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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 12:02 PM
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Greetings fellow Corvette Lovers,

I have an '81 vette that i purchased back in July. It had been painted like the '78 Official Pace Car, an identical clone. I didn't feel right owning an 81 with the colors of a 78. I wanted to repaint it back to its original color but the driver side door was unable to open to determine what color code it had. Once in the body shop, they managed to open the door but I was unable to determine were to find the color code. I had it repainted solid black and I am still wondering were is this color code tag? Can someone please guide me to this tag?

Thanks in advance,


Jr
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 12:11 PM
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...unless it was removed or is missing, as soon as you open the driver's side door below the windshield pillar, riveted on the bulkhead is the body build/trim tag. It is a stainless steel plate appx 2 x 3in in size.
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 08:07 PM
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If your car is late enough in the '81 production run (10th & 11th digits will be B5, BS would make it a St Louis car) to be a Bowling Green car, you can contact the National Corvette Museum http://www.corvettemuseum.com/ and get a build sheet as well as a window sticker for a reasonable fee. This will provide you with more information than you can imagine about your car.

Good luck... GUSTO
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Old Nov 15, 2007 | 11:43 AM
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Thank you guys for your information. I have found the body/trim tag. However when the car got painted, the tag got painted too and I can make out the numbers but not their significance. Please help...Thanks
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Old Nov 15, 2007 | 12:02 PM
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Originally Posted by 81vette1974
Thank you guys for your information. I have found the body/trim tag. However when the car got painted, the tag got painted too and I can make out the numbers but not their significance. Please help...Thanks
...need to know either the VIN# or your "style" trim tag to determine if you have a St. Louis or Bowling Green produced 1981 Corvette. Only year Corvettes were manufactured on two different assembly lines. If your trim tag says "CHEVROLET" along the top, you have a St. Louis built car. Also, this style of tag will say "PAINT" & "TRIM" on it, where a Bowling Green tag does not. It will just have codes & numbers. If your tag says "CHEVROLET" along the bottom, it is a Bowling Green built car.
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Old Nov 15, 2007 | 01:43 PM
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The tag says "Chevrolet" at the bottom. Some numbers have a letter following the number for example: 38M, 33U. What does that mean?

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Jr
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Old Nov 15, 2007 | 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by 81vette1974
The tag says "Chevrolet" at the bottom. Some numbers have a letter following the number for example: 38M, 33U. What does that mean?

Thanks

Jr
The 1981 Corvette exterior colors were:
06 = Mahogany Metallic
10 = White
13 = Silver Metallic
19 = Black
24 = Bright Blue Metallic
28 = Dark Blue Metallic
52 = Yellow
59 = Beige
75 = Red
79 = Maroon Metallic
84 = Charcoal Metallic
33/38 = Silver and Dark Blue
33/39 = Silver and Charcoal
50/74 = Beige and Dark Bronze
80/98 = Autumn Red and Dark Claret.
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Old Nov 15, 2007 | 07:13 PM
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Got the number codes, but what do the letters signify?
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Old Nov 16, 2007 | 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by 81vette1974
The tag says "Chevrolet" at the bottom. Some numbers have a letter following the number for example: 38M, 33U. What does that mean?

Thanks

Jr
...if you see a 38 & 33, your car originally was a Silver/Dark Blue car. The 33U is for Silver-upper half of the car.

...you should also see another code for your interior. A "29C" was for Dark Blue Cloth interior. "292" was for Dark Blue Leather.

...your tag's top line should start with a "B" for 1981 followed by a three letter/digit code. "01 - 12" representing month built, 01 is January and so forth. After the number of month code is a letter representing the week of production. "A" for first week, "B" for second and so on.

...a code that is "06B" would be a second week of June produced car.
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