Help me with a VIN please

[Country Suburban 4x4]

Hello, there is a truck for sale where I live that I'm trying to get more information on. It is a 1970 GMC 1500 2WD. I have used some of the VIN decoders on the forum to figure out the most I can. Most of it checks out until I get to the body type section of the VIN. 04 is supposed to be a step side/fender side but this truck is a long bed fleet side pickup. The truck looks original with no frame work or bed changes. And the model number on the glove box tag says it is a 127" WB long bed. The door tag VIN is CE104-1Z56303 and the model # in the glovebox is CE15904. This is the first time I've really tried to pick apart a VIN so I may be seeing something wrong but any help would really be appreciated, I really want to figure out this truck. Thanks for taking the time guys.
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[davepl]

CE104 -> Conventional Gasoline 1/2 ton Fenderside

The Z means 1970, but I don't know what the 1 before it is.
56303 is the sequence number

That's about all the VIN can tell you.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Unfortunately, some people didn't appreciate the 'svelte' look of the stepside bed and wasted little time converting them to the kind of truck they liked.
C = 'Conventional' or 2wd
E = Eight [V8]
1 = 1/2 ton
04 = Cab and Stepside, er, "Fenderside" in GMC
- = GMC-only code space for Pennsylvania special equipment. "-" means NO PA
1 = 1971
Z = Fremont Calif. Plant
56303 = Sequence number of that truck, starting from 10000.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Or "1" is the Plant code for Oshowa, Canada, and "Z" is for GMC 1970.
Not sure which is right.

[Country Suburban 4x4]

Thanks guys, the info you all listed is stuff I was able to find, I guess I'm just wondering if there was any explanation for it being listed as a step side when it isn't one, or what would I have to look for to see if a long bed conversion was done. I can't imagine someone wanting to convert a stepside into a long bed. Here's the truck by the way

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[71swb4x4]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

56303 = Sequence number of that truck, starting from 10000.

I agree with everything in this post except the sequence number started at 50001 in 1970.

Nice looking truck. A lot could happen to it in 46 years. I wouldn't worry about it, it's not a split window corvette, it's a sweet looking pickup!

[71swb4x4]

Originally Posted by Country Suburban 4x4

or what would I have to look for to see if a long bed conversion was done. I can't imagine someone wanting to convert a stepside into a long bed.

There were short bed, long bed, and longhorn sized step sides. So the only thing done to convert it, was remove the 8' step side bed, and install the 8' fleet side bed.

[Country Suburban 4x4]

It is a sweet looking truck, and stepside or not is fine, I just think it would be cool to find the story, but you're right a lot can happen in 46 years, thanks guys!
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['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

I agree with everything in this post except the sequence number started at 50001 in 1970.

Oh, OK. Never noticed that. Was the 50001 sequencing in one plant only? GMC only? 1970 only?
Although they were rare, stepsides did come in other than 6' [or is it 6-1/2'?]. There were also 8' and 9' lengths.
Usually the shortbed length was for 1/2 tons, the long beds for 3/4 tons and 1-tons got a longhorn bed. That was GM's manufacturing intent, according to the Chevy restoration packet, but dealerships and discerning owners could preorder any combination within reason.
And as you noted, 46 years is a long time for PO modifications occuring in the intervening years.

['68OrangeSunshine]

OR -- the Cab-and-Doghouse from a Stepside could've been swapped onto [an undamaged] 8' chassis w/a longbed fleetside. In that case the partial Frame VIN -- near the steering gear on the drivers side -- would have different numbers than the last 7 digits of the Cab VIN plate on the B pillar.
Nice looking truck. Grab it regardless of its ancestry, dubious or otherwise.

[71swb4x4]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Oh, OK. Never noticed that. Was the 50001 sequencing in one plant only? GMC only? 1970 only?

1972 too. Bruce's decoders are really good: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=570059

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Oh, OK. Never noticed that. Was the 50001 sequencing in one plant only? GMC only? 1970 only?

It varied by plant, model year and nameplate.

When I was growing up in Flint Chevrolets started with 300001 (or 100001) and GMC with 500001.

K

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

It varied by plant, model year and nameplate.

When I was growing up in Flint Chevrolets started with 300001 (or 100001) and GMC with 500001.

