<VV> Update to Fisher Body accessory code contest

[Kent Sullivan]

As published in the October, 2007 CORSA Communique.

The hunt for the last few Fisher Body tag accessory codes for 1963 through
1967 is in the home stretch. Announced in the January 2006 Communique, the
contest has so far awarded a total of $110 in gift certificates among six
people. I'm pleased to announce that we are finished identifying codes for
1965! This is quite an achievement and many thanks to everyone who
contributed.

Here's what we have learned so far:

*	Dave Leiter confirmed that 2H represents RPO C48, heater delete, in
1965.
*	Bob Bentz provided a body tag from a '66 500 sedan that has the 3A
code, which confirms that this code was indeed used in 1966 for RPO D10,
factory rear door armrests.
*	Dennis Dorogi provided an extremely rare Fisher Body Buyout sheet
from his 1965 Monza sedan. The sheet provided the two remaining seat
belt-related codes for 1965: 5G: RPO A64, standard rear seat belts and 5Y:
RPO A47, deluxe rear seat belts. Also, Jim Allen and Mike McKeel provided
examples of actual 1965 cars with the 5Y code and with the original rear
belts, so we have triple confirmation of this code. Finally, John Green
provided an example of a 1965 car with the 5G code.
*	Dave Ziegler and Chris Nicholson were both able to confirm that 1L
indicates RPO A67, fold-down rear seat, for non-Monzas in 1963.
*	Greg Schupfer was able to confirm that 2R represents RPO U80, rear
seat speaker, in 1967.

This information has been incorporated into the online version of the
article published in the May 2005 Communique. You can find the article on my
web site at www.corvairkid.com.

As you will recall, the remaining codes tend to be for uncommon options.
They also tend to be on types of Corvairs that folks are not saving, at
least not in significant numbers. We are in a "now or never"
situation--there are very few of the types of cars we need to see left and
even these will be gone soon. So we need to all work together now before
it's too late. There is no other source for this info other than the cars
which remain. With the arrival of Fall, the weeds and bugs will die down so
it's a perfect time to go tromping through the bushes looking for derelict
cars before winter sets in. Over the past year, groups have visited the
Corvair Ranch in Gettysburg, PA, Norm King's yard in Flint, MI, and Mike
McKeel's place in Gaston, IN. We need more people to get involved though, so
we're sweetening the pot.

Revised rules: If you provide conclusive evidence to define any of the codes
below, you will receive a $50 gift certificate (used to be $20) to the
Corvair vendor of your choice. You can win as many $50 certificates as codes
that you define conclusively. Each question has only one gift certificate
associated with it so first come, first served. If you provide evidence for
an item that needs confirmation, you get a $25 gift certificate (used to be
$10).

Note: I reserve the right to correct any mis-statements below about what we
are looking for. I checked the list several times but there is always a
chance that I did not describe a particular item accurately.

The data we are looking for is on the last line of the Fisher Body tag,
which is in the engine compartment on the rear frame rail. Remember that
cars built at Willow Run and Van Nuys (Los Angeles) have numerical
separators between the groups of option codes, except for the first group
("1" is omitted).

What you will need to do is to send pictures of the Fisher Body tag and of
the option(s) of interest.

Here is what we are looking for:

1963 (OA = Oakland, VN = Van Nuys, WR = Willow Run)

*	Any WR or VN car with a P in group 3. $50
*	Any car with factory heater delete. $50
*	Any 700-series sedan with factory rear door armrests. $50
*	Any car with a Y in group 2 and/or a factory rear seat speaker. $25
*	Any OA car with a K code. $25

1964

*	Any car with something other than O, V, or W in group 5. This will
appear only on cars with a body build date of October - December, 1963. $50

1965

.         Although we have confirmation of all of the codes, we'd still like
to find more cars with the 5G and 5Y rear seat belts so that we can examine
the mounting method. If you have such a car, please take pictures that tell
us whether the nuts for the rear belts are welded to the floor pan or not.
$25

1966 (LOS = Los Angeles, WRN = Willow Run)

*	Any LOS model 500 sedan with factory headrest bench front seats. $50
*	Any car with factory deluxe front shoulder belts. $25
*	Any car with factory seat belt delete (exported cars only). $25

1967

*	Any sedan with factory non-deluxe rear center seat belt. $50
*	Any car with factory heater delete. $25
*	Any car with factory non-deluxe front shoulder belts. $25
*	Any car with factory seat belt delete (exported cars only). $25

I hope you find this fun. It's also very important historical research that
we have to do NOW if we are ever going to get the answers! You can contact
me using any of the methods below:

Kent Sullivan

6407 126th Ave. NE
Kirkland, WA 98033
425-889-2110 (h)
425-466-7052 (c)

kentsu at corvairkid.com