[sammons]

Chuck, try "Stovebolt Vin decoder" site at the very bottom of the main forum page.  I just tried it, should give you a count of #'s. On my '35 std, it used some of the info that was on the body tag (plant/sequin.#) under body#. I think your series # should be FC

[cocobolo]

I really got lucky with the condition of this coupe...it should make the build go a lot quicker.  There are only a couple pieces of wood in the doors that I may replace but everything looks pretty good.  Maybe I'll take some pics of some of the wood.  So If I understand correctly the only place for the VIN is right by the battery box....looks like it may have been mounted on an angle....it is gone.  I do have the tag on the firewall but the VIN is not on that correct?  Is their a source for decoding the VIN that would give me the number of characters in it.  I was off today and made some progress on the coupe.  Give me a second and I'll be back to upload a pic.

Chuck

Chuck, tomorrow when we have some light here, I will take a pic of the Chevrolet chassis tag and the Body by Fisher tag on the firewall.  My '35 is an EC series and I think that sammons is correct in saying your '36 will be an FC series.  Yours should be in about the same locations I believe. 

That is correct, your actual VIN is NOT on the firewall tag, that is your body number, paint code etc. only.

[Chucks36]

I have the tag on the firewall...........Just dont know what to do about the missing VIN.  I was hoping it was on the frame somewhere when I bought it.   Unfortunately the previous owner didn't have any paperwork..... having gone back to the early 70's

[TFoch]

Chuck,
Check what your local laws are.  I'm missing the one on my 33 Chevy and when it's ready I'll bring it to the DMV up here in New Hampshire and they will issue me a new one.  I'm told to bring all my receipts and even pictures of my build.  In NH I can register it as a street rod which would allow me to run without a hood or fenders if I wanted to.
Tom

[Chucks36]

Yeah,  that was my next step.  I'll check out the CT-DMV site first.

[themoose]

Here's some info I posted on HAMB awhile back. As it states when I registered my car in Connecticut they used the Fisher body tag for registration because it was riveted on and less likely to be tampered with. That was 40 years ago so their views might have changed. In any case here is some good information on the subject of early Chevy ID's

Moose


The GM car number was nailed to the passenger side floor or seat frame not screwed.
 The Fisher body build plate was attached to the cowl and showed the body build sequence and other information as described below. Some states will agree to use the body sequence number on the cowl plate , others want to use the GM car number on the floor/seat frame and some will use the engine serial number. I have my 32 Chevy registered in Connecticut with the body build sequence number from the cowl tag. You might want to contact your Local DMV to see what the requirements are in your state. Below is a more detailed description of the various changes relative to the year of build.
 
 Early Chevrolet cars & trucks used Car Number Plates to identify  where the vehicle was made, which month it was made, show the series and  the number  of the vehicle as it came off the assembly line.  Most early   wood-bodied models had this plate nailed into the seat frame or the   floor on the passenger side.  For this reason, they are often missing.  The  plates changed each year until 1934.  Model names "Superior  K,"  "Superior V,"  "Capitol," "National," "International," "Universal,"   "Independence," "Confederate" and "Eagle" were used prior to 1934.  From   mid-1933 thru 1936 "Master" & "Standard" were used.  Starting in   1937, the plates had "Master" & "Deluxe Master".  From 1933-1938   most trucks used the Master Car Number plate. 
 The Car Number or Model  Identification Plate shows the factory of  manufacture, series  designation (i.e.: BA = 1932 passenger cars), the  month of manufacture  (1932 and later models) and the car number.  Using  this example number, I will break down the code:  6BA 03 14173.
 In this example  the first number or numbers indicates the factory where the vehicle was manufactured.  Referring to the table below, the number "6" indicates that the factory where this vehicle was manufactured was Oakland, California.
 The letters "BA" indicate that this was a 1932 series passenger  vehicle and the model was called "Confederate".  The second table lists  the 1925 to 1939 series and model designations that were used on all  passenger cars and most trucks:
 Plants of Manufacture
 

• Flint, Michigan
• Tarrytown, New York
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Oakland, California
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Norwood, Ohio
• Buffalo, New York
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Van Nuys, California
• Janesville, Wisconsin

             

YEAR	SERIES	MODEL
1925	V	Superior
1926	K	Superior
1927	AA	Capitol
1928	AB	National
1929	AC	International
1930	AD	Universal
1931	AE	Independence
1932	BA	Confederate
1933	CA	Eagle
1933-36	Car                 &                 Truck	Master
1933-36	Std                 Car	Standard
1937-39	Car                 &                 Truck	Master
1937-39	Deluxe                 Car	Deluxe Master

The numbers "03" indicates the month that the vehicle was manufactured - March of 1932.  If the number was "11", that would indicate that the vehicle was manufactured in November of 1931. This part of the serial number was not used until the 1932 production (model year), therefore, 1931 and earlier models will not have these two numbers.
 The number "14173" (model series unit number)  indicates that this is the 13,173rd vehicle to come off the Oakland  assembly line in 1932.   (Note that the numbering started at 1,001).
 In 1932, there were two different Car Number Plates used.  All 1932 models had a 2-digit month of manufacture added to the number. Early production vehicles used "Car Number" on the plate, just like the 1931 models. Later production models used a new plate that had a longer field for the number.  In order to make room for the longer number, the  words "Car Number" were shortened to "Car No".  From 1932 and later "Car  No." was used.
 
 Example Plates
 
 
 The Fisher body tag that is mounted on the cowl
 Contains the Job Number, Body Number, Trim Number and Paint Number.)
 Note:  GM of Canada included the car serial number on this tag.         US Cars did not.
 

[cocobolo]

Chuck: since you have the firewall tag, there's no sense in reproducing mine here. 

But here is a pic of the Chevrolet chassis VIN tag.  As moose's post points out, it is nailed into the wood member immediately to the right of the battery box - as you can see.  No wonder so few cars managed to keep this in place.

[cocobolo]

Regarding whether or not you have a VIN tag and the registration process, you have already been referred to your DMV people.

Our Specialty Vehicle Association here in B.C. has been working with government for 30 years to try and sort out all sorts of these little problems.  We also keep in touch with other organizations in Canada and the U.S. and it is becoming more and more common to find various provisions for the specialty cars, antiques etc.

I think that more than half of the states now have a variety of provisions for our cars.  Things like special licence plates, reduced insurance for the old cars with some restrictions, a simplified form of registration where none exists and so on.

Here in B.C. - and this is not the same for all Canadian provinces - a vehicle with no registration, whether it be lost, never registered, brought in from another jurisdiction and so on, can be registered once it has passed the safety inspection.  Should the vehicle have no serial number, or VIN tag, one is assigned for you here.

Since it appears likely that your car was driven on the street, if you know what state it was last driven in you might be able to get them to do a search for whatever number you have.  That is the starting point for registration here.  If you have success with that, you can probably use that old registration to get you started.

And something else that will help is the bill of sale for the vehicle.

[Chucks36]

Looks I'll be taking on a trailer to the DMV at some point.......one of my favorite places

[cocobolo]

Yeah...I bet.  Mine too!   

[62131]

Chuck
Looks like  you have found a great car there, it looks to be in great shape. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Chucks36]

Just a couple pics of updates.....stripping it all down, one rusted bolt at a time.

[trbomax]

  From the looks of that clutch she's been sittin' a while! Is that the motor your going to use ?

[TFoch]

  From the looks of that clutch she's been sittin' a while! Is that the motor your going to use ?

Yeah that is a real mess!

[62131]

You say that's forty plus years of rust you have there, will the engine turn over?