edward.watson75@gmail.com

I am in the process of completing a restoration of a 1968 442 3-speed automatic 325 HP.
I have a replacement tag for this car. However, I need to be sure I record the proper information on this tag. Can someone assist me with this?

Also, how can I be completely sure my car is a numbers car?

Octania

"my car is a numbers car" - ???

Not sure what that means

I am guessing that you are having the cowl tag re-made to match the car, and want it to accurately reflect the car's current state of option dress? That can get complicated. Has anything been added or deleted since it left the factory? It seems that is pretty common.

Rather than append a new inquiry to a thread from last summer, perhaps start your own new thread of discussion? I know, when you are new to this site, all you see is helpful things at the bottom of the page- they sound relevant- but if you look closely, you see they might be months or years olds.

joe_padavano

Welcome. As Chris noted, hijacking a six month old thread in the Cars for Sale section is not the best way to get an answer to a technical question.

Besides, a "442" is already a "numbers" car...

(Sorry, SOMEONE had to say it...)

I can take the snide way out and point out that if you are restamping the cowl tag, it can be made to match whatever numbers you want. This is a slippery slope. As for what numbers actually match on the car, there are only three VIN derivative stamps from the factory, one on the block, one on the trans, and one on the frame. The block and trans stamps are shown in the Chassis Service Manual, which I assume you already have if you are completing a restoration. The frame stamp is usually located on the driver's side frame rail, on top, in front of the kick up by the rear axle. Anything else will be either a casting number or a date code, and while those can be "correct" for a given car, they won't "match" anything. Typically the date codes of components should be within a month of the build date on the cowl tag (which you can now make anything you want) however up to 90 days prior is not unheard of.

And if I sound a little snarky, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of a "numbers matching" car with a recreated cowl tag. Sorry, but that's a slippery slope.

Gary M

I would put exactly what was on the old one on the new one.If you have the old one. If not maybe somewhere in the car you can find some documentation. Good luck. Post some pictures of the car. We love pictures.

CutlassDad

I would agree with Joe's "slippery slope" term. Aren't there some pretty specific federal laws concerning vehicle ID numbers and the tags that show them?
Gerry

joe_padavano

Cowl tags (at least from the period in question) do not contain any unique VIN information and are not traceable to a specific VIN. They are not federally regulated in any way.

Heck, in the 1968 model year, most 442 cowl tags showed a 36xx body code, not a 44xx code.

BangScreech4-4-2

Yeah, my '69 has the same quirk.


But something tells me we won't be seeing OP again ...