Need help decoding 1982 VIN and Trim Tag
 

I am looking at a two-tone 82, that is advertised as all original, and from the pictures it is Silver on top, and charcoal on bottom, with the charcoal leather interior. I have also read that on the Trim Tag the "L" stands for Lower, and the "U" stands for Upper. Per the Black Book, Silver is code 13, and charcoal is code 39, so I would think I would see 39L 13U, and the charcoal leather interior code should be 182. So why do none of those numbers jive? I see parts of them, but not like I would except to see them. Here is what is on the Trim tag:

C 04C II2249
I81 I3L I3U 39M E
CHEVROLET

The VIN is also 1G1AY8785C5112249, but the Decode This VIN decoder does not recognize the VIN, and the C3 Registry birth date estimater does not recognize it either. I had them double check the VIN twice, so it is correct, so what gives?

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out, and decode all this for me, as I did a search and could not find anything on decoding an 82 VIN or Trim Tag, it just stopped at 1979.

Thanks in advance! :cheers:

Craig:flag:

I found a good info page on 82 Vettes

http://www.motorera.com/corvette/1980/vet82.htm

Is the plate you are looking at in the driver door hinge area?

Thanks for the link to the info. It restates the info I had from the Corvette Black Book, so that is good, but it still doesn't explain the way the info is presented on the trim tag.

Yes, the trim tag is the plate is in the driver's door hinge area.

Anybody else have any idea why the trim tag presents the numbers differently than the codes as represented in the Black Book and on the website?

We have a ton of experts on this Forum, I thought for sure one of them would have the answer in less than five minutes. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Craig:flag:

The VIN you quote is a legitimate format for an '82. The car is serial number 112249, which is about halfway through '82 production.

The tag shows 04C which means the fourth week of the fourth month of the year, or last week of April.

The final car built in April was 112598 so all this lines up.

An interior code ending in 1 is normal for leather seats, so 181 lines up also.

13 39 is the correct codes for silver/charcoal, but I agree with you that it does seem the numbers are reversed. Perhaps other two tone car owners will chip in some info.

Thanks Mike. I agree all the info on the VIN sounds legit, just not sure why all the numbers on the trim tag seem out of whack. Hopefully someone else will chime in with another clue.

Thanks again,
Craig:flag:

Anybody else got a clue why the trim tag format doesn't seem to line up with the paint and interior color codes?

Thanks,
Craig:flag:

You are missing a number on the vin.

Jim

Your car was originally all silver (13 lower and 13 upper) from the factory. The charcoal was added later during a repaint probably. I have a white one and the paint codes are 10L and 10U meaning it is entirely white. The date of manufacture for mine is C 07D. C=1982, 07=July, D=4th week.

Jim, thanks I corrected the VIN, I left out a 1. It still doesn't come up on the C3 Registry birth date estimate though?

Bob, thanks, now I get what that whole top line is: the build date and the last five of the VIN.

Second Line=I81 I3L I3U 39M E

So on the second line, if in fact I3L and I3U mean it is supposed to be an all Silver car, what does the I81 at the beginning of the line, and the 39M E at the end of the line mean? Also, if 182 is the code for Charcoal Leather, what is supposed to represent that code?

This is a car I am looking at purchasing, and it supposed to be all original with only 42K miles on it. I am actually wanting an all Silver car, and it could stand a paint job, so hopefully it really is a code 13 car. I want to make sure I know what it is I am getting, so I greatly appreciate all the help decoding the Trim Tag and VIN.

Thanks!
Craig:flag:

Well via the internet, I looked at two other Trim Tags on 82 cars with known correct paint at the American Sportscar Center in Atlanta. By putting all three together, it looks like the second line decodes thus:

I81 I3L I3U 39M E

I81=code 182 Charcoal Leather Interior (looks like they drop the last digit and use a 1 for leather)

I3L=code 13 Silver exterior paint

I3U=code 13 Silver exterior paint

39M=code 39 Charcoal exterior paint

E=???

Note that on all the 82 two-tones, the L and U are the same color code, and the M code is used to designate the contrasting lower color. I am thinking that the convential wisdom that L stood for lower and U for upper might be in error?

Can some other folks with two tones check theirs to see if my logic makes sense?

The only difference on the non two-tone cars is that the M number is missing altogether, but again the L and U numbers are the same and the mystery E remains :crazy:

Help!

Craig:flag:

So know one knows of a book or a website that tells exactly how to decode an 82 trim tag? I have the black book, but the codes in the book do not match how they are presented on the trim tag :toetap:

I also found out that this VIN is one that the Corvette Museum has no info on, as thousands of build sheets are missing from 1982 :(

Thanks again for any assistance!

Craig:flag: