The Lordstown Production Schedule for the 1978 model year

[marco_1978_spyder]

Build sheet Bingo!! 2 Buildsheets!! One is my Red Spyder. as seen in my signature.

Full Moon. Daytime Temperature this day, in the low 70's and Sunny. Low's in the 50's.

Monday, May 22, 1978: < Buildsheet numbers suggest both cars were built about a half day apart.. 298 Monza's apart (out of about 600 being built)
580 assembly jobs apart.. also about 1/2 of the average daily total of 1,100 This assembly day was just about 75% of the way through the model year.
Trim tag's:05D Buildsheet dates 05-22 80-7346
Buildsheet #1: Here we have an "XXX CUSTOMER ORDER" build sheet. from/for Mulkin Chevrolet in Brockport NY.

Chassis Number: 368872 was set to become Monza Number "198837" or the 98,837th monza for 1978. Just another one of about 550 to 600 Monza's for this day. On this 180th day of production the trim tag was stamped with an 80- and it's locked in sequence spot in line 7346 along with the above identifying numbers.

Buildsheets for the car, have a large bold 1792 which would have been crayoned in the cars licence plate area as it left the facility.

This one got many great RPO's Here's a sample..
BS1 INSUL PAKG
CD4 PULSE WIPER
G80 POSI
LG3 5.0 LTR ENG
M20 4SPD MAN TRN
N31 CUST STRG WHL
N33 TILT STRG WHL
UE8 DIGITAL CLOCK
Z01 SPYDER GROUP
Z02 SPYDER APPEAR of 6,391 spyder decal package cars, this one was about #4720 give or take a hundred.

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Here, we have a dealership order, for Collins Chevrolet in Mount Airy, NC.

Another 1HR07. A Chevrolet monza 2+2. This one would not be a Spyder. But it did get a V8.
Schedule Date and number.. 80-7926 exactly 580 assemblies later that day, here was this order being built on Chassis # 363190 Now wait...
This chassis was built some 5682 before the one built first? Yep...must be that this one sat in a body bank a little longer than mine did.
Could be due to this chassis needing to set up (firewall) for A/C.

This one was painted silver then given a red interior. Floor mats, Auto trans, & N77 Aluminum rims. It was Monza 99,135. some 298 monza's after mine.

It's 4 digit lot code was 2365.. some 573 numbers later.. Thats 8 digit's off from the assembly line build order number which clicked 580 times.

Hmm.. 8 empty carriages? 8 unit's built to be shipped a different way? Unknown anomaly... either way this car would have had 2365 wax crayon'd in the rear licence plate area.
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And unbelievable....its a 3 buildsheet bingo day!!!

Next we have an Olds Starfire Built Mid-day between both of these cars. In line at 7690. Lot code 2114. A silver "Firenza!" Y65 with a black interior. Body unit number 307225 (used a body that may have been sitting in a bank for a while, or a previous number was recycled, thats some 60k bodys away) Now this could also be something to do with the fact that the Olds Firenza decal package just started being produced Last Friday the 19th!, perhaps a the firenza orders were held back until decals were ready, and or they had enough orders to start running them.

Car shipped to Okeefe Cad / Olds Westport Ct. A V8 Auto with A/C. Another "xxx-customer order" car . The 13,128th Starfire produced

309 units after my car, 236 units before the Silver Monza above. Its lot code (2114) was 322 units after mine, A difference of 13 units. And 251 units before the Silver one above. A difference of 15 units, So what we learn is there was some juggling, likely towards the end of the line, and likely caused by line "snakes" where cars with more complicated assemblies like a/c split off then returned back to the line. May have een due to Both the My Spyder and the Firenza getting decals applied while the Silver monza didnt.

Buint that the line rand roughly one car per minute, these differences were about 15 minutes in time. With the Firenze lossing @15 minutes after my spyder and another 15 min before the Silver monza was set to go, that gives it about a 30 minute delay which is about right for whats known about the decals being applied. But thats still just speculation. The side decals may have been applied along the line just as the z28 camaros were being striped at Norwood, but the hood decals may have had the cars pulled off line in an area.

That being said, theres still another unknown. The 4 digit lot code was stamped on the buildsheets as they were printed. (they must have been certain about the final line by the time of printing, and knew which cars would be meeting up in the final line unless the number was being applied regarless of the final roll out of the overhead door and into the shipping yard.

Finally it wasn't needed after the 78 model year as the 79's and 80's dont have the this number on the buildsheets. But may have still used a 4 digit lot code, wax crayoned into the rear licence plate area. thats still unknown at this time.

This latest info was added 3/22/2024.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Tuesday, May 23rd, 1978

05D 81-XXXX

05-23

[marco_1978_spyder]

Wednesday, May 24th, 1978

05D 82-XXXX

05-24

[marco_1978_spyder]

Thursday, May 25th, 1978

05D 83-XXXX

05-25

[marco_1978_spyder]

Friday, May 26th, 1978 < Friday before 3 day Weekend Memorial Day Holiday.

