Hi guys! I dexcited to start a thread for any and all questions I have regarding the restoration I'm wanting to do to my '68 T-top...
For starters, I've been doing some numbers research today and ran into a bit of trouble while checking all the codes... Hopfully you guys can help me out with my decoding! The full VIN is 194370S420701. And the body plate has J28 Trim: STD. And Paint: 972! So (correct me if I'm wrong) I understand that the first bit of the vin means it's a corvette coupe, and the last bit is its production number. The J28 means its date is 28th May 1968 which does correspond to the last bit of the vin. Trim is the Norma black vinyl... The paint is where I'm a little confused! One website says it was originally Rally Red, another say Polar White... And the remains of the car's previous paint looks to me like Cardovan Maroon!
I've tried to look at the engine no. But it's been painted over... I can see what looks to be T0 09CM and possibly an A after the CM... The other number fades away but appears to be a 1317... I don't know if there are any other significant engine ID numbers but I did find what looks to be an L10 73 at the back of the block, as well as a larger number:3970014.
Sorry about the long message! Pics to come later today or tomorrow!
I'm pretty much looking for any info I can get on my car!
Thanks in advance, SA

 

194378S420701 8 is the model year code. 37 is the body style code for a coupe. (67 for convertibles).

Correct. It confirms your 68 passed the station on the assembly line where the trim tag was attached on Tuesday, May 28, 1968. In all likelihood, the car was not completed that day and would have needed another day, possibly a day and a half, to have been finished. The date corresponds to the VIN only in confirmation. The last May built 68 was #20928. Your car (#20701) was assembled about a day, possibly two days before the end of May production. The assembly lne would have run on Wednesday the 29th; closed Thusday for Memorial Day; and run on Friday the 31st.

Correct.

972 was Polar White for 1968.

The 1968 small block engines were 327s. 014 blocks were generic GM 350s. The T indicates the engine was assembled at Tonawanda, New York. Corvette smallblocks were asssembled at Flint, Michigan (V code). Your Tonawanda 350 is not original.

Congrats on the '68.