vin codes

[demon9766]

hey guys , does anyone know of a web page that decodes vin#'s to tell what the car was equiped with from the factory.If so please give me a link to it. AND BY THE WAY NOT ANY OF THAT CARFAX JUNK. Thanks for the help.

[wrightz28]

Do you just mean engine codes?

[Earlsfat]

And what year (assuming it's maro)?

Anything prior to 70 or 71 (Correct me if I'm wrong on the year but it's somewhere around there) you will need the build sheet for specifics.

[demon9766]

well it's a 1979 z28 that has been by the beach so the axle code is not there anymore and there is a little body rust, but i can save it from the junk yard. But it has somethings that trouble me . One thing is that the title said that it is a 79 but it has a cowl induction hood like the 1980's and not the ram air that the 79's had. and like i said all the part codes are gone except the vin.I really dont care about the LM 350 thats in it i have a motor to put in it. I really want to know what rear end is in it with out having to open it up because i don't own it yet. the vin # is 1Q87D9L500291

[Earlsfat]

Originally Posted by demon9766

well it's a 1979 z28 that has been by the beach so the axle code is not there anymore and there is a little body rust, but i can save it from the junk yard. But it has somethings that trouble me . One thing is that the title said that it is a 79 but it has a cowl induction hood like the 1980's and not the ram air that the 79's had. and like i said all the part codes are gone except the vin.I really dont care about the LM 350 thats in it i have a motor to put in it. I really want to know what rear end is in it with out having to open it up because i don't own it yet. the vin # is 1Q87D9L500291

1. I wouldn't worry much about the hood, they're a couple hundred for fiberglass replacements.
2. As fas as the rear is, you should be able to jack it up, put it in neutral put a mark on the driveshaft and one of the rear tires, and rotate the tire... counts the # rotations the tire makes until the driuve shaft spins one revolution... that's going to be close to the rear end ratio and you can make a decent educated guess at that point. (IE if the rear tires spins 3.5 times you probably haev 3.55's, if it spins 2.75 times you have 2.73's. etc.

I wouldn't worry much about the rear though... you're putting a new motor in it, it's obviously been worked on as it has a new hood, you can get a rear out of a junk yark / salvage yard, and with the volume of those around, you should be able to pick up a decent 10 bolt and put it in.

How much do you think it will cost you? If it's cheap, I wouldn't worry about the extra cash for stuff like rear ends and hoods... unless your looking to do a concours type restore.