vin question, two number plates missing Options

[914werke]

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.

Just to be perfectly clear that stamp is on the inner wheel housing not the fender.
Fender's were commonly replaced due to shunts but to replace the whole inner wheel house where the VIN stamp is located is less common & a pretty big job. More likely sectioned so you might need to expand your sanding to find any evidence of welding seams

[Literati914]

To me it seems obvious that there would have been a front end collision, where the owner had the front clip replaced. Not a big deal if the work was done correctly. I've had two 914's with this done to them (before I got 'em)... one the body shop was smart enough to retain/integrate the original numbers on the passenger's inner wheel well (I sold that one for other reasons), and one that shows the numbers from the donor car (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) - and this is the car I'm keeping/restoring at the moment. It's pretty common and people advertise/sell front clips all the time from parts cars, on this site. I could see an owner and/or body shop thinking the best course of action is to grind down the newly added numbers, than to leave them.

BTW - what is the proper protocol in this circumstance?

[drifter914]

To me it seems obvious that there would have been a front end collision, where the owner had the front clip replaced. Not a big deal if the work was done correctly. I've had two 914's with this done to them (before I got 'em)... one the body shop was smart enough to retain/integrate the original numbers on the passenger's inner wheel well (I sold that one for other reasons), and one that shows the numbers from the donor car (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) - and this is the car I'm keeping/restoring at the moment. It's pretty common and people advertise/sell front clips all the time from parts cars, on this site. I could see an owner and/or body shop thinking the best course of action is to grind down the newly added numbers, than to leave them.

BTW - what is the proper protocol in this circumstance?

If the inner wheel well was added from a donor car you wouldn't leave the stamped number, it would differ from the vin of the car being repaired. You could grind it off, and stamp matching vin in that space, or leave it blank... which appears what happened to mine.
Or... if replaced back when, when NOS body parts were available from dealer, wouldn't that space be blank ?

Still seems to me that I need to find that vin that was marked on underside of dash somewhere. Was it in the same spot on all chassis... or just randomly marked ?

Worst case scenario here... I've got a great parts car !



(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[mepstein]

It all depends how picky your location is about VIN numbers. In my case, there are no inspections for antique cars and I just fill out the form and send it in. One of my cars has been missing a fender vin for 35 years. I'm never selling the car so as long as I can drive it, I don't care about the VIN. If you plan to sell it, disclose the issue with the buyer and go from there.

I did buy one car that I was concerned about the background. I gave the vin to a trooper friend of mine to run a search. He said nothing came back on the vin so I don't see any issues for the car in the future.

[drifter914]

It all depends how picky your location is about VIN numbers. In my case, there are no inspections for antique cars and I just fill out the form and send it in. One of my cars has been missing a fender vin for 35 years. I'm never selling the car so as long as I can drive it, I don't care about the VIN. If you plan to sell it, disclose the issue with the buyer and go from there.

I did buy one car that I was concerned about the background. I gave the vin to a trooper friend of mine to run a search. He said nothing came back on the vin so I don't see any issues for the car in the future.

Thanks Mark... I'm going to drop the fuse panel & remove glove box, then get upside down with a good light & look under dash. If I don't find anything there I'll in
ask my deputy neighbor to run the vin & see if anything comes up. If not, then I'll just forget it & continue with the project...
Thanks... Terry

[mepstein]

It all depends how picky your location is about VIN numbers. In my case, there are no inspections for antique cars and I just fill out the form and send it in. One of my cars has been missing a fender vin for 35 years. I'm never selling the car so as long as I can drive it, I don't care about the VIN. If you plan to sell it, disclose the issue with the buyer and go from there.

I did buy one car that I was concerned about the background. I gave the vin to a trooper friend of mine to run a search. He said nothing came back on the vin so I don't see any issues for the car in the future.

