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Build date from a VIN??? HELP!!!!!

Can Can

Can Can

Pusher Man
Joined
Feb 17, 2000
Posts
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Location
Cochrane, Alberta, Canada
I'm experiencing a little, let's say, frustration with GM at this moment. The truck I'm buying has the typical washed out numbers on the door tag. I need to know WHEN in 1989 this particular truck was produced to see whether or not I'm exempt from installing daytime running light on it, as per Alberta regulations.

The local dealer keeps coming up with nothing, and they blame it on the fact that the VIN has been dropped from the mainframe due to the fact that the truck is 17 years old. That was backed up by another GM dealership I've talked to....:mad: :mad: :mad:

SOMEONE out there just has to have access to that kind of info. Please help if yuo can
 
do they need proof or can you just say january?
 
btw most 89's would be produced in 88...
 
dont worry paul..

its a salvage,, made from a number of trucks.. but no worries the different vins all look good.. all 5 of them... and the fresh paint.. thats zinc chromate primer,, you know.. to keep it from rusting in the canadian winter... no,, its never been a taxi.. at least not before I brought it in from el salvador... gauges.. spanish.. no thats an ethnic option.. makes it more valuable
yes it was a salvadorian military troop carrier,, before it was an chilean oil exploration rig.. that means it got excellent fleet service.. I think I should ask for more money.. dont you?

leaks,,, those are just overfills from the excellent service... left to show you the care its had...
noise... oh thats fresh air in the tires,,,and the powerful pep boys thrush turbo mufflers... I wont charge you extra...
think of the good news... its already been exported once

Ill check with my chevy guy tomorrow :-)

cam
 
CanmoreK5 said:
I'm experiencing a little, let's say, frustration with GM at this moment. The truck I'm buying has the typical washed out numbers on the door tag. I need to know WHEN in 1989 this particular truck was produced to see whether or not I'm exempt from installing daytime running light on it, as per Alberta regulations.

The local dealer keeps coming up with nothing, and they blame it on the fact that the VIN has been dropped from the mainframe due to the fact that the truck is 17 years old. That was backed up by another GM dealership I've talked to....:mad: :mad: :mad:

SOMEONE out there just has to have access to that kind of info. Please help if yuo can
Click to expand...


I have not seen where a VIN can pinpiont the actual date of prodution,though perhaps they do--as far as I know they only indicate what plant it was built at....

I know you can de-code the engine #'s and tranny codes to determine when they were produced,but the day the truck was assembled could be any ones guess if the tag is faded on the door,and cant be read..(and engines get swapped all the time,and doors do too--here in new england its a rare truck that has its original doors,and that tag is nearly impossible to remove and put on a new or used door..very few have one around here,or they are unreadable..

Not sure if this will help,but I've seen dates printed into the plastic door panels (on the INSIDE of course!:doah: ) on older models,and many other cars and trucks interior parts in my boneyard picking days..again,those dates determine when the parts were made,and not nessasarily the truck itself..

Your right "somebody" must have this info,other than GM dealers..you can bet if the truck were involved in a crime and the cops needed to know the date it was produced for whatever reason,they would likely come up with the info..:rolleyes: .......Good luck...I know what a PITA the DMV can be..:crazy:
 
I have the original gm production book for paul.. it will list the plant etc.. but I think Paul already figured that out
the plastic parts on the truck do not generally list a date... although tailights many times do... the ones are brand new on the truck.. they wont help
the motor is original (*built) and all the hard parts are original.. so are the body parts... except the dashpad... which is new.. there may be build dates written on some of the parts in chalk.. but thats not good for pauls need.. getting it across the border with the funky canadian laws that require post cutoff date 89s to have certain "canadian" mods we dont use in the US

I think the tranny showed an 11/88 build date (pauls knows)
As we all know dating is not an exact science (without gm telling you what it is) as this was gms last run and they were throwing leftover parts on these trucks from all over

Paul.. I believe has this figured out.. at least I thought so when he called...

