I thought the same thing,but the body assembly number will differ than the final assembly sequence as turbofish stated.I had no idea that the body was assembled at a separate facility than trucked to the final assembly point.Does anyone know if the body was painted at the Fisher plant or at the Pontiac Michigan plant during final assembly?
Build moth
- Thread starter TURBOV8R
- Start date
Welcome!
By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.
TR Custom Parts
Mark Hueffman - Owner
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
- Messages
- 12,717
Thought the last one rolled of the assembly line on Dec 11 1987.
Always knew mine was built in Nov 87 but checked the numbers on the tag and it was H11D so 4th week of Nov 87, pretty close to the end!
Always knew mine was built in Nov 87 but checked the numbers on the tag and it was H11D so 4th week of Nov 87, pretty close to the end!
salvageV6
Daily Driver
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
- Messages
- 20,942
Rich, I'd say yours was built in Dec. 1986 right before Christmas. 
Check the tag near the drivers windshield wiper on the cowl, it's painted and held on with two sheet metal screws.
That should list the roof treatment from the factory on it.
As well as the other info. we are talking about here.
Check the tag near the drivers windshield wiper on the cowl, it's painted and held on with two sheet metal screws.
That should list the roof treatment from the factory on it.
As well as the other info. we are talking about here.
54Rich
Member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2007
- Messages
- 672
Rich, I'd say yours was built in Dec. 1986 right before Christmas.
That's what I thought, but the crowl tag is clearly H12C, which looks like a 87 build
The one below the wipers above the firewall that salvage is describing...
salvageV6
Daily Driver
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
- Messages
- 20,942
A few posts up I corrected myself after finding this information in the service manual. 
" Actually on page 0A-2 of the service manual it states the first digit is simply model year of the car.
G for 1986 Regal
H for a 1987
So you simply go by VIN sequencing at that point to determine which october, nov. or dec. for the 87 cars it was built. "
Therefore it explains how the model number for an '87 could easily have an '86 build date, and an '86 car could have an '85 build date.
The three digits after the model year are the date code, which doesn't include the year built, from what I've read, so by VIN sequencing you could easily build a database of when the car was made from those 2 bits of information.
I'd say your car was an '86 built '87 car. :smile:
If it was Dec. 87 built the VIN would be way up there in the 55K range I guess.
Yours should fall in line with others built in that '86 timeframe by VIN.
" Actually on page 0A-2 of the service manual it states the first digit is simply model year of the car.
G for 1986 Regal
H for a 1987
So you simply go by VIN sequencing at that point to determine which october, nov. or dec. for the 87 cars it was built. "
Therefore it explains how the model number for an '87 could easily have an '86 build date, and an '86 car could have an '85 build date.
The three digits after the model year are the date code, which doesn't include the year built, from what I've read, so by VIN sequencing you could easily build a database of when the car was made from those 2 bits of information.
I'd say your car was an '86 built '87 car. :smile:
If it was Dec. 87 built the VIN would be way up there in the 55K range I guess.
Yours should fall in line with others built in that '86 timeframe by VIN.
turbofish38
Le Pétomane
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,160
Hey Paul I saw that too. I've been doing some research on how the TRs are built and I still have no answer on what the rhyme and reason for the 200,000 series Buick VINs are. About all I have discovered is that these 200,000 series have an extra code or two on the SPID label that the 400,00 cars don't.
To answer one of the previous posts the tub was painted and fully assembled at Fisher Body in Flint. All that was needed when it reached Pontiac was to be mounted on the assembly carrier that traveled along on the roof where it was mated to the assembled frame. First the frame was assembled upside down with all of the suspension,brakes and rear axle than flipped and the brakes were bleed along with the front suspension aligned. Than the power train was bolted in where than the assembled tub was dropped and than the front sheet metal was installed. I'm not sure if the front clip was painted in Flint with the tub or painted in Pontiac. Hard to believe that the crappy paint was from two different places.
