Chassis question.

[Peer81]

Hello,

I'm into a compleet body off resto here in the Netherlands.
No problem almost every part is available only it costs some extra $$ to get in over sea's but back to the question..

I have my chassis compleetly stripped from every part on it and used the steamcleaner on it (80 degrees celcius water at 300bar with a rotating head. My chassis (81 vette) is in a very good shape with almost no rust. With the steamcleaner most of the dust and old paint came off and the chassis is now nice and clean.
I found some letters under the dust but i don't know what i means. Maybe you guy's know..

Cleaned chassis, almost ready to go to the sandblaster (or how do i call him in english?)

Biggest problem for most c3's, i think this one still looks nice and clean.

Trailingarm entry side also no big problems.

Rear crossmember, where the paint totally came lose.

I think this number is a correction number for the shime's that where on there!? I have alle the shime's and know exactly where they where placed but didn't check if it's the same number. Nearby every bodymount there is a number!

This is the thing i wanted to know.
This number is on the rightside between the first bodymount and the enginemount. I blasted it one's to much but if you look closely you can see in yellow there where two rows with numbers. The second row is to blurry to see but the first row say's "18-01- 8 " I don't know if this is the production date of the chassis? It could be 18-01- '81 of course but i don't know.
Does somebody have a good photo on this combination on there chassis?
I want to know where to look for if there could be more to see, i'll be sandblasted and powdercoated in a couple of weeks..

Greetings from Holland,
Groeten Peter.

 

[JohnZ]

That's the production date stencil for the frame (upside-down in car position) ; something-10-'81. The other stenciled line (that's gone) had the part number. The numbers adjacent to the body mounts are the original body mount shim count markings for each location.

 

[Peer81]

Thanks for the info John!

But are you sure the framenumber shoot be upside down? a something-10-'81 Would be a '82 vette to me, correct? The VIN number show's the it's a Bolwing Green, May corvette. And i can "clearly" see it's a 81 standing there and not an 80...
Do you know what the normal elapsed time is between the date on the chassis and the VIN number on the vette?

I shall also check if i have numbers the bodymount shim's correctly

Groeten Peter.

 

[JohnZ]

81's were built from August '80 to July '81 at St. Louis, and from June '81 to October '81 at Bowling Green, so plenty of cars were built during calendar year 1981; the first Bowling Green '81 was produced on June 1st.

The frame stencils were applied when the frames were stacked for shipping, and they were shipped upside-down; that's why the stencil appears upside-down in car position. The date stenciled on the frame can normally be anywhere from a week to a month prior to the car's production date.

 

[Peer81]

Hello John,

Thanks for the info till so far! These are the things i don't get an answer to on our dutch forum.. But i have a difficult time thinking my 81 is an last month (october) vette.
These are the vin numbers that where manufactured and BG (from the L81 site)

1G1AY8764B5100001 thru 1G1AY8764B5108995 (Bowling Green)

Mine is 1G1AY8764B5105063 (so it's somewhere in the middle..)
That would mean my vette got a lower vin number then the date number on the chassis.. Could this be?
The original vin number on the chassis should be on the left rear frame above the mounting for the trailingarm.. I've looked at that point on the chassis but no sign of a vin number..even not in the neighbourhood. The vin number i got is the one from behind the front window.

Is there some way see what the manufacturing date was from my vette?

Greetings Peter.

 

[JohnZ]

Your car (based on the VIN) was built at Bowling Green on September 1, 1981, give or take a day or two; the trim tag riveted to the front face of the driver's door will also have a body build date code in the upper left corner - it will start with a "B", then two digits for the month ("01" for January thru "12" for December), and the last digit will be a letter for the week of that month ("A" for the first week, etc.).

The paint-stenciled numbers on the side of the frame have no connection at all with your VIN; they were applied at the frame manufacturer, about 1,000 miles from the assembly plant.

You'll find the derivative of your VIN stamped on the top horizontal surface of the driver's side rear frame rail, directly above the upper rear shock attaching bracket; after cleaning that area, you should be able to see it with a small mirror.

 

[Peer81]

John,

Just a stupid question from me..
Yesterday i was at a friend and explained the 'problem' with my chassis date..
But he said in the States they write month - date - year.. Is this also at the chassis?
This could be why i didn't understant you, i write and think in european date - month - year
If this is the case and the chassis is manufactured about between a few days to a few weeks till assembly the propper date on the chassis would be august tenth '81.. (8 -10-'81)

Greetings Peter.

 

[JohnZ]

Yup - correct The U.S. dating convention is normally month-day-year, not day-month-year as it is in Europe.