Paul.... are you nervous brother.... remember.. if you break down closeby... no worries.. you'll look great in a dress as some mountain mans girlfriend
 
Paul.... are you nervous brother....
Click to expand...

Y'know, the ONE thing I'm not nervous about it the truck itself. All the import/export/Canadian DOT crap is the stuff that's getting me all shaky.:crazy:

Don't worry, though. A guy at a GM dealership in Chandler, Arizona is gonna check his archives for any info he has from when the truck was first bought.
 
0009.jpg

This might help you a lower build number would be closer to September of 1988 remember they start year build prior to year starting.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/bzc/0009.html
 
That dealership in AZ might just have records of that truck's 'in service' date...which might help narrow it down some. They'd have that for the warranty at the time.

Rene
 
Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for.

The guys I talked to at the dealership down there was more than willing to help out, especially when he heard I was from Canmore- apparently, he's visited our lovely little town quite a few times. Anyhow, he's got the VIN and is going to to do some checking for me early tomorrow.

FWIW, I paid for a Carfax report, and everything jives with the info Cam gave me. It also shows that the truck was originally registered in June of 1989, so it's friggin' OBVIOUS that it was built before then. I just hope my mechanic will accept a Carfax report build date as "evidence". We'll soon find out.
 
when is the cutoff? what month in 89?
 
Have you tried calling GM themselves. They just might be able to provide it for you. You can call and get a "restoration" package as well. The US ones don't usally come with details specific to your vehicle though.


http://www.gmcanada.com/english/maintenance/parts/parts_vint.html#top

Says canadian sold or produced vehicles, but might still be worth calling. I think there's a number for US vehicles as well, but US resto pack isn't as detailed, so I hear. It says at the bottom though they can "help" you import a GM vehicle from the US to canada, so that should include services such as providing any documentation to become a legally registered vehicle in canada. I used GM of canada's services when I bought my '97 k2500 in ontario and imported it to Michigan. They charged me $20 for an EPA certification the US requires.

http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/restpak.htm
 
I know that on my '73 frame the exact date the frame was made is stamped on the outside of left frame rail just about where the driver sits. I would estimate that this is about 24-30" back from the front cab mount. I don't know if GM still did this in '89 or not, but maybe.
 
MoonMan said:
I know that on my '73 frame the exact date the frame was made is stamped on the outside of left frame rail just about where the driver sits. I would estimate that this is about 24-30" back from the front cab mount. I don't know if GM still did this in '89 or not, but maybe.
Click to expand...


Like stated before, that's just the individual component not the truck. That frame can sit in a warehouse for weeks/months before assembly.
 
CanmoreK5 said:
ANything NEWER than Dec. 1989 requires daytime running lights once it's imported into Alberta.
Click to expand...

Then you're in the clear Paul, after Sept 1/89 GM was selling the '90 model year, and in order to have '90's ready by Sept they'd have to have been building '90's as early as August. Seeing as it's an '89 there is no way in hell it could have been built later than the summer of '89.

Rene
 
I agree with Rene. ^^^


What about the tag with the codes on it? Are they in the glove box in 89? That may have some sort of date on it.
 
Is any vehicle GM makes made after about August of the same model year? Next model year vehicles are available well before the end of the calendar year, common sense says it's almost impossible an '89 was built in December of that year.

I'm sure there were exceptions, and I'm pretty sure that common sense isn't playing any part in what you are having to go through. :)

Gotta love GM's attitude towards customers though, "no reason that we should keep data that might be beneficial in the future around!"

Does Chev/GMC have a "historical center"? I know Olds' did, and could get info like build date and such, but that was probably just a divisional thing.

Edit: slow connection, already talked about :P
 
I understand that and you are correct. My point was to give him a possible location on the truck that he could go to get a stamped date that did not need to be decoded in someway. I guess my thinking is that something (a date) is better than nothing in this case. With the right wording and the right person at the DMW a frame date may hold up in this instance.
 
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