1969 Z/28 Stripe Widths and Gaps?

[69Z28-RS]

I wasn't aware of all the controversy over 'whether the AIM' has an error or not; I've looked at it like the AIM is how engineering *instructs* the assemblers to build the car, and our original cars reflect how the assemblers actually built it...  sometimes instructions are changed in the plant based on issues not foreseen when the engineers specified that item and something as *trivial* as how the stripes are taped off could be considered one of those 'trivial' things that are just changed to 'fix' the AIM without making a big deal of it requiring engineering re-involvement (functionality, safety, marketing/sales are really not involved with a 1/32 width difference in the stripe of spacing)..

After all this I went down to my car and examined my rear stripes (that are factory original paint)..  they *appeared* as I've always seen them..  I've always 'seen' them as 1/4" stripe spaced by 1/4" (although I've never measured them until today).  Anyway,  I got out my pointer set and set it to the stripe width, checked it against the spacing width and measured their width.  I got a 'spacing width' of 9/32", and a stripe width about 17/64".  I took a photo with a precision steel gauge laying across that same area..  see photos below.

[Mark]

The 68style narrow stripe spacing has only been seen on VERY early built 69, like the first week or two, after that they figured out the specifications had changed and fixed the spacing and stripe width issues.  LA continued to build cars with the spacing from the top of the stripes to the window trim with the much larger 68 spacing for maybe another month, but they had already changed over to the wider spaced 69 style stripes at that time.  The width of the spoiler had nothing to do with the stripe size or spacing, the early cars were just messed up from the factory.

[X33RS]

Thanks for explaining that Mark.  I'd never heard it explained in detail as to why or when and never really read much of anything about it that was very clear in any book.  So I appreciate that. 
   I guess what puzzled me was that the narrow 68 spoiler was still being used through Dec as I'm told.  Yet the 68 stripe spacing was gone long before that from your description.  I don't recall that I've ever seen a 69 with the 68 spoiler and 69 spaced stripes before.

As far as the D96 stripes on a Z, I think it was William here that explained that very clearly not too long ago, that the D96 was most likely still an option on an RS Z through December.  Something about a revise or cancellation didn't happen till January or something to that affect.  If I knew how to find that I'd post a link here.  I can't remember the details on it but it was probably the best and most thorough explanation I've seen about that to date.

[X33RS]

Holy cow I found it!!!!        I suck at these computers but here goes...

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=13988.0   

[Mark]

The short 68 spoiler was in use until about mid March of 69, the long spoiler first appeared around the beginning of February 69 and both were used in the overlap month and a half to 2 months, until the oin and supply of short spoilers were used up.  The only group of cars that have never been seen with the short spoilers are the Z11 cars.  Everyone of them had the long spoiler from the factory, how the factory managed that is not exactly clear, as the short ones were seen on Z28's, SS's and others during the same production time as the early Z11's.  Z10's also have long spoilers, but the plants had used up the excess short ones by Late April, early May when the Z10's were built.  Again the length of the spoiler on the car had nothing to do with the dimensions or placement of the stripes on the trunk.

[dale_z28]

Mark, thank you for explaining that period of time when both spoilers were used. Mine was a 02D no-spoiler / standard hood car when new, but I put a "short" spoiler on it because we were making them at General Tire (fiberglass division - when I worked there in the '80's) and I thought they were all the same. I had a few guys tell me it was "wrong", yet a few more said it was "right". I was "confused!" It now has the longer spoiler