vin question, two number plates missing Options

[drifter914]

Hi Guys... I bought a '74 914 with Indiana title showing the same vin as on the windshield frame tag & the tag riveted to passenger side front wheelwell. Both of these tags are easily replaceable.
The vin sticker inside driver door jamb is missing & the number stamped on top of pass. wheelwell has been ground off ... gone !
The number stamped inside rear trunk floor on pass. side is a different number & is only 7 digits. Should this number be the same as vin ?
So... so do I have a vin swap situation here... ?
I can understand maybe removing the sticker inside the driver door jamb for a repaint, but to grind off the number stamped into the metal on top of front pass. wheelwell seems very intentional & for what purpose ?
Is the number stamped inside rear trunk floor supposed to match vin on title ?

Not completely sure what I have here... possible vin swap ?
I feel the number in rear trunk floor may be key to solution. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)
What say you ...

Thanks... Terry in Az

[mepstein]

The trunk number is not a vin.

I would have checked before you purchased but now that you have the car, what are your plans.

[Rob-O]

I’d check for prior damage on the passenger front fender. May not be a VIN swap. Could just be a replaced fender.

The rear trunk number is the chassis number. Usually the underside of the dash has the vin and the color written on it in a yellow or white paint type marker. It’s on the actual dash frame so it may be difficult or impossible to see all of the info from just lying under the dash and looking up. That’s because the dash frame sits on a part of the firewall that juts put into the passenger cabin.

Unless there is something that would’ve made the car unique (and in ‘74 the only thing would’ve been a ‘Bumblebee’ or a ‘Creamsicle’, I’d say just a replaced fender and then a repaint (which removes the compliance sticker in the door jamb).

What type of engine? What is the VIN? We can tell if it fits in the range of those special edition vehicles.

[drifter914]

The trunk number is not a vin.

I would have checked before you purchased but now that you have the car, what are your plans.

Plans...? Well, my plan was to start sorting this car out... it's a rust free 914 w/ alloys, front / rear sway bars, ivory white, all new tan interior. PO stated it was originally a 2.0 but he cracked the case & replaced it with a 1.7 case & built a 2200 using a kit & the 2.0 heads. So... not #'s matching, but a very nice 914.
My primary concern at this point is the possibility it was stolen at some point & the windshield & right front wheelwell tags used along with the title off a wrecked car to re-sell.
Any way to tell if it was a stolen vehicle... aside from removing the dash ?

Thanks ... Terry

[drifter914]

I’d check for prior damage on the passenger front fender. May not be a VIN swap. Could just be a replaced fender.

The rear trunk number is the chassis number. Usually the underside of the dash has the vin and the color written on it in a yellow or white paint type marker. It’s on the actual dash frame so it may be difficult or impossible to see all of the info from just lying under the dash and looking up. That’s because the dash frame sits on a part of the firewall that juts put into the passenger cabin.

Unless there is something that would’ve made the car unique (and in ‘74 the only thing would’ve been a ‘Bumblebee’ or a ‘Creamsicle’, I’d say just a replaced fender and then a repaint (which removes the compliance sticker in the door jamb).

What type of engine? What is the VIN? We can tell if it fits in the range of those special edition vehicles.

Hmmm... just checked, & paint code plaque has been removed as well !
No indications it was ever an LE car.
vin is 472902235
Would a replacement fender have a blank space where the vin is usually stamped ?
Most 914's have been repainted by now, & all I've seen still have the vin decal in the driver's door jamb. I think removing one to paint the jamb would be highly unusual, when you can simply mask it off.

Thanks for the input... Terry

[Larmo63]

Your car has probably had surgery at some point. Losing the door sticker is common and a new one can be obtained.

I wouldn't worry too much, you have two of the important markers.

[914 RZ-1]

IIRC, the 7-digit trunk number is the chassis number. There is a decoder on this site. That will tell you when the car was made. It should coincide with the VIN you have. For example my car has a VIN code and chassis number that indicate it was made in Feb of 1972.

