I was wondering if I could get some help de coding my protcto plate. It is confusing the heck out of me. I found it in a car I bought and if I'm doing this right, its not the original one. It reads as follows:
Location-
A) 1343711523396 B) R
C) T0216CCC D) GHK034
E) 2 F) J1B09D
G) 1 I) 3
According to my VIN, my car is from Los Angeles. But from the book I have in front of me, the protecto plate says it was built in Oshawa(WHERE THE HELL IS OSHAWA?). It also looks as if its a 307. I have already tried to look up the info online, it didn't help.I am very confused right now. Any help will be great thanks.

Looks like a 1971 base Chevelle V8 standard (13437) from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. If the 7th character of the VIN is "L", it's Van Nuys/LA, if it's a "1", it's Oshawa. Might double-check the VIN; a "1" could look like a "L".

A) Base Chevelle V8 (13437)
1971 (1)
Oshawa (1)
23,396th built (523396)
B) R ~ Rochester carb
C) T ~ Tonawanda
0216 ~ Feb 16
CCC ~ 307 2-bbl
D) GH ~ 2.73 open
K ~ McKinnon Industries
034 ~ 34th day (Feb 3)
E) 2 ~ Build month - Feb
F) Don't find a "J" but it's either PG or TH350 (based on CCC engine code). I do show Powerglides from C(leveland), T(oledo), and E(McKinnon) and TH350s from B(Cleveland)and Y(Toledo)
1 ~ 1971
B ~ February
09 ~ day
D ~ engine designation
G) 1 ~ power steering
I) 3 ~ radio

...and if it IS from Oshawa, you can get information from GM of Canada on just how the car was originally equipped. That's something those of us with USA built Chevelles can only dream about :(

Oshawa is just east of Toronto. The GM complex here has two car assembly lines, a truck plant, battery manufacturing plant and a stamping plant. One of GM's bigger operations. You give them about $40 and the VIN and they will send you all the information on your car. Check my pictures on the message board of www.canamchevelles.com (http://www.canamchevelles.com) and you will see the sort of sheet that you will get. They also send you some other general information on your year of car.

Thanks for the info, is there anyway to authenticate the protecto plate to the car?

Possibly not, but look at it this way. Once you get your GM of Canada documentation, it is going to trump anything else. So, as long as the info on your Protecto Plate matches what's on the GM docs, no one is likely to question the authenticity of the POP.

So, as long as the info on your Protecto Plate matches what's on the GM docs, no one is likely to question the authenticity of the POP. With a 307 powere, automatic trans, low option car (or POP), I don't know who would question the authenticity of that POP... If someone was to make a new POP, why do it for a basic car...

Desirable options on the car, then there'd be questions...

Originally posted by Dale McIntosh:
. Might double-check the VIN; a "1" could look like a "L".This might be a dumb question, but, is the VIN on the POP supposed to match the VIN on the car?
I double checked the VIN and it is definatly an "L". In fact, only a few digits match. Also, when I bought the car, the prev owner told me it was the original 350 in the car. this car has a/c, disc brakes(front), front sway bar,p/s, pb,a TH350 and tilt wheel it has a few options. I am not sure if the 4bbl is orig or if the dual exhaust is either. It has no special guages and has a bench seat. I am hoping that is not a 307 under the hood.

The VIN on the P-O-P should match the VIN on the plate on the dash...no ifs, ands, or buts. If they don't match, the P-O-P is for a different car and all the data on the P-O-P are worthless for the car. The engine and rear end codes on the P-O-P should also match the engine and rear end in the car. Engine is the easiest to locate the ID, look on the pad just in front of the passenger side head, it should have the same T0216CCC stamped there. Either the previous owner was in error and the P-O-P doesn't go with that car (suspect since the VINs don't match) or the previous owner has no idea and took the word of the person they bought the car from.

Found a warranty book at a swap meet for my 68,messing around looking at it little while back,has a POP plate in it not for mine.

I guess this protecto plate is useless to me. I wonder if the car this thing belongs to is still around?

Sorry, maybe "worthless" was too harsh a word. ;)

I meant it's worthless in the sense that it isn't for your particular car but it's still a piece of (some) Chevelle history that should be preserved. If you could/would take a clear photo or scan, I'd like to use the information on my Chevellestuff.com web site. Sometimes POPs are hard to get photos of that are readable but it'd sure be appreciated and maybele help someone else down the road to decode their POP. graemlins/thumbsup.gif