Hi together, I`m searching the number that is on the frame rail of my car. From former threads I think the place to look for might be the one pointed out in the picture...BUT...48 years of different layers of chassis protection don`tgive away anything. So, am I looking in the right spot? Place I`ve been looking is: driver side rail, outward side, 1 ft from the back end. Any help appreciated. Jens
Should be in that vicinity. You might need to take a brass brush to the area or a razor blade to remove the undercoating
Thanks Jason, I`ll get going with that brush in that area. Outward side of the rail would be right? Jens
Thanks Duane...picking up where I left after we exchanged about this matter a few years back...let`s see what I`ll find. Jens
The Vin will be on the top behind the center body mount,..in case you wish to find it as well, it will be very faint
Doesn`t sound too easily reachable...read about some numbers you would have to check out with a mirror, sounds like it could be one of these if I`m not mistaking... Thanks for the hint, I`ll check it out Jens
You'll never see it with a mirror, body has to be removed and area cleaned/sanded/scraped really well
Hey Hugger, so I`wont be checking this out until a frame-off comes around... Ok, here we go with the numbers...
Did you find these numbers where you were everyone said you would or did you have to go somewhere else to find them ?
Yep, thanks to the info from you guys I found them instantly. GS 350, right as it was sold in Switzerland in 1971, I also found the SB steering shaft before that. As I`ve mentioned over the years ( check out this thead http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1971-buick-trim-tag.290248/ ) the car has officially a different swiss "Typennummer", ending with -20 (meaning BBB) instead of -18 (meaning SBB). So I thought I could dig a little deeper, seeing if it was mistakingly marked as the big dog or if there where hints that it had been planned as a BB car, but sold as a SB (for whatever reason, import car, oil crisis...) Over at the Olds place I`ve read a thread of someone decoding his 1971`442 that had a 3992388-frame... So not everybody at GM was concerned about frame twists trough torquey BBs. Jens
I agree with the mirror trick for VIN on top of frame not working. My GSX has a perfect frame and that did not work. When I got the body off the frame I found the VIN in two places on top of the frame on drivers side.
My 71 Olds assembly manual confirms a 71 442 used the same frame you have. Also used on a Cutlass with 350. It specifies 112” Wheelbase. Three of the frames are the same between Olds and Buick. All the Convertible frames are the same regardless of Engine. Wagons appear same between companies too. That Buick 71 455 Frame 1237139 may be Buick specific. I have no Chevy or Pontiac reference however. They all have two letter codes as well. Your 350 should have CR stamped there as well
