Hi everyone,

My name is Dallas & I am a newbie. I just finished doing my 1st post over on the "Newbie Forum", so now, I'm ready to jump into the deep end of the pool..... sorta speak.

Question? Is this the right forum to discuss a '64 Jetstar I

 

Depends on the question? But it's a good place to start!

 

The 1st thing I want to learn is how to identify the car's history. Is that in the VIN? Or, is there other places on the car to look?

 

Right place, but let's make that a Jetstar, vs a Jeststar. Fixed the title for ya!
Welcome to CO!!

 

There is no source for this kind of information. The VIN on '64 Oldsmobiles will tell you very little that you don't already know. They are of the form 834M229642 where the first digit gives you the number of cylinders, the second the series (Cutlass, Dynamic 88, 98, etc.), the third digit the year, the fourth character the plant of manufacture, and the last six the sequence number at the plant. You already know all of the info except the plant of manufacture.

The body cowl tag, which is under the hood either on the firewall or on the cowl on the passenger side, will give you info on some options that were installed as part of the body installation, such as paint color, type and color of seats and that sort of thing. There will also be a number-letter code that gives the month and week the car was made. For example, 05D would indicate the car was made the fourth week (D) of May (05) during the production year in question.

There is no central repository of information on the history, particularly the ownership history, of these old cars. We all wish there was. Your best and likely only hope is to get whatever info you can from whoever sells you the car. With any luck, they might know about prior owners, maybe how many there were and how long each owned the car. If you're very lucky, some original paperwork might still be with the car showing where it was originally sold. But all of this is strictly hit or miss. Many of us have little or no information on this history of cars, and we just enjoy them for what they are.

 

Thnx for the info.
Last question about paperwork. From watching auctions (i.e., Mecum), I hear the commentators talk about "build sheets." Is this paperwork that is mysteriously hidden in the car?

 

A very apt description.

They are mysterious, and they MAY be hidden SOMEWHERE in your car.

Others who know your year and model can tell you more about how likely you are to find one and where best to look.

- Eric

 

There is no guarantee that there is a build sheet in your car, and there is no way to know where it is if there is one. I actually don't hear very often about them being found in cars as old as yours. It's usually later '60s and '70s cars that are found to have one.

Legend has it that build sheets were, by policy, not left in Lansing-built cars. But occasionally people do appear to find them in such cars.

The important thing to know is that build sheets were for use by the factory workers as the car went down the line. There was no rhyme or reason as to whether they were left in the car somewhere or not, and, if they were, where they were left. They were never meant to be seen by the customer.

People have reported finding them all over, including taped to the top of the gas tank, inside one of the doors, under the carpet, or buried up inside one of the seats somewhere. When people find them, it's pretty much always because they were doing some other repair or doing a major restoration, and came across the thing in the course of doing that.

It's usually not a good idea to try to find it because you pretty much have little idea where to look, and you most likely have to do some significant disassembly just to look in those hard to find places in the first place. And that's assuming that the thing is even there.

If it were me, I wouldn't worry about it. It might be there, and it might not be, you might find it, and you might not. If you buy a car like that one that was for sale at Charlotte, which is pretty much complete and not apparently in need of much, it would be a shame to start tearing it apart in the very outside chance that you might actually find something.

Remember, too, that it's possible that a prior owner might have found it, and it's long gone now.

 

Thnx for those words of wisdom. And, you're right about the Jetstar I at Charlotte...... it certainly looks ready to enjoy.