I have had this Chevelle since I was 15, I'm 32 now and have been under the impression it was an original '71 SS454. It has all the stuff, SS emblems, door panels , steering wheel, cowl induction hood, round gauges, M-22, 454, 12 bolt, front disc brakes, etc.. But I look up the Vehicle Code (13637) and it says its a Malibu!!!?? Do you know what is up with that or is it obvious what's up. Your help is greatly appreciated. John

In 71 there was no code on the cowl tag that specified SS or Malibu but I am pretty sure 13637 is the code for a V-8. (: http://www.chevelles.com/forum/wink.gif

First off, in 1971 SS was an option. It was not a separate series of car. I believe that you have to order the Malibu (13637) model. I would say that since you've owned the car so long and your pretty certain its all original, I would bet it is. You could check and see if the numbers from the engine match the vin. If they do, you have a true SS.

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Bryan Shook
www.geocities.com/motorcity/speedway/6673 (http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/speedway/6673)
Favorite Quote: Some people have shrinks. Some people have their garage.

I would bet your Chevelle is a SS based on the fact you have owned it so long and all the info you supplyed ,, you can not tell if its a SS by the vin # , I have read that Canadian build SS's do have info in vin but US Chevelles do not, there is one way to tell most SS Clones from real SS's and thats by the controll arm braces on the 12 bolt diff. most people who build Clones dont know about them and all SS's had them and some non SS's had them to from what I hear but only the 350 cid 350hp Chevelles, just a thought http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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John
Catapiller Mechanic
Salinas,Ca
70SS 454 Clone {in construction}

catman what do u mean by control arm braces. please describe i am restoring 70 chevelle that has all the rite stuff down to the clear front turn signal lenses

John, 13637 is correct for a 71 SS since it is on the Malibu Sport coupe platform but it is also correct for the non SS Malibu sport coupe.
As catman said if it was built in Canadia it should have a Z15 on the cowl tag (not in the VIN)
I agree with the others, I'd bet it is a true SS car.
As far as the control arm braces go, I have heard some say they were on SS cars only and some say they were not on all SS cars so who knows for sure, I personally haven't seen any documention to disprove an SS car because it didn't have them. I do know that my 69 SS has them and my 70 non SS Malibu doesn't

Check out; How to spot a genuine SS Chevelle / El Camino (http://www.chevelles.com/shop/ss_ident.html)

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Dean Call
Team Gold member #3
A.C.E.S. # 00235
N.C.O.A. # 4350
Mid America Chevelle Club (http://macc.chevelles.net) #001
chevelles.net (http://chevelles.net)

John
Both the build sheet and the protecto-plate can confirm if you have a true SS. The protectoplate is similar to a credit card & was usually kept in the glove box. The build sheet can SOMETIMES be found in an out of the way locations on your car. especially if it is un restored. Go to the top of the page & search the tag team section for more info on build sheets.

If you guys are talking about the brace that goes from the lower control arm mounting point to the the frame up by the upper control arm, mine has them. It is a 71 NON SS car. I got it just as "grandma" had it. All original down to 90% original faded green paint and original hub-caps. California car built in LA/Van Nuys plant. Came with 270HP 350 4 barrel, power disk brakes, air conditioning, th-350, and a open 12 bolt rearend. In process of cloning an SS, so maybe this is one less thing I will have to worry about http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif. I'm not a numbers guy and I will never claim it to be a true SS. To me a true SS is not worth any more than a clone unless it has all the original stuff; motor, tranny, rearend etc. I know some guys frown on clones but the absolute originals are getter harder and harder to find. I just think the SS look is way cool http://www.chevelles.com/forum/cool.gif

[This message has been edited by lindsay (edited 02-29-2000).]

Lindsay correctly describes the control arm braces (aka rear frame cross member brackets) that run above the muffler. The references I've looked at describes them as coming on the SS's for 65 (Z16), 66 and 67--one says manual transmissions only. I thought they were for SS' only, but maybe they were more widespread than that. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Greg

I would say your car is a SS. If the interior has never been out of it, try sliding out the rear bench and look for the build sheet tucked in the springs. I know there are other places to look, but that is an easy one.

As for the braces, from past threads on this, it sounds like 12 bolt cars got them, SS or not. My WAG is perhaps as they went down the line, the diff was in place prior to the motor, so the line guys wouldn't know if it was an SS or not, so they put them in to all 12 bolt cars just to be sure the SS cars got them. The 67 assembly manual shows them in their diagrams as a "396" part. They link the front mounting point of the upper control arm to the front mounting point of the lower control arm. The cloners, at least 15 years ago, anyway, would probably miss this item and also would not go to the trouble of replacing the small block 5/16th inch fuel line with a 3/8th inch fuel line.
jmw



[This message has been edited by jmw (edited 02-29-2000).]

Like said above if the vin matches the #s on the front of the block you have an SS. I found the build sheet on my 71 under the carpet up by the pedels.

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JT
71 SS Vortec 355
www.angelfire.com/co/KellyMotorsports (http://www.angelfire.com/co/KellyMotorsports)

Here's my info to "throw into the ring":

ALL 1970-1972 CHEVELLE SUPER SPORTS CAME FROM THE FACTORY WITH THE -MANDATORY- REAR SWAY BAR, REGARDLESS OF ENGINE/DRIVETRAIN OPTIONS.

That's a good way to catch clones, most crooks that try to pass off "real" ss's forget to install the rear sway bar.

And yes, some Malibus have the sway bars and boxed control arms (options remember)but the sway bars were a must, Chevy made it that way for the SS cars.

[This message has been edited by Coppertop (edited 02-29-2000).]

Joe,
The F41 package was an option just as IP gauges, not all SS Chevelles had them. I verified this by the build sheet on a '71 SS with no F41 . Jeff (400 Malibu)

[This message has been edited by JRL67CHEV (edited 02-29-2000).]

Hmmm, I thought F41 refers to boxed control arms, and is actually separate from the sway bar which can be added to both non-boxed arms and boxed arms--???

If so I stand corrected, but someone else brought this up on a post a long time ago agreeing with me? Does any one else have info???

I looked in a options listing I had printed out off the internet at one time, for 1970-1972 it has two options

F40--sport suspension

F41--Sport front and rear suspension

What's the difference? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Coppertop,
The rear control arms were boxed for added strength for the swaybar. It keeps the control arms from crushing together when the swaybar bolts are tightened.
I also have that set up on my 72 Monte carlo with a 10 bolt and the braces, all original.

Taken from Dan Carr's SS identification section:

"
The rear anti-sway bar (F41 suspension) was included in the SS package on all Chevelles (except El Camino) starting in '70. It was not available on any year SS El Camino. The F40 heavy duty suspension (which did not include the rear bar) was standard on the '69 SS, and F41 was optional on the '69 SS. F41 was not available in '68.

"

@

http://chevelles.com/shop/ss_ident.html

I'm confused http://www.chevelles.com/forum/redface.gif

[This message has been edited by Coppertop (edited 02-29-2000).]

I thought F40 heavyduty suspension was with heavy duty springs,
and F41 was rear swaybar with a heavier one up front.

Does it matter? You have had the car for 17 years, so you must really like it!
Just my opinion.

The F-41 came with the rear sway bar and boxed in rear lower control arms. The F-40 is the option for higher rate coil springs. Those frame reinforcements bars came on all the big block SS cars from 65-67 and possibly on L-79 cars also, all these also had 12 bolt rearends. Was a L-79 (327 325 hp) available in 1968? Since they had the 12 bolt in 300hp 350 cars did they also get the frame reinforcement bars?

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69 SS 454
69 Malibu 406
ACES Member #3635