Got a very neglected and rusted "so-cal" EL Camino that needs to be identified. This will help me decide (and convince the wife) of what to do next. Here is the body tag....

70-13680 Bl 01329 BDY
TR 756 58 B PNT
9C 047047 160260

I'm particularly interested in the bottom line #'s and the approximate build date. I've done alot of web searching and found some sites saying the El Camino Custom could be ordered with the SS package. Sorry for the run just trying to get started. I'll get to the motor next e-mail. Thanks for anyones help!

70 - 1970 model year
13680 - 8 cylinder engine El Camino Custom
BL - Van Nuys plant
01329 - Production sequence number
TR 756 - black vinyl bucket seats
58 PNT - Autum Gold Metallic paint
B - Black vinyl top?
9C - Build week of 3rd week of September, 1969
047047 160260 - don't mean anything too useful

Thanks for the help. Are there any '70 El Camino Custom (13680) "SS" owners out there? The 396/402(?) block has a matching vin, if original, stamped behind the oil filter and a date code H-11-9. That seems pretty close to the correct build date. The block is a 3969854 and heads are 3964291 dated F-18-9. The car is a mess with heavy rust throughout, including the front frame rails. There is no interior and is a manual with an older four speed, 64-65 M-19?. Looks like alot of $$$$$ to even make a driver. If I'm rambling in the wrong forum let me know that too and which forum is the best for us new guys to get educated. Thanks again.

The only thing missing is the VIN, that will confirm the V8 original engine status. Can you post that also.

fwiw
The cowl tag cannot be used to determine the base engine like the statement made 13680 - 8 cylinder engine El Camino Custom only pertains to the VIN. On the cowl tag 13680 only means "El Camino Custom 2 dr pickup", they did not stamp the trim tags exactly like the VIN when bodies used for 6 and 8's were the same. VIN's were not assigned till the body came over from the Fisher Body plant into the body bank at the Chevy assembly plant, if they were to have stamped the tags to match engines, it would have created more work to match up bodies to engine (V8's out-numbered 6 cyl). This way, every body was interchangeable. The number on the lower part of the trim tag is what they used to match the body up to the orders. Fisher built the body from the cowl back to include seats and s-belts, carpet, head-liner and body wiring, Chevy line painted the hood, fenders and all front sheet metal and attaching parts, installed dash, steering, frame and all the rest.
btw
The build sheet was not generated till the body was released to the final line by the Body Bank operator. Until that happened, there was no car but once the Body Number and ID number were entered into the computer, the VIN was generated and a list of all parts needed to build the vehicle, and this was broadcast to all work stations on the final line the car was coming and at that point it was hoisted on the the conveyor for its final trip out of the plant. Keep in mind they were not building 1 car per hour but 1 per minute, things were flying along so anything that increased production was welcome.

Originally posted by elcamino:
fwiw
The cowl tag cannot be used to determine the base engine like the statement made </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />13680 - 8 cylinder engine El Camino Custom only pertains to the VIN. On the cowl tag 13680 only means "El Camino Custom 2 dr pickup", they did not stamp the trim tags exactly like the VIN when bodies used for 6 and 8's were the same. </font>[/QUOTE]That's interesting! The book I have says (for 1970 EC's):

13380 - regular 6 cylinder
13480 - regular 8 cylinder
13580 - Custom 6 cylinder
13680 - Custom 8 cylinder

This is in the section about decoding the body plates. Guess my book is wrong...

Yes its incorrect. These books are full of inaccuracies.

btw
I have seen 100's of Chevelle, El Camino and Camaro trim tags that said V8 (if you use the logic the style numbers mean the same) when in fact, the VIN showed it to have come with a 6 cyl engine.

Following is from a well respected CAMARO (http://www.camaros.org/index.shtml) site but even though its Camaro, this relates to this topic for Chevelle's also. Also read the ASSEMBLY PROCESS (http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml) and this will shed light on how the plants worked.
Q: [14-Nov-2001] New: Why does the VIN of my Camaro begin with 12337, while the firewall cowl tag is stamped with a style of 12437?

A: (Note: the information in this new FAQ is already contained in other previously published CRG information on-site, but is now highlighted here for convenience, since this is one of the most commonly asked questions of the CRG.)

The 3rd digit of the VIN determines which engine the car had from the factory; this VIN digit has a different meaning than the 3rd digit of the Fisher Body firewall cowl tag. A VIN engine digit of 3 indicates a L6 engine, while a VIN engine digit of 4 indicates a V8 engine.

Though seemingly similar, the 3rd digit of the Fisher Body firewall cowl tag style did not have the same meaning. Fisher Body didn't need the type of engine coded on the cowl tag, and so stamped the Fisher style code differently from the VIN. The cowl tags for 1967 Camaros were stamped with a style code of 12x37 or 12x67, where the x was set to 4 for standard interior or 6 for custom interior. All 1968-9 Camaros had a style code of 12437 or 12467 on the cowl tag - thus the 3rd digit of the firewall style number for these two years was fixed and effectively had no meaning.

For related information, see also the Cowl Tag and Numbers Trivia FAQs.

The vin # is 136800L112545. Don't suppose someone has my build sheet in a shoebox out there somewhere? Ha,Ha. Can anyone answer if the Custom could be ordered with an SS package? Thanks for the help so far guys. Got a million more questions for the other forums too.

For a 70 El-Camino to be an SS it had to start out as a 136800 Custom El-Camino.Hope this answers your question.
MIKE

It does indeed, much to the wife's dismay. She thinks I'm selling or parting out....

For what it's worth, 01329 is not the production sequence number. The number on all body number plates identify the Fisher Body unit number (that's why it's real name is "Body Number Plate") but commonly called a trim tag, cowl tag, or firewall tag. :D

The sequential production number of any 64-72 Chevelle is the last six digits of the VIN.