[proex339]

I have had this 66 for 10 years and never caught this before.( its my first and only classic ive bought). I dont have plans for selling this car.
What got me started was looking up the build date to see if i have shoulder belt anchors.
So i found that the cowl says built in Kansas "KAN"
The vin tag says built in Flint "F"
Is this ever possible to show two plant locations?
Since i restored the car myself i am 100% sure the cowl info is correct based on what parts, numbers and options found during restoration that were original. If something is not right its the VIN tag. So if you guys tell me GM didnt do this, should i worry about it or no big deal?

Also not that important but, has anyone figured out what the numbers to the right of the build date mean? Mine are 2445.

Thanks Again TC for the help.

 

[DaleM]

I have had this 66 for 10 years and never caught this before.( its my first and only classic ive bought). I dont have plans for selling this car.
What got me started was looking up the build date to see if i have shoulder belt anchors.
So i found that the cowl says built in Kansas "KAN"
The vin tag says built in Flint "F"
Is this ever possible to show two plant locations?
Since i restored the car myself i am 100% sure the cowl info is correct based on what parts, numbers and options found during restoration that were original. If something is not right its the VIN tag. So if you guys tell me GM didnt do this, should i worry about it or no big deal?

Also not that important but, has anyone figured out what the numbers to the right of the build date mean? Mine are 2445.

Thanks Again TC for the help.

Somebody has swapped one of the two. In 1964 and 1965 the Euclid, OH. plant did make bodies (typically the 2-door wagons and some El Caminos) for other final assembly plants like Atlanta, Baltimore and KC but aside from that, no. The VIN is the legal identification of the car (much like your SSAN is your legal identification). Only in Oklahoma is it against the law to alter, remove, etc. a trim tag - http://chevellestuff.net/misc/oklahoma_trim_tag_law.htm

I would look into seeing if you can find a partial VIN on the top of the frame rail - http://chevellestuff.net/qd/frames.htm. The partial VIN will note the year, plant, and sequence number of the car the frame was installed in a format such as 6F123456. May or may not help as replacing frames are not out the realm of possibilities either.

Being the two plates have different plants I certainly wouldn't rely on the trim tag date to determine if you have the shoulder belt anchors in place though.

A 4-digit number, such as your 2445 number, is found on 66 thru 68 Kansas City trim tags. It's suspected to be some sort of internal tracking number but to date, to my knowledge, nobody has figured out where it comes from.

 

[proex339]

Dale,
Thanks so much for the detailed response. I did some more research and my 66 does not have the rose shaped rivets on the door jamb vin tag. So unless GM didnt use those on all cars, then that is the tag thats incorrect. The cowl tag has original rivets and the info matchs my car. (my cowl tag has some of those options codes in line 10 that match the car also).
I dont know what to make of this. If the cowl tags correct why would someone swap vin tags? This car when i bought it wasnt presented as a numbers matching car and the previous owner had modifications he wasnt trying to hide.
How big of deal is this? I also am not worried about passing it off as numbers matching.

 

[DaleM]

A VIN tag swap can be a dangerous thing; register a stolen or salvaged car with a legitimate VIN is the worst case scenario. I can't imagine why anyone would swap a trim tag from another plant unless the trim tag had some codes (as all plants except Baltimore & Fremont did in 66) to make the car more desireable and 'authentic.' A couple of those cases come to mind of 66 L78 convertibles I know of that swapped trim tags from showing a Powerlgide (n/a with the L78) to one showing a Muncie with the intent of fraud to pass the car off as a real L78. Not saying that's the case here, but a trim tag showing a 4-speed, console, buckets, desireable color, etc. could and credence to a sale.

It's obviously not a numbers matching car since one doesn't know which 'numbers' are to match. Both the trim tag and VIN plate rivets can be obtained, trim tag rivets legally but VIN plate rivets not so legally. Some states have laws against even being in possession of them by a layman. See my page at http://chevellestuff.net/misc/vin_tampering.htm for examples and links to various VIN plate problems/laws.

It could be a big deal to someone that knows Chevelles and knows what they're looking for. A mismatched trim tag and VIN plate will put up a red flag faster than just about anything, i.e., which is correct?

 

[lcamaya]

I have had this 66 for 10 years and never caught this before.( its my first and only classic ive bought). I dont have plans for selling this car.
What got me started was looking up the build date to see if i have shoulder belt anchors.
So i found that the cowl says built in Kansas "KAN"
The vin tag says built in Flint "F"
Is this ever possible to show two plant locations?
Since i restored the car myself i am 100% sure the cowl info is correct based on what parts, numbers and options found during restoration that were original. If something is not right its the VIN tag. So if you guys tell me GM didnt do this, should i worry about it or no big deal?

