Serial Number Or Vin Questions

WYOMIKE, $ sink and I have started working on a VIN project since there are a lot of questions relating to VIN numbers, month/year of manufacture, paint and trim, etc. I've created a PDF document (that is a work in progress at this point) that is a guide to where VINs / serial numbers, engine codes, and paint and trim codes are located and what they mean. I will be updating it as time permits.

The document is a 750 kb file located HERE, you'll need a PDF reader to view it such as Adobe Acrobat, Foxreader, etc.

The starting VIN for each month of Jan 1960 through June 1967 is documented well, but the prior and later years appear to have little documentation relating to what serial numbers come from what month or even year. We are attempting to help narrow down the month / year boundaries with your help. We thought while we were at it, this may also be an opportunity to help narrow down when certain production changes occurred (like shackle reversal, snorkel cutout, etc).

We're asking for your help. If you would like to participate in this project, please pm or email the following info to either myself (I prefer email, I'm not good about keeping my pm box cleared), WYOMIKE, or $ sink. You can post it here, but if you want to keep your VIN from being associated to you on the WWW I would suggest pm or email.

We are looking for any of the following information should you choose to contribute:

1. VIN #?
2. Month/Year of manufacture from dash tag?
3. Model year registered as?
4. Factory Front Shackle Reversal (Yes/No) (Early CJ5's came with the front axle shackles to the rear)?
5. Model 25 or Model 27 front axle?
6. Snorkel Cutout on hood (Yes / No)?
7. Windshield Frame Configuration (top mounted wipers, bottom mounted wipers with top of glass flat, bottom mounted wipers with top of glass arched)?
8. Large or small front turn signals?
9. Tapered or flanged rear axle?
10. Underseat or rear mounted fuel tank?
11. Hood mounted reflectors, front fender mounted markers, no markers / hood reflectors?
12. Windshield washers?
13. Single / Dual stick transfer case?
14. Paint and Trim codes?
15. Battery box cover on cowl?
16. Bow sockets on rear body corners?
17. 12V / 6V?
18. Foot starter button / key start?
19. