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Color codes

VetteV8

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
82
Location
Netherlands, Drenthe
Corvette
'81 Bright Blue Metallic
Hi all,

I registred yesterday on the main forum, and left some details at the introduction section there.
Just now I also registred my recently aquired car in de '81 registry.

Earlier on I already discovered some discrepancy with the color codes on the doorjamb plate, and I thought this forum must be the place to get this clarified:
The code for the interior reads 291
According to all the information I have, including info on this registry, this code does not exist.
Now then, the interior of the car is as follows:
medium to dark blue carpets and dash and black leather seats.
I always thought that the seats were not original, as they must have been recovered sometime in the recent past, since they are immaculate.
However, if you look at the color numbers, then I wonder, if this still might be an original combination of 2 interior colors, because
192=Black leather
292=Dark blue leather

Could it be, that 291 then means blue carpets with black seats?
I'll upload a picture of the ID plate.
Thanks for any thoughts
Cor

166.jpg
 
Your interior code is 29I not 291. So I think dark blue is correct.
Mine was 13I so that's why I know the difference between the 1 and I. :)

Ow, and now I look again... welcome fellow dutchmen! :D

Greetings Peter
 
Ha Peter. Got the same nickname here as on the Dutch fora.

Anyhow, according to the Black Book, 29I does not exist either, but 29L could be dark blue Leather. Otherwise, hat would the 'I' stand for?
However, when you look at the plate, the figure after the 29 does not look like an L, which one is shown on the same line after the 33#

Anyhow anyone else some thoughts on this?
And while we're at it, why is the #33 listed twice:
33L 33U 38M followed by E. What do these letters and figures mean?

Cor
 
Could also be a small L. Seems to be more correct with the letter then a capital I.

I always thought the 33L and 33U were lower and upper body paint colors. But when I look at your avatar that is wrong are you had a two tone paintjob. So the 33 and 38 were the colorcodes??
But I think Bud can tell you all about it :)

Greetings Peter
 
Well, the upper is silver metallic #33, and the bottom was dark blue metallic #38; now, after sanding, the bottom color is lighter than it was a few weeks ago.........Maybe that the third coding has to do with the blue striping which was [in two tone blue ] stuck on the dividing line between upper and lower, and also on the enginehood profile.

OK, let's wait for the experts.......;)
Cor
 
...according to the Black Book, 29I does not exist...

The 80-82 NCRS Judging Manual makes an attempt to explain the screwy Bowling Green codes for interior colors. 29I is a legitmate code for dark blue leather. The same color can also show up as 292. No one is quite sure why some of the Bowling Green cars used the I.

Seat upholstery would have matched the carpet color, door panels, and dash. Your seats would not have been black.

...And while we're at it, why is the #33 listed twice: 33L 33U 38M followed by E. What do these letters and figures mean?...

33L means the lower portion of your 81 (below the belt line) was painted silver metallic; 33U means the upper portion was also silver. It's possible your car could be two toned, silver on top, dark blue (38) on the bottom. If I recall correctly, for factory two tone cars, the entire car was painted with the upper color (in your case silver); then the lower color was applied (the dark blue). Yo should also find evidence of the tape stripe used to separate the two colors.

All the 81 Bowling Green tags have the E.

B in the upper left corner of your tag is the code for the model year. The 80 models were A, 81s were B, and the 82s got a C.

09E is the time/build date. September (09), fifth week of the month (E). 81 and 82 tags do not give a specific day of the week for the time/build date. All of the earlier cars and all St. Louis 81s have a specific day.

Here ya go:
81twotone.jpg


:)
 
That is super info, Mike!
I have printed all this and added to my car documentation.

The car in your picture is like mine, except for the hood, that does not have the large, dark blue marking, but just the double light- and dark blue striping just the same as between the silver and dark blue on the body.

As far as the body numbers are concerned, I think that you mean that the entiere car was painted silver first, and than the dark blue was subsequently put on the bottom, generating the 38M code.

As you say, there is a double taped line between the upper and the lower, and these lines have been stuck on, as far as I can establish, not painted.

And thanks for the info that all BG cars have the" E" on the ID plate, that clarifies that!
Regarding the Interior color, I am not surprised: the seats are in a too good condition to be original, hence I expect them to have been replaced with another, black, set from another car, even tho' the drivers seat is power adjustable, and works.

The build date codes you gave, tie in with the VIN number, so that's right too.
Thanks for your time to investigate this and letting me know.
I appreciate it :)
Cor
 
I believe that the two-tone Vettes were all Bowling Green Vettes...:confused:ugh:eyerole:D
 
Well... through my involvement with the L81VetteRegistry I have documented 1 two tone from St. Louis. I have been told there were 7 to 10 built prior to starting up in Bowling Green. They tried several different ways to do the paint job, and as Mike outlines, that was the most time efficient proceedure.

The VIN actually indicates the plant production e.g. 1G1AY874B the next digit indicates factory the "S" for St. Louis and a "5" for Bowling green.. the rest of the number is the S/N or production sequence e.g. BS400001 being St. Louis and B51000001 being Bowling Green..

Bud
 
That's cool. I didn't know that. I suspected that by using laquer paints, the production of two-tone Vettes would not be very efficient. And perhaps that explains the low number :confused ????

I have always liked the upper dark blue and the lower silver two-tone vettes. And with the red striping which I have seen in at least one such Vette, it looks great. :D
 
Mine is from BG, sept '81, and the stripe is light+dark blue
See below
Cor
 

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...I believe that the two-tone Vettes were all Bowling Green Vettes...

Nope. In the late spring of 81, St. Louis built two-tones.
scan0020-1.jpg


FWIW: during the second half of the 1980 model year run, eighty 1980 Corvettes were painted two-tone as part of the two-tone paint pilot project. These cars have Es added to the color codes on the trim tags. To my knowledge, GM kept them all. I cannot recall any of the E code cars popping up in public.

:thumb
 
Ok, I can concede that they were "built", but if none were sold, then wouldn't it be, for all practical purposes, essentially as if none were produced? Right? :confused So are there any St. Louis L81's that were sold to the public originally in two tone configuration?
 
Ok, I can concede that they were "built", but if none were sold, then wouldn't it be, for all practical purposes, essentially as if none were produced?

All C3s were built to individual order, either from dealers for showroom stock or by new owners.

...are there any St. Louis L81's that were sold to the public originally in two tone configuration?

Yes, and in acrylic lacquer.

:thumb
 
Well, I finally got my car from the paintshop last week and quickly made some pictures; a little later I will change my Avatar.....
Cor
IMG_2264.jpg
IMG_2271.jpg
 

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