With all of the people asking for help decoding their El Camino VIN numbes, I thought it would be helpful if I pointed you in the right direction. There is a VIN decoder right here at ECC. Take a peek at the NECOA VIN Breakdown pages.

NECOA VIN decoding (http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=27738#content_start)

Thanks this will help me figure out what motor was originally in my 79 El Camino but now has a 267 motor. I am thinking a 350 motor was in it before so I guess I will see. To bad it is in storage right now so I will have to go and look at the vin.

Thank's 87 Elco!There is such a plethra of knowledge on this website I am glad I joined.

WoooHooo! 78 El Camino, 350 engine, made in Fremont, Ca. Now I just have to get DMV to correct the title and registration. They have the "Z" as a "2".

Thanks for the great info!

I checked my '78 and found that the assembly plant codes didn't include my code letter, K, so I am assuming that this was a late '78 model built in Missouri which was included in the list for '79.

I have an 84" elky, Vin is 1gccw80h "7" er195338. Decoder says "7" should be an "X" anybody got any ideas what the deal is here? Thanks fellow elkaholics! great web site ! members have some beautiful cars too
tim O

Decoder says "7" should be an "X" anybody got any ideas what the deal is here?
The "X" only indicates that the digit is arbitrary. It could be any one digit number (1-9). Yours just happened to be a 7.

thanks ernie, I always wondered how that "check digit" worked!! Beautiful El Camino by the way

The check digits is a very complicated formula used to determine a bogus VIN. If you search around the web you will find info on it.


The following algorithm is used for calculating check digits:

1. Each letter is assigned a numeric value.
character A B C D E F G H I
value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
character J K L M N O P Q R
value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
character S T U V W X Y Z
value 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2. Each number or character value is multiplied by the factor for that position.
position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
factor 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 10 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

3. The resulting products are summed.
4. The total is divided by 11.
5. The check digit is the remainder. If the remainder is 10 then the check digit is X (Roman numeral 10).

Hi I'm new here, I'm thinking of buying a '78 El Camino Conquista. I've found the VIN Breakdown, thanks for the link, but what I was wondering where would one go, if anywhere, to find out where the car has been. I've been told that the car is from an Estate Sale, but am being leery if it came from where floods and hurricanes have occurred. Any ideas? Thanks

You would need to try a Car Fax report or something like that to get that kind of info.

Thanks Mama Mayhem, tried there unfortunately they, like most others, want a 17 digit VIN; doesn't show for a 13 digit VIN.

Well...It's A Case Of Look Before You Ask. I Used The VIN Decoding Table,And Found That I Should Have Looked First. I Did Find Out That It Had A 267 In It. (Good Boat Anchor) I Bought This From A Buddy Who Loaned Money Against It, 'Cuz It Had No Rust. I Find Out More About It Every Day. Motor Is 'Sposed To Be New....Is Not. I Have Several Motors. Since It Had A 267, I Doubt It Is On Original SS. Body Tag Has No "Z" Anywhere. Still Cant' Find Build Sheet....Any Suggestions? Thanks For The VIN Table!

I tried to look up my VIN.
Says it does not exist.

Might want to revisit the VIN decoding pages, at least the 64 through 72 sheets. You have plants listed that didn't build El Caminos, sample VINs with those not building El Caminos, and the 1969 model year started sequence numbering with 300,001 and not 100,001.

1964 El Camino assembly plants were Baltimore, Fremont, Kansas City, and Van Nuys/LA.

1965 El Camino assembly plants were Baltimore, Fremont, Kansas City, and Atlanta.

1966 to 1969, only Baltimore, Fremont, and KC were assembling our cars.

1970 & 1971, Van Nuys replaced Fremont but Baltimore & KC continued.

1972 Oshawa was added to Van Nuys, Baltimore, & KC.

Trivia:
Euclid, OH also built 1964 El Camino bodies for delivery to Baltimore & KC and in 1965 for Atlanta & KC and probably Baltimore but I don't have any examples of a trim tag. KC also supplied some of their bodies but most examples I have do have Euclid, OH tags with KC as the destination.

:cool:

My last six digits are "141791". Is that line number 41,791, or line number 1791, or 791, etc, etc. According to the vin decoder here there was only a little over 30K produced in 64.

Thanks for the efforts of the people responsible for this info. There is a lot of work involved.
I have one query. In my V.I.N. there is the number 4 between H and letter G eg: W80H4G. Any ideas.
Thanks again for the info.

I appreciate the info. No further details are needed.

this thread was helpfull but i still dont know what kind of motor i have im pretty sure it the original 327 but i want to know if its the 250 275 or 300 hp engin

CAR FAX IS BOGUS ! I bought a used 4 year old F150 4X4 from a local Dodge {em} dealer. . . . As I had a lot of initial problems with it, I checked it out on Car Fax. . . They told me the vehicle had a clean record. . . . I knew it was in at least one pretty bad wreck as the front suspension had replacement stickers still on the replaced parts. . . And possibly was sitting on a different frame. . . . The truck body was like new but the undercarriage looked like it was an antique truck. . . . When I complained to Car Fax, they refunded my money {after a long wait }. . . They aren't a reliable source for making prepurchase decisions ! Barry-Maryland

My last six digits are "141791". Is that line number 41,791, or line number 1791, or 791, etc, etc. According to the vin decoder here there was only a little over 30K produced in 64.