Also not that important but, has anyone figured out what the numbers to the right of the build date mean? Mine are 2445.

Thanks Again TC for the help.

I also noticed a difference on my 69. Vin shows that it was built in Atlanta, but cowl tag shows Baltimore. Did you ever find out more info on that???

 

[Mike]

There's not much we can do here ,the info needs to come from the vehicle.
As Dale posted ,go look for the convin and see which tag matches that.

 

[Ethan1]

I also noticed a difference on my 69. Vin shows that it was built in Atlanta, but cowl tag shows Baltimore. Did you ever find out more info on that???

Welcome, Luis!:thumbsup:

As for your VIN/Trim Tag, it means one of them have been swapped. Let's hope it wasn't the VIN Tag.

 

[bad66427]

Dale,
Thanks so much for the detailed response. I did some more research and my 66 does not have the rose shaped rivets on the door jamb vin tag. So unless GM didnt use those on all cars, then that is the tag thats incorrect. The cowl tag has original rivets and the info matchs my car. (my cowl tag has some of those options codes in line 10 that match the car also).
I dont know what to make of this. If the cowl tags correct why would someone swap vin tags? This car when i bought it wasnt presented as a numbers matching car and the previous owner had modifications he wasnt trying to hide.
How big of deal is this? I also am not worried about passing it off as numbers matching.

If your vin does not have the (rose) rivets you have a vin swapped car which is highly illegel to do.

 

[Dean]

If your vin does not have the (rose) rivets you have a vin swapped car which is highly illegel to do.

And IF it does have rose head rivets, it still "could have been" swapped. :yes:


Oh & Bill, "KAN' is for Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas.
No Chevelles were ever built at the Kansas City Kansas assembly plant (B.O.P)

 

[LeoP]

My 64 VIN tag was spot welded to the A Pillar, no rivets used. As I recall, a lot of the early VIN tags were mounted the same way.

 

[Dean]

My 64 VIN tag was spot welded to the A Pillar, no rivets used. As I recall, a lot of the early VIN tags were mounted the same way.

Oh yeah, that's right Leo.
So if it has either kind of rivets or NO rivets, it still "could have possibly been" swapped.

 

[DaleM]

If the cowl tags correct why would someone swap vin tags?

I can think of quite a few reasons someone would swap a VIN plate and none of them good.

This car when i bought it wasnt presented as a numbers matching car and the previous owner had modifications he wasnt trying to hide.
How big of deal is this? I also am not worried about passing it off as numbers matching.

Either the seller honestly didn't know, or if the seller did, they just figured they pass along the problems to someone else and claim ignorance of the fact.

It's not about you or anyone else passing it off as a numbers matching car, there's a very good chance the car has an illegal VIN on it. This could make a difference (1) if the car is ever stolen from you, a run of the VIN could show the car was stolen or salvaged years ago, (2) you are involved in an accident and the VIN comes up as a stolen or salvaged car and your insurance refuses to pay anything because of it or (3) you are stopped in a routine insurance/license check and the VIN comes up stolen or salvalged you could find yourself in not only legal trouble but walking home and maybe having the car impounded and kept for evidence. Your DMV could decide to do a spot check on renewed vehicle registrations and run the VIN in which case it could come back as stolen/salvaged and it's reported to the authorities.

Basically there's nothing good that's ever going to happen IF the VIN plate doesn't go with that car.

Options? Contact the seller (if it hasn't been too long) and if you got a bill-of-sale with that VIN specified on it, inquire about the VIN plate's authenticity. Might or might not get an honest response but it's a start. Second, you might check the frame (http://chevellestuff.net/qd/partial_vin.htm) for a partial VIN and see if it matches the VIN plate or if the plant on the partial VIN matches the plant on the trim tag. States differ on how they approach this but IF the partial VIN shows a Kansas City plant build (6Kxxxxxx) then you may be able to get the state to issue a new VIN. If they conclude that 6Kxxxxxx is correct, some states just issue a VIN plate with 13xxx6Kxxxxxx, or what the original would have been along with a state control number, while other states will issue a completely new number.

Check this .PDF file on my site - http://chevellestuff.net/vin/aamva_section1.pdf

-------------------------------

Rivets were not used on Chevelle VIN plates until 1965 - all 1964s were spot welded to the a-pillar.

 

[bad66427]

And IF it does have rose head rivets, it still "could have been" swapped. :yes:


Oh & Bill, "KAN' is for Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas.
No Chevelles were ever built at the Kansas City Kansas assembly plant (B.O.P)

while this is true its much harder to find the rose rivet. so most use regular rivets like what he says is on his car. so there for someone has defanatly tamperd with the vin plate on this car.