Hi, I'm new to this forum and just got my first corvette which happens to be a 1973 corvette convertiblew/454. In the process of getting the car registered, it had to go thru a car verification. The DMW was only able to find a VIN number on the driver side window pillar. Is there another location where the VIN is stamped? I'm unable to register the car until the CA Highway Patrol checks it out. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

Welcome fishdos. The pillar is the only full VIN that I'm aware of, but someone else here may be able to elaborate on the subject. You'll have a number stamped on the engine that should correlate to the VIN if it's the original mill but it wont be the VIN you need for registration.

 

Thanks for that info. I'm so new to vettesthat getting all the lingo right will take some time. I wanted to make sure there was no where else that a VIN can be located. So are you saying that the VIN is not stamped on the engine block?

Thanks again for answering,

Steve

 

That's correct, the stamped numbers on the engine will tell you if the engine was built and installed in that particular vehicle, here are the #'s from mine so you can see the relationship. 1978 Vette, built October 1977, VIN 1Z87L8S40_ _ _ _, the digits in the VIN represent specifics about the car, 1=Chevrolet, Z=Corvette, 87= Body style,L=350 c.i. V8 standard engine,8=1978,S=St. Louis,40_ _ _ _=serial number. The engine is stamped V0924CLM 18S40_ _ _ _, this tells me the engine was built Sept. 24.1977 in Flint, 185 h.p, auto trans Corvette, the last six digits of the engine # are the same as the last six VIN digits. There are numerous parts with stamped or casting numbers that will tell you "when, where and what for" about these components.

 

Besides the right front corner of the block, the VIN is stamped on the frame where it kicks up over the left rear wheel. It's on top of the frame in that general area. I've heard that there's other places but you'd need to check some of the Corvette literature out there. NCRS judging manual might have it.

 

Thanks everyone for your valuable info. I will check to see what I have and post some pictures.