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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Register 914 without factory vin
Posted by: green914 Jun 12 2013, 11:15 AM
The only factory info on the car is the body number and paint code, it was reissued a vin number by CHP/DMV; is there a way to ad this car to our data/registry?
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 12 2013, 01:12 PM
I'm afraid not. The VIN database heavily relies on the VIN numbers to be within the known pattern.
Any way you can find out what the original VIN was?
Posted by: green914 Jun 12 2013, 01:59 PM
I'm afraid not. The VIN database heavily relies on the VIN numbers to be within the known pattern.
Any way you can find out what the original VIN was?
Using the chassis' number on the paint code tag is the only starting point I can think of to use. I'm not sure where to start - any ideas?
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 12 2013, 02:07 PM
The chassis number and year will get you into the range of VIN numbers, but not to the exact number.
Is there any way to retrieve it from the front fender or was it completely cut out?
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 12 2013, 02:09 PM
The chassis number and year will get you into the range of VIN numbers, but not to the exact number.
Is there any way to retrieve it from the front fender or was it completely cut out?
Here is a thought. Call PCNA, explain your situation and ask if they can get you a COA based on the engine number.
If the engine is original to the car, they should be able to match that to the original VIN.
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Posted by: green914 Jun 12 2013, 06:27 PM
The chassis number and year will get you into the range of VIN numbers, but not to the exact number.
Is there any way to retrieve it from the front fender or was it completely cut out?
Here is a thought. Call PCNA, explain your situation and ask if they can get you a COA based on the engine number.
If the engine is original to the car, they should be able to match that to the original VIN.
Yes the vin numbers were completely cut out.
It's a roller/no engine - PCNA might still be able to help
Posted by: larryM Jun 18 2013, 01:00 AM
the 914 numbers expert is David Pateman - he will tell you exactly where to find the factory oem numbers
- look him up in the member section
fwiw - some 914's have a stamped VIN under the dash - on the 914 it is above the ash tray, - it's a bitch to see - take out the entire ashtray & mounting part and get some mirrors and a really bright light
I can tell you for sure that 9140433394 caries a "stamped in steel" number in this location on a tab above the ashtray
here is a picture of the location of one of these under-dash stampings
.
.
how the factory got that stamped up in there is anybody's guess - but i'll guess it was done prior to the dash being welded into the shell
David will also direct you to find a production number (not VIN) stamped in the trunk
- but apparently not all cars have this, and maybe not all cars have the stamped number above the ashtray
- Porsche-Karmann made a lot of running changes in body production etc over the 6 yrs that are simply not documented, and for which there is no authoritative source beyond each of our personal observations
go look on the originality thread - those guys are much more attuned to this oem numbers issue
.
p.s. = after you discover the true number - don't go rushing to validate it with the CHP - they may discover it was a stolen car 
Posted by: green914 Jun 18 2013, 11:09 AM
the 914 numbers expert is David Pateman - he will tell you exactly where to find the factory oem numbers
- look him up in the member section
fwiw - all 914's and 911's have a "secret" stamped VIN under the dash - on the 914 it is above the ash tray, - it's a bitch to see - take out the entire ashtray & mounting part and get some mirrors and a really bright light
. somewhere I have a picture of one of these under-dash stampings - - can't find it right now, but will post when i do
- nowadays the CHP is usually smart enuf to find that - but it depends on how many yrs ago your car was re-registered
it will be there - unless the thief who "rebuilt" your car was smart enuf to know about it and cut it out (but that would be a bitch of a task in itself)
how the factory got that stamped up in there is anybody's guess - but i'll guess it was done prior to the dash being welded into the shell
(on 911's under the knee pad)
David will also direct you to find a production number (not VIN) stamped in the trunk
go look on the originality thread - those guys are much more attuned to this issue
.
p.s. = after you discover the true number - don't go rushing to validate it with the CHP - they may discover it was a stolen car
.
Thanks for the info - I did find the number 7429578E in the area under the ashtray, but it is not stamped into the metal - it was done with yellow marker.
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 12:00 PM
That's your VIN!
(Never stamped, always written down on the back of the dash by hand)Well, except it should be 5 digits after the 29 and no letters. Any chance the "E" is two numbers???
474.29.12345
Btw., that makes it a '74 ...
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 12:04 PM
Actually, scratch that. Since there weren't that many build in '74 it's likely that the leading zero was omitted.
So we're looking at:
474.29.0578x
where 'x' needs to be replaced by whatever you read as 'E'. Maybe a 3?
Posted by: green914 Jun 18 2013, 12:38 PM
Looks like an E to me. The first number may not be a seven, it is questionable. What do you think?
Attached thumbnail(s)
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 12:45 PM
Looks like an E to me.
The first number may not be a seven, it is questionable. What do you think?Crap, that is a (European) 1 and not a 7. And the last is certainly a E.
Damn it, that was close ...
Posted by: green914 Jun 18 2013, 12:47 PM
I have been comparing the color of the wires used in the turn signal switch, and wiper switch with the same parts on my 73; they appear to be the same. The car is identified as a 73 with its reissued vin number, 
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 12:51 PM
So that looks like a chassis number. And it doesn't match the one you have on the door jamb.
142.95.78
14 = 14th week
2 = 2nd day
9 = Karmann
5 = First 100 of the day
78 = Car 78 build that day
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 12:51 PM
Probably correct since that is not a 7 and not a VIN on the dash ...
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 12:54 PM
I also just noticed that the color of the dash matches the color of the car which is pretty much unheard of!
Something is really fishy here ...
Posted by: green914 Jun 18 2013, 03:27 PM
I also just noticed that the color of the dash matches the color of the car which is pretty much unheard of!
Something is really fishy here ...
I have two other 914s, and they both have black dashes, not the color of the paint code.
Posted by: Dave_Darling Jun 18 2013, 07:41 PM
It seems to have been pretty random, so eventually there should be some car where the dash and exterior actually matched in color...
--DD
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 18 2013, 07:47 PM
Unless, it was on purpose to *not* pick the body color ...
Posted by: green914 Jun 26 2013, 05:04 PM
the 914 numbers expert is David Pateman - he will tell you exactly where to find the factory oem numbers
- look him up in the member section
fwiw - some 914's have a stamped VIN under the dash - on the 914 it is above the ash tray, - it's a bitch to see - take out the entire ashtray & mounting part and get some mirrors and a really bright light
I can tell you for sure that 9140433394 caries a "stamped in steel" number in this location on a tab above the ashtray
here is a picture of the location of one of these under-dash stampings
.
I did a good search over the area above the ash tray and found no stamped numbers.
I'm sure that it's a 914/4..
how the factory got that stamped up in there is anybody's guess - but i'll guess it was done prior to the dash being welded into the shell
David will also direct you to find a production number (not VIN) stamped in the trunk
- but apparently not all cars have this, and maybe not all cars have the stamped number above the ashtray
- Porsche-Karmann made a lot of running changes in body production etc over the 6 yrs that are simply not documented, and for which there is no authoritative source beyond each of our personal observations
go look on the originality thread - those guys are much more attuned to this oem numbers issue
.
p.s. = after you discover the true number - don't go rushing to validate it with the CHP - they may discover it was a stolen car
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