Carburetor cleaner has worked well for me in the past. Soak for several days, tags are made from aluminum.
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Good call Scott - I was wrong about the buck stamp being a date code. Kevin Marti’s Tagbook confirms they are inspection stamps and probably hand stamped since they are always wonky. He says D-A, D-2, and H-2 are the most common ones. I thought mine was M-2, but looking closer, it is H-2 as well. Soaking in acetone will also strip the paint off.
Here is a sampling of some of the many buck tags I have collected. Also there are some larger font letter stamps, and a B-3.
Cool - that’s only 8 sequence numbers from mine! Do you see any with RM for Rocker Moldings? It’s not on mine, but maybe because all XR7’s got them.
I was just reading Jeff Speegle’s description of the rotation number. Certain cars were pulled off the line at the halfway point for things like convertible tops, and the rotation number was where it was to be re-inserted into the line for second half assembly.
Assuming that car was assembled on the same day as mine (Dec 5, 1969), and with a rotation number of 121 vs. 93 for my car, it may have been 28 cars away on the 2nd half assembly line!
The rotation numbers on the buck tag are the “buck” rotation number. That is its initial sequence number as the buck was the very first operation, so that is when 93 and 121 were 28 cars apart, provided they were both bucked on the same day. They are often times different then the rotation number that might still be found written on the radiator core support and or build sheets. Waco Eliminator has one rotation number on the buck tag, a different rotation number on the core support partially obscured by the hood brace brackets which matches one of its build sheets. There is also a third rotation number on a second build sheet.
OK thanks! It makes more sense that the rotation number stamped on buck tag was where it started in the assembly line sequence rather than where it finished. Perhaps the numbers written on the core support were where the car got re-inserted in the sequence for 2nd half?
Correct, core support would be second set of sequences. It may or may not match a build sheet. The buck rotation number will typically not match a build sheet.
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Just to clarify. There was one rotation number for the first “half” of the build for each car. That number can sometimes be found written on the body below the first coats of paint and also (on the cars that received them - Dearborn and some years at San Jose)
While the cars waited their turn some cars were moved to stations were things like convertible tops and other limited production items or features were added then they were moved back to the holding area
Once they got that part of the build finished they went to a holding area where cars were reorganized into a new order and given a rotation number for the later “half” of the build. That was to insure that there was a mix of cars. Those with a lot of options or items that made assembly more difficult or took more time and right before and after cars that had little or no options (easier builds) so the line could keep a good pace. This is just one of the reasons why the cars were not completed in sequential order and why groups would have represented vehicles with thousands of VIN numbers apart as well as projected build dates weeks (or in rare cases greater) apart from one another being completed one after another
That second number is shown in the upper left hand corner of the buildsheet, depending on plant sometimes written on a lot of individual parts or sub assemblies while at other plants a copy of the buildsheet, often folded so the rotation number was visible, was attached to the part or parts. Depending on plant the second rotation number was written on the front and rear of the car in a clear spot and large enough for workers to be able to look quickly at the next car, identify it and be able to determine what part or parts were needed for their part of the assembly.
This comes from a number of plant managers, workers and one designer that layed out one of the assembly plants where Cougars were built.
Thanks for the clarification Jeff! That explains why the build sheet rotation number doesn’t match the one on the buck tag! So is it the first “half” rotation number that we see stamped on the buck tag?
Sounds like it’s probably a stretch to assume cars separated by 8 VIN sequence numbers even ran down the line on the same day.
Sadly, most of my cars build sheet had been torn off the inside of the drivers door before I got it. There was another build sheet under the drivers carpet, but it was completely blank for some reason.
Yes for this year and plant. On others you can find a number for the bucking station its believed but have not been able to collect data to prove or disprove. Buck tags are a produce of a specific year and plant and anyone should be real careful using codes found on one and applying them to other years or plants. They were often (the codes) were change or new ones added during the production year according to people in charge of that sort of things
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I got my Marti report the other day the strange thing about this car is it came with tinted glass. out of the 100,085 cars just 1 car came with this option but no AC. I always though the tinted glass and AC went hand in hand. also the bucked and car serialized have no date.
Tinted glass was a stand alone option. You need to look at your statistic portion of the Marti report.
If you read it carefully it begins with 565 1969 XR7 convertibles were painted Dark Ivy Green, of those 30 had nugget gold leather and vinyl interiors, of those probably another statistic, working its way down to 1 of those had tinted glass.
You could post a photo of the statistics portion of your Marti report for clarification.
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The statistics box shows the breakdown of engine and then transmission followed by the subset of color (565 total XR7 convertibles versus 255 (351 2V with Automatics)) of those 30 versus 16 (351-2V Autos), of the 16, 3 had styled steel wheels and only one of those had tinted glass.
Of the 13 that did not have styled steel wheels, some of those may have had tinted glass.
Common mistake for people to misread Marti reports when talking about the “1 of”
I just purchased mine. I got email about delivery papers. Cool, but is it worth it. Not penny pinching… Just???
I think it is worth it in any case.
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Compared to what you just spent for the car, and are about to spend on parts, it’s a drop in the bucket! And it also adds value in helping to authenticate your car.
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There was a guy at MCACN last year. He made really cool displays for your cars. Anybody know who he is??? Anyone going to MCCACN this year?
That’s probably the factory invoice for your car. It’s an original vintage document from the factory for your car. It will show all the options, their cost for the dealer, the recommended cost for the customer, as well as important dates and information about the original dealership. It is very similar to a window sticker, but not the same.
For the money, it is an excellent piece of documentation to have for your vehicle, and sometimes they show interesting notes.
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