In Aug. 2006, I obtained a 49 Styleline Deluxe Convertible that had been stored in a Penna. Barn for 30 years and am trying to restore it to factory original. The car was rebuilt(very very poorly) in the late 70's in Texas or Calif and went to Pa. in the early 80's. Penna re-issued the title with their own state VIN number and apparently stripped away the original factory VIN #. I can not seem to get Pa. to give me the original VIN number as they keep quoting me the privacy of information act. I want to get the original vin number and a tag to affix to the door frame as the factory did it. I have the original cowl tag with body no.(L-18058)and paint No.(388) and trim no.(161) and style no.(49-1067X). and the engine is original with a no. GAA495404.
Can anyone out there tell me how to go about finding the factory original VIN no. as I want to get the car in original "Show shape" for future VCCA Regional and Grand National Anniversary Meets. I also have a 49 Fleetline 2 dr. that is doing well- Thanks in advance for any responses to my dilemma !!!

MR.49man,

Many states (Texas, for one) used the engine number as the VIN, probably because it was more "permanent" than the tag on the door post. The drawback was that changing out the block meant that you had to get the VIN on the title changed.

I am the second owner of a 50 Styleline Deluxe 4 door sedan and have the title and license renewals from 1953 on, and they all show the engine number as the VIN.

For judging your car should have the tag on the door post, but no judge has any way of knowing if it is totally correct. Thus, a tag from a parts car will do as long as the assembly plant, model year designation, model designation and calendar month of production are feasible for your car.

Jim

Hi Paul,
I have seen this question asked before.There has never been a way to find the original serial number other than on a title , bill of sale or the tag itself.About the best you could do is make one up.Would need to guess at the assembly plant,month assembled and the sequence number....There are ways to come close with the date, the other things would be strictly a guess.

Agree with Gene. You could approximate a serial number using the date codes from the engine block (behind the starter) and the date codes from the manifold, bell housing, transmission, generator and starter..That would take care of the month letter. Assembly plants had the first number (6 is Oakland), the model (GK)is next, the date letter (D for April) is next and then the production number sequence at that assembly plant..Since your car is titled with a state number, the judges wouldn't know the difference. At the Chevy Manuals site, there's a '48 tech service bulletin that tells the plant numbers and more for '48. '47 would likely be the same...

Also the window glass is date stamped with the LOF letters.

If thats the original engine the car would have been assembled about May of 1949.Then it should still have the hood latch inside the car.Should have the bellows type weather strip from the front door hinge pillar to the foor rather than the early conventional weather strip.

In Texas, the standard procedure was to re-number the replacement engine to match the original, up until the early 70's when this was made illegal. When I was going through this, I asked the state rep. how they would know if the re-numbering was done prior to or after the cut-off date and the only response I could get was, "you're not supposed to do that."

I went to the Chevy manuals site and noticed the ID tag for the "48" should be on the floor although mine is on the pillar??Could this be a late production change or could it have been move for some reason by a previous owner?chef

The 1940-42 was on the floor.Its was moved to the right pillar in 1946...remained there thru 1948.Went to the left pillar in 1949.

HEY Gene and All who responded to my question !! Happy New Year to you-- Gene, great to see and learn from you again at Grand Junction. Great discussion on 6 cylinder engines out in front of the Doubletree. Don't know if you remember or not, but when I first got my first 49 Fleetline, I asked a question about how to set timing with todays octane rating and you gave me a great response about setting the octane selector to 7 or 8 deg. advanced. I Did so and the 216 has run like a swiss watch ever since and I thank you for that advice. Now, re: the VIN Number for the 49 Convertible-- I gather I will have to make one up and here is what I think I'll do !
1. The Fisher Body # is L--- which means that the body was assembled by Fisher Plant in Los Angeles, SOOO-- Oakland is not too awful far away and I believe they made most all of the Convertibles in 49, The front and rear bumpers are 1 piece which is also a Calif. tradition, and the car came with a double diaphragm fuel pump and windshield washer which, I believe was a Calif. Law at that time. So, I will use 6 if y'all think that is right for the plant.(6 is Oakland). Now, as far as the month goes, I think I will use J for October because the convertible came equipped with a Rochester B Carb. that was just beginning to be tested by Chev. around Oct. of 49(This info comes from my 49 monthly service manual (in Oct.).So, give me your thought on this: 6 GK J 29094 for a VIN Number???? Thank you, Paul

Paul,
The L in the body number is for Lansing.That was the only Fisher Body plant making convertible bodies.There was no plant in LA in 1949.The bodies were shipped all over the country.
I always thought the the one piece bumpers were "California Law" also but most say that was not true.Thats just the way that they were stamped for west coast and some Canadian cars - yws,they had the too.If the car has an inside hood latch it would have been assembled in July or before-where is yours?..Oakland was the only Ca. assembly plant at that time.
I have never seen a 1949 with a Rochester carb.The parts book and no other literature refers to its use on a 1949 except that service news.And that says on Tonawanda cars - the engine number would then begin with a M.They M engines never made it as far west as Ca.The 1949 version of the Carter W-1 was the best model of the carb.Is the a number tag on the Rochester?..I would bet that its a 1952 or up later replacement.After 1949 the Rochester was sold as the replacement for 1949 and earlier cars.
I would need more info. for the date but would still bet on May.This it where the engine number sequence would have placed it.
I never heard of windshield washers being required in any state but positive action (booster pump) wipers were required in some.Washers were just a dealer installed accessory.
The 1949 chevrolet that Floyd Clymer purchased in Ca. for his road test did not have a booster pump....see complete book that Keith Hardy has in his manual site....read the story.Its very intresting.

