Stupid Question? Maybe ..., Why can't i extract the Date Code from the Chassis Number? Options

[SirAndy]

Why can't i extract the Date Code from the Chassis Number? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

For example, on my car, the sticker on the door jamb is long gone. But shouldn't i be able to extract the Date Code from the Chassis Number?

CN: #3329543

According to the CN decoder, that means my car was build in Week 33, Day 2 of 1970.

Hence, the Date Code should be 08/70 ...

Yes?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) Andy

[davep]

I believe that the body #/chassis # was assigned between the completion of welding, and the paint booth until the stamping of the number in the rear trunk was replaced by the tag in the front trunk. The stamping in the rear trunk is painted over, so I infer it was stamped prior to painting. When they went to the front tag, it was riveted to an already painted body. The Karmann tag with the body # & paint code was also riveted to a painted body; sometimes the wrong tag was applied to a body.

Note that the VIN stamping in the front fender was done in an unpainted rectangle. Not having looked at one closely in a long time, I don't know if a clear wash was painted over it to prevent rusting.

I believe that the VIN was assigned fairly early in the final assembly process. Stamping the VIN in the fender would be easier without the suspension in the way, and riveting the tag onto the windshield frame would have to be done before the glass was installed.

The dash was scribbled with the body #, not the VIN, so I'd guess the dash was installed before the VIN was known. This is not exactly the case with the 914/6 where the dash got its own serial number. The 914/6 dash # always had the year digit whereas the 1970 914/6 bodies did not have a year digit.

Jeff is correct, and as I stated in my PM to Andy, duplicate body numbers are not only possible (one each year), but I do have such a pair in my database. Jeff is also correct that the car would be completed later than the body and by several weeks in some cases. So that certainly means that the completion date could always be the next calendar month. Using my database I can usually guess the month of completion by the VIN, but would use the body number to help refine the guess.

The compliance decal was only for North America AFAIK. Some other countries may have had their own version. I really need a lot more data.