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Help! 1979-80 Corvette

dwalc0604

Active member
Joined
Jul 3, 2015
Messages
33
Location
Cheektowaga, NY
Corvette
1980 Mellow Yellow
Does anyone know of any way to trace the history of a 1980 Corvette VIN? I was at a car show last month when a guy came up to me and asked when I had changed the front clip of my 1980 Corvette. Seems somewhere down the line someone had changed the front clip to that of one from 1979. I contacted the previous owner and he said he knew nothing about it. From the information he gave me I was able to get the owner's name prior to him from an appraisal that was done in 2002. I could not find any info on that owner but I did contact the appraisal company. They were less than helpful. When I explained what I was trying to do he answered "I didn't change it and I don't know who did". Quite a quick recall since I never gave him a description of the car or the VIN. I called the NYS DMV but they can only provide previous registration info 10 yrs back. I am curious as to why the clip was changed. Funny thing, I was at a car show last week and a guy said he owned a Corvette just like mine several years ago and had hit a deer with it. He said he sold the car to a collision shop. I asked the name of the shop and he said he believed that the car was still in the town where he lived a couple of hundred mile from where I live. He was not willing to check and let me know.
 
You could find out when it was built,but as far as the history of it you may be out of luck. does the vin #say it's a 79 or an 80???

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 
The VIN says 1980. I tried to locate the build sheet on top of the gas tank but couldn't find anything. Oddly enough the trim tag is not a genuine GM tag and says the car should be black. The car is actually yellow and was yellow in 2002 when it was appraised. The VIN also indicates the vehicle was built in St. Louis where all records were destroyed in a fire.
 
where all records were destroyed in a fire.
This is an old myth- there was no fire. Not that there is any info that would help you with your question but the records are available from an aftermarket supplier.

I think you're on a bit of a wild goose chase. Somebody has messed around with your car including coming up with a bogus trim tag sometime between 1980 and 2002. Even if you found out who and when- you have no recourse.

Enjoy the car as-is.
 
Could be any number of reasons why it was changed.
Damaged in an accident. owner preferred the look of the older ones. The trim tag is a bit of an odd one though. Do you have a photo of it? I'm curious to see this bogus tag.
 
The tag is showing that the car is black when in fact it is yellow right down to every nook and cranny including the engine block being yellow. If the car was originally black someone went to some great lengths to paint every square inch. Also the statement from GM stating something like "General Motors certifies to the dealer....." is not present on the tag. And there is another set of rivets that were painted over.
 
Tag looks fine to me. I wouldn't say it's a bogus tag. More likely to be a thorough paint job. You may still have a copy of the original build sheet on top of the fuel tank which will confirm one way or another. It's a PIA to read without dropping the tank though. (But not impossible)
 
Interesting post.

For whatever reason, you only have half a trim tag. The bottom section of the trim tag has been clipped off. The other set of rivets that are painted over? I'm guessing that those rivets are approximately 1 inch or so to the right and left of the trim tag. If so, they are suppose to be there, as part of the body assembly.

Engine block painted yellow to match the car sounds like someone rebuilt the car for use as a show car at some point in it's past. If someone did a quality repaint at some point, they would have removed all trim & weather stripping, down to a bare body shell. Any evidence of a previous body color would be gone. A complete repaint would not be uncommon if the front clip was replaced. Are the exterior body emblems '79 style or '80 style?

If the VIN tag is an original GM tag, and the number on the VIN tag matches the VIN number on the title, then most likely the car suffered a front end collision at some point and the cheap way to repair it was to use a earlier front clip. If the car was a insurance total, it should have a replacement VIN tag along with a salvage title. I am surprised that your DMV would furnish previous owner information going back 10 years. I thought that DMV's quit furnishing such information sometime back in the '80's.
 
All emblems are from a 1980 vehicle. I wish I had the ability to drop the gas tank and see if the build sheet still exists. Oh well.

I really appreciate the interesting responses and comments. I guess the who and why of the front clip shall forever remain a mystery. Thanks guys.:thumb
 
Tanks stickers on later C3s don 't really have much info beyond what can easily be determined by just looking at the vehicle. The VIN states the year, engine type and serial number of the car. The trim tag states the exterior colour and interior type and colour and furnishes an approximate date as to when the car was assembled. The date on your tag (D22) is November 22.

The remainder of the options can be determined by observation.
 

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