Vin Rivots

[Chevyman6772]

Hi, I would like to know if anyone would know if all 1965 Corvettes had Rosette rivots attaching the Vin plate. Is it possible that an early production car may have smooth rivots ? Is there any place that would have documentation of possible differences during production ? I have been told that all of the 65's should use Rosette's. I am confused because it looks like 63 and 64's were welded, so did they go from that straight to Rosette's ? I would sure appreciate any info on this. I see no signs or evidence that rivot's were changed on a car I am working on and all numbers match. Thank you

 

[JohnZ]

Hi, I would like to know if anyone would know if all 1965 Corvettes had Rosette rivots attaching the Vin plate. Is it possible that an early production car may have smooth rivots ? Is there any place that would have documentation of possible differences during production ? I have been told that all of the 65's should use Rosette's. I am confused because it looks like 63 and 64's were welded, so did they go from that straight to Rosette's ? I would sure appreciate any info on this. I see no signs or evidence that rivot's were changed on a car I am working on and all numbers match. Thank you

The '65 model year started with plain round rivets, and the transition to the "rosette" rivets started about #7800; both types were seen until about #10,000, when the rosette rivet was used exclusively.

 

[Chevyman6772]

Vin info

Thank you for your reply and clearing this up. The last 5 digits of my Vin are 03570 and that would explain it. They sure looked original to me but because someone, many years ago, removed the trim tag and kept it I was not sure. Now if I could find out if trim tags had info that is exclusive to the car they came on I would have all the info I need. I know the trim tag for my car include it is a roadster and the colors inside and out but was there any thing else on it that ties it to a Vin ? If not, could someone get lucky enough to find a matching trim tag that is original ? I have been told that a reproduction will not be acceptable for judging. Thanks again.
Bill

The '65 model year started with plain round rivets, and the transition to the "rosette" rivets started about #7800; both types were seen until about #10,000, when the rosette rivet was used exclusively.

 

[JohnZ]

Thank you for your reply and clearing this up. The last 5 digits of my Vin are 03570 and that would explain it. They sure looked original to me but because someone, many years ago, removed the trim tag and kept it I was not sure. Now if I could find out if trim tags had info that is exclusive to the car they came on I would have all the info I need. I know the trim tag for my car include it is a roadster and the colors inside and out but was there any thing else on it that ties it to a Vin ? If not, could someone get lucky enough to find a matching trim tag that is original ? I have been told that a reproduction will not be acceptable for judging. Thanks again.
Bill

The only thing on a trim tag that's exclusive to only the car to which it was originally affixed is the Body Number, but there's no way to directly correlate a Body Number to a specific VIN, even if you have all of the original paperwork. On 65's there is a rough correlation, but only +/- 100 or 200 body numbers vs. the VIN number. Of course, there were also two distinctly different trim tag stamping formats and Trim codings between St. Louis bodies and A.O. Smith bodies, so you need to know which plant built your body; 50% of the bodies were built at St. Louis, and 50% were built by A.O. Smith and rail-shipped to St. Louis for final assembly.

A missing trim tag will prevent the car from being judged, as the tag is the only thing that describes the car's original as-built configuration; although reproduction trim tags are available, they will be instantly detected at the beginning of judging, regardless of who made them, and that not only disqualifies the car from judging, but brands the car as a "counterfeit" in the judging records.

Unfortunately, the only way to make a car "judgeable" that has a missing trim tag is to find an original tag from a car built at the correct body-build plant that has the same exterior color, interior trim color and coding, with a Body Number that falls within 100-200 units of correlating with the car's VIN, that hasn't been judged before. Not an easy task.