Design 1 / Design 2 Variations

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:39 am

Went through a bunch of my parts this past weekend and noticed several parts that had been manufactured differently, possible by different vendors? Attached are pics of what I've found. Thought this might be of interest to others.

Hood bracing design:
Design 1 / Design 2 Variations Hood_c10

Core Support Design: Different Hood Latch Braces
Design 1 / Design 2 Variations Core_s10

Swivel Bucket Seat Base Design: Different Pivot Points
Design 1 / Design 2 Variations Swivel10

Fender Well Design: Different Mounting Hardware for Battery Tray
Design 1 / Design 2 Variations Wheel_10

by Joe73 Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:02 am

Thats interesting stuff. I find the rad support really unusual. Never saw one with the skinny center brace.

Thanks for posting.

by Keith Seymore Thu Nov 24, 2016 9:26 am

Joe73 wrote:Thats interesting stuff. I find the rad support really unusual. Never saw one with the skinny center brace.

Thanks for posting.

I have to believe the hood change was the result of model year changes, either to address a durability concern or attachments for added optional content. I say that because large exterior sheet metal parts like hoods, fenders, radiator supports, etc, are generally made by one supplier (to keep tooling costs down) and normally by GM Chevrolet Metal Fabricating division.*

Hood brace: my guess would be either a durability fix or a cost saving, or maybe communization with another part (like Monte Carlo or something).

Swivel pivots - I agree, could be a difference in suppliers

Leading edge of wheel house from weld nuts to J clips: I would guess an assembly improvement, based on a manufacturing request. Weld nuts lock you into position and make it difficult to accommodate part to part variation. J clips give you just a little more slip and help with part to part and vehicle to vehicle differences. Also - if you cross thread the bolt into a weld nut it either breaks loose or you have to chop it out of there to repair. With a J clip you just pop it out and replace it with another.

*exception: pickup body side panels, which were manufactured by Checker Corp.

by dynchel Thu Nov 24, 2016 9:45 am

I found out the hood bracing one on my own. The original hood that came with my car was like the left one. My replacement hood (sourced from a '73 elcamino) is like the one on the right.

by Joe73 Thu Nov 24, 2016 10:15 am

All 10.of.my 73.chevelle.had.the.hood.on the left.

by dynchel Thu Nov 24, 2016 10:20 am

The left one gets you a few extra inches of air cleaner clearance. I had to change my setup a bit when I switched hoods.

by Joe73 Thu Nov 24, 2016 10:49 am

And the round.hole.lines.up perfect if you run a tall air.cleaner and.graft on a scoop. Pops right through.

by Keith Seymore Thu Nov 24, 2016 11:33 am

Joe73 wrote:All 10.of.my 73.chevelle.had.the.hood.on the left.

My '74 had the hood on the left; the radiator support on the left and the swivel on the left.

I don't recall on the wheel apron.

K

by Keith Seymore Thu Nov 24, 2016 11:34 am

dynchel wrote:I found out the hood bracing one on my own. The original hood that came with my car was like the left one. My replacement hood (sourced from a '73 elcamino) is like the one on the right.

Good point about the El Camino hood.

I know there were differences in the '70-'72 Chevelle vs El Camino with the Camino getting unique fenders and doors. That might be the case here with hoods.

K

by 77camino Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:30 pm

My 77 El Camino has the hood on the right and the core support on the right. I would assume that the differences are due to the year not the vehicle. I remember people putting full front clips off of a Malibu onto an El Camino. I was always told that the 70-72 El Caminos and Malibus would not interchange, but the wagon and El Camino would.

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Thu Nov 24, 2016 3:15 pm

I've had a hood from a 77 Malibu and a 77 El Camino with the design on the right. All other hoods have been the design on the left. So I would lean more towards the fact they changed the design along the way due to costs or known issues.

by crice63 Thu Nov 24, 2016 3:58 pm

My 75 El Camino is the hood on the left, and I also have the typical little pinch in the hood center from people closing it a lot with the shaky hinges. As best I can tell from the pic, that would be less of a problem with the right hand style hood brace.

by 454fourspeedss Fri Nov 25, 2016 7:48 pm

1973 thru 1975 chevelle hood part number 3992665 1976 367088 1977 377047 1973and 1974 core support 359915 and 1975 345355 1976 364430 1977 377041 so there were actually three different hoods and four different radiator supports according to my gm parts book

by 454fourspeedss Fri Nov 25, 2016 7:51 pm

had a 1973 with that extra rectangle hole near the headlight hole and it had a black plastic flange that the air cleaner ducting hooked to , not sure if it was factory or someone just did it themselves

by texan01 Mon Dec 19, 2016 11:27 pm

the extra hole is the 250 six cylinder cold air snorkel inlet, the V8s had them on the top of the core support.

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