leadfoot4

This is just a question out of curiosity......I used to own a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. I ordered it in September of 1976, and took delivery 4-5 weeks later. In other words, it was a fairly "early build" for that model year. I kept it until July of 2001, when I sold it to buy my C-5.

I was recently attempting to do a VIN search, to see if the T/A is still around. This got me thinking, as the last 6 digits of the 13 digit VIN are supposed to represent the "build sequence" of the car. Apparently I'm off on my thinking, as I would interpret this to mean that my car was the one-hundred-thousandth Firebird off the line, for the 1977 model year, but that wouldn't be possible.

First, my car was built within the first 7-8 weeks of 1977 production. Secondly, any information I've turned up, reads that there were roughly 70,000 Trans Ams built, and probably another 150-170,000 regular Firebirds, made in the 1977 model year, for a total of a little over 200,000 cars. So, this sequence number doesn't make sense to me, with respect to my car. Anybody know what this number really means?

lbzraptor

Dang you sure got yours fast. I special ordered a 1980 Z/28 in December of 1979 and it took till July 13 1980 to get it which was on a Friday.
1972 - 1979 2 V 8 7 X 3 N 1 0 0 0 0 1
| | |-| | | | +---------+---> Production Sequence
| | | | | +---------------> Assembly Plant
| | | | | N = Norwood
| | | | | L = Van Nuys
| | | | +-----------------> Model Year
| | | | 2 = 1972
| | | | 3 = 1973
| | | | 4 = 1974
| | | | 5 = 1975
| | | | 6 = 1976
| | | | 7 = 1977
| | | | 8 = 1978
| | | | 9 = 1979
| | | +-------------------> Engine Code
| | | Chevrolet:
| | | ???
| | | Pontiac:
| | | A = 3.8L Buick, C = 231 ci Buick, D = 250 ci,
| | | Y = 301 ci, W/Y = 4.9L, M/N/H/J/P/L/R/X = 350 ci,
| | | U/G/L = 5.0L Chevy, L = 5.7L Chevy, R = 5.7L Olds,
| | | X = 5.7L Buick, R/T/P/S/N/Z = 400 ci, K = 403 ci,
| | | X/Y/W = 455 ci
| | +----------------------> Body Type
| | 87 = 2 door coupe
| +-------------------------> Carline Series
| Chevrolet:
| ???
| Pontiac:
| S = Firebird
| T = Esprit
| U = Formula
| V = Trans Am (1972-1976)
| W = Trans Am (1977-1979)
| X = 10th Anniv Trans Am (1979)
+---------------------------> Make
1 = Chevrolet
2 = Pontiac

lbzraptor

That didn't line up like it was supposed to so here is the link
http://www.andysautosport.com/learni...vin)_decoding/

leadfoot4

Wow, that's a LONG time. Was there some special option or group of options that you ordered, that would cause the hold up? The longest I waited, was for the 1985 Firebird SE that I ordered in mid November of 1984, and waited until early of April, of 1985, for it to show up.

Apparently, they had a hold up with the wheels that were specific to the SE option, and eventually, just to get the car built, they put the Trans Am wheels on it, which IMHO, were flat-out ugly. The dealer was supposed to order a set of the correct wheels, and swap them out, but it never happened.....and, that car turned out to be the most troublesome new car I ever bought. I came VERY close to "lemon lawing" it.


Anyway, with respect to the '77 T/A that I was referring to, the VIN was (is) 2W87Z7N118899. Maybe it was the 118 thousandth 1977 car off the line at Norwood, at that point, and not just the Firebird production, but even at that, it's a LOT of cars for that early in the model year. I recall seeing VINs of "early production" cars that would have a couple of "zeroes", rather than the "ones", in positions 7 and 8.

lbzraptor

The Z/28 was ordered as a factory M21 4 speed, no air all tinted glass. Had a 308 G80 rear end. Will have to look but it had 130 or 140 on speedo instead of 85. It came on a train from Van Nuys California. I always wondered why so long myself. The weren't many with 79 as the color code. I was there when they took it off the truck they used to pick it up from the train. Body was all Z/28 but some things on the motor and brakes/suspension if I had to replace I had to tell the parts guy it was for a Trans Am or it wouldn't be the same as what was on my car. Car has both electric and vacuum actuated cowl hood flaps. Maybe they used a bunch of leftover parts to put it together. lol

leadfoot4

^^^^

Bump, as I'm still curious......