I have 68 El Camino SS car with 350 hp L4 and M40 Turbo Trans (matching numbers). The vehicle has in it a split Bench Seat with fold down arm rest. The puzzling thing to me is that the Cowl data Plate shows the Trim Data as:

TR 765-A-

Can anyone decode this for me. I am trying to figure out if I have the right seat in it

Thanks

765 and 766 are black interior numbers the 766 denotes a buckets seat car while the 765 should be a standard split bench. I am assuming the "A" following the trim # would be the exterior color.....Tuxedo Black. By the way is yours a Fremont car?

I should clarify that i used "split bench" incorrectly.....Elky's standard bench seat was a split BACK, the lower section is not broken.
P.W.

No mine is a K for Kansas City. Thanks for your reply.

I was told by Henshaws that in 68 there were strikes at GM and they ended up using some Buick parts in the Chevelles and El Caminos.

I have a 65 Buiick GS and the OPG catalouge shows a Split Bench with Arm Rest Cover for 68 Models

I've heard that the strike caused all kinds of strangs things to end up on/in the '68's.... my Fremont Camino has disc brake lines that are more like GTO than Chevelle, Hmmmm........

In 68 The El Caminos had two codes for Bench Seats 760 and 765. Does anyone now the differnce between the two seats

Originally posted by Frank ballew:
In 68 The El Caminos had two codes for Bench Seats 760 and 765. Does anyone now the differnce between the two seats Here comes information overload. :D

The 760 is used for the base El Camino and Chevelle 300 Deluxe (134xx) and was called 'Black Pattern Imitation Leather' where the 765 was used on upscale models (136xx and 138xx) and was called 'Black Imitation Leather'. I have pictures of the 765 seat but not the 760 so I can't testify as to the real, visual difference as probably not many have survived.

The initial question isn't difficult at all if you have enough samples to go by, then it gets worse. :rolleyes:

The 765 is as noted above, the -A-' was used at the Kansas plant in '68 to normally denote a bench seat. Bucket seats got a -B- even though trim codes were different for black bench (765) and black buckets (766) and got the -B- even if it was a bench seat car. Some plants used 'A' or 'B' over the years (notably KC and Balt), some did not (notably Atlanta and Fremont) even though bench/bucket codes were different.

From the limited number of samples I have from Atlanta, Baltimore, Fremont, and KC for 1968, Baltimore and KC seemed to have the 'worst/best' of the interior shortages and is more prevalent in April. Of the KC tags I have, 2 are April (4th, and 5th weeks) and both have Buick interiors. Example, both KC Chevelles are coded as 766-178- for black buckets from a Buick (178). Note there is no trailing 'B' here. I have 1 other April (3rd week) KC tag with code 764-A- for a Chevelle bench seat in black. Note the 'regular' Chevelle seat code is followed by 'A' or 'B' where the Buick interior codes are not at KC.

I have two Baltimore tags for the 1st week of April with replacement interiors. One is 766-178 B for black buckets from a Buick. The second Balt tag has 765-190 B for a black bench seat from (from what I've been told) an Olds (190) and the 'B' which is really confusing. Is it really a Buick interior (hence the 'B'?) All other Balt tags with Chevelle interior codes have 'B' for buckets and yet here is a bench seat car with 'B'...unless I was told wrong and the Olds code (190) is really another Buick code and 'B' in this case is for Buick. :confused:

The above is a bit confusing, so I'll line-item it out. Each is followed by the assembly date (nnL)
KC - El Camino:
1 tag ~
774-B- for Chevelle buckets (01C) (note the -B-)
KC - Chevelle:
7 tags ~
765-A- for Chevelle bench (11A) (note the -A-)
796-B- for Chevelle buckets (03C) (note the -B-)
756-B- for Chevelle buckets (03D) (note the -B-)
764-A- for Chevelle bench (04C) (note the -A-)
766-178- for Buick buckets (04D) (note lack of -B-)
766-178- for Buick buckets (04E) (note lack of -B-)
754-A- for Chevelle bench (06C) (note the -A-)

Baltimore - Chevelle:
5 tags ~
766 B for Chevelle buckets (02A) (note the B)
766-178 B for Buick buckets (04A) (note the B)
765-980 B for Olds (or Buick) bench (04A) (note the B) Is '980' really a Buick code and the B is for Buick? :confused:
774- for Chevelle buckets (06C) (note the '-' but no A or B). According to my GM book, 774 is suppose to be for a custom Elky only but this tag is for a convertible.
[/b]796[/b] for Chevelle buckets (07C) [also a repro tag] but note the lack of the '-' or an 'A' or 'B'.

All can be referenced at my ChevelleStuff site. BTW, here are a couple of pictures of a Buick interior (http://www.chevellestuff.com/68velle/68interior_photos.htm) in a 68 Chevelle (5th line of photos down from the top).

Above examples are why I shamelessly ask fellow Chevelle owners for pictures of their trim tags. The more examples I can gather up, the more they tend to make sense. So...

Wow. I can tell I am just a novice. Dale is hero here.

Dale.. Keep it up, you can keep us rookies straight.

Someone need to.

Thanks very much.

Yeah, thanks Dale! Thats a wealth of info that will come in handy.

Do you happen to know what color the middle stripe should be on my Fremont Camino driveline ?