Hi, Paul, and Happy New Year to you and Judy!

My only thought / warning would be to "do the math" on your proposed 29094 number. I suppose you have already thought of all this, but - each plant started at # 1001, for each model. Is there any way to know the total production of Styleline Deluxes for Oakland in 1949? Then prorate to your desired build date of October, which is very nearly at the end of the sequence; and then add 1001 for your new VIN.

I have heard "rumors" that the VIN is also stamped into the inside of the frame rail in the hump, up over the rear axle on the driver side in this time era, but I do not know that first-hand. I have never seen one, but also haven't looked.

Since I bought my '53 convertible just a few weeks ago, I have started paying attention to VINs and numbers on them. I have noticed that on every convertible I see the numbers for, it has an "L" for the body plant. My car was assembled in Terrytown NY, yet it has a Los Angeles built body. I thought that was pretty strange.

I have seen numbers from 4 other '49 to '54 convertibles so far, all eastern built cars - and every one has an "L" body code. They must have built ALL convertible bodies in LA in that time period? I have wondered about this. If true, this means you could pick any assembly plant you want for your new VIN (?). On the other hand, my car has the 3 piece bumpers, which makes sense for an eastern built car, versus your one piece.

I believe there is no other location / number / clue on the car, that indicates the assembly plant (?).

There are companies that make the tags new, if you don't know of them drop me an email and I will find that info again and send you.

Don W.

I did not see Gene's posting until after I made mine (I was busy typing!). So the L was Lansing, and that makes more sense.

Note the the engine numbers for 1949 ranged from 1001 thru 1031807.Half way thru production the engine number would have been in the in the 515,000 range.The 1949s were produced from Dec. 1948 thru Nov 1949 approxamently.Your 495004 would have been in April.Allowing time for the engine to get to CA would make May very possible.
Did you check the window glass codes in the corner of each window?...you should finf 4-49 on most the the glass.
I have never heard of the serial number being stamped on the frame (on US cars) till 1955.

I've been following the discussion regarding vin numbers with interest. I have a title for a 1952 Chevrolet Convertible with a vin number of 14KKE37005. There is a second number below that, P9531353. The second number may be a departmental ID or whatever, doesn't ring any bells. I don't know how to go about decoding the number and haven't figured out how to access the factory code info that's referred to in this chat. Can someone help or direct me to a site that contains the info?
Thanks, Gene

The serial number breaks down to
14=assembled in Baltimore,Md
KK=1952 DeLuxw
E=assembled in May
27007=plant assembly sequence number

I can not connect the other number to anything "Chevrolet".May be a number used by the state.

What are the numbers/letters on the Fisher Body plate on the firewall?

The information you are looking for is right here on the Chat site.

HOW TO READ NUMBERS

Thanks for the info, I couldn't find the data catagory!
The firewall plate was pretty damaged, someone atempted to remove it with a pair of pliers it looks like. What I can read is: Style No 52-1069TX
Body No (partially missing - could be 12???)
Trim No 224
Paint No 481
Top Tan

My only question is on the body number - If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate it. I just ordered a replacement firewall plate and may have picked a number that would not be compatible with the title number.
Gene

Just to follow-up on the body number, it may have been in the 69?? series. Does that make any more sense?

The style number for a convertible would be 52-1067...and the TX?
Body number would begin with L-and for a May car 12xxx would be a very possible number(fill in the X's as you wish)
Trim 224=Tan and brown leather (convertibles were all leather for seat in 1952-matching leatherette side panels.
Paint #481 is Cherry-a red color.The red cars were not available with a tan and brown interior.They came with a black and gray interior only which would have been trim number 229.The tan and brown interior was available with either a Sahara Biege exterior or a Saddle brown exterior Chevrolet did not offer a choice.
The Sahara car came with a black top and the Saddle came with a tan top.The Cherry car came with a black top.
Seeing the plate shows the top as tan I would bet the car was brown.A rather common convertible color in 1952.
The top of the dash would have been the Saddle brown on a biege or brown car.(a medium dark metallic brown) and the lower part of the dash Sahara biege ,a light tan color.
In 1952 a style 1069 would have been a DeLuxe 4 door...and the TX?????
Hope this helps to add confusion :)

I sure could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had been more familiar with VCCA before I started on this project! The car I started with was absent all the tags that would have directed me. Even the door jam tag was gone due to a spotlight having been installed and the conduit run directly through the center of where it should have been. The car had been through a number of owners and appeared that various restorations started but never went very far. I ended up with pieces of several cowl tags that I had tried to piece together. You're right, it is "52-1067TX", not "69". Only one of the cowl tags noted a top color, the other blank. I'm sure I've deviated somewhat from not having all the info I needed.
Thanks again,