What body stamping numbers should I look for?

[rainbow4jd]

I have my bird all sandblasted down to the metal and want to photo document what ever body stamping numbers that are important before I go to paint (as well as the convenience of having it on a rotisserie).

What numbers and their location should I look for?

I see some numbers around the trunk but they have spot welds in the middle of them

Is the VIN number stamped somewhere that I should be looking for?

Thanks for all your help.

PS  Please tell me where to look and what to look for....

[maxwellwedge]

Partial VIN 

Trunk lip, drivers side, under the weatherstripping.

Rad support, drivers side of center, can be on top or on the side.....A lot of Birds weren't stamped here.

[rainbow4jd]

thank you max

[70Sbird]

Partial VIN 

Trunk lip, drivers side, under the weatherstripping.

Rad support, drivers side of center, can be on top or on the side.....A lot of Birds weren't stamped here.

Here is the stamping on my core support, The 0 and A are transposed from the order in the VIN. My trunk rail is also stamped like this under the weatherstrip on the drivers side about 6 inches back from the LF corner of the trunk opening.

[Dirtybird]

That's the way they were supposed to be stamped. Isn't there #'s stamped in the cowl as well?

[Aero426]

No numbers on the cowl for a 69-70 B-body.

[Dirtybird]

No numbers on the cowl for a 69-70 B-body.

Couldn't remember-

[pettybird]

neither bird here has the core support stamp.  i can't think of which ones,but I'm pretty sure only a couple of the NE Ohio cars are stamped, and there are a bunch of them here.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

My core support is not stamped, and most of the local ones I have seen are not stamped.

[rainbow4jd]

Thanks for the great information.

That being said...

Since we've identified that SOME DO and some don't.  I can see the ads on eBay tomorrow....

"1970 Superbird, original radiator support stamped vehicle"  Price was: $100,000 now $1,000,0000  

[Benji]

Since over 80% of all automobile collisions are frontal collisions it is actually a small wonder that ANY 40+ year old car still has the original radiator support.  Back in the day when I was a metal man at two dealerships we replaced lots and lots of them because it takes a straight core support to get the hood and fenders to fit properly, and the fan CANNOT rub the fan shroud!     We NEVER restamped any numbers or replaced any stickers.

Benji

[62 Max]

Thanks for the great information.

I had looked over and under and around and even on the INSIDE of the rad core support and couldn't find a number.   It's nice to know that not all of them had stamping there

That being said...

Since we've identified that SOME DO and some don't.  I can see the ads on eBay tomorrow....

"1970 Superbird, original radiator support stamped vehicle"  Price was: $100,000 now $1,000,0000   

And mine are now devalued because lack of stamping!

[Benji]

Well stamp it yourself. As shown above and below the stamp reads correctly if you are standing inside the engine compartment looking toward the front of the car and the first two digits are reversed from what is on the VIN.  

The core support stamping below (all original) is from a 1969 C500 an XX29L9B car, note the "B9" is reversed from the VIN of 9B.  If you were to do this I suggest supporting the underside of the core support with a steel bar that runs all the way to the concrete floor and a plate under the area to be stamped, otherwise the stamping will distend the thin metal that these radiator supports are made of.

Benji

[Redbird]

My observation and thought of why a huge number of Superbirds don't have a serial stamping on the radiator support is that on Superbirds the latch tray support was spot welded on the car on the assembly line. Once the support was welded on perhaps the fixture that supported the stamping jig could not be clamped on the car to stamp the number. Perhaps some of the cars got the number stamped on and then the support was welded on. I don't believe any other car had a similar metal piece attached to the radiator support except the Daytona, and that was added on after the assembly line.

As for adding a number later (like now), why would anyone consider this? It would raise an immediate question as to someone replacing the front from an accident and even more so FAKE.

If it is a common omission on many of the cars, so be it. That is the way they were built.

[Benji]

If NONE of the superbirds have the stamping then this one shouldn't either.  If some do then most likely all of them did originally.  The most likely reason some don't have the number now is they have been wrecked sometime in the past.  How serious of a wreck?  Serious enough to require a new core support.  So which is worse, selling a car that has obviously been (possibly seriously) wrecked in the past or one that has the correct number (re) stamped, and how does the new prospective buyer know for sure it has been restamped?  He could possibly compare the stampings on several other cars and see if they are the same on this car.  I believe both of the above stampings are supposed to be the original stamp from the factory, but it appears to me that they really don't match all that well in either size or font.  The stamping on the core support I posted I know for a fact is the original stamping as the current owner of that car was a classmate and also good friends of the original owner and it was never wrecked by either of them.  This car has 30,505 original miles and has been in storage since 1983.

Benji

[Alaskan_TA]

There are laws against re-stamping body VIN numbers.

Any car with altered numbers loses value. It also put ths owners reptuation in a very bad light.

[maxwellwedge]

Benji - Are you trying to say most of the Birds were smashed? It is a known fact that many Birds did not get this stamp...everyone is fine with that....the factory did not stamp too many in this area. End of story.

[Arnie Cunningham]

Both mine and al walds do have thestamp.  It is poorly done with a weird font and very hard to see.  Mine was also covered by the coolant sticker.

[GULFGLENY]

My Bird is under the coolant decal and is stamped lightly, and also under the rear trunk seal left side.

[62 Max]

If NONE of the superbirds have the stamping then this one shouldn't either.  If some do then most likely all of them did originally.  The most likely reason some don't have the number now is they have been wrecked sometime in the past.  How serious of a wreck?  Serious enough to require a new core support.  So which is worse, selling a car that has obviously been (possibly seriously) wrecked in the past or one that has the correct number (re) stamped, and how does the new prospective buyer know for sure it has been restamped?  He could possibly compare the stampings on several other cars and see if they are the same on this car.  I believe both of the above stampings are supposed to be the original stamp from the factory, but it appears to me that they really don't match all that well in either size or font.  The stamping on the core support I posted I know for a fact is the original stamping as the current owner of that car was a classmate and also good friends of the original owner and it was never wrecked by either of them.  This car has 30,505 original miles and has been in storage since 1983.

Benji

Both of these have all original sheet metal,the K2 car has 46K miles,the B5 car has 31K,neither one has the core support stamped.

[rainbow4jd]

I TOLD YOU "RAD STAMPING" WOULD BE THE NEXT "BUILD SHEET"!   


Future eBay description...  "original radiator support stamp"

[Benji]

Benji - Are you trying to say most of the Birds were smashed? It is a known fact that many Birds did not get this stamp...everyone is fine with that....the factory did not stamp too many in this area. End of story.

Well I guess if "everyone is fine with that" then when he sells it the new owner should not have any problem that  it doesn't have the stamping, but if you were paying $250,000.00 for a car wouldn't you want absolutely everything to appear to be 100% correct?  I certainly would.

Benji

[62 Max]

So you are saying if it was "never" stamped it is not 100% correct ? Or, if I were to offer either you would not be interested !

And to go one step farther,it is a known fact that a lot of birds never had a build sheet,where do you want to go with that ?

[Alaskan_TA]

If it left the factory without a VIN stamp, then that is 'correct' for that car.


If the numbers are messed with, no educated buyer would want it, certainly not on a 250K car.

[maxwellwedge]

The people who are fine with that actually have a clue and know that many, if not most Birds never received a rad support stamping.

I would pay all that and more for a Hemi 4-speed Bird without the stamping.