Build moth

[David65]

Thought so, that is used on a lot of trucks it seems. Here is the bottom. Notice the cracked solder joints. There are several that will look like these. Resolder those and it's better than new...

 

[RobS]

So what was the VIN code of the last GN that rolled off the assembly line?

I do not know. If you would like to watch the video. Multimedia
Click on "the last GN comes home"

 

[TURBOV8R]

While were on a witch hunt here for build dates and so on,anyone know of a way to backtrack the history of the car back to the selling dealer or the original buyer?

 

[turbofish38]

So what was the VIN code of the last GN that rolled off the assembly line?

Check out this thread http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/turbo-lounge/238962-first-gn-built.html

The last GN was VIN sequence 465289

If you have chrome bumpers on a black TR than you do not have a legit WE4. What you have is a black Regal with the LC2 and the W02 blackout molding option. I have a ton of VINs and a few build dates. As soon as I remove them from another hard drive I'll post them here.

 

[JST A 6]

Thought the last one rolled of the assembly line on Dec 11 1987.

So what was the VIN code of the last GN that rolled off the assembly line?

According to the GN Facts & Figures Book Vol. 1 there was a letter dated December 15, 1987 from the Pontiac Assembly Plant Manager to Bob Colvin (owner of the last GN) that read:

"The last "G" Car built at C.P.C. Pontiac Assembly was a Buick Grand National V.I.N.# 1G4GJ1179HP465288. This car was produced on December 11, 1987 and was the final car produced at this plant."

Another possibility I'm considering is that maybe the 4th character of the cowl tag code could possibly be the shift that the car was assembled on, since the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th characters are collectively referred to in the books as the "Time build code". The first digit is referred to as "Model Year". Unfortunately the books I have don't offer any further information on interpreting this part of the cowl tag.

 

[SwingOp3]

Super-interesting thread!

 

[JST A 6]

I just checked the cowl tag code on my GN, it's H11B. So either it was produced towards the end of TR production in November '87 if it's going by calendar year, or more than a year before the end of production in November '86 if it's going by model year. The door sticker was painted over by some genius before I owned the car, so I don't know. The VIN is 1G4GJ1173HP418693 which is 46,595 units before the VIN of the last GN produced in my previous post if they were numbered sequentially according to production of all Buick Regals (as opposed to Grand Nationals or Turbo Regals alone). Anybody have any idea what total Regal production was in 1987? I do believe I remember reading that they ceased production on all Regals (including Turbo Ts) with the exception of the Grand National somewhere around August '87. Maybe some other '87 TR owners can check their cowl tag and door sticker and verify this?

 

[salvageV6]

I'd say that yours was a 1987 built in Nov. 1986 with that early a VIN.

The H or first letter in the cowl code is definately the model year if you can trust the service manuals description of it.

Second week in Nov., you have an anniversary this week.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Kirban Comments

Like many of you reading this thread its a learning curve for all of us. The one saving grace is at least all our cars came from one plant. Think about the early A body cars built in over a dozen plants and trying to figure out what the numbers mean and font style s etc and so on. I should have my sample data decals this coming week from Dave I then have to email him my potential order form so I am putting the right questions out there for buyers to email me the correct info for the door jamb data decals

Your VIN can be gotten from the trunk ID or the metal VIN tag by your windshield or actual car titles. Its the date of MFD that can be tricky to find. What can be confusing is some of you may have forgotten that back int he 1980s most new cars came out int he previous fall. Meaning you may have a 1986 Grand National but it may have been mfd in the fall of 1985.

In all my books from Buick I got and I got most of them from buying them back when the cars were fairly new the one that breaks down the Body Number Plate (term GM uses) you may call it the cowl tag which is located up by your drivers side wiper arm is the Body Service Manual. Even using that as a guide it can still be a little confusing as the body service manual for any given year covers Buick Olds Cadillac.

However the code system you need to determine for the MFD built date is on the upper left hand corner. first letter is the year 2nd two digits is the month and last which is a letter is for the week. Few years back I did dismantle a few Turbo regals and for some dumb reason I removed those Body Number Plates so I have a few to compare. Just can't go out to a junk yard and expect to find any today to see a comparison.

Info on this will appear in next weeks inner circle as I got several of these plates.

So in advance you want to nail down your MFD date photo graph postion of your current door jamb data decals and write down major options which would affect gross vehicle weight. Gross vehicle weight is the one thing that we may not nail down exact unless you supply one form your label. Besides in some cases some of you may have added options or removed some weighty parts such as factory wheels or installed aluminum reinforcement braces etc.

Again I don't claim to know it all nor can I figure out all the codes on the body number plate.

stay tuned

denniskirban@yahoo.com

Once we get the door jamb data decals up and running the next project will be the SPI (trunk ID labels). I already ripped a few of them out of junkers.

To read your body number plate you may have to take scotch brite or lite sand paper to hit the raised codes as most are all black. Funny thing is when I was 13-14 years old I ran machines that would stamp those plates out and also a machine that ran them thru to address envelopes same principle but small plates about the same size as the dog tag you get in the service. MY dad had this equipment in our house. Also had one of those cool machines that duplicated exactly famous signatures including Abe Lincoln. He was in the mail order business for insurance companies.

 

[Ricks87gn]

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.

GN #1 was built in Pontiac.mi. Code 4
GN #2 was built in Flint code 2

 

[TType85]

This thread made me go look at mine.

I know the previous owner and they bought this car mid way through 86 and it was a "dealer demo" so it was at the dealer for a while.

G10B (1986, October, 2nd Week) Built October 1985.
The vin sequence is also in the 515XXX range

One odd thing this car had was the firewall was not body color, it was black. Again, knowing the first owner I know it was this way from the factory. It had the factory chalk/crayon marks when we pulled the original engine out.

 

[toofastforyou]

Sure there is. Just look at the cowl tag. There is a build date stamped on it. Here is a tag from a 86 GN. In the upper left corner is the build date. This one reads G02B which translates to
G=1986(H=1987)
02=February
B=Second week

Mmmm…I doubt this is correct… Mine says "G06C" and it's an '87… The sticker on the driver's door says "06/87" and I'm the car's only owner… I bought it brand new in '87…so I'm confused…

Claude.