VIN Door Decal Information

[Cameron Mountenay]

Hi everyone. I am a new NCRS member and have been restoring a 1973 L-48 convertible. I have a question regarding the blue VIN decal attached to the inside of the drivers side door. Mine is missing so I purchased a reproduction to attach. The data has to be typed onto it, but as I don't have the original, I was hopping someone here could help with with the weight information. I have the list of options for my car and have a copy of the weight specs for the basic car and options available in 1973. However, when I tried to reconcile the data on a friends 1973 L-82 the decal information did not correspond to the published weight information. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[John H.]

Re: VIN Door Decal Information

Cameron -

That's because there are two entirely different weights involved; the commonly published "weight" is curb or shipping weight, which is the actual weight of the car. The weights shown on the Certification Label are the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) and GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) for front and rear axles, which is the maximum allowable loaded weight the OEM tire constructions are certified to carry safely. The only place you're likely to find the GVWR and GAWR numbers you need is off the Certification Label of another car identical to yours.