Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

[Joseph W.]

[Owen L.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Body date (trim tag) is when the body was completed and is not the date of the assembled car being completed. Your October 31, 1969 body date was a Friday, so the car completion date was highly likely on Monday (11/3/69).

[Joseph W.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Gotcha. Thank you Owen.

[Larry E.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Question: If for whatever reason there had to be major body repair AFTER THE ORIGINAL TRIM TAG
WAS APPLIED(I'm sure there was some cases) was the original trim tag taken off and new one with proper
date installed?? Thanks>Larry

[Mark F.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

NCRS says the last vin produced in Oct was 34067 < Where does NCRS say this ?

Joseph,

Order a Shipping Data Report (SDR) and you'll know for sure when it was completed.

Per John Hinckley's C2 Assembly Process Presentation (available in the Database of Restoration Documents [DoRD] Sticky Post), there were roughly 255 Assembly Stations at St. Louis and the Trim Plate (Tag) was created and attached at the 1^stth

[Tom R.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

It sounds like the SDR (shipping date) is a different beast from the trim tag date code and in all likelihood varies by a day or two, or more! Can't assume those processes remained the same throughout the C3 years as the 255 did in 67. By 76, trim tag attachment moved between the two paint booths...tags after some point in 75 were shipped with paint. But the early C3s, as noted by the OP, followed those late C2 processes I'm sure. Remember, St Louis began building 40-50k units a year by mid 70s and it affected those processes. Wil Cooksey was a process engineer and describes the many changes that occurred when he joined the Corvette team in the 70s.

[Terry M.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Question: If for whatever reason there had to be major body repair AFTER THE ORIGINAL TRIM TAG
WAS APPLIED(I'm sure there was some cases) was the original trim tag taken off and new one with proper
date installed?? Thanks>Larry

I am aware of one such case in which the Trim Tag was not changed. However, such cases would have been so infrequent that it might be inappropriate to generalize.

In the situation I am aware of the chassis for this body continued on and another good body was produced and attached. This damaged body was repaired and held for another order with the same interior and exterior colors. A chassis was then built for the second order. In this case the numbers hardly matched, which is why it was brought to my attention when I was 1970-72 Team Leader. The factory repaired body damage was revealed when the paint was stripped during restoration. The owner subsequently penned a story for one of the commercial Corvette Magazines. The car happened to be an LT-1.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

I am aware of one such case in which the Trim Tag was not changed. However, such cases would have been so infrequent that it might be inappropriate to generalize.

In the situation I am aware of the chassis for this body continued on and another good body was produced and attached. This damaged body was repaired and held for another order with the same interior and exterior colors. A chassis was then built for the second order. In this case the numbers hardly matched, which is why it was brought to my attention when I was 1970-72 Team Leader. The owner subsequently penned a story for one of the commercial Corvette Magazines. The car happened to be an LT-1.

Blue with red interior, correct?

[Terry M.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Blue with red interior, correct?

I believe so. The unusual color combination led to the increased time lag between body repair and complete vehicle release. The whole story was very interesting, but a true anomaly I would hesitate to draw any conclusions from. I remember that it emphasized John Hinkley's point that they never trashed damaged bodies.

[Mark L.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Joseph,

Order a Shipping Data Report (SDR) and you'll know for sure when it was completed.

Per John Hinckley's C2 Assembly Process Presentation (available in the Database of Restoration Documents [DoRD] Sticky Post), there were roughly 255 Assembly Stations at St. Louis and the Trim Plate (Tag) was created and attached at the 1^st station on the Hard Trim Line (HTL) – roughly the 48^th step in the Assembly process. I doubt that changed for C3s, but I have no info on that to say for sure. The HTL is the 1st line after the last step in the Paint Shop.

If the Body was completed early in the shift, it’s feasible that it could be fully assembled the same day. That was the case for my car (BBD = K28 June 28, 1967) and the SDR has that same date for when it was shipped.

PS – for C2s, The VIN Plate was also created and affixed at that station, too (only the VIN Plate was attached on A.O. Smith bodies because the Trim Plate was attached in Ionia MI where AOS bodies were made). Car data was then sent electronically to teletype printers throughout the plant, creating the Broadcast Copy the car was built from.

NCRS does not have the Shipping Data for the 69's beyond about vin 30500. The info that Joseph is referring to must be something in the Tech Guide.

[Larry E.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

I believe so. The unusual color combination led to the increased time lag between body repair and complete vehicle release. The whole story was very interesting, but a true anomaly I would hesitate to draw any conclusions from. I remember that it emphasized John Hinkley's point that they never trashed damaged bodies.

Terry: Thanks much for the insight. The conclusion I come up with is that the case ABOVE DOES HAPPEN AND THE
DATE ON THE TRIM TAG(ST.LOUIS BODY) IS NOT 100% (99% Maybe) since no body was ever thrown away as stated. Of course to prove this(When Judged) is near impossible since Chevrolet(GM) would never admit you where getting a
repaired body. Not sure how the NCRS Trim Tag judge would judge this?? Thanks>Larry

[Larry E.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

Terry: Thanks much for the insight. The conclusion I come up with is that the case ABOVE DOES HAPPEN AND THE
DATE ON THE TRIM TAG(ST.LOUIS BODY) IS NOT 100% (99% Maybe) since no body was ever thrown away as stated. Of course to prove this(When Judged) is near impossible since Chevrolet(GM) would never admit you where getting a
repaired body. Not sure how the NCRS Trim Tag judge would judge this?? Thanks>Larry

P.S. Also when I new body was produced for this chassis it would have a later then usual date when compare to
the Vin. of the chassis.

[George H.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

A few comments as a follow up to the question. What is the date on the Vehicle Certification Label? Is it 10/69 or 11/69? My '73 certification label is stamped, MFG.BY GENERAL MOTORS CORP. 07/73. It also has the Vin number and weight numbers of the Passenger Car. The Metal Trim plate is stamped with the build Code of L06, July 6. When is that certification label put on the car? Before or after the Trim Plate. I have the new car inspection report dated 08/02/73, Therefore, there are 27 days between the "trim build date" and the date the car was inspected at the dealers in jacksonville, FL. I can't get the SDR data from the GM records. Unavailable I've been told.

George Hunt
'73 Coupe, LS4, M21
73-74 3rd Edition TM Team Member.

[Tom R.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

When is that certification label put on the car? Before or after the Trim Plate.

Way after! I would venture to guess the certification occurs once final inspection is completed.

I have the new car inspection report dated 08/02/73, Therefore, there are 27 days between the "trim build date" and the date the car was inspected at the dealers in jacksonville, FL. I can't get the SDR data from the GM records. Unavailable I've been told.

That's not surprising. I'm curious for the early Corvettes, C2s, what is the value of the SDR given the difference between it and the build date?

[Mark F.]

Re: Discrepancy in my cars production VIN with what NCRS says?

...That's not surprising. I'm curious for the early Corvettes, C2s, what is the value of the SDR given the difference between it and the build date?

If an SDR is available, it provides verification of when the car shipped (St. Louis gets credit for producing that VIN).

Another potentially valuable data point to verify your Trim Plate has not been faked (or HAS been faked for an unfortunate owner of same).

If the SDR date precedes the BBD, some body has probably messed with the Trim Plate - at least the BBD on the plate.
IOW, you can't ship a car before the body was built.