Plastic or Steel

[ssbrewskyaz]

I've talked to a few people regarding this subject. As is all to typical, there appears to be varying degrees of what is correct.

Does any body know, for sure, (mr70) which 70 Big Block Chevelles, specifically an LS6 car, were assembled with metal front inner fender wells in production and which ones were built with plastic. I'm told it was random and there were multiple suppliers. Random I could buy, but regardless of multiple suppliers, the GM material spec would have been the same for all suppliers.

Most Big Block cars I've had so far, 70, 71 have had remnants of plastic. Coincidence or precedence? ...SWB...

[ORIGLS6]

You're going to get some interesting replies to this question. My car is an 05D Arlington car and came with plastic. I've seen them both ways and have even seen some authentic cars with one of each. I doubt if you'll be happy with the current repro plastic pieces. Anyone else?

[Stefano]

I have heard many derivations about the subject but every original 1970 SS I have seen has had plastic wells, On 1969 Cars I have seen both, as well as one of each on a car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

[hvychev]

I have a 70 SS LS5 454 Chevelle and my car has what appears to be the original plastic inner fender wells. My car is an Arlington car built in 3/70 (I forgot what week!) A side note. My fender wells appear to have a rough finish to them they are not that smooth in some spots.

http://216.136.200.194/auction/Feb/20032129057850858839144.jpg

[T Billigen]

Supposedly my 69 Yenko Chevelle had plastic inners (told to me by the original owner). The reason he remembered was when he was working on the car he melted a hole in one with a shop lamp.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Tom;
I have heard that the Yenko Chevelle in the SSDI mag. test also had plastic liners. Is it possible to confirm that by looking at the pics in SSDI 8/69?

[Mr70]

I don't think there will ever be a Definitive answer on this subject.
Last year on Team Chevelle there was a great topic about this very subject.Almost four pages of people weighing in with what that have encountered.
Some Chevelles even supposedly built with one plastic,and one Steel.
I think the Leeds Plant mostly used Steel,and Van Nuys and Arlington were more favored with Plastic.
Funny,when owners said they were restoring years ago,they would replace their Original Plastic with Steel,cause the Plastic cracked after so many years,and Steel owners would replace with Plastic,cause they rusted or dented after years of use.

[ssbrewskyaz]

Does anyone have the original, not the superceded, part number for the skirts? Maybe I can go into the print archives and get a clearer picture of what the material spec was and application variations by model by assembly plant.
...SWB...

[T Billigen]

Marlin,
I have that magazine, you really can't tell. When I got the Chevelle it did have one steel and one plastic, but I don't think it was original because the car had a frmae off resto, when I did some work it on I decided to go with steel because they looked better.

[Keith Tedford]

Both of our 1969 cars were Baltimore built and had plastic inner fenders. One car was first week of February and the other was the last week of July.

[Mr Yenko]

We have (2) LS-6's the 02D car is Baltimore and had plastic and the other car is 06C and has metal. I have yet to find the answer. "POTTER BROS. SUPERCARS" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[ssl78]

The LS-6 in my garage is a 29k mile car built 12D and has 2 steel ones.

[Stefano]

Those Guys from the Leeds plant were always doing crazy stuff like that.

[JIM]

Hi; I can share these bits of information with you. I have an original 70 ls-6 built in Atlanta(04d)that I bought in 77 with 23,000 miles on it . It has steel. I have an original paint 40,000 mile 70 ss conv that was built in Balt(04a) that has plastic. I have an original paint 70 coupe built in Flint (053) that has plastic.Of the last 2 70 454 coupes I restored 1 with with 23,000 miles had steel built in Kansas(04a) had steel, as did the one built in Balt (02c). It has nothing to do with LS-6 , Air conditioning or so on . Chevrolet used platic liners in 69 at some point they had a problem with Snow and Ice cracking them and redesigned the bosses around the bolt holes for more support. The plastic inner fenders that you see today were mostly destined for Monte Carlos and have an extra hole just above the 2 that attach it to the firewall. This bolted to the fender support that these cars have. It would seem that most of your Atlanta built cars have steel, At least the many I have seen over the past 20 years. To answer your question Steel is your best bet as they look correct and fit pretty good. The plastics that are available to the genral public for a reasonable price just don't fit the bill. Thanks and good luck. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif Jim

[T Billigen]

Oldsmobile used the red plastic inners in there W-30s as part of the performance package, i'm not sure why Chevy used them? Possibly cheaper??

[Keith Tedford]

Back in the late '60s GM Oshawa was developing a new plastics department. We already had a metal stamping operation for many years. They decided to build a set of inner fender moulds. Everything that could go wrong with the process did. With today's CNC equipment the job would have been a breeze. I don't recall what car these were for. May have been Chevelle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif