I bought a 68 Vert about 3 and a half years ago. Been in storage 2 and a half. I had no place to work on it till now. First I want to say I'm new at all this decodeing but this tag has a coupe number 12437los***So I read up on decodeing on this site. I decided to look at the hidden vin to see if it matches the one on the dash and tag IT DOES so now what. Where some cars taged wrong? color tag says Island Teal but the car is now painted fathom blue. I nosed around the cowl and door panel and back wdws and top. It has teal over spray. What gives?

Can you post some pictures of the cowl tag, Vin, over spray etc.? I am sure others will want to see and decode for themselves.

You can post your pictures on a hosting site like photobucket.com and post the URL's to the reply box to get the pictures to show up.

Post pics of trim tag. You dont need Photobucket. Your a Team member so you can upload your own pics. Just click on the Advanced button and you'll see what i mean.

And more than likely your car was repainted at some time in its life.

Yea I know it's been painted. I just don't know why it's carrying a coup tag. Some one changed it to a RS. It's a daly driver and in need of alot of care.Has a steel cowl hood and buckets. The tag says V8 with buckets. Very little rust.I got the car from Ebay and came from bama. V8 350 stick

I'm sory tag says v8 with bench seats. i will try to post some pics as soon as i can.

Richard the trim tag next to the brake cylinder on the firewall does NOT relate to which engine at all. Only the VIN number tells if its a V8 or 6 cyl. If you check the last numbers of your VIN, do they match the hidden partial vin numbers?

If you have a 1968 Convertible but a Coupe tag (and the hidden VIN's all match), then someone has replaced the trim tag.

Ed

Look in the trunk, does your car have cocktail shakers mounted in the rear corners? Look under the car for the cross brace that bolts across the tunnel. If your vin tag on the dash starts with 12437 or 12337 it's a coupe vin and if the hidden partial vin under the cowl matches the remainder of the vin you either have a coupe cut into a ragtop or a ragtop thats had the dash and cowl area replaced with the same from a coupe

Your ragtop vin (on the dash) should start with 12467 or 12367.

The vin is not found on the cowl tag so if you are seeing 12437 it doesn't mean coupe.

Not quite right Dennis. 12437 on the trim tag does indicate Coupe. 12467 on the trim tag indicates Convertible.

As stated above, only the VIN will tell you if it's a V8 or an L6 car, but the trim tag WILL tell you if it's a Coupe or a Convertible.

Ed

My bad Ed, I was fixed on having the OP use the VIN tag not the cowl tag and mis-stated that. As you pointed out cowl tags get swapped a lot...

Yeah, I know you knew this, but I didn't want Richard to be confused.

Ed

Guys the vin matchs the hidden vin. I've look at the car in all four corners and the shakers are not there but did come with the car in the trunk lose. I think the trunk pan has been replaced cause no holes but they are on the top where they mount there. I have been under the car and no brace. and i can tell the back seat floor pan has been replaced with just metal on the drivers side ( not very well either) I have looked close at the firewall and dash to see if it has been changed but cant tell till I start tearing it down. Doesnt look like it though. I know if it has that has to be a big job. vin reads 124378L312376(dash) hidden# 8L312376 I've check it several times. I know all of the car is not there and it was always going to be a project. I don't really care cause like all of you I always wanted a car like this and I don't ever plan on selling. If the firewall and all has been changed someone went thru a lot of trouble.

So let me get this stright. The VIN does NOT tell you if its a coupe or a vert only the trim tag tells you that. Then maybe the tag HAS been changed.

So let me get this stright. The VIN does NOT tell you if its a coupe or a vert only the trim tag tells you that. Then maybe the tag HAS been changed.

No, the 4th digit of the VIN will indicate coupe or convertible:

3: coupe
6: convertible

The 4th digit on the trim tag conveys the same information.

The confusion between the trim tag and VIN is usually with the third digit. The third number on the vin indicates 6 or 8 cylinders (3 for 6-cyl, 4 for 8-cyl); on the trim tag the number is 4 regardless.

It sounds like the car started out as a coupe and was changed to a convertible.

Guys the vin matchs the hidden vin. I've look at the car in all four corners and the shakers are not there but did come with the car in the trunk lose. I think the trunk pan has been replaced cause no holes but they are on the top where they mount there. I have been under the car and no brace. and i can tell the back seat floor pan has been replaced with just metal on the drivers side ( not very well either) I have looked close at the firewall and dash to see if it has been changed but cant tell till I start tearing it down. Doesnt look like it though. I know if it has that has to be a big job. vin reads 124378L312376(dash) hidden# 8L312376 I've check it several times. I know all of the car is not there and it was always going to be a project. I don't really care cause like all of you I always wanted a car like this and I don't ever plan on selling. If the firewall and all has been changed someone went thru a lot of trouble.
OK, so from what you have posted so far, it sounds like you have a coupe that has had the roof cut off to look like a convertible.
If that is the case, this would not be a car to invest alot of time and money in.
Post some pictures of the bottom of the floor pan and the rear seat area so we can see if the convertible bracing is there.

Richard, can you send me a picture of the trim tag please? I'd like to add your car to the database.

Ed

check if car is two front half coupe back ver could be welded behind front seats cab co used to do this alot with unibody cars

I will try to send you a pic of my tag asap. My computer has crashed and I,m sending this via my blackberry.Till I can figure out what happened.I'm going to take the trim off the windshield at th top to look at it . If it is two cars the top fits perfect.there's no welds I can see from underneath. I'll have to pull the carpet back to check.

Ok I finally have some pics of my tag and floor pan in behind of the front seats. No sign of floor cut in half.

Can you post or email me a picture of the VIN on the dash?

Best shot I could get. Hope it helps!

Rich, it does indeed look like someone at some point has converted the car to a convertible. It also has 67 RS rocker moldings and 67 SS fender emblems, so a lot of "customizing" has been done.

However, I've seen several "conversions" over the years and if done right, the car tracks just fine and is perfectly acceptable. If yours is like this, don't worry about the "numbers" and enjoy the car! Just remember though, if you go to sell it someday, it probably won't command as much money as an actual convertible.

Ed

It drives great ! I did know about the mouldings but the door jambs have the vent that only 68-69 has. There no telling when the mouldings were installed,maybe when the RS front was installed. Since its not a numbers matching car I was going to do a resto mod. I'm haveing a screaming motor being built 427 Small block. So my plan was to just have fun with it. I have no plans of ever selling. Thanks guys for all your help. I was just wondering what the deal was.If it was changed they did a nice job.I might be able to tell when I get more into it.Thanks again
Richard

The rockers (and rear frame rails) have more structure in a convertible than a coupe. I would definitely install subframe connectors to help add strength.

Thanks, That was what I was planning to do and I'm also thinking of going to the Prodigy bar 4 link. I thought that would help also. A little costly though! I'm compareing the systems and prices. Super Chevy here this weekend!!! April 18-19

What about the rear inner quarters and where the top attaches to the body? Do they look like this? (more enclosed on a vert, with extra bracing)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/ekammerer/Picture152-1.jpg


Does it have the full width brace behind the rear seat and into the trunk? There are also reinforcing plates on top of the rear floor boards, just under the front of the rear seat bottom (at the bottom of the top photo below).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/ekammerer/115_1577.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/ekammerer/Picture141.jpg

And it does not have the underbody brace that runs rocker to rocker, with a plate bolted on under the driveshaft, as well as the extra braces at the base of the A-pillar/toeboard area?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/ekammerer/108_0862.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/ekammerer/108_0860.jpg


As Kurt noted, the rockers on a vert have an extra panel inside, there's a picture of a sectioned vert panel here somewhere. The A-pillars and cross bar are different too, but I don't have a disassembled photo of a coupe and vert to show the difference.

No disrespect to you Richard, or anyone else that has commented so far, but...

If what you have is a coupe with the roof cut off, unless you were to go with one of the aftermarket G-machine style full frames (like what Frank did here with "Pete's Camaro http://www.prodigycustoms.com/projects/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=26 , I am certain I have seen full frame but just can't think of who makes them ), it won't be safe. Simple subframe connectors will not cut it.

The inner rockers on my 68 were fairly rotten, and the car began to bow in the center, causing longitudinal stress cracks/tears at the front of the rocker, where it meets the A-pillar/outside cowl. Tying the frames took care of that problem, but then the car still had the heavier vert frame rails, underbody bracing, and all that related stuff.

GM spent a lot of time and money and did a lot of engineering to develop a reinforced body for the convertible F-bodies, and of course relative to today's standards, they are all screaming metal death traps. Still, the General would not have gone to all the trouble to reinforce the verts if they could just hack the roof off and call it good.

Again, not meaning to go hysterical here, but if your car is a coupe with the roof cut off and a vert top attached somehow, it is not safe to drive, and unless you're throwing a whole huge wad of cash at it like was done with Pete's Camaro above, any money you spend will go right down the drain.

Hey Eric thanks for the pictures. I just took the back seat out and the panel off of the quarters. WHAM!! now I can see where the car was changed. I'm just sick!! I've been had!! I guess there's a lot of work ahead. Those braces are in the aftermarket arent they? check pics