If a 69 Trim tag shows that the vehicle was made the 2nd week of Jan. 1969, what are the parameters of the engine build date. I have heard that some engines were built several weeks before the body or sometimes the body was built before the engine. This is within a couple of weeks. Anyone have any info on how long it took to build an engine and ship it out to the body shop.

Have you seen the CRG report on the First Generation Camaro Assembly Process (http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml)?

However, to answer your question, usually the engine will preceed the body build by a day to several weeks. This isn't always the rule and there are several documented examples where the engine was assembled after the date on the trim tag. This is because the trim tag date is the week the body assembly process was began by the Fisher Body plant. It usually took about two days (four shifts) for a body to go through the Fisher Body system, and another day and a half (three shifts) to go through the Chevrolet system. Engines with assembly dates a day or two after the body process was started have been seen. Although this is very rare, it's very possible.

I think if you read the report, you'll get a better understanding of the complete procedure.

Ed

Great info. The reason I ask is that I saw a 69 Z with the date of Jan 10 69 on trim tag and a build date of Dec. 18 68 on the engine. It seemed a little to far off to be original. Thanks for the info.:thumbsup:

Engine assembly dates (on the front block pad) typically precede the car's Chevrolet final assembly date by 2-6 weeks; the block casting date gap can be longer.
:beers: