I have a friend looking at a 71 but we dont know if its a ss, is there any thing on the vin that would indacate this?or any thing on the body?

'71's are fairly easy to "clone". So, I would go into any deal with a high degree of skepticism.
For information, I would first start with going over Dan Carr's SS spotter guide (http://www.chevelles.com/shop/ss_ident.html).

If you have the VIN and the cowl tag numbers, please post them. We can probably get some more info from that. The '68 was the only true year you could identify a SS from the VIN. Although, a '72 with a "W" in the VIN indicated a 454 motor and you could only get that motor with a SS.

You can also post some pictures, as a lot of the members are pretty good at spotting clones. I would also include the price and any other information the seller is telling you.

Hope it helps.

On my 71 i had to find the build sheet to make sure it is a SS . I found it above the gas tank. LOL

Definately some very good suggestions for a prospective buyer you guys! There's a lot of clone clowns these days when it comes to SS models.