NAT MFG marking on fender ???

[huggerSS69RS]

After removing the hood hinge from the driver side fender of my 68 RS SS I found the following markings :-  nat mfg pc's
These appear to be factory markings as they are written on the original paint finish and this Camaro has all original GM panels.
My car is an early 68 model with 67 style bumble bee stripe and discontinued paint color etc.
Has anyone come across this before and what does it mean?
Could the fenders have been supplied by a Chevy plant/warehouse called 'national manufacturing' or was there a quality control issue the plant wanted to track? Either way it was important to identify the fender so there must be a reason for it?

[JohnZ]

All Camaro front sheet metal was made at Chevrolet-Bristol Road Stamping in Flint; don't know what that marking might have been for. Was it on top of the body color? Made with a grease pencil, or??

[samanatoo]

Hey John I was looking under my car last week and noticed some markings that say GM in white crayon or white pencil they are about 3" tall and do not know if they were there all along or added. I think the drivers fender says GM3 I would have to look again. They are placed low on the inners in front of the wheels. Did you get the email I sent you.

[huggerSS69RS]

All Camaro front sheet metal was made at Chevrolet-Bristol Road Stamping in Flint; don't know what that marking might have been for. Was it on top of the body color? Made with a grease pencil, or??

John,
Yes the markings are on top of the body color and look like they are made with some sort of paint stick or oil based crayon. I wanted to document the restoration so I have a photo which I can send if you wish, just give me an email address or can I post it on the site?
I would like to know if it has any significant meaning to the car or the hobby in general?
Thanks

[sixt9x33rs]

Here are some markings off my 69 Z/28 fender.

"XO"

Anybody know how to make a picture file smaller?

 

[tom]

There is software available that can reduce the resolution of a picture. This comes with a number of photo editing packages, or it can be downloaded.  This link should help if you need to download: http://downloads.zdnet.com/search.aspx?kw=resize&osfilter=windows&licfilter=free
I have not tried any of these, I use my photoediting software.

Another way to go would be to crop, or trim off the unneeded parts of the photo.

[JohnZ]

John,
Yes the markings are on top of the body color and look like they are made with some sort of paint stick or oil based crayon. I wanted to document the restoration so I have a photo which I can send if you wish, just give me an email address or can I post it on the site?
I would like to know if it has any significant meaning to the car or the hobby in general?
Thanks

Please post a photo so we can see what the marking looks like.

[JohnZ]

Here are some markings off my 69 Z/28 fender.

"XO"

I'd expect that the "XO" is the code to be selected on the fender piercer to pierce the correct combination of holes for the fender emblems; most plants pierced the fenders after paint, before they went on the car.

[KurtS]

Here are some markings off my 69 Z/28 fender.
"XO"

I'd expect that the "XO" is the code to be selected on the fender piercer to pierce the correct combination of holes for the fender emblems; most plants pierced the fenders after paint, before they went on the car.

I missed that - great explanation!  But I've never seen a XO on a broadcast sheet.  A Z should be YA or YB. 

[1968RSZ28]

Here are some markings off my 69 Z/28 fender.

"XO"

Maybe a couple of assembly line workers were just playing Tic-Tac-Toe!     

Paul

[RamAirDave]

Maybe a couple of assembly line workers were just playing Tic-Tac-Toe!    

May sound crazy, but I've found a firewall chalk that looked like a stick figure with a top-hat.  Certainly wasn't any RPO code as commonly found.  We had joked about it maybe being some line workers playing a game of "hangman".  Unfortunately, it was quite a few years ago and have no pic of it.

[huggerSS69RS]

Sorry for the delay but here is a picture of the markings which clearly show - nat mfg pc's
As you can see it is written on top of the original paint color which was grecian green.
Let me know if you have any ideas on what it means?
Thanks

[firstgenaddict]

that appears to have been written with a grease pencil on the raw stamping or maybe on the raw sheet steel...

[JohnZ]

Looks like "Pcs" under the "Nat". That reinforcement may have been the top piece in a container, with the supplier and the number of pieces noted on it. The fender outer "skin" came from Bristol Road Stamping, but that long inner reinforcement was welded to the fender "skin" at the car assembly plant (see the '68 Assembly Manual, UPC 11-13, sheet A3).

[sixt9x33rs]

Looks like "Pcs" under the "Nat". That reinforcement may have been the top piece in a container, with the supplier and the number of pieces noted on it. The fender outer "skin" came from Bristol Road Stamping, but that long inner reinforcement was welded to the fender "skin" at the car assembly plant (see the '68 Assembly Manual, UPC 11-13, sheet A3).

I have "GR" written on the inside of my lower fender extensions. My car is an Olympic Gold RS Z/28. Any idea what this means? I would post a picture but the file is to large.