I'm going to wrap this up with the first observation that led down the rabbit hole:

My '69 had emblems installed in the (verified multiple places) 1968 location.
It is a Lynch Rd, September 1968 build. I recently drilled the holes exactly as they were originally, done.

Started to collect pics of Lynch Rd builds, and so far every one has the emblem installed lower...
However!! I have found some Lynch Rd cars have the emblem centered between the wheel opening and door, while others (like mine) were offset
to the rear exactly the same as a '68.

This secondary variation is a little too much for me, and that's where I am going to step off the crazy train.

More guesses:
Maybe the '68 stripes are the reason why the emblem placement needed to be more precise that year.
Maybe the lack of anything similar in '69 is what gave plants the freedom to play around with this, and it is pretty apparent to me that
they played with it.

regardless.......I knew I was in for a ride when mine measured the same as a '68.

A cross post on another site to spread the questions around.

All for now, thanks for participating!