Deciphering the scribbles on my doors

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Deciphering the scribbles on my doors

Postby GDTDMC12 » Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:22 pm

Hi,

I recently read about what some of the markings found written on the doors. I learned about the Key Code, VIN and born on date. The following are photos of my doors,

Drivers Side Door:
Image

Passenger Side Door:
Image

As can be seen, the VIN given is 11606 which was re-assigned to 16606. Does anyone know any specific details as to when the re-assignment to the 16xxx range would have taken place.

The Born on date, as I read it to be known as, is 15th January 1982. I don't know what the symbol/initial followed by the 11.00 means. I thought the symbol could be a "B" from some angles for Born, or the mark could be an "@". Does anyone know if the "11.00" would be the time of completion/engine start up or similar? Alternatively if anyone knows the true definition of "born on date" or what this date and apparent time actually means I would be interested to know. I imagine therefore that my car would have sat around at the Dunmurry factory for some time before being shipped to the USA and having had it's new VIN plate added which states the manufacture date at Aug 1982.

Also there are other markings in these photos. If anyone is able to shed any light on what they could mean I would love to know as I build a picture of the history of my D.

Any help, information and opinion anyone is able to provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
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Re: Deciphering the scribbles on my doors

Postby MikeWard » Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:37 pm

The short answer is that when the company went bust, a large number of DeLorean's manufactured in '82 remained unsold. In order to make these cars appear newer than they were, they were re-vinned to make them appear as an '83 model.

James Espey made a post about it which went into more detail, if I find it I'll post it.
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Re: Deciphering the scribbles on my doors

Postby MikeWard » Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:43 pm

Here it is:

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Information

The 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number can be found in two places on the DeLorean car. One is on the small metal plate in the upper left corner of the dashboard (in front of the driver, forward of the speedometer housing), attached with either pop rivets or glued in place. The second is the Federal Compliance plate which is attached with pop rivets to the infill panel at about knee level in the driver's side (LHD cars) door jamb. This plate also has the month and year that the car was built.

SCE = World Manufacturer Code

D = Car Line

T = Series

2 = Body Type (2 door)

6 = Engine (all were 2.8 liter V6)

T = Restraint System (Active, meaning the user has to actively utilize it)

X = Check Digit (mathematically calculated to verify the complete VIN)

B, C or D = Model Year (B=1981, C=1982, D=1983)

D = Plant of Manufacture (Dunmurry)

000000 = Serial Number


The first production car carries VIN 000500 and 1981 production ended at the end of November 1981 with VIN 007199.

1982 production began in December 1981 with VIN 010001, but the complete VIN series for the 1982 and 1983 models are subject to debate. The factory stopped shipping cars to the states in early 1982, though assembly of cars continued up until May of 1982. More than 1,000 cars with 1982 VIN's were given revised VIN's by the company that bought these cars (Consolidated International) and parts from the Receiver in October of 1982. The reason for this was that by the time these already assembled 1982 models were shipped to the states, it would be well into the 1983 model year, and these new cars would already appear to be one year old.

These cars, originally with VIN's ending in CD010XXX, CD011XXX and CD012XXX had their VIN plates replaced with DD015XXX, DD016XXX and DD017XXX numbers before shipment to the states. Evidence of this is most plainly seen by removing the headliners of these cars, where in almost all cases, the original VIN was written during production. Most, if not all of these cars also have the dash VIN plate glued on, rather than pop-riveted, owing to the difficulty of pop-riveting a dash plate into a dash with the windshield installed.

When Consolidated purchased the completed cars, they also bought the cars sitting (partially assembled) on the then-idled production line. Consolidated brought back some former employees to complete these cars, which were given DD020XXX VIN's.

NOTES: The last 5 digits of the VIN are also often written on the door under the headliner. It is also common to find a 5-digit VIN written on the frame after removing the rear bumper. This VIN rarely if ever matches that of the car; it will typically be off by a few numbers as things moved around a bit during assembly. There is also a number welded on the frame. It bears no relationship to the vehicle's VIN. There is also a number on a metal plate riveted to the engine block. It bears no relationship to the vehicle's VIN. There is no such thing as a "numbers matching" DeLorean!

Written by James Espey, DeLorean Motor Company (Texas)
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