New thread!
At what point does “personal experience” become empirical evidence?
“$228K” GT-E
1stOwner’s GT-E: (Somehow downloaded at bottom)
My car, purchased from OO in 1977, prior to restoration:
My brother’s CJ XR-7G, purchased from OO in 1973:
FWIW, 69 Cyclone lid:
222.tif.tiff (540 KB)
222.tif.tiff (540 KB)
That’s a lot of black ram air cleaner lids. What about Bill’s CJ XR7G photos show his as black as well.
How many blue lids are there on the CJ cars?
Steven
IMO, you need to include production date info on those cars, especially if you are trying to prove / disprove a change-over date from blue to black.
Is it safe to assume that both air cleaner lids were used and for some reason a color change took place? Is there a difference in the blue lid other than the color?
Steven
Personal experience is always anecdotal.
Jim,
What color was the lid on your CJ GT-E? I seem to recall it being Black. Not that proves anything.
Personal experience is always anecdotal.
How many “anecdotes” do you need?
Do you think everyone rushed out and painted their lids black just to be cool?
How do you fake the obvious factory paint on the unrestored cars pictured (and owned) above?
I would love to know how that could be accomplished.
Come on, guys - maybe you need to reconsider this one.
I’ve seen multiple cars with both lids. This is due to production changes at the plant. Some times a different color is called out for another model example GT or G or GT-E. When at paint shop they could mistake paint code and paint wrong color. The part gets used and then gets crabbed on the assy line. An inspector then has to sign off. If no parts are on shelf that color can be used. That way the vehicle is complete and can be sold. It’s not rocket science…
Here is the info from the CJ registry on 68 lids:
http://www.428cobrajet.com/id-air-cleaner-68
It says blue covers (-A) were used until mid May and then changed to black (-C)
Which is why I recommended seeing date codes for the car pics posted above. Considering April 1st introduction, that only gives 6 weeks of “blue lid” production before it switched to “black lid” for the next ~10 weeks or so. Given the comparably low CJ Cougar build numbers, how many possible “blue lid” Cougars were there? 10? 20? Out of the hundred-and-some built?
…I know someone has the build timeline / breakdown and could provide that answer, with pics probably.
My car was built June 20.
My brother doesn’t have a Marti report for his car, but I’ll see if I can get his VIN/consecutive # so we can discern an approximate build date.
Another “anecdote” comes from Randy G, who said he’s seen many black lids on 68 CJs.
IMHO, The VIN won’t help with date code. They didn’t build the cars in sequential order. They built the cars in lots… VINS were distributed to the factories in groups, not all cars were built one after the other. I don’t think the VIN will be enough to help with the date of production. The date on the door tag would be better, even though I know that date is the scheduled date, not the actual build date. Best bet is to get a Marti Report so you know the exact date therefore you can have a more thorough and accurate set of data for the black vs. blue debate.
Just my two cents…
Gary – I too have seen a lot of black lids – I’m not sure which is correct, or if both are, or maybe one after the other. I’m just searching for written evidence from F-L-M that might help define it better.
Jim
Thanks, Jim - sounds good!
Like many others my friend has searched for the answer and it looks like the change to black was in the second to third week in May as it says in the CJ Registery. His car is built May 7, so he painted it Blue, but said he could have gone either way. His car did not have the air cleaner when he bought the car so who knows. His friend is the origonal owner of a 68 1/2 “135” Mustang, was there when it rolled off the truck brand new and the top was blue, Randy Delisio has done early “135’s” and they are Blue and built in April.
The assy line was not an exact process back then and the worker he was just building another car so there could be exceptions.
Like many others my friend has searched for the answer and it looks like the change to black was in the second to third week in May as it says in the CJ Registery. His car is built May 7, so he painted it Blue, but said he could have gone either way. His car did not have the air cleaner when he bought the car so who knows. His friend is the origonal owner of a 68 1/2 “135” Mustang, was there when it rolled off the truck brand new and the top was blue, Randy Delisio has done early “135’s” and they are Blue and built in April.
The assy line was not an exact process back then and the worker he was just building another car so there could be exceptions.
You can see a picture of a ram air lid in my signature. That’s Dyno Don Nicholson and the photo was taken in 1968. Let’s see all the 1968 dated photos of air cleaner lids.
Here’s me and Don Nicholson in 2002. Don signed the blue ram air cleaner lid of my car. He sat in my car for about 30 minutes signing autographs for other fans. Great guy, lots of cool stories.
Interesting thread, and I’ll be the first to say that I don’t know squat about CJs and their ram air lids. But it seems to me that the quantity / VIN / build date / lid color debate is ideal for some custom Marti research. That data can definitively resolve the first three variables. After that, it may be simple enough to collect and match color data about known remaining vehicles. Logic suggests that there will be a similar pattern to that described on the Mustang CJ Registry.
Here’s me and Don Nicholson in 2002. Don signed the blue ram air cleaner lid of my car. He sat in my car for about 30 minutes signing autographs for other fans. Great guy, lots of cool stories.
Nice anecdote! 