mandingo214

I need clarification on the trim tag date on my '74.

It looks like the the trim tag date shows I4, which I believe is April 4th, but the lower case r after Chevrolet might be part of an F, which would be a plausible 1/14/74 date.

The VIN, which is also stamped on the engine and transmission, ends in 14101, which means it would have been built in January. The engine code, T1108CWM, means a 11/8/73 build date, and the transmission P3K09B would be 7/9/73. I can see how those dates would line up, but shouldn't the trim tag show January?

Also, the interior is Saddle Leather, and the car has been repainted blue, but I see no traces of the original silver. So either the painter was really thourough, or it was never silver.

Thoughts? Does the lower case r after Chevrolet mean something different, or did they just do a cruddy stamping of an F? Or is the trim tag a fake?

Mike Ward

Looks like a poorly stamped F to me.

Go Vette Go

If you look at your trim tag - all letters are in upper case. All 3 of mine are uppercase.

LT4 F45

looks like F 14 / january 14th

mandingo214

F make sense, but it is very strange that the bottom half comes in perfect and the top half is nonexistant. I would think the indentation would fade to nothing, vs. have such a abrupt cutoff. I was hoping someone would chime in having seen a similar half F stamp.

But the I4 is actually 14? The rest of the I's on the tag are straight lines like that, so if you know that April I stamps had a line at the top and bottom that would be reassuring.

Thanks for the input.

Alan 71

Hi M214,
I too, think it's an 'F' with the top broken off.
I would like to see some other 74 tags, that would clear-up the questions of 'l' and '1' in a hurry. I checked my 71, and it's tag uses '1s' not 'ls' for the numeral one. But the configuration of the 4 is different too, and I think the size of the font is smaller on my 71.
Since the size and style of the font changed, I think you need to compare your tag to other 74 tags with build dates close to yours to detemine the authentcity of your tag.
When you say you don't see any sign of silver paint... how far apart has the body been? It might show itself under the black-out in the wiper well, or as overspray under the black-out around the core support and headlight area.
Merry Christmas.
Regards,
Alan

PS: Al Grenning, by compiling an incredible library of trim tag photos has been able to document abnormalities like you see. What he has are pictures of tags from so many cars that he may have a few tags from cars before and a few cars after the tag in question that may or may not show the same strange stamp. ( There may have been a whole group of cars with the broken 'F' until the problem was noticed)
He's most well known for his library of engine pads that show the incredible variations in stamps and surfaces.

CCrane65

I also agree with the above. My '72 is a early December build but the trim tag looks like an L. It is actually a poorly stamped E.

Not real uncommon for the top of the letter to be very light apparently.

cc

mandingo214

Thanks everyone.

Alan, I was expecting to find some silver around the door hinges, head light buckets or body edges, but nothing so far. Since everyone seems confident that the trim tag was just a poor stamping, I am just going to assume it is correct, and that the painter was very thorough in his job.

emccomas

Look inside the doors. If the door panels are still on, look down through the window opening.

Ihe "1" in the TRIM and PAINT codes are just like the "1" in the F14 date code. January 14th with a week "F".

mandingo214

I looked down through the window openings, and nothing looks like it has been painted. All the metal pieces look like metal. There is one area, towards the back of the door behind the interior wood strip, that looks like it could have some metalic looking silver paint on it?

Of course, 35 year old dust-covered fiberglass and metal painted silver may look like dull metal.

On each side of the windshield, however, there is a vertical pocket between where the window molding and interior trim meet, that has not been painted blue. It sort of looks like unpainted metal, but it could be silver paint?

Alan 71

Hi M,
I wasn't hunting for original color but here's what I found under the blackout in the wiper well. If you ever get to this point you may find some of your silver (if in fact your car was silver).
Regards,
Alan

noonie

On some cars the overspray is all over the interior.
Here it is as far as the tranny tunnel. It would be a lot of work to change here.

jay73BB

I got a trim tag off a 73 at a wrecking yard that has NO date stamping on it in the upper right corner. no half stamps nothing. it does have the trim an paint codes.

Easy Mike

If you cannot find any evidence of silver, your car could have always been blue and the trim tag could be wrong. Stranger things have happened. They usually caught and corrected errors of this nature, but some have been known to have squeaked past Quality Control.

Do you have any original documentation with the car? Tank sticker, window sticker, a copy of the original invoice? Each would have the original color listed on it.

mandingo214

Unfortunately I do not have any documentation on the car. Three owners ago was an unhappy dealer, and the trail went cold there.

I will check under the carpet and see what I can find however.

Thanks.