Trim Tag!!

05D 84-2705

A #24 light Blue, Monza Wagon. Chassis number 375256

Monza number 101854. Let's do some math.. Since the early monza on monday.. they've made 2719. That equates to between, 543 if it was late friday, or up to 670 a day if it was early. Makes sense.

If you take the cars' line number and do some math 12,705 for the Friday car, 7926 for the monday car and subtract the numbers.. exactly 4779 assemblies had passed by between these examples. If you devide that number by 4 and a half production days you get 1062 vehicles a day. And that again makes sense.
take 1062 x 242 Build days and you get very close to the H body total for 1978.

05-26

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[marco_1978_spyder]

SAME DAY TRIPLE ENTRY!... 1st day with 3 entries!

Trim Tag and matching Buildsheet

06A Earlier this week would have been 05E.

This was Friday, June 2nd, 1978

Buildhseet says 06-02

88-6731 Yellow woodgrain monza 'estate' wagon was being assembled.

It had a tan interior. V6 / Auto. Chassis # 387898 became Monza # 103933.
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Closest consecutive cars so far,, as of 9-13-2015...

[marco_1978_spyder]

Build sheet!! This was Monday, June 5th, 1978. Build sheet confirms this.
Later trim tag data shows this week was stamped as 06A

We have data today on a neat little assembly heading down the line. A dealership ordered, ("Ralph Pontiac" if I'm not mistaken - but that part of the buildsheet has deteriorated). Pontiac Sunbird Formula. Black paint, Gold accent's. Black interior (deluxe seats) 3.8, 5speed, 2.93 Posi, Snowflake wheel's.

Chassis #373357 was selected to become this one. It was built in line at rolling station #8265
It became Sunbird #562723 the 62,723rd Sunbird to roll off the line that year. "2693" would have been wax crayoned in the licence plate area as it rolled off the plant's "moving tile floor" and out the final overhead door, under it's own power and into the vast shipping parking area. Waiting to get loaded onto a car carrier, and hauled to it's dealership.

This Vehicle was spotted by me in an apartment complex in about 1988. Nice shape. Before I thought to inquire about it.. it ended up being sent to a local recycling yard well before it's time. I was able to pull the buildsheet from it-- (before I even knew that I would be glad that I did that!!) and the Rear Spoiler.

Richard in Florida now has the rear spoiler from this car.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Build sheet dates indicate one day wasn't worked and wasn't counted this week. This could have been Tuesday or Wednesday, only more build sheet data will tell.

Have anything to submit?

[marco_1978_spyder]

Trim Tag!!

06A - First week of June '78. Going by tomorrows build sheet, this possibly was; Thursday, June 8th, 1978. (See day 190)

91-1633 91st day. Sequenced in line at #1633

1HM07 67L 67U - A Brown round headlight hatchback was getting built here.. 62 Tan interior

Body # 380732
Monza # 106493 (VIN 206493)

Tag pulled from a junk yard car.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Build sheet!!

06-09 Build sheet verifies.. June 9th, 1978 which was a Friday.

92-3258 Day 192, Slot 3258. thats.. 1,625 unit's from yesterdays tag, so these cars were built over 24 hours apart, suggesting yesterdays example was built in the AM and this car was a 2nd shift job. A late Friday car ! I owned this car, and drove it it's last available miles. Road Salt and winter driving had taken it's toll on the front right frame rail on the car. (had it repaired once, but it was too far gone).

1HR07 63L 63U 62V 62X Gold exterior sport model 2+2 (square headlights), Tan interior. 4cyl. Auto.
Not much in the way of options, except for the sport body style and a front sway bar.
Perfect for a hot rod, if it had stayed solid.
It was dealer ordered by "Frear" chevrolet. in Greece NY.

Body # 387895 <you might ask... why is this number 7000 higher in one day?? 2 reasons..
This number counted Van's. (separate plant, same property) so that add's another thousand. Body's can be held back in a body bank..if this is the case then an "older" body, is assigned to a later VIN.
Monza# 107429 VIN# 207429 Thats 936 later than yesterdays trim tag example. Again, at about 600+ monza's a production day (2 shifts / plant running +/- 16 hrs a day), this example was built later in the evening while yesterdays tag was built in the early AM.

[marco_1978_spyder]

No Information for this day yet. Submit your information today!

Day 192's Build sheet suggests this was Monday, June 12th, 1978.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Trim Tag!

Today, day 194, Would very likely have been in Tuesday June 13th 1978. A buildsheet would confirm. Tags this week were stamped 06B.

Our tag is from a Red 71L 71U. With Black interior 19G 19X. Round headlight monza hatchback 1HM07. For this order, body 380086 was used, and assigned to VIN number 208506. (this body sat in the body bank for a bit. ) So this was Monza 108,506. Tag stamped 94-5069 This car moved down the line in slot 5069.