[QUOTE=noonie.. Don't think the early 77 had the stingray on the fender either[/QUOTE]
My 77' was # 8353 n was born on oct.18th.....n No 77' had the stingray name on it...

 

Cooper.

Sorry to hear about your dilema.

You have a car with a 1977 VIN and 1976 parts.

As others have noted, the VIN appears to be the only thing on your car that is from 1977.

Your VIN # 1Z37L7S404314 decoded:
1Z37 = Corvette Coupe
L = L48 Engine
7 = Model Year, 1977
S = St. Louis

Beginning Serial Nnumber = 400001
Ending Serial Number = 449213
1977 Cars Made = 49213
Car number 4314 was probably built in the first month of production for the 1977 model year which was probably September 1976.

A couple explanations could be:

A) Somone has taken the VIN tag or part of the windshield frame from 1977 car number 4314 and put it on an an early 1976 Corvette.

B) Someone has gone to a lot of work to take the entire interior, body badges, mirrors, and trim tag out/off of an early 1976 car and put them on 1977 car number 4314. This doesn't make a lot of sense because the 1977 VIN number shows car 4314 was a base model car and not the L82 version.

The paint code on the trim tag you mentioned as being 22L.

There was no paint code 22 for 1977. The blue colors for 1977 are 28 (dark blue) and 26 (light blue). The L is for "lower" and is not a factor here.

There was only one paint code for 1976 blue cars and that was 22L(bright blue) as your trim tag shows.

I got this information from the book
FACT BOOK of the 1973-1977 Stingray by M.F. Dobbins

I'd bet that (A) is the case here. Someone had an early 1976 blue car that had a rotted windshield frame. Along came the windshield frame from 1977 car 4314 and they graphed it on. The rest of 1977 car 4314 probably no longer exists as it was likely wrecked and parted out.

 

L stands for Lacquer paint.

 

^^^ I agree.

I would look into getting my money back if you just bought it. I would bet that if somebody checked the frame VIN stamp that it would not match the windshield VIN plate. You don't need this kind of hassle. It is also convient that the engine and tranny and their stamps are also gone. It is a good looking car but she is hiding something.

 

Not that it matters for this thread but my 2 cents on this myth is that "L" does not stand for Lacquer.

Sometime in the mid 1970s, the entire GM line started using "L" and "U" codes on trim tags of the form XXL and XXU where XX are the actual paint code numbers. In some cases MXX was used instead of UXX such as 1978 Silver Aniversary Corvettes.

This was to identify how two-tone color vehicles were painted. "XXL" was the lower color and "XXU" was the upper color. Only the "XXL" code was used for cars that were all one color.

Starting in model year 1974 all corvettes got the XXL code on the trim tag. Before that, they all had 9XX numbers I think.

When the St. Louis plant closed, Chevrolet started making Corvettes in Bowling Green Kentucky. The same trim tag paint code convention carried through to Kentucky and it is well documented that Bowling Green did not use Lacquer to paint Corvettes.

If "L" stands for Laquer, then why did it continue to show up on Corvette trim tags when they were painted with enamel base coat/clear coat in Bowling Green?

 

VEGA STEERING WHEEL !! it's a "76"
ZIXXX PACKER

 

I have an early one too, but I thought that late in the year the fender emblem was on.

 

Absolutely incorrect. The sport mirrors weren't standard until '78. My early '77 had the solitary chrome mirror on the driver's side until I "fixed" it because the chrome mirror was a disintegrating POS.

 

Don't scare the guy. He's got a beautiful-looking car there. So what if it's a '76 instead of a '77? Even if it's a '77 model-year it looks like it was built in '76 anyway, so it doesn't match his wife's birthday. Better to relax about the situation and just enjoy the fact that the car's got a story to tell.

Cooper, like others have said, enjoy the car. It's a beaut!

 

BUT ................ keep in mind, the guy stated that he PAID A LITTLE TOO MUCH so it was misrepresented, & he may forever have DMV / MOTOR VEHICLES ISSUES, TITTLE, REG, ETC.........and other hassels when trying to sell it one day. I say try your best to get out of what appears to be a bad situation, start over & call it a learning experience. I think there is more bad news down the road.
ZIXXX PACKER

 

Not necessarily true, some early 77's without the tilt/tele option had the Vega steering wheel in it according to the AIM.

 

DIDN"T KNOW THAT.................biut havent seen one that way either.....&.....i've been to many shows. Anyways nice to see another islander hear early in the morning..........were you at ramp chevey or arnold chevy last week ?
ZIXXX PACKER

 

Not trying to scare anybody but the VIN on this car was apparently switched and that is illegal. The frame still bears the stamping of the true 1976 VIN and who knows if that number is listed in the NCIC as a stolen car. Sorry but I would not want that hanging over my head.

 

Actually, all cars without tilt-tele used the Vega wheel until tilt-tele became standard in 79.

 

This is correct, but the car pictured has the tilt / telescopic wheel.

It looks as if your VIN is a 1977 and your car is a 1976.

However, as long as all your documentaion is correct and together,...I wouldn't sweat it,...it's a 1977.

However, make SURE that your paper work and documentation is in order,...just in case.

 

Just noticed the parking brake handel too. 77 handel was rubber, not plastic W/chrome. Door panel inserts in 77 were black, although the woodgrain could have been owner installed.
Eddie

 

77 pk. brake handle was black plastic w/chrome.
Door panel insets were black.

Interestingly the 77 brochures (which could have used a 76 to do the brochures early) does show woodgrain. I do not recall seeing any 77 w/woodgrain however that would not have mattered to me so no reason to ...

The interior could have been redone later w/ parts from another car as the early parts may have been easier to get. The 78- gauge cluster does not fit w/o mod. in 77. The early ones -76 fit.

 

If you are just looking for a nice car or restomod. If your looling for a NCRS restored car you would have a hard time selling the concept that it shipped from the factory that way.

 

It's the very rare '76 1/2 limited Bi-Centennial Corvette!!! Seriously, as mentioned before my guess is there were problems w/ the windshield frame and it has been transplanted from a 77. If your intent on keeping the car, I would take a long, hard look at the birdcage and see what it looks like in there. I would want to know if I've got sitting around me before I started driving that thing. Something happened to the car at some point, and it's been repaired, you need to find out what else is wrong with it since the guy selling it didn't bother mentioning the difference in everything else and the VIN on the windshield. My thoughts would be take the car back and get your money back and find one that you know is either a 76 or a 77. It's your money so do what you'd like.

 

You may want to contact the seller and work something out.
I had a legal chop shop years ago, and you do not want to have a vehicle in which the numbers don't match. The state used to come by on a regular basis and check numbers and frames just like they lift fingerprints. I was lucky enough not to have ever bought anything questionable. I know of a couple others that ended up staying at the Graybar Hotel. In the best case situation it can be confiscated. In the worst case if you ever sell it.....

Here is a case where a cop stopped a jeep and new it was not what it was supposed to be on the registration or vin.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/script...invol=17405_98

Check the frame numbers and the rivets. Some states will go by the vin, some will go by the numbers on the frame. They all must match with docs.