possible copo

[CJP_69]

I am newly registered to this board but have used it as a reference for a while. I wanted to post some info on a 1969 Camaro that I just purchased as "food for thought" for this website. A check with Mr. Cunneen and his records did not yield any info. The car is believed to have had four owners(excluding myself) and its history is known to 1981 when it was purchased with a 327 4speed, painted Lemans blue with a white top. It was driven until 1988, then parked until now. I bought the car rolling from a friend who had it for two weeks and wanted the non original 327/4 speed out of it. The car's tag info is 302149BDY 05E 711 61 E X11D80. Vin 124379N649841. It has the original 309 master and disc assembly, 3/8 line, exhaust plate, bbc heater box w/blower motor stamped 3/69, Harrison 4 core 4 speed radiator stamped "O F O" on pass. tank,"O I" on driver's tank. It is an original 4speed car w/ Muncie speedo cable and it has what appears to be original cowl induction wiring exiting above the fuse box with relay on firewall and cowl induction throttle arm with no switch. The cowl hood has a weathered grommet but is missing the flapper pieces. I also sanded a portion of it and found burnished brown paint. The car has small block engine mounts(no part#s) and a small block cross member but has a big block z bar. The rear is coded BE 06 11 G 2 and the casting appears to be E 26or8? 9(corroded). The tubes are welded to the pumpkin and it has old J bolt traction bars. The front leafspring perches are tack welded to the body. The interior has a rosewood wheel, no gauges or console. The hearsay is that it had a big block in the 70's and is believed to have been in Rhode Island all its life. The car is very solid aside from slight quarter lip, fender and rear glass channel rust and the overall "weathering" of it looks like it hasn't been touched for a while. It has a rear spoiler with the thicker tension rod. I acknowledge that anything could have happened to this car over the past 33 years, lack of documentation, and am aware of the date coding supposedly being before the body build. However, the 05E build and 06 11 on the rear are so close that I felt I should post this car's facts. I bought the car thinking it was a 4 speed SS car to build a clone ZL 1 but now I'm not sure if I should go that route. Any input is appreciated. Thanks-Chris.

[Jeff H]

Since nobody else has responded yet, I will offer my opinion. I've seen other COPO cars that are documented and have the BE rear dated after the cars build date and they are right in the timeframe your car is in. So, don't let that rear make you think it isn't a true COPO car. But, it will be up to you to do as much homework as possible to try and verify that it is a real COPO car. Most of the evidence you have found points to a true COPO so keep asking questions. It would make a nice ZL1 clone if you can't find a correct date L72, but you may want to try and locate a correct L72 first. Somebody else must have some more information to help out, so please add to my comments or correct my comments guys.

[Stefano]

Jeff,
Which COPO are you aware of that has it's original BE dated after the body Build date???

[Kurt S]

#'s look OK except for the rear. The first rear dated similar in the database is 11,000 cars after this one. I tend to think it was swapped (and a lucky swap at that).

[CJP_69]

Jeff,
I have the feelers out now trying to dig up info on this car.
Kurt,
I would tend to agree with what you are saying and that is why I posted the data for number crunchers like yourself. But the other cues on the car still make me scratch my head and ironically, after I posted this, I read the thread started by Stefano on 05/31/02, "Dealer Order Procedures", in which Jim Mattison stated that there were supplier problems with the COPO rear ends. Again, thanks for the replies. As I said, this is food for thought. The car shows approx 30500 miles on the odometer. I am curious if anyone has ever confirmed any date coding on the Harrison radiator. My curved neck has a "F" on the recess between the two "O's". Thanks Chris

[Jeff H]

Stefano, I think Kurt knows which car I'm referring to. It's 11,000 units before this car and almost the exact same date on the rear. It's an 06A car, but from what I remember, isn't there an issue with a lot of cars being 06A and no 06B or 06C. This car could be a lucky swap on the rear to get it that close, but it's also quite a conincidence it falls very close to the time frame of a documented car with a late rear.

[COPO PETE]

I started a post about a year ago called "June Bums". Quite a bit of info in that section.
Peter

[Stefano]

Pete How do you link it up?

[Chevy454]

June Bums

Your welcome... [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Stefano]

Thanks for the Link and info. So it is not that the rear is dated after, but for the long 6A month????

MR70 have you documented this situation with Chevelles as well?