K

Keith, I've been working on this for a while now. I can document everything so far with SPIDs and GM documents(memos bulletins etc..). More changes could be coming, I'm still researching 1971 Flint GMC's. These numbers are correct for all plants including Canada.



Country Suburban 4X4, 68OrangeSunshine has your VIN correctly decoded with his correction in post 4. Your truck was built in Oshawa Canada as a Fenderside(Stepside). It is a 1970. Because it was built in Canada you can get a breakdown of the build through the heritage center. But it cost money and doesn't contain much more information than your SPID has on it. Here is a link if you decide to purchase. http://www.gmmediaarchive.com/?page=3
Your truck was built as a Fenderside (stepside) as shown by both the VIN and model number.

CE15904
C = 2wd
E = V-8
1 = 1/2 Ton
59 = 127" Wheelbase (Longbed)
04 = Fenderside (Stepside)

Your truck went from a Fenderside (Stepside) to a Wideside (Fleetside) in one of two ways. The most likely is a bed swap by a previous owner. Or like 68OrangeSunshine suggested it could be a cab and doghouse swap. If so the frame partial VIN won't match the cab VIN. You can find your frame VIN in the spots illustrated below. Some GMC's didn't get a frame VIN. Although they all were supposed to, we are finding lot's of GMC's that are missing the the frame VIN(1971 and previous). If your frame partial VIN and cab VIN match then it was a bed swap.
Nice looking truck BTW.



71swb4X4, Thanks for the shoutout and the kind words. But I didn't list all the starting numbers on my decoders because of space limitations and at the time I still hadn't figured what was going on in Flint in 71 and 72.

68OrangeSunshine, For Chevrolet, the year is first then the assembly plant. GMC's are reversed, Assembly plant first then year. This is true for 5 years 67-71. In 72 GMC caught up with Chevy and the formats were the same.

[Keith Seymore]

Nicely done, Bruceman.

Do you have any interest in continuing on into the squarebody era?

K

BTW - when we introduced Cadillac trucks they started at 600001.

[mcmlxix]

[bruceman1968]

[quote=mcmlxix;7700838[quote]

Wow! Rich, when I posted the VIN decoders for GMC's 3 1/2 years ago LMC did not have the starting numbers listed for GMC. I wonder where they got that info? Wonder how long before they get Flint figured out.
I wonder how long it will take them to update the Chevrolet starting numbers.

Keith, I've been researching the 73 to 87 also. But it doesn't take much because so much of the info is out there already. Your friends 73 to 87 website has most of it, and very accurate also. I've been collecting documentation for 47 to 87 trucks. The older stuff can get a little pricey.

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Unfortunately, some people didn't appreciate the 'svelte' look of the stepside bed and wasted little time converting them to the kind of truck they liked.
C = 'Conventional' or 2wd
E = Eight [V8]
1 = 1/2 ton
04 = Cab and Stepside, er, "Fenderside" in GMC
- = GMC-only code space for Pennsylvania special equipment. "-" means NO PA
1 = 1971
Z = Fremont Calif. Plant
56303 = Sequence number of that truck, starting from 10000.

I know this is an older post but I was reading thru some of these old threads and now I'm curious as to what "GMC-only code space for Pennsylvania equipment" means? Was this possibly smog equipment? Can anyone enlighten me?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

I know this is an older post but I was reading thru some of these old threads and now I'm curious as to what "GMC-only code space for Pennsylvania equipment" means? Was this possibly smog equipment? Can anyone enlighten me?

Some old hand from Pennsylvania will have to answer that. I never had a clue.
Might be Smog gear, IDK?

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Some old hand from Pennsylvania will have to answer that. I never had a clue.
Might be Smog gear, IDK?

Thanks for the input sunshine, maybe someone in the know will chime in.

[Palf70Step]

PA did not have smog back in those days. I was not into the trucks back in those days, so am not sure what the specifics are for that code space. I know there was a lot of variations for truck registration based on commercial,vs farm, vs private.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

PA did not have smog back in those days. I was not into the trucks back in those days, so am not sure what the specifics are for that code space. I know there was a lot of variations for truck registration based on commercial,vs farm, vs private.

I lived in LA from '67 to '73, so Smog was what I knew.