Reproduction Cowl & VIN Tags / Buying from Ins Co. Assuming I can legimately bring the 1972 GS 455 Convt in my other post back to life, is there anyway to get the correct cowl & vin tags made for the car? I realize the magnitude of the liability someone could have and I'm trying to cover all bases. My guess if it was stolen, the first step would be to find the insurance company that paid out on it, or the owner if uninsured and tell them what I found and see what they would accept as a payoff. If either wants the car, its out of my hands and I'm done. Any other suggestions? Thanks again. ________ Buy Vaporgenie
No Cowl Tags Seems they only have cowl tags for "Grand Sports":grin: Seriously, makes me kinda nervous to drop that kind of money expecting attention to details.
I have seen some repro trim tags that were made from steel and not aluminum like the originals. If you put a magnet on them you could tell they were replacements. I don't know if these are made this way but I would want to check this out before ordering one. Duane
I know someone that had a repro tag made and it was an excellent repro, not sure if it was the company linked up above or not, the tag was absolutely like the original (except not bent), even got the correct rivets so I don't think anyone could ever prove it had been replaced. This actually scares me. He also could have changed the color of the car on the trim tag very easily since the company he dealt with didn't require you to send in your old tag, just a pencil tracing. Just another thing we have to watch for....
Years ago, I caught a guy trying to fake a GSX by putting a Repro Trim tag on his car. This was before Wayne Roberts found the microfilm with all the vin numbers for the GSX's. This guy changed the color to "QQ", and added the appropriate interior trim codes and everything. When I started looking at the car the dates on the parts didn't jive with the date on the tag. Other things were wrong also. The bottom line is to be careful before you buy something. If you are not sure about that model then take somebody with you that is. Duane
I looked at a GSX stage 1 fake a couple of months ago that had a correct looking cowl tag but the VIN had a Z in it where an H should be. I informed him of the problem and he was not happy! The car was just a nice 70 GS 455 that someone put a repro cowl tag and a bunch of expensive parts on! The service that Wayne Roberts and the Sloan Museum provides is very valuable and worth every penny! Be careful out there!
If you guys ever get into a situation about whether a car is correct or not and it has a build sheet, I can decode it. For 70-72 flint cars, if it has the sheet from on top of the gas tank, I can tell whether it is a stage 1, 455, 350, if it was a GSX, had body side moldings, power windows/doors, cruise, front or front and rear floor mats, and even the type of steering wheel it came with. I also decode other build sheets, they are all listed on my website www.classiccarinteriors.com There is also a form you can print out that tells you all the info I need to do it. I charge a small fee for this service but if you have questions about what was original it answers almost everything. I am adding new build sheets to my list now. I just finished decoding protect-o-plates, and the buick location cards(IBM Cards). The large build sheets from plants other then flint will be next. These sheets decode almost everything on the car, they will be more work to decode, due to the large amount of information, so I will need to charge more. Thought I would let you know. Duane
I think Duane has an excellent thing going too. I only wish build sheets and other documents were more common on the early cars, but they appear to be few. I want to back up and ask about Wayne Roberts and the microfilm w/VIN #s for the all the GSX cars. Anyone have the story on how he did that? Mark
If you thought the Cowl Tag was expensive, I found someone that would do the VIN tag. Are you ready? $500 :jd: :jd: ________ Blonde video
Honestly though, I'm glad it isn't any less. Just think, if it were only a hundred or so to have a vin tag produced, everyone would be driving around in a "GS" or a "GSX" as long as they had a little money to buy a vin tag! Keep us posted though....
I am not sure but I think he found the microfilm at some flea market. It is the last half of the 70 production year, and therefore had all the GSX info in it. As to the early cars (Sklyark/GS's from 65-67) I will also be working to decode them and need (Hint, Hint) to gather as much info/buildsheets as I can find. Then I can start cross-referencing them. There are no books that tell how to decode any of this. It took years to figure out the 70-72 cars, and I imagine it will take a while for these also. Any and all help is appreciated, the faster I get info, the faster I get it done. Duane
Duane, Flea market - that about figures. There is much to said about being in the right place at the right time. I'm putting some things together for you in the next few days that will I hope will helpful for you. Mark
Duane..... I have the Protecto-Plate for my gold Freemont automatic convertible, but haven't yet searched for the build card. Do you have any use for the protecto-plate info with an accurate discription of the car? Dan
Dan, Yes I can use that. If you can get me the protecto-plate info with an accurate description of the car (and options), the info from the Id plate on the firewall, plus the full vin#, it would help. The ID plate from the firewall will give me the build date. I have very little info from 65-67 cars so any info I can get would be useful. Here is my address. Duane Heckman 120 President Ave. Rutledge, Pa. 19070 Thanks again. Duane
Duane, The car is still at paint in Austin, so I don't have access to the firewall tag. I'll get the info together when it gets home. Dan
Duane, I have the window sticker and protect-o-plate from my 67 Special custom deluxe....not a GS, but it is a radio delete, AC, 340 4bl car.... If you think it would help I'll put together the info and bring it to BG...Glen
