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Hi all, I was wondering if there is a way to determine build date for my 70 MC other than the obvious documentation which I don't have with my car. Original engine and trans are also long gone, so not sure what else to check. I mean the VIN has a build number, but that's just the number of the vehicle that rolled out of that particular plant that year isn't it? I'd like to get one of those door decals with the build month/year on it and such and would like the real date if possible. I realize this might not be available without the things I'm missing though. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

Ben

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Hi Ben,

 

As I understand it, the lower left corner of the trim tag will tell you.

 

Mine is 05 B, which translates May - the 5th month, and "B" means the second week of that month. So, if yours is, say, "11 A," it would mean that your car was built during the first week of November.

 

 

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Hi Ben,

 

If your car was built in Oshawa you can write to the plant with your VIN and for a few dollars they will send you a package which will include the exact production date. Otherwise, there is a time build code as part of the "Body and Vehicle Identification Number Serial Plate" better known as trim tag. The time build code can be found on the third row, first set of digits. Should be a number/letter combo such as "03D". In this case it means 4th week of the third month.

 

Good luck

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Thanks for the input guys. Unfortunately mine was not a Canadian built car to get the info that way. It's a Baltimore built car. I did check the trim tag though and have found that it has 04B, so I guess she was built the 2nd week of April. Pretty cool finding out little things like that along the way. Thanks again for the help guys!

 

I'll have to get some updated pics out here sometime soon. It's been awhile since I posted pics.

 

Ben

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ben,

 

There are some instances where the Fisher trim tag production date and the actual date the car was built were off a little. Consider that productions were scheduled well in advance of the actual build date. It would take 3-4 days to build a Monte or Chevelle once it was scheduled, and the Fisher trim tags were stamped in advance -- when the car was scheduled. From what I've seen the trim tags can be off a little.

 

But Baltimore was pretty good about staying on schedule. An example I have is a Baltimore-built SS that was scheduled (per the build sheet) on 2-25-70 and the trim tag says "03A." The 25th was a Wednesday and given 3-4 days to build would make the trim tag correct by showing the first week of March.

 

FYI, the last production number for cars rolling off the assembly line (recorded by the last six digits of the VIN) at Baltimore for March, 1970, was 168120 and for April was 182090. They built Chevelles and Monte Carlos there, so that month (April, 1970) they built a combined total of 13,970 cars. Using that number and assuming an average of 3,500 cars built each week in April, you could look at the last six digits of your VIN and get a rough idea when it was built (if you follow my meaning) by subtracting the last VIN in March (168120) from your VIN. Then you could compare to your trim tag and see if it's close. For Baltimore, I'm betting it's correct. Also note that April 1, 1970 was a Wednesday, and it has not been determined if the build dates on trim tags started on the first "full" week in a month, or rolled over regardless of when the first day of the month fell in the middle of a week or not.

 

Regards,

Z

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