VIN:
1 CHEVROLET
D MALIBU
3 2 DOOR SPORT COUPE 5 PASSENGER
7
F 307 2BBL V8 (L14) 130 HP?
2 1972
R ARLINGTON, TX
5
6 #60874 TO ROLL OFF THE ARLINGTON LINE
0
8
7
4

COWL TAG

ST 72-13637 R 32374 BDY
TR 730 A52 57 11 PNT
03B0719

72-13637 -MALIBU SPORT COUPE

R -ARLINGTON

32374 -FISHER BODY UNIT NUMBER

730 -LT COVERT RIANON CLOTH/ANT. LT. COVERT COATED FABRIC

A52 -WHITE COATED FABRIC FABRIC BENCH

S7 -GOLDEN BROWN LOWER BODY COLOR

11 -ANTIQUE WHITE UPPER BODY COLOR

03B -2ND WEEK OF MARCH

719 -DATA PROCESSING NUMBER


OTHER OPTIONS I NOTICED WHILE RESEARCHING:
(knowing that any other previous owner may have made changes)

HAS PICTURES ON THE LIGHT SWITCH AND LIGHTER
HAS A STICKER ON THE INSIDE OF THE GLOVE BOX DOOR
HAS NO SS GAUGES/INSTRUMENTATION
NO A/C
HAD 3 SP ON COLUMN - NOW B&M ON FLOOR
HAS 10 BOLT OPEN CARRIER
(ASSUMING 2.73:1 - IS THAT RIGHT?)



OTHER QUESTIONS:

WERE THERE 2 HORSEPOWER RATINGS OF THE 307 IN 72?
THE UPPER BODY PAINT..SIMILAR IN DESIGN TO A WHITE VINYL TOP?
CAN I ASSUME 14" WITH WHITEWALLS AND HUBCAPS?
SIDE-VIEW MIRRORS ON BOTH SIDES?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 5/6 PASSENGER - JUST ANOTHER SEAT BELT IN FRONT?

THANKS FOR POSTING ALL OF THAT AWESOME INFORMATION, YOU GUYS.

I KNOW I WON'T FIND THE PROTECTO PLATE, GONE FOREVER.
I'VE GOT A FEELING ITS THE SAME CASE FOR THE BUILD SHEET. MY DAD HAD THE CAR COMPLETELY APART ONCE ALREADY AND I WOULD HAVE KNOWN IF HE FOUND IT. ASKED MOM...SHE SAID NO TOO. ITS GOT NEW SEATS, CARPET, ETC. HE WOULD HAVE SEEN IT, HUH?

THANKS!!!

VIN:
1 CHEVROLET
D MALIBU
3 2 DOOR SPORT COUPE 5 PASSENGER
7
F 307 2BBL V8 (L14) 130 HP?
2 1972
R ARLINGTON, TX
5
6 #60874 TO ROLL OFF THE ARLINGTON LINE
0
8
7
4

COWL TAG

ST 72-13637 R 32374 BDY
TR 730 A52 57 11 PNT
03B0719

72-13637 -MALIBU SPORT COUPE

R -ARLINGTON

32374 -FISHER BODY UNIT NUMBER

730 -LT COVERT RIANON CLOTH/ANT. LT. COVERT COATED FABRIC

A52 -WHITE COATED FABRIC FABRIC BENCH

S7 -GOLDEN BROWN LOWER BODY COLOR

11 -ANTIQUE WHITE UPPER BODY COLOR

03B -2ND WEEK OF MARCH

719 -DATA PROCESSING NUMBER


OTHER OPTIONS I NOTICED WHILE RESEARCHING:
(knowing that any other previous owner may have made changes)

HAS PICTURES ON THE LIGHT SWITCH AND LIGHTER
HAS A STICKER ON THE INSIDE OF THE GLOVE BOX DOOR
HAS NO SS GAUGES/INSTRUMENTATION
NO A/C
HAD 3 SP ON COLUMN - NOW B&M ON FLOOR
HAS 10 BOLT OPEN CARRIER
(ASSUMING 2.73:1 - IS THAT RIGHT?)



OTHER QUESTIONS:

WERE THERE 2 HORSEPOWER RATINGS OF THE 307 IN 72?
THE UPPER BODY PAINT..SIMILAR IN DESIGN TO A WHITE VINYL TOP?
CAN I ASSUME 14" WITH WHITEWALLS AND HUBCAPS?
SIDE-VIEW MIRRORS ON BOTH SIDES?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 5/6 PASSENGER - JUST ANOTHER SEAT BELT IN FRONT?

THANKS FOR POSTING ALL OF THAT AWESOME INFORMATION, YOU GUYS.

I KNOW I WON'T FIND THE PROTECTO PLATE, GONE FOREVER.
I'VE GOT A FEELING ITS THE SAME CASE FOR THE BUILD SHEET. MY DAD HAD THE CAR COMPLETELY APART ONCE ALREADY AND I WOULD HAVE KNOWN IF HE FOUND IT. ASKED MOM...SHE SAID NO TOO. ITS GOT NEW SEATS, CARPET, ETC. HE WOULD HAVE SEEN IT, HUH?

