Hi All. I know on 65 up the 5th didgit shows the year. What year did they change to the longer vin. & what didgit was the year ? I'm off to pull a part to look for brake parts off of a 72 if they have any. Also what was the phone # for chev for info on your car.
Thanks.
Bert

800-222-1020
have your vin number ready too
I can't help you with the vin question though
I bet they can if you ask them

The 17 digit VIN was started in 1981. I know CarFax won't have info on our older cars and require 17 digits and the car being 1981 or newer. As for the year/digit on later Chevrolets, can't say as I've never owned one newer than 1978 :confused:

The 800 number listed is correct for getting a GM Restoration Kit. The friendly folks on the phone don't know squat about your car though, all they do is check to see if a VIN is valid, not who owns it or anything about it. You don't even have to really own the car, just have a valid VIN. I have all the years from 1965 through 1970. They'll send you a short stack of some literature about your year that may have such things as dealer brochures, options available, etc. It variety of information differs from year to year depending on what's available.

Beginning in 1972, the year was reflected in the 6th digit of the VIN. 5th digit of the VIN identified exactly what engine came in the car. Not sure if it stayed that way until 1981 or if there was an interim change between then.

The year was noted in the 6th character position from 1965 through 1972, not the 5th position - the first 5 characters were Division (e.g. 1), Series (e.g. 36), and model (e.g. 37). In 1964 the year was the 1st character. As Bill noted, beginning in 1972 the 5th character noted the engine size, from 65 to 71, the 3rd character only noted V8 (even number) or L6 (odd number) for engine type.

My mistake. yes it was 6th. didgit. What i ment was do they continue the numbers into the 70's or do they use letters. I need # for 1972.

1972 was the first year of the VIN style change. For example a 1971 Malibu V8 from Atlanta would be something like 136371A123456 whereas a 72 from the same plant would be 1D37U2A567890 The letter "D" replaces the numbers "36" to indicate a Malibu, the letter "U" is added to note the particular engine (402cid in this case) and the sequence numbers started with 500001 at each plant instead of 100001. Viable letters for V8 engines are F (307), H (350-2), J (350-4), U (402) and W (454). Viable letters for series are B (Nomad wagon), C ([base]Chevelle, El Camino, Greenbrier), D (Malibu, Custom El Camino, Concours) and H (Concours Estate). See http://www.chevellestuff.com/72velle/trim_tag_decoding.htm for details and be sure to look down the page at the VIN information and not trim tag info; trim tag info remained the same as the earlier years.

Like I noted earlier, all the GM folks want is a VALID VIN, doesn't have to be yours (sneaky). I have kits for 65, 66, 67 (year I actually have), 68, 69, and 70 Chevelles (I've heard they are out of 64s) and early next year I'll order kits for 71 and 72.