tetertime1

so ive recently acquired a 78 anniversary that has been garaged since 2008 and has 37000 miles ...im have difficulty deciphering the 13 digit vin number....was told it must be 17 digits but title only shows 13...
who can help me out here please and thank you

7T1vette

'78 C3 VIN's were 13 digits long: 1Z87L8S400001 thru 1Z87L8S440274 for base engine cars; if car has L-82 engine, the fifth digit is 4 instead of L. The last six digits define the serial number of that car. Pace car versions have S/n's from 900001 thru 906502.

Who is telling you the VIN should be 17 digits?

gbvette62

Federal law required the 17 digit VIN beginning with the 1981 model year. GM switched a year early, in 1980. Prior to 1980, VIN's were 13 digit.

If you're trying to get a Carfax, it can't be done, they only work with 17 digit VIN's. If you're DMV or insurance company, is requesting a 17 digit VIN, ask for a supervisor.

Just a quick rant, Carfax has conned the public into believing that a Carfax will save them from buying a bad car, they can't! The ONLY reliable info on a Carfax is the ownership history, as every State DMV now reports to them. An accident where the police responded, may show up if the police department takes the time to report it. Very few auto repair and body shops, bother report to Carfax though. Private shops have no reason to report, and dealers rarely report, because they know they may get the car in a trade, and don't want a history of repairs showing up.

In the end, if you want to see if a car had a salvage title, a Carfax could disclose that, but don't expect any other real info to show up on one.

Okay, sorry my rant's over.

Alan 71

Hi gb,
I understand what you're saying.

A 2013 car that I drive has a small sticker/label with the car's VIN sequence printed on it on the larger body parts.... hood, fenders, doors, quarters, hatch, and more.
So I guess it would be pretty easy to see what may have been replaced on a car a person might be considering.
Unless someone is reproducing the stickers/labels!?!?

I'm not very familiar with new cars... do lots of them have a method to determine original panels now?
Regards,
Alan

Easy Mike

1 Chevrolet Division of General Motors
Z Corvette
87 coupe body style
L engine code; L for base engine; 4 for the optional L-82
8 model year code
S plant code for St. Louis, Missouri
4xxxxx consecutive unit number

Characters in bold are the same for all 78s.

tetertime1

[QUOTE=7T1vette;1597021157]'78 C3 VIN's were 13 digits long: 1Z87L8S400001 thru 1Z87L8S440274 for base engine cars; if car has L-82 engine, the fifth digit is 4 instead of L. The last six digits define the serial number of that car. Pace car versions have S/n's from 900001 thru 906502.

Who is telling you the VIN should be 17 digits?[/QUOT


when i try to run vin decipher on this site it tells me needs to be 17 digits
carfax is another one...

Easy Mike

As you've learned, some of the VIN Decipher sites don't work with the older VIN formats.

tetertime1

ok thank you so much for your info...

Peterbuilt

https://gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm...t-Corvette.pdf