68 SS hood ornaments

[DANW]

When did the 350 SS make a change from the finned to the stack style hood inserts?  April?

[1968RSZ28]

When did the 350 SS make a change from the finned to the stack style hood inserts?  April?

I believe the small block Super Sports got the "finned" hood inserts and the big blocks got the "stack style" hood inserts.
Anybody know for sure?    

Paul

[DANW]

My 68 SS 350 originally came with the 4-hole louvers.  Perhaps it was a temporary parts availability issue.

[bertfam]

68 SS 350's had the "finned" inserts and big blocks got the "stacked" inserts. Late in the 1968 model year, they discontinued the finned inserts and all cars got the stacks. I'm not positive on the date, but I think it was in April, 1968.

Ed

[lakeholme]

DANW, what's the build date on your 68?

I agree with Ed and Paul.  I've seen plenty of documantation about the finned SB and stack BB in 68 SS.  The earliest SB documented car I've seen myself with original stacks is mid-April.

What I don't remember seeing is factory documentation about the change.  I'm going to dig through my factory stuff tonight, but I doubt if I have anything definitive.  It would be great if folks with earlier build date, documented cars would respond to you and tell you what they have...

Good luck on this thread!

[gro51]

My '68 SS/RS 350 has its' original hood inserts.  They are the "stack" style.  My build date is 04A (April, 1st week).
Hope this helps.

[GIBSTER]

I thought rich had said the 68 ss hood ornaments went from the finned to the oil cooler type in nov or dec of 67. I will check the e-mail from him when I get home.   Here it is



In your visual I.D. table you show the 68 ss hood inserts for the 350 as being the finned type, while in articles by others they talk about a change to the venturi type some time after jan. Which of these is correct?   Thanks Darryl

I'm trying to recheck for you based on newer data.  We have an indication that a
change occurred in October, but we need to update the data, which we haven't
done in awhile.  Rich

You didn't reply to my follow-up, but our research re-cap says that cars built
early Nov or before have the 67 version, with the later type appearing by 12E on
cars shipped after 1 Jan.  Not sure of the weeks in between, but my bet would be
that this was a circa 1 Jan change.  We'll continue to try to pinpoint it.  Rich

[lakeholme]

The 68 AIM shows the stacked Hood Ornament Assembly on L48/A4, and it does show it "Redrawn & Redesigned" on 11-6-67.  I cannot read the next line on my copy where it shows the next date.  It is a 68 date.  How long would it take after being redesigned to get out on the line?

[DANW]

my trim tag reads:

03D
68-12437  LOS 34043
714  D-D

Block:  18L335082  V0314MS

VIN: 124378L335082

So it was built right at the end of March.

[lakeholme]

The AIM was about all I could come up with...

If Gibster is right about what Rich said, it would be great to know how that could be doucumented.

[KurtS]

We don't have a lot of data, but so far it still points to 68 BB's being the velocity stack style and SS350's changing to the finned style about the first of the year.

More data will help, especially from both plants.
Specifically looking for data from SS cars with original hood ornaments:
- early (pre-January) SS396 cars
- mid year (~Nov thru March) SS350 cars
The condition of the car / hood doesn't matter, just as long as the hood ornaments are original.

Thanks!