Looking to buy a stock 81 with VIN 1G1AY8765BS417734. Can any interesting details be taken from the VIN. Assembly plant, options etc?

Thanks,
Vince

 

The "S" (1G1AY8765B*S*...) indicates that it is a St Louis build 81, and it's the 17,734th car built. VIN 17,734 was built about the third week of January in 81. As there was only one body style and one engine offered in 81, nothing else can be learned from your VIN. If the VIN had been 1G1AY8765B*5*.... instead of the "S", then the car would be a Bowling Green car.

 

Interesting? Yep.

1 General Motors
G Chevrolet
1 United States
A code for restraint system
Y Corvette
87 body style code for coupe
6 engine code but there were no optional engines in 81
5 computer check digit (varied with each car)
B code for year of manufacture (1981)
S plant code for St. Louis, Missouri
417734 consecutive unit number #17734 was build in January, 1981.

 

Thanks everyone. Was there any "prefered" assembly locations between either St-Louis or Bowling Green or were all '81s were produced with same quality?

-Vince

 

Bowling Green started in June of 81 the biggest difference was the type of paint. the paint in St. Louis was lacquer and Bowling Green was enamel.
1G1AY8764BS400001 thru 1G1AY8764BS431611 (St. Louis)

1G1AY8764B5100001 thru 1G1AY8764B5108995 (Bowling Green)

 

I believe the St. Louis cars also used the stacked steel rear spring as opposed to the fiberglass mono leaf at Bowling Green. Also, two tone was only done at Bowling Green and the Bowling Green cars had a base coat clear coat paint, St. Louis didn't. I've also read there were some changes behind the front and rear bumper areas, that help the Bowling Green cars weigh a few pounds less than the St. Louis cars.

 

Two tone cars were also produced at St. Louis, apparently beginning in the spring of '81.

Two tone on the line at St. Louis.


Note center stack of bumper covers. Two tone shown.

 

K, today hasn't been a waste, I learned something!! Thankfully, that seems to happen everyday!

 

 

How do you know what "month" the car was manufactured? Mine is a Bowling Green car with the last digits 00780 ....

I'd appreciate it....

 

Black book says August 1980. It looks like yours was the 5th 1980 built. VIN starts @ 40075

 

july 1 1981

http://www.c3registry.org/index.php?uid=4398

 

remember production @ bowling Green did not start until June of 81.

 

Thanks!


Found out the Car's Birthday on the C3 registry link.. Thanks Larry, now I know how you got that date.


How would I know the # from the Bowling Green plant (how many produced before mine at Bowling Green?) Like GD70 mentioned (but wrong year)...

 

All 81s with an automatic and base suspension had the mono leaf plastic spring. 4 speed cars and automatics with the trailering package or Gymkhana suspension used a regular steel spring.

Other than a few pilot cars, to test the two-tone process, all two-tones were built in Bowling Green. I think that after building Silver Anniversarys and Pace Cars in 78, they found that it wasn't practicle to paint two-tones with St. Louis' paint booth. This was one of the prime conciderations when Bowling Green was planned.

St. Louis cars were painted with acrylic laquer, Bowling Green cars are painted with a 2 stage base coat/clear coat enamel. To do a two-tone base coat/clear coat at St. Louis would require 3 passes through the paint booth. Because the paint was different, Bowling Green cars all have different paint codes than St. Louis, too (ex: St. Louis silver metallic is code 13, at Bowling Green silver met is code 33 for solid silver cars and 33 as the upper color for two-tone cars using the silver such as silver upper is 33/38 for silver over dark blue). Only 7 exterior colors were available on cars from Bowling Green, compared with 10 from St. Louis. Of the 7, only silver, charcoal, dark blue and beige were offered at both plants, but the paint codes are different for these colors, between the 2 plants. I have a 9-15-80 Chevrolet Product Program letter that refers to the two-tone paint treatment as a Bowling Green "Introduction Appearence Option" to celebrate the openning of the new plant.

All of the weight saving changes made for 81 (thinner door glass, magnesium valve covers, plastic spring, etc..) were the same for both plants. The only differences between Bowling Green and St. Louis cars is the type of paint used and the interior and exterior color choices.

 

His VIN indicates it was built at St Louis. 11th digit is an S.
Bowling green would have #5 instead of S.
So if I'm reading this right, (Black Book) his vette was built in St. Louis August 1980. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Only want to give accurate info.
Thanks, Glenn

Edit, I was looking at the OP's VIN! My mistake.

 

With a VIN of 00780, 779 were built before yours.

By the way, 80 VIN numbers didn't start with 00075 as posted. Production started in Sept 79 and the last car built in Sept was VIN 00011, or 11 1980s built in Sept.

 

You got it. The OPs VIN indicates St. Louis. Larryg3 only gave the last few digits of his VIN and stated that he had a Bowling Green build car.

 

Yep. Thanks clears it up nicely. (Didn't mean to threadjack.. just wondering how you guys knew the "birthdate." )