the BIG picture of VIN and fender tag creation

[RzeroB]

Okay, I've been fooling around with Mopars for 30+ years and there are many things I don't know or understand about how they were actually made at the factory back in the day. I never worked in a factory or on an assembly line so I don't have a good understanding of mass data tracking in mass manufacturing. Of interest for me today is the creation of the VIN and the fender tag.

Lets talk about the VIN first. I'm one of those guys who does better with a visual aid so I'm going to "bookend" my questions with two '70 HemiCuda's: BS23R0B100003 was the first HemiCuda built on 1 Aug '69; and BS23R0B412035 was one of the last built that year (I don't have the actual build date for this one). There are 412,032 "units" between the two VINs. Plymouth only made about 49,000 Cuda's/Barracuda's in '70 so obviously the VINs don't represent the total number of each model of car built by Plymouth. So what does it mean? Total number of cars across all model lines built by Plymouth in '70? Total number of all cars built by across all brands and model lines by Chrysler in '70?

Next is the fender tag. When was it created in the building process? Was it created when the build sheet was created before actual production began? Did a human input all of the data from the order form into some kind of a computer that concurrently produced a build sheet out of a printer and a fender tag out of a stamping machine? Or did it require a human operator to read the build sheet and then make the inputs into the fender tag stamping machine? When was the fender tag attached to the car; as soon as the unit-body was assembled or near the end of the assembly line? Why are some things like every coded piece of moulding on the fender tag while other things like power steering and wheels (steelies, rallyes, road, etc) are not?

Maybe I'm  and this subject has been answered a dozen times, but I didn't see it and I've always been curious about how the factory went about creating these things. Any insightful input would be most appreciated. Thanks guys!

['Cuda Hunter]

I believe there are a few members here that were on the assembly lines.
Hope they chime in.

 

[Topcat]

Take a look at this:

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=7560628&an=&page=&vc=1

[blown motor]

Go to Archives on this forum. On page 2 there is a topic called How Chrysler Built Cars. It explains a lot of what you are wondering about.

[RzeroB]

Go to Archives on this forum. On page 2 there is a topic called How Chrysler Built Cars. It explains a lot of what you are wondering about.

Read the linked story about Lynch Road production http://www.deadnutson.citymax.com/building_a_mopar.html and it was a very interesting read. I'm really intrigued by the the body building process where they took a bunch of stamp metal parts, placed them in jigs, and then spot welded them into a body. Seen a few random pics on the Hamtramck Historical site of how they created the cars. Too bad they didn't photo/video document the assembly process back then. As a kid I grew up in a town with a Chevy plant. In elementary school we once took a field trip to the plant and it was fascinating watching a bunch of random parts be transformed into a car that was then driven off the end of the line and out the door. Amazing stuff.

[ChallengerHK]

While I was working in Detroit I was on a mission to find the site of the Hamtramck plant. I didn't have any luck, and one day while I was working in the GM Hamtramck plant I asked where the Chrysler plant had been located. The guy I asked said "Right here. They tore down the Chryslere plant to build this one" 

[burdar]

The sole purpose of the fender tag was to show the "body in white" guys how to build the shell.(and to tell the painters what color the car was supposed to be)   That's why only certain codes are on it.  You basically only find fender tag codes that deal with body modifications.  They needed to know if the car got A/C because the firewall was different.  They needed to know if there was a radio because the fender needed a hole for the antenna.  The guys who built the shells didn't need to know the options that didn't require special body mods.  So, the tag had to have been one of the first things made.

The last 6 digits of the VIN aren't model specific.  It would be a combination of all the car lines built at that paticular plant.  Also, cars weren't built in VIN sequence.  They weren't even built on the SPD most times.  The SPD was just when the factory HOPED to build the car.  My car was build 15 days after its SPD.  With the exception of 73-74 E-bodies, you have no way of knowing the accual build date of the car.

[Topcat]

In 1972, my 5th grade class went on a field trip to the Ford Truck Fremont plant.

