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Got a "Free" C4.. Need Help Decoding VIN#

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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 09:36 AM
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Default Got a "Free" C4.. Need Help Decoding VIN#

My Buddy bought a old GM Dealership Building in Delaware.He plans on tearing it down to develope.in back of the place there Were a Bunch of junk cars in the weeds. I rescued a C4 that has seen better days. its missing the Engine,Trans and Clamshell Hood,and Tires&Wheels. but otherwise complete.odometer reads 04328 actual miles. Been rotting there at least 10+ years as dealership closed in 2001. I got it free [parts car?] No title.. Im not sure of the year? I think its a 84 or 85 Because there is no 3rd Brakelight. If anyone can Help figure out the year I would appreciate it Here is the VIN #1G1AY0783D500031
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 09:38 AM
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Heres a pic of it after being Pulled from Weeds.. Im going to part it out once I get it home.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 09:54 AM
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Originally Posted by ED77KATR
My Buddy bought a old GM Dealership Building in Delaware.He plans on tearing it down to develope.in back of the place there Were a Bunch of junk cars in the weeds. I rescued a C4 that has seen better days. its missing the Engine,Trans and Clamshell Hood,and Tires&Wheels. but otherwise complete.odometer reads 04328 actual miles. Been rotting there at least 10+ years as dealership closed in 2001. I got it free [parts car?] No title.. Im not sure of the year? I think its a 84 or 85 Because there is no 3rd Brakelight. If anyone can Help figure out the year I would appreciate it Here is the VIN #1G1AY0783D500031
HAHA - I guess it might have been meant as a "April Fool's Prank" but it's a digit short! The placement of the "D" in what you mention is the VIN would indicate an '83 build and the last few would indicate the 31st car. Your calendar seems to be missing a day also today is 3/31!

Try the real VIN and let's look again!

Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 31, 2013 at 09:57 AM.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 09:56 AM
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Look at the 10th Digit in the Vin

D= 83
E= 84
F= 85

You have an 84.. The 84 had a 17 month production run, and this was made real early into it.

This happens to be the 31st c4 ever made.... (Kinda cool if it was in any kinda shape)
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 10:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Gazpar
Look at the 10th Digit in the Vin

D= 83
E= 84
F= 85

You have an 84.. The 84 had a 17 month production run, and this was made real early into it.

This happens to be the 31st c4 ever made.... (Kinda cool if it was in any kinda shape)
You didn't get it either! There weren't any '83MY cars delivered to the public and a complete VIN is 17 digits! An '84 regardless of when built would display an E - 10th position.

Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 31, 2013 at 10:13 AM.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 10:13 AM
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Good thing it's so complete, too.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 10:39 AM
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man...i feel for that car. i'd love to save it if it is in fact the 31st 84 built, that would be a cool car to bring back from the dead. wish you were closer, i'd love to lend a hand on that one!! would love to see more pics of the car!

you can always obtain a title and the rest is just parts.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 11:04 AM
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If that is really #31 of the 84s, maybe try to save it?

I mean you could buy a running C4 cheap enough... and just swap the parts over
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 11:23 AM
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reminds me of that "king of the hill" ZR1 that was a pre production show car. it was blue and was crushed. it was then bought and restored. makes me think of that car..
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 01:45 PM
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Go to the National Corvette Museum website and purchase both the build sheet and the window sticker.

Given the very low production sequence number, you may very well have one of the early production cars. But the letter "D" for the production year is strange. As mentioned, D represents the 1983 model year and I believe only the C4 prototypes and pre-production test cars had a D as the model year. All of those cars except the one remaining '83 that is at the NCM were destroyed.

The documents from the NCM will verify the year of the car, the MSRP of the car as originally equipped, the name of the selling dealer, and the build sheet will have a list of options (RPO #'s) and the build date. But if that D production year code is verified, both GM and the NCM will want to know about it! I would suggest that you definitely take some time and do research on this car. Maybe a phone call to the NCM would be a good start.

Does the car have decals on the driver's side door? One decal will show the month and year of production along with a VIN. Also look under the console lid and the underside of the passenger side storage compartment for the Service Parts Identification sticker or "RPO sticker". That sticker will also have a VIN.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 03:32 PM
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There's just way to much wrong with the VIN posted to assume it's correct or even close. Since the move to BG the 11th digit for base Corvettes has been a "1" (which starts the sequencing), the exceptions for BG builds are the "8" for ZR-1's and the "6" for the GS. Assuming what the OP posted is anywhere near correct and inserting the "1" - that makes the 9th digit (check digit) invalid. There's no reason to believe that there would have been an exception in '83 and the check digit is controlled by a very complicated algorithm.

