[Keith Seymore]

Sorry Rob - didn't see this til just now.

I'll see if I can find a '69 Baltimore build sheet (Pontiac branded) and post it here.

I don't think the Order number you mentioned is the CSN; the format doesn't sound right (plus - the "Order number" might be the actual Dealer Order number).

I stole this from a post I made over at V8Buick. This comment was made in the context of Chevrolet, Buick and Oldsmobile brands going down the same line. Perhaps it will be helpful here:

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

a) The VIN sequence is often different in plants that build multiple brands. For example, when I worked at Flint Assembly, building Chevy and GMC trucks, the VIN sequence started at 100001 and the GMC sequence started at 500001. Since the plant built three times as many Chevy's as it did GMCs the Chevrolet numbers racked up much more quickly.

Said differently, by the end of the year you might be on Chevy serial number 297862 but GMC 512321 (for example). Fewer GMCs were built even though the number "looks" higher.

Addtionally, the VIN sequence between eight cylinder cars and six cylinder cars can often be different.

b) Similarly, some plants build in "CSN" order. The CSN ("Carrier Sequence Number) is the tracking number assigned to a particular body before the VIN is assigned. The CSN number follows the vehicle through the body shop, through paint and up to the Trim area where the VIN is installed. The plant could then continue to process the vehicle through Trim and onto (and off the end of) the Final Line in CSN order. VINs would be grouped roughly together but not necessarily in exact order.

For example, if you tracked the first 10 vehicles off the line at the start of a model year, it might look like this:

Order Number..............CSN................VIN (Serial #)
PDQX01.....................000001...........100006
PDQX02.....................000002...........100010
BZSJ2T......................000003...........50000 1
PDQX03.....................000004............10000 1
PDQX04.....................000005............10000 2
PDQX05.....................000006............10000 3
PDQX06.....................000007............10000 4
BZSJ3T.....................000008............50000 2
PDXX07.....................000009............10000 9
PDQX08.....................000010............10000 8

As you might guess it would be nearly impossible to determine what this order was 20 years (or 40 years) after the fact.


K