[TA-71]

Has anyone heard of issue with vin numbers not matching from the Van Nuys plant?

what model should this vin decode: 20L102173

['ol Pinion head]

2 = Pontiac
0 = 1970, in this case
L = Van Nuys
102173 are last 6 of the VIN

Fairly early production '70 Bird engine originally installed Van Nuys plant. Most YZ's & WS's I've had out of that plant were cast much later D's & E's for date castings.

[unruhjonny]

I believe that there are some documented vehicles with the vin number one-off, or with a number punch not set properly...

[TA-71]

I think I have one of those mis-stamped vin's

My VIN is 228870L102173

my WS block is stamped 20L102773

[johnta1]

I'd say it's just a mis-stamp?
Probably grabbed a 7 by accident, looked like a '1' ?

[poncho-mike]

I believe the numbers were all stamped in one hit. I've seen many VIN numbers stamped in blocks that were deeper on one side than the other, most likely because the device used to stamp the VIN numbers was not perpendicular to the block surface. I've seen double stampes, almost on top of ech other. I have seen vehicles where the last digit was off by one, most likely because the person responsible for stamping the VIN forgot to increment it for the next stamp.

[johnta1]

It would be interesting to find the engines just before and after this one to see how long it took him to see his mistake?


Probably beginning of day shift after a Holiday.

[Tellyshavilli]

Originally Posted by TA-71

I think I have one of those mis-stamped vin's

My VIN is 228870L102173

my WS block is stamped 20L102773

I’ve seen on more than one occasion on van nuys Firebirds the # 7 stamp used for a #1 , this is common . Someone probably lost one of the number 1 stamps and they substituted a 7 for it.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by johnta1

It would be interesting to find the engines just before and after this one to see how long it took him to see his mistake?


Probably beginning of day shift after a Holiday.

Normally there is an inspection station at the end of the Foreman's production area. Anywhere from a couple to several job stations away.

He shoulda caught it.

If he didn't then several folks were having (or about to have) a very bad day.

K

[Keith Seymore]

This is how it worked on the chassis line:

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Off by a digit is another story.

For those we would have to make a repair. Different division names (ie, Chevy/GMC, or Buick vs Olds vs Pontiac) may have different VIN sequence numbers, requiring different stampers hanging there, so if the operator stamps a Chevy VIN on a GMC, for example, then not only is that particular vehicle wrong but you are out of sequence on every job after that.

The assembly line repair person and/or the "quality man" (the foreman's right hand man) follow the vehicles down the line with an "X" stamp and a 5 lb hammer and correct the VIN sequence number as required. Repairs were "X"d out, never repaired by grinding.

Usually it's not just one vehicle. It normally takes several builds before somebody notices, especially if things have been up to that point running smoothly and you are "in the zone". That means you'll have five or six vehicles that have to be fixed - all without the line stopping - so it's quite a scramble for a few minutes while you figure out what went wrong and what has to happen to make it right, especially at 60 or 70 jobs per hour (= one completed vehicle off the end of the line every minute). You pray nothing else goes to crap while you've got your two best guys otherwise unavailable.

At one time I would have said that we caught all the mistakes, being a federal regulation and all, but I have seen enough mis hits in my time as a hobbyist to believe some (...many...) got out.

K

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by TA-71

I think I have one of those mis-stamped vin's

My VIN is 228870L102173

my WS block is stamped 20L102773

You could send in to PHS for that alternate VIN and see if there even was such a car.
Or how it might have been equipped on the drivetrain.
Could help in future days about documenting your mis-stamp to even the shrewdest sceptics.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by johnta1

It would be interesting to find the engines just before and after this one to see how long it took him to see his mistake?


Probably beginning of day shift after a Holiday.

Warning: Long sidebar -

We’ve talked in various threads about the variation between plants, and the variation within an assembly plant due to different operators.

What I never see talked about is how many different operators might be on the same job, even within the same day.

Some assembly plants shut down for “break times”. The UAW required 6 minutes of break time for each hour worked, distributed into a break in the morning and a break in the afternoon (not counting unpaid ½ hour for lunch). If that operator never takes an additional break (to use the bathroom, or for a medical issue) then you might only have one person on that job per shift. This is probably what you would expect.

However – some plants use a “rolling” break technique called the "tag" system. Said differently: the line doesn’t shut down for break, and there is a staff of “utility men” or replacement workers who go to each job and give that worker a break individually. After that assembler comes back the relief man goes to the next job and gives that assembler a break, until everybody in the area has been covered - all this while the line keeps rolling. If you had a different relief man covering the morning break vs the afternoon break then you are up to three operators per shift; times the number of shifts (two or three); so you could have as many as 9 people touching those parts for a three shift productive operation.

That assumes the person doesn’t need a quick respite, covered by a different utility man, quality man (the foreman’s right hand man) or the foreman himself (in some cases) at some other point during the shift.

I say all this to say: there could be between 1 and 8 or 9 people performing the same job in the same assembly plant within a given 24 hour period.

Each one of those handoffs is an opportunity to drop the baton.

K