Different size 1969 Camaro Headrest

[sdkar]

I have what I was sure was a 69 Camaro headrest.  I needed to replace one of my headrests as it was ripped.  I found a single headrest at a swap meet, and bought it.  It has the bend in the bar, and a date code of "12-5-68-2" stamped on it.  The hole punched in the lower half of the bar is a circle, whereas, my other headrests have a date of April 1969, and a square hole punched in the lower bar.  What is really confusing though is that my four original known Camaro headrests that I have are all approx. 13-3/4" across.  Whereas, the one I bought that is dated 12-5-68-2, is only 13" across.  It is smaller, and the underside plastic cover does not fit and it sticks out over the sides. 

It looks in every way like a 69 Camaro headrest.  I read the article on headrests here, but cannot find out why this one headrest I have smaller.  It is not a 67 or a 68 as it has a December 1968 date code, and a bent bar, which from what I understand, is indicative of 69.  So, what do I have?  Is this from a Firebird?  Were Firebird headrests smaller?  Is there another car using a headrest like this?  Any help would be great.

[bertfam]

The Camaro, Firebird and Corvair Monza all used the same headrests so I'm not sure why you have one that's different unless there was more than one supplier (which is very possible). However, ALL suppliers had to conform to the same basic design that was submitted to them by GM, and very little differences in tolerances were allowed between suppliers. (usually NONE!)

The 1969 headrest was still available from GM up to the mid 1970's so it's possible that the one you got was a service replacement (service parts didn't have the same restrictions on tolerances that original parts did).

Ed

[sdkar]

The reason I noticed the difference was when I went to install the underside plastic.  It stuck out past the ends of the headrest, thus proving to me that it was not as wide.  Was there another car that had a headrest that looked like a 69 Camaro, but was smaller?  This has to be it, as there is no way they used the stock plastic on this headrest, and it must have been a smaller one used instead.  I can only guess that I do not install the underside plastic, and I am willing to bet few people will notice one headrest smaller than the other....I hope.

[bertfam]

Was there another car that had a headrest that looked like a 69 Camaro, but was smaller?

Not that I know of. The 1968 and 1969 Corvette headrest is similar to the 1967 Camaro, but not as tall. The 1969 full size cars, Chevelle and Nova are COMPLETELY different (all similar to the picture below), and there's no way to confuse those with the Camaro headrest! the same goes for the 1969 Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac (other than the Firechicken) and Olds models. They all look similar to the picture below.

Ed

[sdkar]

Well, it is definitely for a 69 GM model as it has the date code for that model year.  It looks exactly like a 69 Camaro headrest, but I have four other headrests that are definitely for 69 Camaro, and this one is smaller than all of them bu 3/4".  My four Camaro headrests all have a date code of April 1969, and the smaller one is December 1968.  I wonder if anyone else can compare similarly dated headrests and confirm that the earlier ones were smaller than the later ones.  If it is from no other car, than it has to be Camaro, and it's smaller than later Camaros.  There can't really be any other explanation.

[KevinW]

I have a couple sets of early and later headrests.  yes, my original headrests for my early 10B Camaro are dated 7-8-68 and the original plastic trim stuck out about 3/8" on either side.  I trimmed them down a bit keeping the curve the same. looks much nicer. 

I also did a semi restore of them because the edges were all bowed out.  I made a box that the headrest fits into and compresses the edges flat.  Then using a little expanding foam and contact cement, reglued the edges and filled any voids.  So when you pull the headrest back out, the edges stay flat.  Looks good now! 

[Boston14]

My original headrests for my 11D (early 69) are straight, dated 9-18-68, and measure just over 13 and 9/16 inches. The plastic shield under the rest does stick out about 1/32 inches on the inboard side.

[sdkar]

Kevin, if you can, post a pic of the box you made and what it is you did to restore you headrest.  I think this may be what I need to do for my other headrests.  The vinyl edges have become "unglued" and cause the headrest to bulge out too much.  I have been trying to figure out how to glue them back together in a seamless and consistent manner, and your box may be what I need to do.

[KevinW]

Steve, remind me in a couple days, hectic here