BONOMAN007

Hello all - I have a 1954 Corvette with a 350V-8 and 700R4 transmission that is in the process of going on the market - the car has a metal tag with what I believe is the Chassis or ID number, according to Google 1954 was the first year VIN numbers came about - I tried the VIN decoder but that comes up as an invalid number - my metal tag number has a combo of 10 letters and numbers not the 16 it's looking for - is there an explanation for this situation? - Thank you

Kel15

What does your title have on it ?

KingRat

Because the car is 70 years old. The VIN range in '54 is E54S001001 – E54S004640 with 3,640 units produced.

Cars built 1981 and after have 17 characters, which became standard for all vehicles manufactured since January 1981. Vehicles manufactured prior to 1981 may have as few as 5 digits to as many as 13 digits. For cars manufactured before 1981, VIN decoders will not work.

csherman

pic of the tag??
could be a state issued tag

BONOMAN007

The title issued ID number has a combo of 12 numbers and letters - the tag that came with the car has 10 and is in sequence with the reply from the previous post answering my question

Railroadman

You say the metal tag is within what KingRat posted - that's good news so far. If you're not comfortable posting the entire VIN that's ok, but it may be helpful if you can say whet the 2 "extra" characters on the title are.

BONOMAN007

For starters Thank you All for your help - It's a state of Florida issued ID number, 0227866E54YG - the cars tag is E54S001143 - the auction site BAT is who is asking for clarification - not crazy about selling the car, my wife is - I have a 2013 Grand Sport also - again Thank you, Semperfi

Railroadman

FOR SALE: CORVETTE 1954, 350, 700R4 WIFE 19__, (fill in details)

One forces sale of other. Make offer on either. Cash only, immediate removal from my property. No returns

.

jim lockwood

It appears the state of Florida has the car titled by the original engine number. Back in the day many states did that.

Look at the passenger side of the engine slightly above and forward of the starter. There is a flat area with letters and numbers metal stamped. If your car has its original engine, you will find the Florida numbers stamped on that flat area. Picture below shows an example:




Edit: Oh, wait.... I just realized you said your car has a 350 V8. So, since it doesn't have its original engine, the numbers on the Florida title won't match ANY number anywhere on the car.

woodrow2002

From personal experience, I can tell you what's going on with your Florida title/VIN. When my father signed over the 1954 to me about 4 years ago(he owned it since 93), I noticed the same oddity on the title, car VIN not matching the title VIN (though I recognized the serial on the title). After going to Florida's inspection office, I was informed that cars 1955 and older have their title VINs go off of the engine serial number; note this is still current practice, not a hold over from older days as I was informed I could not adjust it to the actual VIN of the car.. In my case, I have the original engine so no big deal. After it was signed it over I transferred it to SC (my state of residence), then had the VIN corrected after the transfer (to match the actual VIN plate). I did ask the inspector what happens if you have an engine swap (as in your case) but the process didn't seem clear for a VIN correction in that instance. I wasn't too worried with that detail as the engine swap would happen after I fixed the title on my car in SC. I did notice as my father kept a lot of paperwork for the car, the insurance carrier we had, State Farm, did keep note of the fact the the title VIN and the actual car VIN were two different things. Final note, the VIN you have titled is for your original chevy 235 inline 6 engine that came with the car, the 54YG at the end confirms this (1954 block, YG is a powerglide car, but as I recall, YG is also exclusive to Corvette inline 6 engines). I'm not sure what you'd do to correct as you don't have the original engine.

BONOMAN007

Thank you Sir - that's the answer, the car was in the family since 1965, father to son - the original motor was replaced in 1995, so even if I had the original motor the cars titled ID number would be the same - the tag I have refers to the chassis which was in the trunk I believe which was removed prior to being repainted, is there another location where there might be an ID number that refers to the frame/chassis?

69L88

My brother bought a 57 back in 1976 that was titled with an Iowa-issued number that bore no resemblance to the original GM number.

During a body-off restoration, we discovered the original serial stamped in the frame so we called the MN DMV who sent an inspector out to look. Bottom line, the State issued a title with the E57S10$$$$ number.

csherman

Jim is 100 percent correct
The state issued a title with the engine block number !!!!
I also see this ALOT
Happened alot in the 50s 60s 70s
The DMV thinks the engine number is the vin number
The title needs corrected to the VIN number
The block number is a correct 54 Corvette VIN number
The YG indicates Corvette
Chris

woodrow2002

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall the VIN is also stamped on the top side of the frame rail, driver's side, about where the driver's seat would be. I couldn't check on my car as I couldn't manipulate a dental mirror into the gap to check (some have been able to do this, but you may also have to lift the body up to check).

csherman

Correct - It is
but may be hard to read due to rust and scale issues

BONOMAN007

Thank you all for the info - I think it's settled