To answer one of the previous posts the tub was painted and fully assembled at Fisher Body in Flint. All that was needed when it reached Pontiac was to be mounted on the assembly carrier that traveled along on the roof where it was mated to the assembled frame. First the frame was assembled upside down with all of the suspension,brakes and rear axle than flipped and the brakes were bleed along with the front suspension aligned. Than the power train was bolted in where than the assembled tub was dropped and than the front sheet metal was installed. I'm not sure if the front clip was painted in Flint with the tub or painted in Pontiac. Hard to believe that the crappy paint was from two different places.
Eric,
My 2 cars are optioned almost identically, but there is a difference in the number of codes on the SPID.
GN #1 is a 4XXXXX Vin car (built in 86) and the SPID has 13 columns with a total of 86 option codes.
GN #2 is a 2XXXXX Vin car (built in 85) and the SPID has 15 columns with a total of 93 codes. RobS's car also has 15 columns and is a 2XXXXX Vin car.
The only differences in my 2 cars is that #1 is a hardtop (no code for this) while #2 is an astroroof (CF5 code).
#1 is a regular trunk (no code for this) while #2 has the trunk dress up kit (B48 code).
The last difference is #1 came with black letter tires (QYZ code and I still own all 4 of the originals) while # 2 came with Raised White Letter Tires (QYH code).
So there should only be a difference in total number of codes of 2 codes on the SPID between the 2 cars, but there is a difference of 7.
Also I remember hearing back in the day 1987 (I *think*) that the cars were painted in two seperate plants and that is why some parts of the cars seemed to have a bit different look in the paint than other area's of the car.
The history on these cars is pretty interesting when you start looking around and seeing different SPID's. Interesting thread that I hope gets more attention.
So what was the VIN code of the last GN that rolled off the assembly line?
That was a vendor issue that plagued GM as well as a few other manufacturers as well.My 89 2500 pick me up looked as though it was a leper with slices of paint coming off over the years.I believe that GM and Ford was giving the owners a 10 year grace period to pay for the vehicle to be stripped and repainted at outside body shops.But I'm sure some bean counter did a survey and released the info when most of the affected units were 9 and3/4 years old
Just like the circuit board windshield wiper recall,still holding onto my receipt for 6 years to get my cash back when I get the notice in the mail
Just noticed that Rich,my car is also a WE4,build stamp of 3rd week of Feb,'87
(H02D)
But my VIN is 4333xx.Not that far AHEAD of yours numerically,but date wise it's saying yours was built 10 months AFTER mine.Perhaps there was a way by the VIN's they could tell the date of the early(built in the previous model year)units,and you do in fact have an '86 built '87 the same as Rob has??
Also weren't WE4 production ended around the same time as the T-Types? which would put them no later than the summer,probably before the July shutdown.Just keeps getting better!
54Rich
Member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2007
- Messages
- 672
Just noticed that Rich,my car is also a WE4,build stamp of 3rd week of Feb,'87
(H02D)
But my VIN is 4333xx.Not that far AHEAD of yours numerically,but date wise it's saying yours was built 10 months AFTER mine.Perhaps there was a way by the VIN's they could tell the date of the early(built in the previous model year)units,and you do in fact have an '86 built '87 the same as Rob has??
Also weren't WE4 production ended around the same time as the T-Types? which would put them no later than the summer,probably before the July shutdown.Just keeps getting better!
I think it has been determined that H only means 87 model year? Looking at my Vin and body number, I think mine was a December 86 build and may be the first one ever
Really, my car is strange because the RPO does not have any WE4 on it, yet it is a very plane WE4 right from the order form group GK, only I do have power locks:http://www.buickwe4.com/we4carorderguide.pdf
Notice that the dealer order guide is rev 1 date 1/87. So may car was made before the order guide was released. The WE4 was talked about in a dealer bullentin:
http://www.buickwe4.com/we4bulletin.pdf
So my car accourding to the RPO is a black T with chrome, yet if someone changed it over (Cloned a WE4) they did a terrific job. Everything was converted even the roof rails, rear windows, trim, everything.
So I'd like to find other Dec build WE4, to compare the RPO's?
Didn't mean to hijack the thread:smile:
Thanks,
Just like the circuit board windshield wiper recall,still holding onto my receipt for 6 years to get my cash back when I get the notice in the mail
Are you talking about this board? If you are, 5 minutes with a soldering iron and its fixed. <sorry for the hijack>