THANKS!!!

Net horsepower was the norm in 72 but there were ratings for the gross horsepower also.
The trim for the painted upper body is the same as the vinyl top.
14 inch tires. Whitewall was an option. Cheap hubcaps were standard but there were others that were optional.
Passenger side mirror was an option.
You are correct on the seatbelts.

Arlington cars sometimes have the build sheet between the sound deadner and the floorboards. If the sound deadner hasn't been disturbed, you may have a chance of finding a copy. Good luck!

5
6 #60874 TO ROLL OFF THE ARLINGTON LINE
0
8
7
4
Actually the 60,874 Chevelle to be assigned a sequence build number. It may or may not have been the 60,874th Chevelle to roll out the door. :)
HAS NO SS GAUGES/INSTRUMENTATIONNo such thing. The gauge packages (tach and gauges) were optional on ALL models they could have been intalled in. The SS option did not include gauges.

HAS 10 BOLT OPEN CARRIER
(ASSUMING 2.73:1 - IS THAT RIGHT?)A 307 w/3-speed is shown to have a 3.08 gear in all except wagon and pickup where it got a 3.36. The Powerglide coupe/sedan 307 got the2.73 with the 3.08 as a 'performance' ratio.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 5/6 PASSENGER - JUST ANOTHER SEAT BELT IN FRONT?Most likely the marketing material. The GM Restoration Kit for 72 lists the Malibu Sport Coupe as a 6-passenger. I think earlier years listed them as 5-passenger but that was probably before center seat belts became available and the term just stuck for all years. Many times web sites don't do their homework and assume one-size-fits-all.

Don't see too many two tone models around. As OTBBF noted, the two tone cars used the same trim to separate the lower and upper colors as the vinyl topped cars did.

i am getting the biggest kick out of discovering all of this information. i only wish that my dad knew these things too. as far as we knew up until this point, the original color of the car was the AWFUL light blue in the trunk and under the maroon/white stripe paint job that covered it so poorly when we bought it. it did have a bench seat when we got our hands on it, but it was maroon cloth.

excellent feedback and input. thanks guys, i knew you'd see this and help me out. i have a few more questions if you dont mind....

the visors are black and look original, the driver's side visor still has the starting instructons sticker on it. would they have put black visors in a tan/white interior car? the dash is black, too, including glove box inside and out, as well as door panels, rear dash, rear panels, etc, and so are the seat belts. would the colors of all of these items originally matched the paint/trim codes on the cowl tag?

most likely it was equipped with light-duty (non-SS) suspension components, correct?

i must have been unclear before in asking about the 307. were there different-optioned 307/2-barrels available, with different HP ratings, or just one standard 307/2 bbl?

also, i have no REAL avidence that it was born with a 3 spd auto. that is what was in the car when we got it. i guess i could look at the dash gear indicator, but the dash could be out of another car, i suppose, but for that matter, so could the rear end. i want to now what gears are in it.

i'll wait for some more input. thanks again...

Only one 307 was available in the chevelle.

most likely it was equipped with light-duty (non-SS) suspension components, correct?Correct.
HAD 3 SP ON COLUMN - NOW B&M ON FLOORThe terms '3-spd' and '4-spd' are generally used for manual transmissions. ...also, i have no REAL avidence that it was born with a 3 spd auto. that is what was in the car when we got it. i guess i could look at the dash gear indicator, but the dash could be out of another car, i suppose, but for that matter, so could the rear end. i want to now what gears are in it.A 3-speed automatic is a different animal and usually mentioned as a TH350, TH400, etc. With the trans being an automatic 3-spd (TH400), it would have come with the 2.73 gear set unless the optional 3.08 or 3.31 had been ordered.

again thanks.

my mistake on the terminology mix-ups. i definitely mis-spoke, nothing more. any chance at determining if it is an 8.2" or 8.5" 10 bolt?

dale, any input on my interior questions?

No biggie. Different folks tend to use different terminology. :) I'm not that up on 8.2 vs. 8.5 10-bolts. Going past the 66/67 model years and my 'dumb' factor begins to increase. :D A 71/72 guru or rear end guru could give you a better answer.

On the interior, I noticed a bit of an error in your decoding. The A52 on the trim tag is not a color but rather a seat type (bench vs. bucket). The A51/A52 designation started in 1972 when the seat materials began using the same number code for each seat type. If the car was to be done with bucket seats, A51 would follow the trim code number. If the seat type was bench, A52 would follow the trim code number. The 730 info is correct as LT COVERT RIANON CLOTH/ANT. LT. COVERT COATED FABRIC but A52 simply means a bench seat.

Again, not a lot of first hand knowledge here, but I would think at least the door panels should be the same color as the seats. The majority of light colored interiors I've seen or have photos of the dash, carpet, kick panels, etc. are usually black (with white seats) or dark brown (with tan seats). I would also think the sun visors would be the same color as the headliner.

Visors usually match the headliner