By: Barbara Spear
If you haven't read the first part of this article and would like to, click here.
The factory work orders that were mounted on the gas tanks of most Corvettes manufactured from 1967 forward, provide valuable documentation. Options, serial numbers, and original dealer information can be found on these sheets of paper. It is clear, however, that not every Corvette will have one; and some Vettes may have an incorrect sticker. Let me explain.
At the factory, work orders were printed, at various locations, on teletype machines. As they were printed, the work order batches were separated by two or more blank pages. If the employee sending a batch felt that the transmission didn't go through, the batch was sent again.
On the shop floor, the work order sheets were separated and matched up with the Corvettes being manufactured. Since the factory employees referred to these sheets to know what they had to do at their point in the assembly process, the concern was for the content of the sheet, rather than the sheet itself.
In the gas tank section of the factory, the sheets were affixed to the top of the tank. It wasn't uncommon for someone to inadvertently stick one of the blank separator sheets onto the top of a tank. On occasion, someone would stick the wrong sheet on the first tank, and then be "one-off" for all of the Vettes in that batch. If a nobody caught the mismatch, that entire group of cars left the factory with a sticker that belonged on the car ahead of or behind it. An entire group of cars could receive the wrong sheets if a re-transmitted batch was affixed to the subsequent group of cars coming down the line.
The stickers weren't applied with the intention of having them be a permanent fixture. If a sticker fell off the gas tank, it usually ended up in the trash. During some shifts, employees actually removed the stickers and threw them away, before the Vette moved to the next assembly stop.
Happily, these are the exception situations, rather than the rule.
Though the work order I sent to the conservator showed no traces of adhesive, there should be traces of adhesive on many. The work orders were usually affixed to the tank top, using a strip of 2" wide masking tape.
Because the work orders were transmitted and printed on teletype machines, there were no carbons. Though there are many different types of teletype ribbons available, looking at the blurred letters, my guess is that a reusable cotton ribbon was used. As the cotton fibers clogged the striking keys on the teletype, the letters filled in. New ribbons of this type always produce heavily inked, smudgy letters. Older ribbons produce clearer letters, but lighter type. If a ribbon wore thin, it would even be possible for some of the text to be pressed into the page, with no ink visible.
A document conservator will evaluate the ink types on the page before proceeding with any chemical treatments, so if different vendors supplied ribbons containing inks having different chemical compositions, the conservator will choose the correct solvents to preserve the text on the document.
Though we all wish that the factory had consistently affixed the correct work order to each Vette it manufactured, it just didn't happen. Thanks to an inside source, however, we can at least understand the environment in which these sheets were handled, and how Corvettes were released with missing, blank, or mismatched work orders on their gas tanks.
Gas Tank Stickers Part I
Gas Tank Stickers Part III
Copyright 1996 Barbara Spear
