Hi everyone, years ago I upgraded from my standard 69 coupe to an all original RS. When I finally got around to restoring it, during the disassembly process, I realized just about everything on this car is numbers matching. So now I'm down to replacing the general items that disappear over time with correct date coded items. Looking for water pump, alternator, and starter housing. My question is this....everything on this car seems to be date coded within a week or two of everything else. What's the general rule here? If I find these items that are outside of 2 weeks of the rest of these numbers, should I skip them and keep looking? Does the true collector even care about these items?

I think it depends...like anything else,but I dont know how close the # match thing has to be to be considered # matching. Just to show you how wide of a range that can be...my car was a # matching 6 cyl car or very very close when I bought it. It is a May 67 car,BUT the engine was a Jan 67,the trans,a powerglide was a Nov 66,the rear gear was a 66 as well,so the # matching guys will have to give you a range here!

Does the true collector even care about these items?

Yes.

Here is a recent thread on this date subject.
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=105032

Welcome to the site!!

Doug

From what I have seen posted regarding "numbers matching" date codes can run anywhere from 30-90 days as long as they run correctly. With the majority within 30-45 days. I am referring to the drive train. Example if the production date for completion of the vechicle is May 10 of 67 than the engine, tranny and rear end have to be produced before this date. The engine casting date on the block has to be before the date and suffix code stamped on the front pad of the block which reflects the production date of the engine. I have seen posted where dates up to 6 months prioris acceptable.


Dave

It the old water pump, starter, etc are still there, consider getting them rebuilt. That would probably be cheaper than finding date coded replacements, and much cooler!

If they're gone, consider Jeff's Dated Components in PA. He has a lot of stuff, and you may do some "one stop shopping".

I've found that on this particular car, the rear end, trans, engine block, intake, and distributor are all date coded two weeks or less than the build date of the car. I suppose I'll stay within this range and feel good about what I've accomplished. At the end of the day, and after all the money spent on this restoration, with no real documentation to speak of it might be more of a personal challenge than a return on investment procedure. :) It's still a nice surprise to find it this way though. Thanks for all your help.

On the 69 DZ block I have, the heads are dated within 6 days of the block assembly and most items are within two weeks like you say. Some components were made in batches, like alts. dists. etc. and could be dated way before the build date of engine or car. But the common practice is within weeks or at most a month. I would go with what you have as a good time line.