Hello,
I went out to my 50-60's junkyard the other day, and kept this question in mind. I looked at the vin tag on a (really, really GONE!) Imperial. Not sure of the year as it was just a shell (no doors, doghouse, trunklid, etc...). I know it to be an Imperial because I saw it last summer, when it was complete!. Rotted to hell and back (Ohio car) but complete. Had the VIN tag on the inside of the A-pillar. It was NOT painted, and it appears to have been spot welded onto the pillar. This would make sense as the factory would be using spot welders to tack the car together. The tag appeared to be stainless steel, as it was not corroded at all and polished out nicely with just the sleeve of my shirt. Now, I realize this was an Imperial and they got special treatment, but I could not find another Mopar that I could get the door open to look. If the snow stays away, I will try again this weekend, as there is a couple of other Imperials that are close by. This is the yard that !
I sent the pictures about around a year ago, so you guys know how rough these cars are, but they are all original.
Just the pennies again,
Charles.
From: Bill Watson <wwatson@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: 2004/01/29 Thu PM 02:56:53 EST
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] VINNY & the TAGS
Not surprising there was no VIN tag on the prototype. Most prototypes,
especially the ones built for display / evaluation purposes, never saw a
road outside the company's display area or the proving grounds. So no VIN
would be needed.
As for being welded on, look very closely at any VIN tag. There are no
signs of welds.
For the 1960's tags, if you look at a tag that has fallen off, check the
back side of the tag and the now-exposed part of the pillar. Something was
applied to those areas. Also, when you place the tag back on, try and place
it upside down. It won't fit right. As I say, those holes were punched
when the tag was installed
The tags of the early 1950's and prior were rivetted on. I dug out some
tags I have collected over the years from junked vehicles and the one I got
from a 1953 Dodge Mayfair sedan (D43-3) has indentations from rivets. It is
also circular, by the way.
Also, the tags were made of aluminum, not stainless steel.
The only tags I have seen that were painted over were the data tags under
the hood. The VIN tags, Canadian pre-1966 body tags, corporate division
tags and Briggs body number tags were never painted and must have been
placed on the car after painting.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
----- Original Message -----
From: "eastern sierra Adj Services" <esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 11:36 PM
Subject: [FWDLK] VINNY & the TAGS
> There's a 'famous' 57 Dodge Royal (red/white)
> in the factory literature, that features backwards-installed "shield"
> emblems (which was NOT all that unusual; several prototype/advertising
> cars had backwards-shields, INCLUDING Exner's own "Portrait-picture,
> where he's posed, leaning over a 57 Dodge fin) , but that car is shown
> with its driver's door opened,w/a lovely lass, sporting a full-length
> leather coat, seated 1/2-in/on the driver's seat---but I digress---
> ANYWAY, the door hinge-pillar is clearly seen, and there's NO VIN plate
> installed on that proto-car.
>
> I believe that the VIN plates were spot-welded
> to the hinge pillars AFTER the cars were painted.
>
> I don't 'know' about pre-57 cars, but a painted-over VIN plate is a
> dead-giveaway on late-50's cars that a cheapo/non-informed painter was
> @ work.
>
> What's interesting is that the VIN plates were apparently designed for
> (non-reversible?) screws or rivets, but that somebody decided, instead,
> to weld them 'onto' the hinge pillars.
>
> Neil V.
>
>
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