Date Coded Parts

IH2LOSE · 03-14-03, 08:50 PM

If I have a build date of b2965

I understand that as oct 29th of 1965 so if production started in (edit I actually looked at my ncrs pocket spec guide and it shows september as the start of the 1966 production run not august) aug of 65 for the model year would this car be considered an earley production car??

Next on the alternator and the starter How do I figure out the date coding on these small parts is there a chart or a calender in a book I may allready own? ( I have purchased about every book I could to gain knowledge on the midyears)

Then lastley I understand there was a strike at gm that my car may of been delayed in and how would that effect the normal date coded parts as in latter dates then normal on the car.

AS ALWAYS THANKS
Larry

JohnZ · 03-14-03, 09:43 PM

Larry, do you have the NCRS Technical Manual & Judging Guide for your 1965? It explains the date-coding for all coded parts.

Alternators and starters are coded like 9C13, which would be:

9 = model year (1969, etc.)
C = March (the letter "I" was not used for stamped dates)
13 = 13th day

St. Louis was out on strike from September 25, 1964 to November 6th (6-week strike locally, the GM national strike only went from 9/25 to 10/6).

What component did you find the "B2965" on?

impala · 03-14-03, 10:05 PM

Hello Larry,

If you e-mail me your VIN Number I can try looking through some of the reference books I have.

If you decide against sharing that information I can say (per the reference manuals) that if your car was built in October 1965 the VIN would be no higher than 194676S104384.

Alternators have a build date code of Y-M-DD. For instance 5G22 would have an Alternator build date of 1965, July 22.

Eugene

IH2LOSE · 03-14-03, 10:40 PM

John b2965 is off my trim tag

my car is a 1966

I have temporellory misplaced my 1966 ncrs judging manual. I thought I owned abook with calenders in it on like a back page or something and now i can not find the information.

I have attached an image of my rebuilt trans for the car that has my correct vin in it,And I have alway assumed this is the date code on the trans whitch is p1021 .(Why is this date different from the b295 format) what does P mean 1965?

So what I am trying to figure out is what would be the proper range of the dates I should be looking for when I am at the swap meets ( or ebay) for a correct starter and altornator

eugene my vin is 104328
Thanks Again Guys :s

IH2LOSE · 03-14-03, 10:48 PM

Hey John
Quote
St. Louis was out on strike from September 25, 1964 to November 6th (6-week strike locally, the GM national strike only went from 9/25 to 10/6).

Quote

I actually thought there was a strike in 1965 not 1964 So my car was not on the line during the stike is that correct

impala · 03-14-03, 11:32 PM

Hello Larry,

The following link will take you to the NCRS-WI Chapter's Birthday Calculater which should be accurate to with-in a few days. When I ran your VIN it came up September 2, 1965.

http://www.ncrswi.bizland.com/wi_ncrs/bdaycalc.htm

As far as decoding all the Trim Tag information I'd suggest you try to see a copy of Noland Adams book "The Complete Corvette Restoration & Technical Guide - Vol. 2 1963 Through 1967". As far as I know it's out of print and there's a waiting list on Amazon.com for used copies. Perhaps a local library has a copy. In the book he goes through great detail on explaining how the coding works as well as survey results of what unmolested cars had for dates and codes. I'm not sure if the book Mr. Adams currently has on the market has the same information.

If you can not find the book I'd be willing to send you mine to see for a short period of time. Correct parts are too expensive to make a mistake.

Eugene

IH2LOSE · 03-15-03, 01:20 AM

Eugene

Thank you so much for the offer
(If you can not find the book I'd be willing to send you mine to see for a short period of time.)
I do allready have the first edition of the book.

The calculator what date does it give the day they started building the car? It has to be incorrect because september was the first month they started production of the 1966 model year and if they started at 100001 my vin is too high for the 2nd day of production And from my trim tag of b2965 oct 29th of 1965 the calculator must be wrong Thank you again for the information I am going to have to re read my books again

ChuckG · 03-15-03, 04:44 AM

The transmissions are decoded as follows:

Example: P 8E03A, where P=Muncie, 8=year, E=month, 03=day, and A=suffix (A=wide ratio, B=close ratio, C="rock crusher").

So, I'm unsure exactly what your suffix of P1021 is.

From my info, it seems to be "missing" something.

The starters are dated as follows:

Example: 9 A 23 4, where 9 is the year (69), A=month, 23=day, and 4 is the "line number", the assembly line on which the starter was made. So, this starter would be dated January 23, 1969. It was assembled on "line 4" in the plant.

I'm confused about your trim tag numbers. Reread them and repost them.

Regarding your mention of a "two digit" date code, i.e., XX 65 as opposed to XX 5, two digit casting years indicated casting at the Tonawanda, New York plant, whereas one digit casting years indicate casting at Flint/Saginaw. Chuck

midyear · 03-15-03, 08:10 AM

Larry,

Couple of thoughts, is you car a st louis or an ao smith body?? a date of B29 is sept 29 for an ao smith car, and oct 29 for a St L car. Birthday calculator shows your vin was made Oct 29 65, so it all matches for a st louis car. trans date of P1021 decodes as P=muncie, 1021=built oct 21. and we can assume it was built late in 65 for a 66 as your vin is on the trans. it line up for your car as well. As for an alternator, you will want one dated prior to your build date, so look for one date like 5K20, 5J10 ect (5=65 K20=oct20, J10 sept 10) hope this helps!

IH2LOSE · 03-15-03, 08:45 AM

Thanks to all My car is a st louis car.I will post my trim tag today when I get home from work today.May actually leave work earley going to be a nice day good reason to take it off the lift and take it out for a spin.

I started re reading nolands book last night,What GREAT information is in it

JohnZ · 03-15-03, 12:40 PM

Please post a pic of your trim tag - I've never seen one that had four digits after the letter for the body build date code; I'd expect to see "B29", not "B2965", unless the "65" is below the "B29", not next to it on the same line.

The "P1021" on the trans is normal for a 1966 transmission (P = Muncie, 1021 = October 21st); Muncie didn't start using the number and letter for the second and third digit (year and month) until the 1967 model year. You'll also find the last six digits of your VIN stamped vertically on the rear rib of the main case on the driver's side.

IH2LOSE · 03-15-03, 01:17 PM

Sorry John

It was b295
Not
b2965

I will post a picture when I get home

JL66REDCPE · 03-16-03, 07:46 PM

Larry

The date b295 does not make any sense to me as a body build date that appears on a trim tag. They are a one digit month and one or two digit day. For example my 66 has a trim tag date of D14 which equates to December 14, 1965. I have a St Louis car.

john lolli

IH2LOSE · 03-16-03, 08:23 PM

OK

Here is a picture of my trim plate

Thanks every body

And I am sorry for giving incorrect information When I purchased the car I decoded the trim plate and was reading b2965 from my notes I wrote on file I created for the car
its actually b28 on the tag

JL66REDCPE · 03-17-03, 07:41 AM

Larry -- much better -- B28 = The body build date is October 28, 1965; 66-467 = Corvette Convertible; STD = Black Vinyl seating (standard issue); S1402 = Coupes and Convertibles had their own series of body numbers. This body was mfg in St Louis and was the 1402'nd one built; 984 = Sunfire Yellow Paint