A mystery about the front end of my car has been bothering me for a while. I have posted about this on this board once at an earlier time, but now I have uncovered some information I like to pass onto some other 68 Velle owners, and as well to the general collection that may find this interesting.

Take a close look at this 1968 Chevelle Front end:
http://www.aaca.org/chesapeake/HowardCountyFair/Wiilcox68Chevelle.JPG
Look closely at the front grill between the low beam, and the high beam - you will see a tiny peice of trim there - its actually part of the grill. Got me so far?

Take a close look at another 1968 Front end, This is a Concours sedan
http://www.impalass427.com/72res/68396concours.jpg
Notice there is trim on the same level as the header panel between the low and high beam lights ontop of the trim described above.

No this car does not have a header panel of a 69 with the extra trim peice, I have noticed this time and time again on original 1968's - some had this trim some didn't. And the trend was not limited to Concours only, I seen 396's, Malibus and 300's with or without the trim - what the deal here? Well I decided to research this myself, and I was quite surpised at the findings. I dug up the assembly instructions for the 1968 Chevelle, and went page by page to find something that might tip me in the right direction - and what I found I am sharing with you.

Observe :

http://img29.exs.cx/img29/2186/chevelle2.jpg
* The mystery trim is clearly visible on the assembly instructions for the 68. Look the the Star (*) with the box around it - I made it easy for you to find. Notice the trim? It clealy shows 100% without a doubt that the 68 is suppose to have that extra peice of trim. But wait, something changed:


http://img30.exs.cx/img30/7112/chevelle1.jpg
* You can clearly see on the notes at the bottom the molding was removed from production
in two places. Obviously, there are two molding peices. Again I put a (*) and a box. THe date is even given. 8-11-67, looks like some early models slipped away with the peice. If you have a tiny hole between your headlights and your an early model, there is your answer.

Now, thing is, where to get this mystery peice. Luckily I spotted one at a car show this summer and I looked at it very very closely - It looks identical (id say 95%) to a 1969 peice between the light. They make this peice aftermarket for the 69. Part number #5961 from Danchuck Manufacturing in California.

Here is a 1969, notice the trim peice is almost identical:
http://macc.chevelles.net/images/deans_chevelle.jpg


Pass this imformation on to others!
Thanks,
Eric

Wait until Bob finds out his Chevelle is missing something. It's going to drive him crazy :D

Bubba

I think mine may have this.. i'll check when it stops raining.

COOL info graemlins/thumbsup.gif I love finding out these little tid bits of info. I just went out and checked and my 68 has these trim pieces in place I never even noticed them before. THANKS

Eric.....is the red 68 yours? I've got another observation to share about 68's and 69's.

Does this apply to 68 el Camino's too?

Oh Man, now I gotta go outside and look. Thanks for sharing, very interesting. David.

Probably a running change for the model year, it was done all the time and those two cars are at different trim levels anyway. Any idea what the build dates are on those cars?

Originally posted by djw69elky:
Eric.....is the red 68 yours? I've got another observation to share about 68's and 69's. This is DV8R sorry i forgot my account password so i am using another account. (The DV8R account is linked to my work email so I can't get the password)

No the Red 68 is not mine - mine is a black L78.

What other information did you have to share?

Eric

Originally posted by TimC:
Does this apply to 68 el Camino's too? This is DV8R sorry i forgot my account password so i am using another account. (The DV8R account is linked to my work email so I can't get the password)

I have never seen an el Camino with the trim - but i can not say forsure that it did not come with it. However the build instructions apply to all 68 Chevelles so yours should apply. Look between the lights if you have the predrilled hole assume you are supposed to have the trim - or check to see if the hole has been filled with body filler over the years.

8-11-67

If your car was built before that date you should have either the trim or the holes for the trim.

Eric

Originally posted by Bubba396:
Wait until Bob finds out his Chevelle is missing something. It's going to drive him crazy :D

Bubba I'll print this out and show him :D .

Originally posted by ed3196499:
COOL info graemlins/thumbsup.gif I love finding out these little tid bits of info. I just went out and checked and my 68 has these trim pieces in place I never even noticed them before. THANKS This is DV8R sorry i forgot my account password so i am using another account. (The DV8R account is linked to my work email so I can't get the password)

Could you please tell me the build date of your car - i would love to know if it was pre 8-11-67 or after that date.

I am just wondering if that was the cut off date or if they continued putting those trim pieces until they ran out of parts.

I know that the Beaumont's had them for the entire production year and I am 100% certain that it is the same trim piece (i am from Canada)

One thing to note - I have a late model Chevelle that has the trim piece and I have contacted GM vintage services and am waiting back for a response. I do not know if it made a difference because my car was sold in Canada and the Beaumont is a Canadian car as well. I also am not sure if the strike had anything to do with the trim piece either.

It would be nice if users can post their build dates and plant and tell if they had the trim or not to put this mystery to rest.

Mine is a Balimore Built L78 Sold in Canada, 3rd week Feb 1968.

Here is a picture of the hole where my trim is suppose to be:

http://img18.exs.cx/img18/2328/mag_003.jpg

Here is a picture of my car:
http://img18.exs.cx/img18/2323/Copy3ofmag_083.jpg

And the L78 Documentation:
http://img18.exs.cx/img18/9549/mag_017.jpg
http://img18.exs.cx/img18/2503/mag_042.jpg

Eric

Originally posted by Roxxy:
.....No the Red 68 is not mine - mine is a black L78.

