Earliest date of MY1987?

[Kiwi Bloke]

Hi gang,

Does anyone know the first date of manufacture of model year 1987?

My research into the laws and regulations about bringing a left-hand-drive car into New Zealand (and not have to convert it to RHD) show that the "20 year rule" means that there must be at least 20 years between its date of manufacture and the day that it arrives at the New Zealand port of entry.

I'm hoping to come over in September 2006, which means that a car I buy and ship would arrive in NZ in November 2006. Were the 1987s being made by then? If not, then I'll have to delay the visit by a year, as I'd rather have an '87 than an '86.

Regards,

Adrian

 

[lbitp37]

I searched my Cor-Vette book for C4's , 14 pages of info ,& the earliest production date I could find was,June 1986.
The only way to find the actual production date is with the VIN.

 

[Kiwi Bloke]

Thanks! June is very good news. It means that over a third of the 1987 production year is available to me, if the car arrives in NZ in early November.

Cheers!

Adrian

 

[Kiwi Bloke]

One other thing - the NZ import factsheets mention an FMVSS plate, which is something I've not encountered.

What is is?
Would a 1987 have one?
What information does it carry?

(Sorry for my ignorance on this one!)

Adrian

 

[Nitronick]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a legislative mandate under Title 49 of the United States Code, Chapter 301, Motor Vehicle Safety, to issue Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and Regulations to which manufacturers of motor vehicle and equipment items must conform and certify compliance. FMVSS 209 was the first standard to become effective on March 1, 1967. A number of FMVSS became effective for vehicles manufactured on and after January 1, 1968. Subsequently, other FMVSS have been issued. New standards and amendments to existing standards are published in the Federal Register.

This came from here

There should be a sticker that says something like:
This motor vehicle conforms to all of the Federal Motor Vehicle Saftey Standards in effect at the time of manufacture......

 

[Kiwi Bloke]

Thanks for that info. More reading! Well, it wouldn't be fun if it was easy!

Adrian

 

[c4cruiser]

Does the NZ definition of "Date of Manufacture" refer to the month and day the car rolled off the assembly line or does it refer to the year of manufacture as shown by the 10th digit of the VIN (an "H" for 1987)??

I'm not exactly sure this is what you're looking for in the way of an "FMVSS plate", but the driver's door should have a sticker that shows the month/year of build and the following statement:

"This vehicle conforms to all applicable U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety, Bumper, and Theft Prevention standards in effect on the date of manufacture shown above."

Below that paragraph is the vehicle VIN and next to the build date at the top is the vehicle gross weight information. Be aware that some people remove this sticker if they have a car repainted in a different color and also paint the door jambs. This self-adhesive sticker is just a white decal that is computer printed at the plant as the build order is processed and then stuck on the door at some point. Removing the sticker usually causes the ink from the computer printer to be stripped off. The decals cannot be reprinted.

The door sticker on my 87 shows a 5/87 build date and as near as I can tell from the data on the build sheet, the car started down the Bowling Green Assembly Line on May 11.

You might check with the NZ customs or motor vehicle office that you have to deal with to see if what they are looking for. If they aren't sure, please let me know and I can take a pic of mine and e-mail it to you to use as a reference.

 

[Kiwi Bloke]

I have found a picture of the sticker at the bottom of this NZ Land Transport Authority factsheet:

http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/publications/infosheets/infosheet-2-12-usa.html#ma

I guess that the sticker date is the one required.

HOWEVER, the LTSA factsheet says that the 20 years starts from date of first registration anywhere, but the NZ Customs site says date of manufacture. I can see that I need to dig further......

Regards,

Adrian

 

[Nitronick]

Sorry Adrian. I didn't mean for you to actually read all that crap! It was just the first page I came to doing a search.

 

[Mart]

Hey there Kiwi Bloke, I was searching for more info on build sheets because I just found mine and posted the info here.

Follow the link to my thread, and maybe you will have a build sheet hiding.

Good Luck
Mart

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65356&highlight=build+sheet

 

[Kiwi Bloke]

Thanks Mart. Interesting where they stuck the sheet. When I had a Mercedes, all of that info was on the inside back page of the service booklet in the glovebox. Much easier to get to! Maybe they assume that MB drivers like to keep their hands clean and Corvette drivers don't ;-)

Adrian

 

[Mart]

True enough, I have also heard that it can be located in other places as well, so don't get discouraged if it's not there, theck the right hand side framerail I have heard they stick it inside there sometimes as well as the front crossmember.

Bizarre I know.

I did a search for "Build Sheet" and there were others that had found it in those places.

Let us know if you find it.

Good luck
Mart