Its the 41,791 CHEVELLE model produced at this plant. The Chevelle line include sedans, station wagons, convertibles, hardtops AND El Camino's if those were also built at the plant. Not all plants built all the Chevelle models though,


I hope I made it clear.

On CarFax, I only used it once on a used car after I bought it. It led me to believe it had important info on the car but when I got the darn report, it only had the date of original sale and nothing else. I paid for nothing.......

Make the dealer provide it for you but never pay for it IMO.

Hi,
I am unable to open the link. Is there something I am doing wrong??
Thanks,
Leo

I cant get the link to work am I doing something wrong?:secret:

The site has gone thru forum upgrades and that link is 4 yrs old so its now dead it would seem. I have noticed lots of dead links with this new format.

I click on the link that is supposed to go to decode your VIN numbers and it takes me back to the homepage. I think my number is 134805K188416.

I WAS TOLD :dontknow: THAT THE ''C C'' IN THE 17 DIGIT VIN NUMBER COMES FROM CHOO-CHOO CUSTOMS THE FACT THAT THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE RECERTIFIED BY ''BIG BROTHER'',BECAUSE THE FRONT FACIA HAD TO PASS GOVERMENT SAFTEY REGS. ON FRONT BUMPERS.-- I KNOW ON ALL TRUE CHOO-CHOO'S THE RECERTIFIED STICKER IS ON THE INSIDE DRIVERS DOOR.---THATS MY .02 WORTH

greetings. i had the same exact question for myself. '78 as well, but letter K wasnt listed on the VIN breakdown here. maybe someone can clear it up for us. take care!

I WAS TOLD :dontknow: THAT THE ''C C'' IN THE 17 DIGIT VIN NUMBER COMES FROM CHOO-CHOO CUSTOMS THE FACT THAT THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE RECERTIFIED BY ''BIG BROTHER'',BECAUSE THE FRONT FACIA HAD TO PASS GOVERMENT SAFTEY REGS. ON FRONT BUMPERS.-- I KNOW ON ALL TRUE CHOO-CHOO'S THE RECERTIFIED STICKER IS ON THE INSIDE DRIVERS DOOR.---THATS MY .02 WORTH


I never spotted this ? before but the CC does not relate to Choo Choo

If you are referring the the 3 and 4 th digits then this is what it means. The VIN has nothing to do with safety certifications or else that sticker would not needed to be applied. The sticker is the certification.

The first C denotes Chevrolet Truck
The 2nd C denotes the GVWR brake type; 4,001 to 5,000 lbs Hydraulic

Chevrolet routed many vehicles to various up-fitters such as ambulances, RV's, utilities conversions etc


http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb222/Z15_34396/1986vin.jpg

greetings. i had the same exact question for myself. '78 as well, but letter K wasnt listed on the VIN breakdown here. maybe someone can clear it up for us. take care!

It would have been nice to see the VIN or know in what position the K was BUT if its the 7th digit then its the assembly plant code for Leeds Assembly in Kansas City, MO. Leeds is the local suburb it was located in and K is the plant code in the VIN and KAN is the plant code on the trim plate.

What is the difference between an "El Camino V-8" and a "Custom El Camino V-8"?

Its the trim level,

The Custom his more exterior chrome trim and minor equipment upgrades, carpets instead of rubber mats, nicer and more seat trim choices, Custom is required for some options like SS.

The plain El Camino L6 and V8 are bare minimum levels of trim, in other words the cheapest model. Some options can only be had with the Custom.

Thank you.

I am looking at buying a 60 el camino, the guy that owns it tells me its a factory black ,348ci .What numbers should it have for this to be correct? Is this a rare combo? look foward to an answer ,Thanks

can anyone tell me where to find vin numbers other than dash, on a 1980 el camino, thanks

This is a great site, I'm an old car buff, and old also, I just bought a 1980 el camino and all the numbers are on the dash but one , it is rusted away, the title has all the numbers but the license berau don't want to give me plates unless they can find the vin's some where on the car. anyone have any idea's where to look, the engine is a 350 not a 305 that came with the car new. I have a 1963 nova restored also a 1986 fiero, I'm stumped on this one and the vin numbers, thanks guy's and gal's

Old guys rule! Welcome to the site. Hope you can deal with those bureaucrats and get squared away with registration.

Look inside the glovebox and see if the service parts idendification sticker is still there. It has the VIN across the top and all of the RPO codes...

I looked inside the glove box, no luck, I'm stumped

They ran the vin numbers off thje title and it came back clean, but still won't give me plates, I think they are just giving me a hard time:twisted:

I'm not the expert on which locations they might have stamped the VIN in 80....But welcome in Region 6! Keep up in the regional forum and e-mail me if I can help with anything else...same as on here with hotmail.com added The other DD's and Director are listed too. Find us in the forums under current director's list....Come join us for one of our meets! :beer: Randy

Very good stuff here!!

Hello I have just picked up a 1987 Elcamino ( or El Camino ) and was wondering how you can tell if it is a SS or some other trim package? is there some place I can go to decode the option codes?

Thanks in advance for your constructive answers and coments

-Andyvan

Welcome From Florida !! :florida: Look inside the glove box. There should be a label with your list of RPO codes ! Z15 Is the SS package (Decals) !