Topic: dating your vette
in Forum: C3 General Discussion
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Former Member
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Panama City Beach, FL - USA
Joined: 2/20/2003
Posts: 1
Vette(s): 1974 convertable
1977 coupe
I recently purchased a 77 coupe. In trying to buy parts for it I am faced with the question, "is my vette an "e" or ealy 77 or "L", late 77 vette. I decoded the VIN and found out what I already new, it's a 77 vette. How can I tell if mine is early or late? Help! 

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The trim tag on the driver's side front door piller should have some clues for you. On "The Toy" the build date is a three character alphnumeric code after the word CHEVROLET. The interior trim code and exterior paint code should also be there on that tag.
For your '77 the first month of production was August so the letter 'A' is assigned to that month, 'B' for September, and so on. So if the body build date code is A06 for example, it was put together on the 6th of August, 1976. The final assembly date of the car was probably a day or two after that.
I pulled this directly from the 'Corvette Restoration Guide 1968-1982' written by Richard Prince. There is an excellant picture of a trim tag on page 77. Also Appendix U has the final serial number for each month of production so that should give you a better idea of your coupe's month of birth.
Hope it helps some.
For your '77 the first month of production was August so the letter 'A' is assigned to that month, 'B' for September, and so on. So if the body build date code is A06 for example, it was put together on the 6th of August, 1976. The final assembly date of the car was probably a day or two after that.
I pulled this directly from the 'Corvette Restoration Guide 1968-1982' written by Richard Prince. There is an excellant picture of a trim tag on page 77. Also Appendix U has the final serial number for each month of production so that should give you a better idea of your coupe's month of birth.
Hope it helps some.
Try this "Birthday Calculator". It will give you a pretty good ides of when your vette was produced. All you have to do is plug in the VIN
http://www.ncrswi.bizland.com/wi_ncrs/bdaycalc.htm
http://www.ncrswi.bizland.com/wi_ncrs/bdaycalc.htm
Former Member
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Eastern part of, CT - USA
Joined: 1/29/2002
Posts: 319
Vette(s): White 73 convertible - 350/auto, A/C PS, PB, PW, leather, t/t, two tops
Also had a 69 t-top 20 years ago
when i read the topic title, i thought you had a really bad social life! lol joe 


Frederick, MD - USA
Joined: 2/20/2003
Posts: 548
Vette(s): Frederick County Corvette Club (Maryland)
Tan 64 365 Hp Conv 4 sp
Red 72 4 sp Conv ..running a '68 327
Blue 76 Coupe L 48 4 sp
White 79 Coupe L 82 auto
Silver 98 Conv, 6 sp
35th Anniv '88 vette
The Calander that someone else posted is a pretty good
one...several books also have the info...BUT the easiest
way is to just buy an assemble manual for the car...
You should have one anyhow...cheap, informative and a BIG help!
IT will show the dates of all production changes... ie when
the factory started using a different Radaitor core surport
etc... There is no such thing as an actual date
..only sure thing is that vin Nuumber 12 was early and
the vin numbers of 49,000 were late...
Bob Griffiths
one...several books also have the info...BUT the easiest
way is to just buy an assemble manual for the car...
You should have one anyhow...cheap, informative and a BIG help!
IT will show the dates of all production changes... ie when
the factory started using a different Radaitor core surport
etc... There is no such thing as an actual date
..only sure thing is that vin Nuumber 12 was early and
the vin numbers of 49,000 were late...
Bob Griffiths
Bob
64,72 & 98 Corvette Ragtops
76 & 79 & qa 88 ANC Corvette Coupes
Click on any image for larger view!
Interesting subject. Didn't know 77's were designated with 'E' or 'L' but I know my 76 is. The problem with my 76 is that it must have been manufactured during the transition from 'E' to 'L'. I have found both Early and Late parts.... 

in Forum: C3 General Discussion
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