It will be interesting to see what is posted back by the OP!

Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 31, 2013 at 03:35 PM.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 04:35 PM
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Wow I learned something about vin's. My car is nowhere near the beginning of the production run. It's in the low 100K's. How many 84's did they build?

Oh and thank you cruiser, I'm going to send for my build sheet and window sticker. LOL
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 04:47 PM
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Originally Posted by PeoriaMonkey
Wow I learned something about vin's. My car is nowhere near the beginning of the production run. It's in the low 100K's. How many 84's did they build?

Oh and thank you cruiser, I'm going to send for my build sheet and window sticker. LOL
Total production would be 51,547 the second largest to that point for sure. An '84 would fit into this VIN sequencing:

1G1AY078XE5100001 to 1G1AY078XE5151547 The X is a check digit which will change from car to car because of the algorithm used to calculate it.

Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 31, 2013 at 04:50 PM.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted by PeoriaMonkey
How many 84's did they build?
Yet 1984 was the second-largest production run in Corvette history, with over 51,000 cars produced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the vin and the abandoned dealership angle, I'm guessing this thread was supposed to end with an "April Fools" tomorrow.
Lets see what happens, or if its legit...

IMO: kinda hoping its legit, and see what he does with the C4s "carcass"
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by WVZR-1
Total production would be 51,547 the second largest to that point for sure. An '84 would fit into this VIN sequencing:

1G1AY078XE5100001 to 1G1AY078XE5151547 The X is a check digit which will change from car to car because of the algorithm used to calculate it.
I didn't notice the missing digit in the VIN the OP posted. But even with adding a numeric "1" after the value 5 for the BG Assembly Plant, that still would leave 3 zero's before the final sequence number. So if it turns out that the correct 17-digit VIN would be 1G1AY0783D5100031, that does make it early '84.

One thing that can be checked to verify the validity of the VIN is to look on the driver's side frame rail. Remove the driver's side rear lower part of the wheel well, and on the vertical forward facing part of the frame just in front of the battery, there should be the last 8 digits of the VIN stamped near the top. If his VIN is correct, the stamping should show "D5100031"

Otherwise, it's an early April Fool's joke.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by c4cruiser
I didn't notice the missing digit in the VIN the OP posted. But even with adding a numeric "1" after the value 5 for the BG Assembly Plant, that still would leave 3 zero's before the final sequence number. So if it turns out that the correct 17-digit VIN would be 1G1AY0783D5100031, that does make it early '84.

One thing that can be checked to verify the validity of the VIN is to look on the driver's side frame rail. Remove the driver's side rear lower part of the wheel well, and on the vertical forward facing part of the frame just in front of the battery, there should be the last 8 digits of the VIN stamped near the top. If his VIN is correct, the stamping should show "D5100031"

Otherwise, it's an early April Fool's joke.
There's NO '84 production that carries a D as the 10th digit and even substituting the 1 the algorithm fails when the E is given the placement it needs. I was surprised more didn't catch it sooner! The algorithm fails also when using the D and adding the 1 to the 12th position.

A correct vin for a sequence # 31 build in '83 (D) would be:

1G1AY0782D5100031

The #2 in the 9th position validates the entire VIN.

That VIN fails the Carfax test!

Here's a correct VIN for an '84 (E) #31 build:

1G1AY0780E5100031

This VIN passes the Carfax test but with "no records"! Not unusual for an '84 MY car. It's identified as an '84 MY Corvette. The VIN required the E (10th) and a 0 (9th) to pass the algorithm validation.

The OP has been back and certainly has seen the posts through #9 with "no comment"!

Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 31, 2013 at 06:46 PM.
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Old Mar 31, 2013 | 11:17 PM
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Alright..You guys are too smart to pull a fast one on!!! "APRILS FOOLS"!!!!!!! ...... Just trying to have fun.. I do know the year is 10th Digit D= 1983.. I saw a story about the only 1983 Corvette I copied the vin from the story. it was #23 I made mine #31... Thanks for being good sports. As for the car in the Photo.. it was a 1988 That I found in a local u pullit..
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Old Apr 1, 2013 | 12:13 AM
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Haaa-Haaaaa!
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Old Apr 1, 2013 | 12:15 AM
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aha
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Old Apr 1, 2013 | 02:50 PM
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where in delaware? i live in wilmington.
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