Question: Hello and I have a question on my trim tag

[Adrian]

Hello,
I just joined your forum and it's great to see a Corvette site still active. Seems like many have died over the years.... Anyway, I recently acquired another C3 Corvette and I'm having trouble determining exactly what the trim tag means - most of my c3s have been St Louis cars. Note: I have not found the build sheet yet and the car has had 4 total owners. Anyway here are the numbers:

B 06D 100855
13l 33L 33U 38M E

My GUESS is this:
B 06D = Car was built in Bowling Green (according to the VIN) in the 4th week of Jun 1981.
13l = Silver Leather Interior
33L = Silver Paint Lower
33U = Silver Paint Upper
38M = Blue Stripe ??????
E = ????

My question is the second line of the trim tag. My ASSUMPTION was that mono-tone cars only had ONE paint code. My second ASSUMPTION was that stripes were only applied to two-tone painted cars.

My 1981 is painted silver but not from the factory. Upon close inspection, the car has dark blue paint under the silver.

My ASSUMPTION is that the car was originally painted silver on silver with a blue stripe of some sort, then later repainted dark blue, then painted silver again.

My questions are: does anyone have a trim-code similar to mine? Are my ASSUMPTIONS correct or is my trim plate decoding completely off? If I'm correct, does anyone have a picture of a mono-tone car with a stripe from the factory?

Thank guys, and I appreciate any input in advance!

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I believe the top line has been decoded correctly.

For the second line containing interior and exterior info, the 13I is silver leather. The 33L and 33U mean that the car was first painted silver. 38M means that the lower part of the body was then painted dark blue.

'E' is thought to mean that enamel paint was used. Unique to '81s.

 

[Adrian]

I believe the top line has been decoded correctly.

For the second line containing interior and exterior info, the 13I is silver leather. The 33L and 33U mean that the car was first painted silver. 38M means that the lower part of the body was then painted dark blue.

'E' is thought to mean that enamel paint was used. Unique to '81s.

Thanks for the reply. So, do you mean this car was a two-tone? I thought the U and L meant two-tone if different colors.

 

[John Ulrich]

Welcome to the two-tone "club".

 

[6880 Mike]

...do you mean this car was a two-tone?...

Yes. Silver upper and dark blue lower, code 33/38. That combination would have included a silver and blue stripe between the colors and on the hood.

...I thought the U and L meant two-tone if different colors...

Here's where it gets screwy. All the Bowling Green two toned car were first painted all over (upper and lower) in the base color. I your case, silver, which is why silver is listed for upper and lower. After the base coat of silver had been baked, the second color (38 for you) was painted.