Mismatched Cowl Vin to motor and gearbox

[hedonastik]

Hey there all,

I'm writing from Australia and I've been trying to find an answer to the following for the last 4 yrs for my 69 z/28.


The Vin plate numbers on the Dash and cowl and firewall all match ( 124379N694413 ), but the matching numbers on the motor and gearbox differ by 60 ( 19N694473 ).
No one seems to be able to tell me how this would be possible coming from the factory as it would seem that 60 units of difference should be within 1 day of production.
Is this a normal occurrence on a production line and can I call the car a matching numbers vehicle?

Any information would very helpful.

Regards.

[bcmiller]

The stamping you have posted all seem to be genuine, but I am going to let Kurt comment.

[69Z28-RS]

I don't understand how it would happen based on what we're told about how the VIN was stamped on the various parts, but the stampings appear to be original and it's only one digit off (7 vs 1 in the next to last position)...??

[cook_dw]

Cant comment on block pic but trans looks legit.  The possible scenario I can think of makes this a legitimate possibility.

[Mike S]

 I can certainly attest to a 1 and 7 being misinterpret. My '67 LOS car is one example.
Not only is the 1 and 7 mixed up at the last digit, but also the L7 vs 7L.
Look at my reply #38 in this thread: http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=10311.msg77958#msg77958
The VIN tag on the door jamb and hidden VIN are 7L153767 and the motor is stamped L7153761 . Also note the picture of the block who's VIN is like mine which was stamped L7 too, so the same person making that mistake likely hit both blocks with the gang stamp set to L7.

Mike

[BULLITT65]

Mike that is an interesting point.
I have a somewhat similar issue with my rear end. It appears that my rear was hand stamped so after each character there is a space before the next. You can tell it is not a gang stamp. I have found 2 other rear ends now with the same appearing stamp, that were stamped on the same shift with the same method of hand stamp as mine.

*Unfortunately according to the "powers that be" they have said mine cannot be verified, because there is not enough examples that have been found to do so.

I think finding even 1 similar anomaly in addition to your own, where you can piece together what occurred, should logically be viewed as being a very real possibility. Also I am not sure how many similar "anomalies" would have to be discovered or come to light, for this to be verified.

IMO I tend to agree with the perspective that the cars were put together with human hands, and mistakes/differing techniques may have resulted in little quirks here and there. You are lucky you found another similar to yours for piece of mind. I cringe at the thought of guys thinking there car is not original because of some of these quirks, and changing them to conform to whats (currently) known.

[bcmiller]

Send me your matching exact date stamp examples Austin along with casting dates of each.  If you want.  If the stampings are NOT on the same DATE and the same YEAR, you are comparing apples to oranges. Same shift means nothing, unless is the exact same 8 hour shift. 

[hedonastik]

Thanks for the info so far,

Unfortunately, all GM records for this year (and others)  was apparently destroyed by fire, so I can never know if it left the factory with this combination, though it seems logical that it did.
 

[68 Ragtop]

GM Australia kept records? Like Canada did?
That w

Thanks for the info so far,

Unfortunately, all GM records for this year (and others)  was apparently destroyed by fire, so I can never know if it left the factory with this combination, though it seems logical that it did.
 

ould be interesting to see.

[bcmiller]

I do not think there will be any GM of Australia records on this car.  Was it sold new in Australia?

[KurtS]

No, it undertook a recent move to down under.

I think it's just a factory misstamp.

[69Z28-RS]

Did I misunderstand from previous discussions that the SAME gangstamp was used to stamp the partial VINs on the firewall, cowl, engine, and transmission??   If so, why would the body numbers be OK, but the wrong digit be in the engine/trans stampings?

OR were two different gang stamps used for these stampings?

[bcmiller]

Body partial VINs were NOT done at the same station as the partial VINs on the engine and transmission.

From John's assembly article...

Body Bank: Receives the body shell from Fisher, assigns VIN and stamps the hidden VINs, separates them by major Chevrolet equipment and option content, and schedules them in "locked" sequence to the Chevrolet Trim Line; specs for each car are "broadcast" to subassembly and feeder lines throughout the plant.

Engine Line: Receives engines and transmissions from six different supplier plants and joins them, stamps VIN derivatives, fully dresses and wires/plumbs the engine, engine and trans oil fill, and sends the completed assembly to the Chassis Line.

[cook_dw]

This has been posted before but for the newbies and the forgetful.   


http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml#overview

[69Z28-RS]

Well....  I claim membership with the "forgetful"...  as if it's the first time!   

Yes, I suppose it's been made clear before that it was 'two different stations', but I don't recall it ever being stated that it was TWO different stamps (used)... although that would be obvious for one that 'thought' much about it..  

Given this, and the two sets of VIn derivatives on the body vs the drivetrain (engine/trans), it makes it just as likely that the engine/trans was installed in the WRONG car?? ie.   Is there another Camaro out there with the same problem (just in reverse)??