My window VIN was cut off and my door sticker was messed up. I got new ones. I had the VIN on the fender and on the plate in the frunk so I had confidence in the numbers matching. I also left the paint code tag off since I painted my car a non-standard color.

If you can, post a picture of the ground-off VIN on the fender well.

[porschetub]

Front clip done maybe,if you have title you should be ok ? different rules in my country ALL numbers must be there.
You say the inner fender numbers are ground off ? can't be done as they are depressed number indentations...maybe they have been filled over my guess anyway.

[dlee6204]

What makes the car a 74? The vin you posted is from a ’72. The chassis code will tell you the day of production but it will not confirm the year.

Sounds like a vin swap to me. Sometimes one can also determine the vin by removing the paint/undercoating inside the wheel well. Since the numbers were punched there might be a vague outline on the backside of the panel.

[Rob-O]

What makes the car a 74? The vin you posted is from a ’72. The chassis code will tell you the day of production but it will not confirm the year.

Sounds like a vin swap to me. Sometimes one can also determine the vin by removing the paint/undercoating inside the wheel well. Since the numbers were punched there might be a vague outline on the backside of the panel.

I think he just left out a ‘4’. A ‘72 would we 472290xxxx. He typed 47290, so he obviously left out a number for either the year or the first digit of the ‘290’ portion. I’d guess it’s the year.

By the way, I removed my compliance sticker when I repainted. Nice to have it there but when I had my car inspected by the police here in Texas (was my car, then purchased by a friend who imported it to Canada and then purchased back by me and reimported to the US), the officer conducting the inspection said his booklet didn’t specify the compliance sticker as an official VIN location. Makes sense, really. It is a sticker after all and easily removed.

[Chi-town]

You can order the sticker and the Karmann tag from car-bone.pl
He takes forever but does nice work.

The rh when wheel well Vin you can buy the stamps and put it back in the steel.

[IronHillRestorations]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thisthreadisworthlesswithoutpics.gif)
Pics really
would help

[SirAndy]

You should be able to tell if the VIN on the fender was ground off or if it is a replacement fender that never had a VIN stamped.

It takes a lot of grinding to make a VIN disappear ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[SirAndy]

vin is 472902235

Is this the car?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-179-1240271349.jpg)

[FlacaProductions]

I found the same thing - good detective work. This has to be it.

[mepstein]

916 bumpers were often installed after a front end hit.

[Dave_Darling]

The VIN number seems to be missing the year designation digit. It should be of the form "47x29sssss", where 47 means 914-4, x is the last digit of the model year, 29 means the Karmann plant, and sssss is the series number within the model year.

--DD

[drifter914]

You guys are great ! Lots of very helpful info here.
I'm trying to keep an open mind about this, but so far cannot confirm one way or the other if its stolen with vin swap / vin swap from totaled car... or simply a replaced front pass. fender & missing Karmen plate & door jamb sticker.
Dave... I sanded re-spray off of space on inner pass. fender where number should be stamped, right down thru grey primer to bare metal & can see no sign or trace of any numbers. This may very well be a replacement fender.
Other than finding a vin under the dash, which is not readily apparent (haven't removed glove box & dropped fuse panel yet), I can think of no other way to confirm this is an original numbers car.
Circumstantial evidence has never been absolute proof of fact.
Yes... I did leave the 4 out of the vin, that number occasionally sticks on my laptop... probably popcorn or munchies crumb of some sort.
Vin is 4742902235
Does that fall in the LE range ? Just fishing...
Thanks youse guys !
Terry

[JeffBowlsby]

Not an LE.

[drifter914]

vin is 472902235

Is this the car?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-179-1240271349.jpg)

Yep, that's the car... I also looked it up in the registry, but didn't see who the owner was, just that it sold on e-bay I 2009. Did I miss something? Here it is today after I lost the 916 front & returned it nearly to stock front end.