'65 Steering column (std)

[Loren L.]

AIM calls out a fastener for the plastic sleeve carrying the turn signal wires to their connection point; AIM # is 3793788.

Local Chev dealer's Part Dept. may close early today, due to the unchecked laughter resulting from my call asking about 3793788.

Can anyone describe this piece and is an acceptable sub available? It almost seems like it could be rubber like a license plate bumper that is squeezed into hole until the slot grabs it....

Thanks.

[Wayne M.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

AIM calls out a fastener for the plastic sleeve carrying the turn signal wires to their connection point; AIM # is 3793788.....Can anyone describe this piece and is an acceptable sub available? It almost seems like it could be rubber like a license plate bumper that is squeezed into hole until the slot grabs it....Thanks.

Loren -- and to complicate matters, there may be a different fastener used on 'A' versus S-bodies .

[Mike G.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

Loren: on my April '65 St. Louis car, this fastener is a metal disc about .375 dia, with three spring finger prongs emanating from the center. The fingers pop into the hole in the mast jacket. Once installed, you're looking at the flat .375 dia spring-steel disc.

[Joe L.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

AIM calls out a fastener for the plastic sleeve carrying the turn signal wires to their connection point; AIM # is 3793788.

Local Chev dealer's Part Dept. may close early today, due to the unchecked laughter resulting from my call asking about 3793788.

Can anyone describe this piece and is an acceptable sub available? It almost seems like it could be rubber like a license plate bumper that is squeezed into hole until the slot grabs it....

Thanks.

Loren-----


GM #3793788 was discontinued without supercession in March, 1972.

[Joe R.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

Loren,

It's just a small metal button to secure the sleeve to the column.

You need one, I got one. Just give me a call.

JR

[John H.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

Loren -- and to complicate matters, there may be a different fastener used on 'A' versus S-bodies .

Wayne -

That must be a coincidence - the body source wouldn't make any difference, as the column and instrument panel harness were installed at St. Louis.

[Wayne M.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

Wayne -

That must be a coincidence - the body source wouldn't make any difference, as the column and instrument panel harness were installed at St. Louis.

John -- was just trying to get a rise from Loren .

While we're talking about A-bodies, I always thought the interiors were complete (dash pads, instr. panel, under-dash wiring harness, glove box, radio, seats [removed upon joining the St. Louis body line, to be reinstalled at a later stage]; at least that's what I believed. Pics in RESTORER vol 6, # 3 show A-boies on the Ionia line with door panels and interior rear view mirror. Same articles describe these Ionia bodies as "completely painted, trimmed units, ready for the St. Louis body drop..."

So was it just the steering column that was added at St. Louis on A-bodied cars ? Or is it more complicated than that .

[John H.]

Re: '65 Steering column (std)

While we're talking about A-bodies, I always thought the interiors were complete (dash pads, instr. panel, under-dash wiring harness, glove box, radio, seats [removed upon joining the St. Louis body line, to be reinstalled at a later stage]; at least that's what I believed. Pics in RESTORER vol 6, # 3 show A-boies on the Ionia line with door panels and interior rear view mirror. Same articles describe these Ionia bodies as "completely painted, trimmed units, ready for the St. Louis body drop..."

So was it just the steering column that was added at St. Louis on A-bodied cars ? Or is it more complicated than that .

Yes, it's more complicated than that, and the photos you mentioned were apparently shot for P.R. purposes, and the description is also incorrect.

The following is excerpted from my article, "A.O. Smith - The "Other" Corvette Body Builder", published in the June, 2006 issue of "Corvette Enthusiast" magazine:

The Body Trim Process: The Trim Line process at A.O. Smith was quite simple, as the only parts installed were those required to make the car watertight and safe for rail shipping.



All door hardware, including glass run channels, outside handle, lock cylinders, inside remote door release and lock rods and spindles, and access hole covers, plus power window conduits and wiring and the cross-car power window harness
were installed on the Trim Line. Both styles also received the rear main body harness and accelerator lever. The lock cylinders for the ignition and spare tire lock and the keys were placed in a plastic bag and taped to the lower instrument panel brace for use at St. Louis.



The convertible top was subassembled off-line and installed with its deck lid latching hardware, plus the trim strip at the front of the deck lid. If the car called for a hardtop, it was built up and installed, and the soft top was stowed for shipping. Soft top-only cars had a protective cover for the top taped in place.

Exterior trim installation included the parking lamps, license lamp and rear license plate bezel.

All the rest of the interior trim and hardware (dash mats, carpets, brake and clutch pedals, steering column, seats, door trim panels, seat belts, storage compartment cover, quarter trim panels, side vents and kickpads, sill plates, heater, wiper linkage, main dash panel and eyebrow pads, cluster, glove box, shift console, instrument panel harness, and lower windshield inner garnish molding, etc.) were installed later at St. Louis.


Final Assembly And Shipping: Holes in the cowl and dash for the heater, wiper transmissions, dash grommets, fuse block and steering column were taped over, and the finished body was vacuumed-out and water-tested. Following the water test and final inspection, the completed body on its wheeled build truck was loaded on a tri-level railroad car and shipped to St. Louis; transit time varied from four days to two weeks. The train came right into the plant at St. Louis, and the bodies were unloaded into a scheduling area where they were stored until they were required for production.


Summary: The Body and Paint Shops at St. Louis only operated on the day shift from 1964-1967, producing half the bodies required; the other half came from A.O. Smith. As you might expect, a rivalry developed between St. Louis and A.O. Smith in terms of producing the best quality painted body, and regular joint quality audits fostered a continuing competition between the two for continuous quality improvement, which benefitted the customer during the midyear era.

The original Chevrolet plan to move Corvette production to Flint never came to fruition, and the contractual arrangement with A.O. Smith for finished bodies was phased out at the end of the 1967 model year, following a 4-month strike at A.O. Smith which forced St. Louis to run their Body and Paint shops on a six-day twelve-hour schedule in order to maintain production during the strike at Ionia.



When St. Louis was re-tooled in late 1967 for production of the new 1968 body styles, the second shift was reinstated in the Body and Paint Shops, and all bodies were produced in-house from that point until the plant closed in 1981 when Corvette production was moved to Bowling Green.