Rob Peters Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Maybe this is a stupid question but I will ask it anyway.. My question is related to VIN numbers. Is a VIN the entire number start to finish or is it only the last 6 numbers. I have to think it is the entire start to finish. If a VIN is 138570B205040 on a car built in Baltimore is it possible there would also be a Flint car with a VIN number of 138570F205040? In other words the same leading numbers up to the F and same Trailing numbers with the only difference being the B and the F? One of the reasons I ask this is I am wondering that if the VIN is only last 6 numbers they it may be possible to try to come up with approximate production dates for people who don't have any paperwork documentation on their cars. I know the exact production date on my current Monte because I have my build sheet and other documentation. If we have enough people who have their VIN and a build sheet we may be able to develop a Database and relate approximate build dates to VIN's What would complicate things is if the last 6 numbers could be the same from different plants. Stupid question, huh? rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 I would assume that the smart people at the head offices have that figured out. I know when I worked at a dealer when looking a car up on national data base we put in the last 6 and most of the time it would find it. I would say the last 6 identified the car and the rest of all factory info. Speculation on my part. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Rob, It is definitely the entire string of characters. Hence the increase from 13 to 17 total characters over the years… there have been just too many vehicles produced over several decades. And with the reliability of modern day vehicles being what they are, I wouldn’t be surprised if VINs increase to 19 digits at some point in the near future. Simply put, the last 6 digits of your Monte’s VIN likely exists on several other vehicles from several different manufacturers from several different years. It’s the preceding characters which delineate make, model and manufacturer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 17 minutes ago, Glen said: Rob, It is definitely the entire string of characters. Hence the increase from 13 to 17 total characters over the years… there have been just too many vehicles produced over several decades. And with the reliability of modern day vehicles being what they are, I wouldn’t be surprised if VINs increase to 19 digits at some point in the near future. Simply put, the last 6 digits of your Monte’s VIN likely exists on several other vehicles from several different manufacturers from several different years. It’s the preceding characters which delineate make, model and manufacturer. Glen, I was thinking the same thing. So, it would be possible for there to be two same year Monte's to have the last 6 numbers and same preceding numbers up to the plant designation and the plant designation thing that that makes the difference. rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC1of80 Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 My GUESS is that each plant had a designated number run. Meaning, after the plant designation, the numbers were plant specific. Having 2 or 3 same year cars of the SAME MAKE with the same last 6 of the vin would just not make sense. Could a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile etc have the same last 6? Absolutely, but that's where the first sequence of numbers come into play. As we know the 72 vins became longer due to the engine designation being added to the vin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 3 hours ago, Rob Peters said: Glen, I was thinking the same thing. So, it would be possible for there to be two same year Monte's to have the last 6 numbers and same preceding numbers up to the plant designation and the plant designation thing that that makes the difference. rob Negative. Don’t quote me until I can confirm via available resources, but if I remember reading correctly, each year/assembly plant was/were designated numbers which to assign as VIN numbers. For example, for 1970, Kansas City Leeds got 138570K (000001 - 100000), Van Nuys got 138570L (100001 - 199999), etc. Again, I’m completely guessing on numbers per assembly location, but I’m sure I’ve read where VIN’s were assigned to each plant. I’ll check later today. Pretty sure I can picture this info in “Chevy By The Numbers” if anyone cares to beat me too the punch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 On 1/9/2023 at 9:09 PM, Rob Peters said: Maybe this is a stupid question but I will ask it anyway.. My question is related to VIN numbers. Is a VIN the entire number start to finish or is it only the last 6 numbers. I have to think it is the entire start to finish. If a VIN is 138570B205040 on a car built in Baltimore is it possible there would also be a Flint car with a VIN number of 138570F205040? In other words the same leading numbers up to the F and same Trailing numbers with the only difference being the B and the F? One of the reasons I ask this is I am wondering that if the VIN is only last 6 numbers they it may be possible to try to come up with approximate production dates for people who don't have any paperwork documentation on their cars. I know the exact production date on my current Monte because I have my build sheet and other documentation. If we have enough people who have their VIN and a build sheet we may be able to develop a Database and relate approximate build dates to VIN's What would complicate things is if the last 6 numbers could be the same from different plants. Stupid question, huh? rob Ok, here’s the straight dope per “Chevrolet By the Numbers 1970-75”. I was ‘kinda’ right based on sketchy memory… I haven’t picked this book up in a while. Here’s the gist of the VIN assignments: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 Thanks Glen, that is pretty much what I was thinking. So multiple Monte's from different plants will have the same 6 trailing numbers AND different models (Camero, Impala, Nova) could also have the same 6 trailing numbers. rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Rob there are NO stupid questions!! Nice work guys. I learned something in the last few days, thanks to you guys. In my head i would say the entire number is the vin! Why you ask? Because the engine and tranny only have a partial vin! lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jft69z Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Somewhat related...even nowadays when you call dealerships for parts, they'll typically only ask for the last 8 digits of the VIN. I have seen, though rarely, they'll need the rest of the VIN due to duplications. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montemedic Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Great question and answer with documentation. Thank you for sharing this info. Learning something new everyday and loving it !!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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