1972 VIN tag question

[Douglas C.]

I saw recently what looks like an original windshield pillar VIN tag, 1972 Vette where digit six and seven is S 2, not normal 2 S. It is very clear to see.

Any thoughts.

[Jaime G.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

I saw recently what looks like an original windshield pillar VIN tag, 1972 Vette where digit six and seven is S 2, not normal 2 S. It is very clear to see.

Any thoughts.

Dyslexia by creator of vin tag.

[Gary S.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Not necessarily, Jaime, if you mean by your comment, a reproduction. I have a 1972 with, serial number 6421, that has the same "typo" for lack of a better word. The windshield is original, the tag and its placement are original, and the car has been judged, a number of years ago, at two regionals, one in Atlanta and one at Stone Mountain. Jaime, if you mean dyslexia by an assembly line worker in the 70s then yes, quite possible.

When I saw this car, the VIN bothered me and I posted here about the discrepancy. While I don't have the original post I got back a couple of replies from well respected senior NCRS members one of whom said his VIN was actually missing a character. I bought the car and I am very pleased with its originality. To the best of my "senior faculties" the gist of the response years ago to this question was "imagine sitting in a room at the typewriter type of device used to stamp out these VIN tags and imagine how, being repetitive and boring, easy it would be to swap two adjacent letters.

Douglas, the car is in storage right now but due to come out this weekend and if you want a photo of the VIN I would be happy to take one.
Gary

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Not necessarily, Jaime, if you mean by your comment, a reproduction. I have a 1972 with, serial number 6421, that has the same "typo" for lack of a better word. The windshield is original, the tag and its placement are original, and the car has been judged, a number of years ago, at two regionals, one in Atlanta and one at Stone Mountain. Jaime, if you mean dyslexia by an assembly line worker in the 70s then yes, quite possible.

When I saw this car, the VIN bothered me and I posted here about the discrepancy. While I don't have the original post I got back a couple of replies from well respected senior NCRS members one of whom said his VIN was actually missing a character. I bought the car and I am very pleased with its originality. To the best of my "senior faculties" the gist of the response years ago to this question was "imagine sitting in a room at the typewriter type of device used to stamp out these VIN tags and imagine how, being repetitive and boring, easy it would be to swap two adjacent letters.

Douglas, the car is in storage right now but due to come out this weekend and if you want a photo of the VIN I would be happy to take one.
Gary

I'm in N J and the car is in Florida, so I have a NCRS member in Florida going to inspect it. Windshield pillar tag digits five, six, and seven stamped LS2. Blue door VIN sticker in those digits reads L2S. Everything else in the VIN is correct, sequence number same on engine pad stamp also. Car also has the tank sticker which is nice to have, shows very lightly in pencil where looks like assembly line worker wrote a three digit number, which matched last three numbers in the sequence. Not sure if that is exactly what that would mean. And, yes, a picture from you would be nice. I just find it interesting what type errors are found over the years that may be considered ok or not to determine if a car is the real thing. Thanks Gary.

[Mark F.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

...Car also has the tank sticker which is nice to have, shows very lightly in pencil where looks like assembly line worker wrote a three digit number, which matched last three numbers in the sequence. Not sure if that is exactly what that would mean....

The Complete Corvette Restoration & Technical Guide Volume 2, 1963-1967

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

The Complete Corvette Restoration & Technical Guide Volume 2, 1963-1967

Hi Mark. Thanks for the info. Interesting enough to expand on this the tank sticker also has a penciled in number 420 at the top and there is supposedly a crayon 420 mark on the bottom of the body, and then the other pencil mark on the tank sticker which is the last three digits of the VIN. Maybe the 420 is the job number?

Tks. Doug

[Mark F.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Hi Doug,

Yes, interesting indeed. The 420# is the job number if it matches the crayon marks on a body panel.

The penciled-in number (last 3 of your VIN) must have been added later (IMO) because the VIN could not have been known when the tank sticker was applied on the assembly line according to what I have read. Additional support for that conclusion might be if the last 3 of your VIN is >500...

fun with numbers, eh?

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Hi Doug,

Yes, interesting indeed. The 420# is the job number if it matches the crayon marks on a body panel.

The penciled-in number (last 3 of your VIN) must have been added later (IMO) because the VIN could not have been known when the tank sticker was applied on the assembly line according to what I have read. Additional support for that conclusion might be if the last 3 of your VIN is >500...

fun with numbers, eh?

Thanks Mark. If I buy the car I'll post some pictures of the VIN tag, tank sticker, and anything else that may be with it.

[Mike E.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

A whole lot of the 70-72 tank stickers I have examined have two 3-digit penciled numbers on them: the job number AND the last 3 digits of the vin.

[Mark F.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

A whole lot of the 70-72 tank stickers I have examined have two 3-digit penciled numbers on them: the job number AND the last 3 digits of the vin.

Hi Mike,

Isn't the tank sticker affixed to the gas tank (and covered by the body when married) well before the end of the line where the VIN plate is attached?

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

A whole lot of the 70-72 tank stickers I have examined have two 3-digit penciled numbers on them: the job number AND the last 3 digits of the vin.

Here is the tank sticker picture, two penciled in numbers, the 397 is the last three of the car's VIN.72 BLDSH..jpg Up top looks like 420, below that the 397.

[Mike E.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Hi Mike,

Isn't the tank sticker affixed to the gas tank (and covered by the body when married) well before the end of the line where the VIN plate is attached?

Mark,
I understand your question, and I can't give a clear answer. But I can't argue with originality. Check out these three tank stickers from a 70 and two 71's. (6243, 9527, 4215) Check out those vins vs. the lower penciled number. Top pencil number is build sequence on the body on each of the three.

tank sticker maroon 1970 (14).jpg tank sticker outside (1).jpg tank sticker--laminated by previous owner (1).jpg

[Mark F.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Mark, I understand your question, and I can't give a clear answer. But I can't argue with originality. Check out these three tank stickers from a 70 and two 71's. (6243, 9527, 4215) Check out those vins vs. the lower penciled number. Top pencil number is build sequence on the body on each of the three.

Hi Mike,

I got it, man...not what I have seen w/ '67s; but no matter - this ain't about '67s.

Learn something new every day!

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Here is the tank sticker picture, two penciled in numbers, the 397 is the last three of the car's VIN.[ATTACH=CONFIG]105489[/ATTACH] Up top looks like 420, below that the 397.

Also on this 72 LT1, if you can see on the tank sticker it certainly looks like engine reads as 330 / 275. I know 72's were net 255, so can this be right?

[Terry M.]

Re: 1972 VIN tag question

Hi Mike,

Isn't the tank sticker affixed to the gas tank (and covered by the body when married) well before the end of the line where the VIN plate is attached?

On C3s the VIN tag and windshield are attached to the body before (I believe well before) the marriage. You are right the tank manifest is covered by the body once they are married, but by then the information on that paper is used up. There is no need for the line workers to see it after the marriage.