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Body tag question


TheBMan

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I saw this body tag on a '70 Monte Carlo with an entry that I'ver never seen and I can't find any definitive information about it. Even our own body tag decoder here on this website doesn't reference it. Anybody have any idea what the "B" represents?

Screen Shot 2023-02-12 at 7.09.29 PM.png

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  • TheBMan changed the title to Body tag question

Every 1970 and 1971 Baltimore built car has a B there. I’m not sure exactly why but it does not indicate anything special. My guess it is just an indication of the manufacturing plant on that line of the tag.

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1 hour ago, Canuck said:

Every 1970 and 1971 Baltimore built car has a B there. I’m not sure exactly why but it does not indicate anything special. My guess it is just an indication of the manufacturing plant on that line of the tag.

I’ve read the same. 

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9 hours ago, Canuck said:

Every 1970 and 1971 Baltimore built car has a B there. I’m not sure exactly why but it does not indicate anything special. My guess it is just an indication of the manufacturing plant on that line of the tag.

Isn't that interesting that they have the "B" in the top line indicating Baltimore and then again in the middle. Wouldn't it be fun to talk to someone who worked on the assembly lines back in the day? My grandmother worked at the Fisher Body/Parts plant in Columbus for 25 years. She retired in 1976. She died about 20 years ago and, regrettably, I never asked her what it was like to work there or if she had any interesting stories or facts.

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I'm still curious.... According to the serial number on the dash (in the windshield) , Montelishi was assembled in the Flint plant. 

But according to the I.D. tag, she was assembled in Baltimore.... 

Both tags are original and neither has been tampered with. 

Any ideas ?926828594_MontelishiI.D_tag.thumb.jpg.6fb831efd4b69df28ef0fa2d50bc0a4e.jpg

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According to that trim tag pictured, it's a Baltimore car or at least the tag is. The windshield vin number should match the trim tag from the B till the end exactly. If not, you have issues. 😳

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3 hours ago, MC1of80 said:

According to that trim tag pictured, it's a Baltimore car or at least the tag is. The windshield vin number should match the trim tag from the B till the end exactly. If not, you have issues. 😳

I agree with what Tom is telling you.  The VIN inside the windshield and and the body trim tag should both match the assembly plant.

rob

 

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16 hours ago, MC1of80 said:

According to that trim tag pictured, it's a Baltimore car or at least the tag is. The windshield vin number should match the trim tag from the B till the end exactly. If not, you have issues. 😳

The plant code should match but the serial numbers from a VIN do not match the body tag.

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18 hours ago, Scott S. said:

I'm still curious.... According to the serial number on the dash (in the windshield) , Montelishi was assembled in the Flint plant. 

But according to the I.D. tag, she was assembled in Baltimore.... 

Both tags are original and neither has been tampered with. 

Any ideas ?926828594_MontelishiI.D_tag.thumb.jpg.6fb831efd4b69df28ef0fa2d50bc0a4e.jpg

If the plants don’t match, that means either the body tag or the VIN tag has been installed from another car. There is a VIN stamped on the firewall but you need to remove the heater core cover or AC box from inside the engine bay to see it I believe. You could also see what the partial VIN says on your engine and trans if they are original to the car. If you still have the blue sticker on the driver’s door it should have a full VIN on it as well as the date built.

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19 hours ago, MC1of80 said:

According to that trim tag pictured, it's a Baltimore car or at least the tag is. The windshield vin number should match the trim tag from the B till the end exactly. If not, you have issues. 😳

The number after the "B" is 794688.... Which, to my understanding, would mean that there were almost 800,000 Montes built in 1970. 

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8 hours ago, Scott S. said:

The number after the "B" is 794688.... Which, to my understanding, would mean that there were almost 800,000 Montes built in 1970. 

@1970mcss is correct. We know that there were 145,000 Monte Carlo's built in 1970 so the starting number definitely wasn't 0. 500,000 doesn't add up either so who knows how did the numbers. They are definitely sequential but I read somewhere that it wasn't based on the plant where the car was built. Cars number 001001 and 001003 could have been built at Flint while car number 001002 could have been built in Baltimore (or wherever). But I can't even prove that. 😆 🤷‍♂️

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By the way the 784 number is on the cowl tag. That is not the vin. Those are internal production numbers and don’t have a lot of relevance to us. The last 6 on the vin tag under the windshield, riveted under the glass is your sequence number. And again the “Letter “ before that number HAS TO MATCH the cowl tag. That number under the glass will also be on your title and your build sheet ( if you have one). If they don’t match something has been messed with at some point. 

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Dennis is right. The only part of the actual VIN that's on a trim tag is 13587, plus 0, 1, or 2 for the year, then the letter for the assembly plant. The exception is that the Oshawa plant used a 1, not a letter. 

The sequence number following those is never on the trim tag, because the trim tag was applied by the Fisher Body plant before it entered the Chevrolet assembly plant.

The US assembly plants each started with 100001 as the sequence number. Each plant had a car with this number. The difference in the VINs were the letter for the assembly plant. For 1970, there could have been a VIN  138570F100001, 138570B100001, and 138570L100001. Since Chevelles were built on the same line, sequence number 100001, or any other number in any plant could have been for a Chevelle, not a Monte. 

Oshawa started with 500001. 

Dan

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