Does anyone know who to get in contact with to get copies of build sheets for the St. Louis built vettes that GM lost the paper work for. I know that Bowling Green still has theres on file up to about mid 81.

As far as I've heard there are no copies of the build sheets available for St. Louis built Vettes. I've heard of some lucky owners finding copies hidden in the cars in places like under the seats & stuffed up under the dash. It's common knowlege that the official build sheet will be stuck to the top of the gas tank. If you're one of the lucky few that have been able to recover it intact & legible you could have a copy of the window sticker reprinted using a service like Triple A Enterprises. They will also reproduce a window sticker using the information you do have about the car such as original dealer, options, colors etc. You can check out their website for more info: www.window-sticker.com


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|B|Paul|/B| |B||I|82 blk/gray coupe|/I||/B|

Follow Up
Since my first post about the build sheets I have talked with someone at the national corvette museum about this matter. They gave me a little hope that possibly in the future there might be documents available without having to take your car apart. But for now all they have are corvette build sheets produced from 1981 to 2000 at the Bowling Green assembly plant. They are available through the museums archive and library site at https://www.corvettemuseum.com/library-archives/build_sheets/index.htm
At this time the museum staff told me they are still looking for build records for St. Louis or Flint produced corvettes because GM has store rooms full of old documents that no one has looked at in years so there is still hope for vettes 80 and back.

Corvette enthusiasts have searched for the St. Louis records for years. The clamor grew so loud a while back GM went so far as to allow outsiders to make a thorough seach of GM records. For the years 1954-1980, the records do not exist. The Bowling Green facility was supposed to have destroyed their records, but they held on to them and eventually got the okay to donate them to the National Corvette Museum. If you have a Bowling Green car, you can order a copy of your Corvette build order from the museum. Don't drop your fuel tank looking for a tank sticker. Some cars have them, others do not. If your car had one, it's possible it's no longer there; or only part of it is there; or what remains there is illegible. Additional copies of build orders have been found tucked in the wiring harness behind the speedo/tach, behind the stereo, behind the kick panels, tucked in the springs underneath the seats, and under the carpet in the rear storage area. Check these locations before deciding whether you want to drop your tank.

I Thought since we've had a lot of interest lately in RPO,s and Build Sheets I'd update this post for some of our newer members who are interested in viewing this thread.
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- Doug

|UPDATED|6/20/2002 12:33:33 PM|/UPDATED|

Right after I got my vette in Apr of 2000, I was looking around under it, and a saw a piece of paper sticking out of the frame, by the trailing arm tubes. I pulled it out carefully, and guess what? it was the original build sheet. It had some wear and tear on it, but most of it is readable. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone finding one there, but that is where it was.....

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|QUOTE|blk79 said: Right after I got my vette in Apr of 2000, I was looking around under it, and a saw a piece of paper sticking out of the frame, by the trailing arm tubes. I pulled it out carefully, and guess what? it was the original build sheet. It had some wear and tear on it, but most of it is readable. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone finding one there, but that is where it was..... |/QUOTE|

I've heard of folks finding them there. Also behind the dash up by the AC vents, behind the gauges, under the seats, stuffed up in the springs, in the rear storage area under the cubby. There's one guy over on the NCRS board who actually has 3 copies of his build sheets he found in various places! Mine came from behind the instrument cluster up near the AC vents. Good luck! :) ~Juliet

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Maybe I should look around a little better and hope to find one in some remote location. I never have had any reason to get up under the dash for anything, but maybe I will sometime. Like I said, mine is readable, but I would like one in better shape.

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I just printed out a clean copy of my build sheet and had it laminated. I forget who gave me the idea, but when I put my *new* gas tank back in shortly, the next restorer will find a nice copy of it. I'm also adding a nice color copy of the original title of the car - from the owner before me & I'll put the '70 Registry info on the gastank. I figure it'll be a nice time capsule for the next person.

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Hey Juliet, that is a great idea, but too late for me. I put my tank in last night. Taking the tank out is a breeze for one person, but putting it back in is another story.

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|QUOTE| Taking the tank out is a breeze for one person, but putting it back in is another story. |/QUOTE|

Yeah, I know the feeling. On your back under the car, with all fours up and on the tank (two hands two feet ) trying to wrestle it back into place and get the straps on and support cross member thing back in place, all the while wishing you were an octopus with 4 more arms to help.

|UPDATED|6/21/2002 11:07:01 PM|/UPDATED|


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