Thanks Mark... I'm going to drop the fuse panel & remove glove box, then get upside down with a good light & look under dash. If I don't find anything there I'll in
ask my deputy neighbor to run the vin & see if anything comes up. If not, then I'll just forget it & continue with the project...
Thanks... Terry

I wouldn’t drop the glove box. If you pm me your email or phone, I’ll send you a pic of the vin on the underside of a spare dash I have. Then you can just crawl in on your back and take a look at yours.
2 of my cars don’t have the door jam vin sticker. Never an issue here. Remember, years ago, these were just sporty VW’s.

[FlacaProductions]

My doorjamb sticker is original and has two numbers transposed. It's been talked about here so it's "documented" but my other VIN/chassis numbers all match up so I'm fine with it. I've thought about getting a repro sticker done but nah...I think it adds character and hasn't been an issue with registration - they never even looked at the sticker.

[bbrock]

I've thought about getting a repro sticker done but nah...I think it adds character and hasn't been an issue with registration

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Those kinds of things tell the unique stories of these cars.

[pgollender]

Drifter, if fender is original, the stamped VIN numbers will appear in mirror order on the INSIDE of the fender well. Use a small amount of paint remover and nylon scrub brush, and then use some aluminum foil and trace the hell out of it with your finger. It may take several tries to get a nice tracing. That is how I recovered by VIN.

[SirAndy]

Drifter, if fender is original, the stamped VIN numbers will appear in mirror order on the INSIDE of the fender well. Use a small amount of paint remover and nylon scrub brush, and then use some aluminum foil and trace the hell out of it with your finger. It may take several tries to get a nice tracing. That is how I recovered by VIN.

Interesting ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[mepstein]

I thought about this a bit and remembered, unlike 911’s, 914’s don’t have a vin under the dash. They do have a written number but it does not correspond to the vin. The metal dash was often painted a different color since it was attached to whatever car was going down the line.

[Dave_Darling]

The number on the back of the dash is the chassis number, which is different from (and only semi related to) the VIN. At least, on four-cylinder cars this is the case. Not sure about the Sixes.

--DD

[Jim C]

I can't find a chassis number in the rear trunk of my 1976 914 2.0. It doesn't look like the trunk floor was replaced and there is no rust elsewhere that makes this likely. Thoughts?

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

I can't find a chassis number in the rear trunk of my 1976 914 2.0. It doesn't look like the trunk floor was replaced and there is no rust elsewhere that makes this likely. Thoughts?

I have actually never seen a Karmann number stamped into the rear trunk of any 75 76 model

[Jim C]

I can't find a chassis number in the rear trunk of my 1976 914 2.0. It doesn't look like the trunk floor was replaced and there is no rust elsewhere that makes this likely. Thoughts?

I have actually never seen a Karmann number stamped into the rear trunk of any 75 76 model

Thanks. The info I'd seen didn't differentiate between years. I assumed all the cars were stamped in the trunk. I'll stop looking now.

[914werke]

I can't find a chassis number in the rear trunk of my 1976 914 2.0. It doesn't look like the trunk floor was replaced and there is no rust elsewhere that makes this likely. Thoughts?

I have actually never seen a Karmann number stamped into the rear trunk of any 75 76 model

Remember that the location/area where that stamping did exist on the earlier chassis is substantially different on the late cars with their bumper shock mounted below.

[sixnotfour]

I can't find a chassis number in the rear trunk of my 1976 914 2.0. It doesn't look like the trunk floor was replaced and there is no rust elsewhere that makes this likely. Thoughts?

I have actually never seen a Karmann number stamped into the rear trunk of any 75 76 model

Remember that the location/area where that stamping did exist on the earlier chassis is substantially different on the late cars with their bumper shock mounted below.

its a blk tag riveted to the right frnt bumper support rail..

[JeffBowlsby]

its a blk tag riveted to the right frnt bumper support rail..

[Jim C]

Do the 1976 models have a chassis ID tag riveted to the frunk bulkhead? Mine has rivet holes but no tag. I have seen different sources say tag on bulkhead through '75 and others that say 1975 and '76. What's the definitive answer?