Help Decoding Data Plate on 1967 Eldorado

[Varooom]

Hello all, I am new to the group and need help decoding the data plate on my soon-to-be acquired 1967 Eldorado.

So, attached is the data plate.  Any help will be appreciated.  I understand it is a late production car but do not know for sure.  It has side marker lights in the rear fender that I was told were put in at the factory but I have never seen that before.  Are there other known changes as the car progressed thru the model-year?   Total production was 17,930 I read.

Not sure if it is the original color as it was re-painted.  Interior is original. 

[D.Smith]

The 04A indicates that it was built the 1st week (A) of the 4th month.    So it was built in April 67.     So those rear quarter side lamps were added the next year.   Not late in production as so many people like to imagine.

Your car was body number 12659 made. 

426 indicates it was made with dark blue Darien cloth seats.

90 is the # for Atlantis Blue Firemist exterior color.

E = Tinted Glass.
N = Rear power vet windows.
Y = 6-way power seat.
K = Climate control A/C
I  =  not listed.
B = Rear defogger.

[67_Eldo]

I think "I" is the station-seeking AM-FM radio.

Nice looking car! I wonder why a previous owner removed the "ELDORADO" script from behind the front wheel arch.

You have a car that has been "updated" to the front-fender-edge parking lights, like the 1968 model. There seem to have been quite a few folks, back in the day, who modified their 67's in the way yours is to buy (for not much money) another year of the "brand-new Cadillac" look. :-)

[67_Eldo]

Are there other known changes as the car progressed thru the model-year?

My 67 Eldorado is a very-late-production car (17608) and it has none of those changes to the bodywork.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a number of folks "upgraded" to the 1968 look when the 1968 cars went on sale. Other cars got the 1968 look when their 1967 Eldos needed body work.

For example, somewhere along the line, my 67 received a 68 left-front-fender transplant. In that case, the worker bee slathered body putty over the 1968 light fixture to make it look like the 67's zinc insert.

[bcroe]

I added those side lamps to my 62, fit in very well.  If its a
stock 67, the switch pitch transmission control switch to
the left of the carb should have 3 terminals.  Bruce Roe

[Varooom]

Thanks, to all.  I had not noticed the missing script or the newer lamps.   Thanks for debunking the late-production changes myth.   

Are the zinc parking lamp inserts available out there?  I'm in no rush to swap them back but am curious.

Any good sources for replacement script?

I had one of these Eldo's in Doeskin color with a vinyl top 15 years ago but sold ot to a man in Australia.  I bought this one for cruising and general fun.

[67_Eldo]

Are the zinc parking lamp inserts available out there?  I'm in no rush to swap them back but am curious.

Any good sources for replacement script?

Everybody names the parking-lamp inserts differently. Some call it the "nose" or "nosepiece." Some call it the "filler." Some call them the "pointy zinc things that don't fit too well from the factory." The multiplicity of labels is one of the things that makes them hard to find.

I was looking at another 1967 Eldorado a few months ago. The seller (who bought the car from the first owner in 1972) said that the first owner was one of those folks who swapped out/added to his 67 to make it look like a 68. The second owner still had the original nose pieces in the trunk of the car!

One thing to ask of anyone selling 67 nose pieces is if they come with the mounting studs and the chrome strips that run adjacent to the grille. On the 68 parking lights, the chrome is integrated into the whole unit. On the 67, the chrome can be detached from the nose piece.

I found this out because I'm working on creating LED-driven "running lights" that replace those short strips of chrome that run vertically along the sides of the upper grille. I needed the 67 design to make my scheme work, so I had to buy one more genuine 67 nose piece for my car (which had the aforementioned puttied-up 68 fender/parking light). The guy from whom I bought my single nose piece didn't tell me the price -- "I'll price it fairly when I ship it" -- and then didn't send any of the mounting studs or the original chrome strip. Very uncool. When the package arrived, there was no invoice. Only when I checked my credit-card balance did I see he charged me $150 for one piece, sans any of the mounting hardware or trim. Grrr.

If this site is for real, they are offering both "light filler panels" for $65. Looks like a deal to me. http://www.borthautoparts.com/make/cadillac/1967%20Cadillac%20Eldorado%20Coupe%20Parts/

Those little chrome script letters can be reasonable or be outrageously expensive. The problem with buying parts for a 67 Eldorado is that so much of it is one-year-only material. Couple that fact with the current sales trend seems to consist of leeches (to use a kind term) who price their used parts so that, if they actually sell a part, said leech can retire to Bermuda. So keep combing the web for parts sources and ask lots of questions.

Good luck!