What other information did you have to share?

Eric A guy (can't remember his name redface.gif )at CB04 this year kept looking at my hood with a curious expression, so I asked him what was up. He said he'd never seen a 69 hood that sat so far above the fenders when fully open. I told him mine was a 68 hood and hinges. This got me to looking at all the 68's there. Sure enough....90% of them sat a inch or more above the fenders at the rear corners when open. And.....90% of the hoods on the 69's nestled down between the fenders when open.

Here's a shot of my hood.

http://users.tcworks.net/%7Emcwool/Chevelle2%20015%20copy.jpg

Here's a shot of a 69 hood.

http://users.tcworks.net/%7Emcwool/Chevelle2%20010.jpg

Now, I know for sure that there were at least two, maybe three, different hinges and hoods used in 68. That would probably change how each hood looked when open some.

Anyway, the first thing I noticed about the red 68 was that the hood sat down between the fenders like a 69.

Interesting stuff
I might ad that I think the little short pieces of molding between the high & low beams is actually not molding but an integral part of the plastic grill that is painted silver on mine. (the Blue 69 above)

Mine is not the correct SS grill by the way, it is a 300 grill.

{EDIT} I'm wrong see below

Originally posted by Dean:
Interesting stuff
I might ad that I think the little short pieces of molding between the high & low beams is actually not molding but an integral part of the plastic grill that is painted silver on mine. (the Blue 69 above)

Mine is not the correct SS grill by the way, it is a 300 grill. I don't think they are part of the grille in 69 Dean. I have a 69 header panel from a 69 SS and it still has the silver nubs that would be like mentioned above. I'll have to check my 68 for the holes. I think my car was a Sep 67 build at Baltimore. It did have the early style foil SS396 side markers. I beleive that mod was dated Nov 67 in the assy manual.

Originally posted by Roxxy:
8-11-67

If your car was built before that date you should have either the trim or the holes for the trim.
My 68 is an April of 68 Baltimore car.
And there is no sign these were ever present on my car. So that appears true so far.

Thanks for sharing, this little tidbit.

Originally posted by ACE841:
I don't think they are part of the grille in 69 Dean. I have a 69 header panel from a 69 SS and it still has the silver nubs that would be like mentioned above. I'll have to check my 68 for the holes. I think my car was a Sep 67 build at Baltimore. It did have the early style foil SS396 side markers. I beleive that mod was dated Nov 67 in the assy manual. Gets even more interesting smile.gif

Maybe mine is part of the grill because it's a 300 grill :confused:
I have a couple of Malibu grills upstairs, I'll have to go up and look at them.

On a 69, the middle accent piece IS a part of the grille and is painted silver. The upper piece is bright metal (stainless?).

http://ac3online.net/djw/cb04/grille01.jpg

I wonder if this is related to the different style headlight bezels as well...

Originally posted by Gene McGill:
I wonder if this is related to the different style headlight bezels as well... Different styles for the 68 or the 69?

Originally posted by DV8R:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Gene McGill:
I wonder if this is related to the different style headlight bezels as well... Different styles for the 68 or the 69? </font>[/QUOTE]No, the 2 dfferent styles used in 68. Most have the edge roll out, while others (earlier?)have the edge roll in.

I have confirmed this :

Hood Hinge Assembly Sheet #1
http://img1.exs.cx/img1/5917/hood1.jpg
Hood Hinge Assebly SHeet #2
http://img6.exs.cx/img6/5371/hood2.jpg

Look closely at the bottom of both pages - the part number being used for the hinges is 3926829-30 for Left and Right. It was revised from 3910679-80. 11-16-67

For those perfectionists - note that screw located under number 3 was revised from 3419301 to 3864680 on 1-17-68

Note that there was also a minor paint change. Also note that the spring was changed 3 times in production - you can see this on the notes.

This would explain the two ride heights of the hood.

The key to easily identify the hinge differences is the center to center dimension of the bolts holding the hood on. Did a quick search in "Body Shop" and came up with 12 1/4" cc for one set....and 12 3/4" cc for the other set. (FYI 69 dimension is 14" +/-)

Originally posted by Gene McGill:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by DV8R:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Gene McGill:
I wonder if this is related to the different style headlight bezels as well... Different styles for the 68 or the 69? </font>[/QUOTE]No, the 2 dfferent styles used in 68. Most have the edge roll out, while others (earlier?)have the edge roll in. </font>[/QUOTE]Yup, I looked into this as well. You are 100% correct. There are two types of Bezels for 1968.
Here is the spec sheet:
http://img36.exs.cx/img36/9336/bezel.jpg

Note that in the notes in the bottom the original bezel 3917425-6 was changed on 11-26-67 to 3942115-6, therefore there are forsure two different types of bezels depending on the date built. Also note that I also found part number 3914769-70 for the bezel which most aftermarket companies are providing, most likely a GM replacement part.

Thanks for the Info!
Eric

Sorry but I was wrong in my post above. redface.gif

I was thinking about the one below the chrome molding (the middle one in Danny's picture above)

graemlins/clonk.gif