[Father&Son73T/A]

Has anyone ever experienced this.I am looking at purchashing a 78 W72 4spd ttop Starlight Black TA with 39k mi.Everything looks like a 39k mile patina tower clamps,grey GM plug wires deterioring fuel line insulator the whole car tells me its a survivor,I own a24k mile survivor 79 W72 so I kinda know what I'm looking at.HOWEVER.....the last number on the block is a 7,...the last number on the vin is a 6,ALL OTHER NUMBERS MATCH! ...Is this possible or a switcha roo?

[ponyakr]

The partial VIN, down by the timing cover, is the ONLY way to prove that the engine came in the car, as far as I know.

The last 6 digits will be the same as the last 6 digits of the dash VIN. At least that's what I've always read on all the Pontiac forums.

BUT, there have also been lots of accounts of stuff that was done on the assembly line that was not supposed to be. Mistakes were made. And sometimes the wrong parts were used, just to move the car on down the line.

[starlightblack]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

Has anyone ever experienced this.I am looking at purchashing a 78 W72 4spd ttop Starlight Black TA with 39k mi.Everything looks like a 39k mile patina tower clamps,grey GM plug wires deterioring fuel line insulator the whole car tells me its a survivor,I own a24k mile survivor 79 W72 so I kinda know what I'm looking at.HOWEVER.....the last number on the block is a 7,...the last number on the vin is a 6,ALL OTHER NUMBERS MATCH! ...Is this possible or a switcha roo?

Mis-stamps on the assembly line are common to find - there was a 69 Trans Am featured in a thread on here years ago that had its original 400 (clamps undisturbed, etc.) but it was built at Norwood and the block featured the VIN FROM THE CHEVY CAMARO THAT WAS BUILT IN FRONT OF IT. Assembly line guy forgot to change the gang stamp. Also my friend has a '71 Cuda six pack car (Cudas have the last six digits of the VIN stamped into the body sheetmetal) and the actual VIN on the dash is one number off what's stamped in the original sheetmetal.

Personally, I found a complete 1971 455 H.O. engine out of a Norwood-built F body (formula or TA) and when I sent the stamped VIN (definitely an original stamping) into GM of Canada and PHS they said no F body wearing that VIN was built with a 455HO. It was assigned to a 350 2 bbl Firebird. BUT 4 VIN numbers later was a white Trans Am sold into Canada with a 4-speed, which would have been correct for the WC code stamped on the block. Thread below:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=713043

My guess is you're fine, buy the car.

[Father&Son73T/A]

right got it,last three numbers are 777 on block by timing cover passenger side,the vin on dash is 776,the previous numbers all match,I don't want to put full vin out there...can it be one off or who would stamp it one number off?Why not just fully forge it with a 6?....again,everything on this car looks to be original,not swapped.Just getting feedback,if anyone has experienced this.

[Father&Son73T/A]

Originally Posted by starlightblack

Mis-stamps on the assembly line are quite common to find - there was a 69 Trans Am featured in a thread on here years ago that had its original 400 (clamps undisturbed, etc.) but it was built at Norwood and the block featured the VIN FROM THE CHEVY CAMARO THAT WAS BUILT IN FRONT OF IT. Assembly line guy forgot to change the gang stamp. Also my friend has a '71 Cuda six pack car (Cudas have the last six digits of the VIN stamped into the body sheetmetal) and the actual VIN on the dash is one number off what's stamped in the original sheetmetal. My guess is you're fine, buy the car.

Thank you!

[Grand73Am]

Not exactly the same as your situation, but it reminds me of one of my gold 79 TA's. I found a nice build sheet in the camel tan hobnail rear seat and started reading it. The build sheet indicated "hatch" tops, but my car does not have t-tops. Then I read the VIN on the build sheet and it was one number off the VIN on my car. Other than the t-tops and the number being one off, the build sheet matched my car and interior. So, I figured another gold 79 TA with camel interior and t-tops got my build sheet and I got his. So, just another example of mistakes that did happen.

[Bill Boyle]

Agree, mistakes do happen. While removing all the paint from my 79 TA to bare metal, what came up while removing paint from the right end cap on the rear spoiler was a top coat of gold. My car is GM 29 Nocturne Blue, not GM 50 Gold. Gold was found under the Nocturne Blue and various substrates. It was the last top coat before all the paint was off it. I thought, mistake, or ran out of end caps?

Since I'm the original owner of my L78-W72 WS6 TA. My polyurethane end caps are original to the car. It had to be one they removed from a gold TA to go on my TA and then painted it.

Father&Son73TA--How late in the 79 year was this car built? Mine was completed in May 1979. One of the last T/A 6.6 cars built.

[Father&Son73T/A]

Originally Posted by Bill Boyle

Agree, mistakes do happen. While removing all the paint from my 79 TA to bare metal, what came up while removing paint from the right end cap on the rear spoiler was a top coat of gold. My car is GM 29 Nocturne Blue, not GM 50 Gold. Gold was found under the Nocturne Blue and various substrates. It was the last top coat before all the paint was off it. I thought, mistake, or ran out of end caps?

Since I'm the original owner of my L78-W72 WS6 TA. My polyurethane end caps are original to the car. It had to be one they removed from a gold TA to go on my TA and then painted it.

Father&Son73TA--How late in the 79 year was this car built? Mine was completed in May 1979. One of the last T/A 6.6 cars built.

Bill,that info is in the vin isn't it?been awhile,I remember our 73 was built in Jan,..for the 79,I'll look ...used to know offhand.

[Father&Son73T/A]

cowl tag sorry,11c,third week of Nov,early car.

[Father&Son73T/A]

So nobody is scared off from a 78 W72 4spd with engine id ending in 7 and vin ending in a 6?

[tom s]

Friend of mine bought a 70 T/A RA IV 4 speed car on ebay a few years ago.The car showed a Formula number.Jim at PHS documented the deal.Was a big deal on the internet about it being phony.The car was out here,he bought it cheap because of everyone being afraid of it.Sat in my garage for about 6 month until he moved it.Being restored now.Mistake can happen.Tom

[Held for Ransom]

Happened all the time. I have a '73 Pontiac 400 from a Formula that's stamped with an Olds partial VIN.

[68ragtop]

A friend of mine bought a W72 79 T/A-T/A a couple years back. I looked it over for him & the vin on the block was exactly 100 off. all dates matched otherwise. At the time most agreed it was a goof on the assembly line, or maybe the guy on the line forgot, or lost one of the stamps? hard to say, but 1 digit off would be almost impossible (in my opinion) to happen outside of the factory. The thread on my experience is on this forum somewhere....

[68ragtop]

One of the other things that was mentioned When I was doing the same thing as you, is to contact PHS & see if the vin with the "7" is not only a legit vin, but a W72 4 speed car. If it comes back as a different engine, I would think you could be assured its a mis-stamp.

[Father&Son73T/A]

and that took some time by mail correct from PHS?

[Bill Boyle]

There aren't too many 79 TAs as "young" as mine. Last numbers are 176023. This is late in the build year for W72 engines to end the run of stock piled 400s.

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

and that took some time by mail correct from PHS?

It's been a while since ordering from PHS, but they used to offer a fax back service, I'll bet if you order PHS docs for the car, Jim would help you out with the block digit. He helped me with a build date question I had after getting documents a number of years ago.

[68ragtop]

Now its probably an "email back" service. lol

[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

and that took some time by mail correct from PHS?

They will fax the info you want to you and send the rest in the mail. Here's their order page, where they say you can get it by fax:

http://www.phs-online.com/order.htm

[poncho-mike]

I had a 72 T/A where the VIN stamped into the M22 was one digit off.