I’m off to buy a ‘65 Chevy C-10 tomorrow.
As I was perusing the internet getting ideas about all the stuff I want to (but will probably never get around to) do to this ol’ gem, one issue keept appearing from other posters on other forums: “Where is the VIN located?”
I never even thought that would be a question. …but I have yet to find a satisfactory answer. If it’s someplace other than the dash or door jamb, can someone please let me know?
Before we do the title transfer tomorrow, I want to be able to check the VIN., so this would be nice to know.
Short answer: it doesn’t have one. At least not a standardized VIN number like we have today. There will be a body number that belongs to the cab and a serial number on the engine and maybe another one on the transmission. Every time I try to change the insurance over to one of my old heaps with Progressive, they send me a letter saying it has an invalid VIN and I have to call them up and explain this.
In the 60’s, GM did have a number system somewhat similar to the modern system where all the numbers and letters mean certain things like what division, model, sub-model, engines, options, etc. If you are buying a collectors vehicle with rare options, you want the serial number to reflect those options (“numbers matching” as they say). If you’re just buying a fun old pickup truck, you probably don’t need to worry about it. And if you’re thinking of a Carfax on this, I don’t think it’ll work-- not that it’ll be all that usefull on a 40+ year old truck even if it did.
Thanks for that bit of clarification. No, it’s certainly not a collector’s edition (the original engine and trany are long gone). Nor do I want a Carfax. It’s just gonna be a neat second vehicle I can tinker with and drive around once or twice a week.
Mainly, I just want some substance in tying the serial numbers on the title to the actual truck itself (something to back up proof of ownership outside of the fact that I’m the one in the driver seat).
The numbers on the title look like this: c1545s103038 so I’m assuming there’s a matching “serial number” somewhere on the truck, correct? I just want to be sure it’s someplace I’m familiar with -like on the door post perhaps-
Like Greasy Jack mentioned, a number for the body, etc., most separate to the other. Most vintage vehicles (pickups anyway) have a plate attached to the firewall (drivers side) under the hood.
You could try to get GM to trace their archives and MAYBE come up with something, who knows?
Give them a try via the GM website 'Contact Us" link with some numbers and what you took them from. It won’t cost anything.
Someone who may know the answer may be on the following website. It has a section on your vehicle.
http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb
Go to the site, register (free of course), scroll down to the Truck/Van/SUV section, click on your year of truck and ask a moderator by the name of Valentine (Blue lettering) what you want to know.
OR, you can just scroll through five pages of posts and possibly find what you need.
There’s a lot of info there. I skipped through a few pages and came across a poster trying to figure out if his truck was a '65 or a '66 he was going restore.
The answering poster mentioned a serial number but not the location…
Sweetness! Muchos gracias. that website has been bookmarked.
Plus, I found this in that thread you were referring to:
“The VIN number is in the top of the drivers doorway, in the middle, above the door. It is also stamped in the frame rail (a shortened version of the VIN), in front of the driver side engine mount.”
So I can check those places too!
Thanks for your help guys.