I still recall watching the drivetrain asemblies being joined to the bodies. It was amazing how fast the trucks were coming together. The bodies were on one line while the drivetrains were on another. Like 2 escalators, they were merging into one and then completed. Was really neat to watch.

 

[burdar]

Up until a few years ago there was a GMC plant in Wisconsin.  We toured it once and I wish I would have gone back.  It was very interesting.  The thing that sticks in my mind was looking at the dip tank.  I saw an overhead conveyor belt moving something through the tank.  I figured it was some small parts.  Then I saw an entire Yukon body rise up out of the tank.

[RzeroB]

The sole purpose of the fender tag was to show the "body in white" guys how to build the shell.(and to tell the painters what color the car was supposed to be)   That's why only certain codes are on it.  You basically only find fender tag codes that deal with body modifications.  They needed to know if the car got A/C because the firewall was different.  They needed to know if there was a radio because the fender needed a hole for the antenna.  The guys who built the shells didn't need to know the options that didn't require special body mods.  So, the tag had to have been one of the first things made.

After reading the link about how Superbirds were made at the Lynch Road plant I can "see" what you mean and now it makes sense as to the fender tag's real purpose. Thanks everybody for elevating my understanding of this topic! 

[hemiguy]

Most excellent question RzeroB

[RzeroB]

Lets talk about the VIN. I'm one of those guys who does better with a visual aid so I'm going to "bookend" my questions with two '70 HemiCuda's: BS23R0B100003 was the first HemiCuda built on 1 Aug '69; and BS23R0B412035 was one of the last built that year (I don't have the actual build date for this one). There are 412,032 "units" between the two VINs. Plymouth only made about 49,000 Cuda's/Barracuda's in '70 so obviously the VINs don't represent the total number of each model of car built by Plymouth. So what does it mean? Total number of cars across all model lines built by Plymouth in '70? Total number of all cars built by across all brands and model lines by Chrysler in '70?

I don't normally take to quoting myself, but I'm still looking for some insight on this one. Anyone have the definitive answer on the last six digits of the VIN? What is it a running tally of?? Enlighten me Sensei 

[burdar]

From my post above...

The last 6 digits of the VIN aren't model specific.  It would be a combination of all the car lines built at that paticular plant.  Also, cars weren't built in VIN sequence.  They weren't even built on the SPD most times.  The SPD was just when the factory HOPED to build the car.  My car was build 15 days after its SPD.  With the exception of 73-74 E-bodies, you have no way of knowing the accual build date of the car.

The first VIN assigned at Hamtramck would have been 100001.  It would be a running total of all cars built there.  Cudas, Challengers, Dusters, Darts exc...  The first car assigned a VIN at the LA plant would have also been 100001.  This is what I believe to be true.  That means two cars built at different plants can have the same sequence number.  The body and plant codes would be different though.       

[RzeroB]

Thanks Burdar. Some how when I read your original post that part of what you were saying didn't quite sink in (at the moment I guess I was more focused on understanding the fender tag??). Thanks for drawing my attention back to it.

From another member on the board I learned that Challenger JH27G0B100013 was supposedly the very first Challenger to come off the line at Hamtramck. I was like "100013 is the first?? How can that be??" But it would make sense if they rolled a dozen Barracuda's off the line first before the first Challenger came off the line right?

I thought maybe the central offices at Highland Park divided up the VINs into batches by brand (Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler) and sent them out to the various plants. With that thinking VINs would be sequential across each brand and not by the individual plant. But what you are saying makes more sense and would have been easier for Chrysler to have managed back in the day.

Thanks again Burdar! 

[burdar]

But it would make sense if they rolled a dozen Barracuda's off the line first before the first Challenger came off the line right?

The VIN has nothing to do with build order.  It just means that 12 other cars were assigned VIN numbers before that Challenger.  I found a build sheet for a Cuda in my Challenger.  The VIN's are over 2000 apart from each other.