69 early or 69 late

[69dream]

Hello all,

I just bought the car I've always wanted, 69 coupe, and I think it is a 69 late. Is there a definitive number on the cut off from early to late?

 

[6 Shooter]

69 Vette's Rock!

From another MO Boy - Welcome to the

Post a few pics of ur 69 when ya get sometime.

Later . . . . . .
6 Shooter

 

[6880 Mike]

No definitive date for early or late. "Early" means one thing to some folks, and another to others. '69 production ramped up fairly quickly since there wasn't a whole lot different from the '68s as far as model year changes go. In my opinion, a '69 assembled in the first month or six weeks of production could be "early." "Late" cars would be towards the end of production -- say mid-November through mid-December, '69. Time/Build date and VIN will tell you when your car was assembled. It would be safe to say if you had 700001 or 738762 you could definitely say you had an early or late '69.

 

[69dream]

Thanks for the reply. My vette was built sometime in Aug of 1969 and is numbered 729220.

 

[pws69]

Thanks for the reply. My vette was built sometime in Aug of 1969 and is numbered 729220.

You should do more research - there are MUCH better answers to your question. It not simply a matter of opinion - there are VERY distinct differences between "early" and "late" 69's. For one example, the wiper door "vacuum motor" is shaped like a coffee can on the "early" models and like two pie plates stuck together for "late"...there are many more. Check the various forums.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

This subject is frequently misunderstood.

When a person refers to 'early or late', it's not to the car as a whole, it's individual pieces. It's very common to see at least two different versions of an component on a given year of car, but these changeovers happened individually throughout the production year and not all on the same day.

My year of car had some changeovers in the first month of production , some in the middle of the production year, and a few (intake manifold and front grills) happen a week apart during the last month of production.

If there's several changeovers on unrelated components that seem to have happened at the same time, it's probably a coincidence.

Hope this helps.

 

[zgator]

I'm in the aircraft industry and they are refured to as running changes.Vette head has it right.There is no difinitive month/week/day.It all just comes together over a period of time.I don't think 69 was the only year of changes but maybe so.It happens all the time.To answer your question.There more than likley is no date as to early/late.Just what we as owners have labled them to be able to put some kind of time frame on our cars.Like when someone posts a question on how many red on red 4 speed 427/435hp verts were made in 68.Nobody knows excatly.You just brake down production by how many verts/how many red/red,you know the routine,basic math will put you somewhere in the ballpark.Even if they were no changes I would say that by your vin alone it would qualify as late.Good question.Maybe John Z will chime in.

 

[JohnZ]

Mikey nailed it - it's dependent on the particular component you're interested in, and at what point that component got a running change, not on the entire car. If a part changed one month into production, then cars built the first month are "early", and all the rest are "late". If a part changed during the last month of production, the first 10-11 months of cars are "early" and those built during the last month are "late". The NCRS Judging Guide for each year car usually has a VIN range for components that had running changes during any given model year.

 

[6880 Mike]

Mikey nailed it - it's dependent on the particular component you're interested in, and at what point that component got a running change, not on the entire car. If a part changed one month into production, then cars built the first month are "early", and all the rest are "late". If a part changed during the last month of production, the first 10-11 months of cars are "early" and those built during the last month are "late". The NCRS Judging Guide for each year car usually has a VIN range for components that had running changes during any given model year.

:bang
I agree. The original question referenced only early and late '69s in general.