64 convertible date of manufacture question

[Vincent B.]

How do I know which day and month the car was made?

[James G.]

Re: 64 convertible date of manufacture question

We need the vin number to start with. Also, under the glove box is the trim tag. Both tags are next to each other.

In the upper left hand corner is a letter and a number like E13, which equates to the month (A=Sept 63, B=Oct63 etc.).

In my example, E13= Monday January 13, 1964. Now this is the body build date which in many cases was the same date as the cars birthday.

Now to confuse things, in January 1964, Chevrolet started buying bodies built at A.O.Smith in Michigan to supplement the St. Louis production as they could not keep up with the demand. So we need the BODY #, which is to the right center of the tag. If it is just a plain number like 5435 then it is a St. Louis Body. If it says A-125, then it is one of the 1st A.O.,Smith bodies made.

Just let us know all the numbers.

[Tom H.]

Re: 64 convertible date of manufacture question

Welcome Vincent !!

Like James said, post up your numbers or a picture of your trim tag. We'll decode it for ya !!

[Jack H.]

Re: 64 convertible date of manufacture question

A few more words & music here...

The date on the trim tag tells you when the car's body was made. The body was a sub-assy component for the finished vehicle...

The VIN number dictates when the finished vehicle was assembled as they assigned VIN numbers consecutively on the final assy line. You determine the final assy date by interpolating the specific VIN based on Chevrolet's end of month production records (how many cars built each month).

The interpolation process is NOT an exact science since it presumes a uniform production rate and needs to know about other variable factors like specific holidays observed each month and any assy line overtime episodes. But, you'll get pretty darn close!

There are various Corvette 'birthday' calculators out there as well as resources like the Corvette Birthday reference book...

[John H.]

Re: 64 convertible date of manufacture question

For a St. Louis-built '64-up midyear body ("S" prefix on the "Body" number on the trim tag), you can pretty much take it to the bank that the car came off the line the day after the body build date on the trim tag.

It's possible that it came off the line the same day, IF the body was built very early on the first shift. It could have come off the line a couple of days later if the body was built after noon on a Friday.

The body build date on the '64-up midyear trim tag (for a St. Louis-bodied car) is actually a much better indicator of when the car came off the line than the calculators that work from the VIN.

[Jim W.]

Re: 64 convertible date of manufacture question

For a St. Louis-built '64-up midyear body ("S" prefix on the "Body" number on the trim tag), you can pretty much take it to the bank that the car came off the line the day after the body build date on the trim tag.

It's possible that it came off the line the same day, IF the body was built very early on the first shift. It could have come off the line a couple of days later if the body was built after noon on a Friday.

The body build date on the '64-up midyear trim tag (for a St. Louis-bodied car) is actually a much better indicator of when the car came off the line than the calculators that work from the VIN.

To corroborate that, when I first got into the hobby with my first E 64; I used the units built/day calcs from the vin # to guess the build date. Then I soon learned to decode the trim tag and the body build date was the same day I calculated wouldn't ya know. I was impressed with the formula working backwards to get the build date. Then I was like DUH. all I had to do was look at the trim tag. But I was happy to know they matched as further evidence both tags were original.