased and am trying to figure out if it is a SS or not. The code on the firewall tag is not a 138 but is a 136 which I thought was a Malibu. The car has all of the SS trim in all the right places and all of the holes look to be factory. There are no indications off old Malibu trim holes having been filled. The car has a 12 bolt rearend and has disk brakes which look to have been on the car a long time. Anyone that can give me any other telltale signs of whether this is an SS car or not would be greatly appreciated. thanksall 67 ss should start with 138 not 136 sounds like you bought nicely done tribute car.
check the vin on the drivers door post.

what does the VIN in the door jamb start with 138? or 136?
Do the rivets in the tags look factory correct?
If the car has original quarter panels on it in the trunk jamb should be stamped 13817 for SS or 13617 for malibu.
I have actually seen real SS cars robbed of their VIN and cowl tags and replaced with malibu tags. usually somebody wants to turn a malibu that is in better condition into an SS rather than restore a beat up real SS.
either way, your car is now a malibu according to your 136 numbers.
And even if you can prove somebody switched tags, Nobody is going to pay premium $$ for an SS with Malibu tags.
Hope you find some sort of Happy ending for your dilema.

The numbers on the quarter panels mean nothing as far as the car being an SS or not.

The numbers on the quarter panels mean nothing as far as the car being an SS or not.
My SS convertible has 13867 in the quarters.
my malibu convertible had 13667 in the quarters.
my SS hardtop had 13817 in the quarters,
and a clone SS car I saw at a dealership had 13617 in the quarters.
So why would this not be relevant?

My SS convertible has 13867 in the quarters.
my malibu convertible had 13667 in the quarters.
my SS hardtop had 13817 in the quarters,
and a clone SS car I saw at a dealership had 13617 in the quarters.
So why would this not be relevant?

I agree with you. I have 2 SS cars that have the 13817 in the quarters. These numbers do have meaning.

I'd have to beg to differ. and no offense meant.. but after years of research, I have concluded that those are part #'s on the inner trunk lip/qrt panels... they were not making sep. panels for malibus vs. SS's... I have seen many examples of 66 and 67 SS's with non 138 Part # stamped there and seen it the other way as well., with Malibus having 138 stamped... Not asking anyone to take my word as gospel by any stretch, just passing on my personal observations and fact finding information.

Also i believe there are some early build 67 cars from Canada with 136 vin's that are in fact SS cars but optioned differently. Ralph

Then why would there even be the different numbers?
why would GM even bother with having the seperate model numbers stamped in the panels why is there both 13817 and 13617 stamps?
and 13667 and 13867 stamps for the convertibles.
I am not doubting your research and or experineces but I am seeking a more satisfactory explanation on why not just one stamp for convertible and one stamp for hardtop? since there seems to be a SS model # stamp and a Malibu model # stamp.

I agree with Mike. On my former '67 SS, my former '66 SS and my current '66...all have had some inconsistency on the part #'s. I would not use that as a 100% reliable means of authenticating an SS.

Now...shhhhhhhhh....my favorite is the steering flange by the rag joint. The piece is bolted on the shaft for SS and welded to the shaft for Malibu & 300. I've seen lots of clones with this detail missed. :thumbsup:

Then why would there even be the different numbers?


Good question.
And why would some SS cars have "136" and visa versa?
And why would Canadian built cars have different numbers?

We may never know the answers to any of those questions but we do know that it has pretty much been proven that those numbers don't really prove anything AND that questions is one way that we all learn more.

Got any pictures of the numbers on any of your cars droptop?
I think I still have some of my 67 SS somewhere which IF I recall correctly had "136" but I can't rely on my memory anymore so that means pffft. :)
Actually what people like me say they have seen or had really doesn't necessarily mean much because we either forget and think we kown or just simply want to repeat hearsay rumors.

Since all the quarter panels are the same, the only thing that would seem to make any sense to ME is that the numbers would have been stamped after the fact, maybe for the purpose of law enforcement identification BUT if that were the case then "136" wouldn't have been on "138" cars and visa versa.
It's a mystery :)
:confused:

Got any pictures of the numbers on any of your cars droptop?

My convertible 66 is my only chevelle at this time, the others have been sold awhile back to pursue other cars.
I could certainly take photos of the numbers on my convertible.
But you will have to post them, for me as I don't belong to any of those picture hosting sites.
If it will help, I will certainly take a photo. just let me know.

The thought I always had...when I believed it to be reliable....was that it was because of the holes for the emblems. Malibu emlem holes are different. Maybe they pre-drilled them before they stamped part # and then at some point stopped pre-drilling? ....which....was maybe because they ended up with too many of one or the other?? not sure.

Just like they say in the tootsie pop commercial with the owl...."The world may never know."

No 138 vin, not an SS period!!! In 67 138 means SS.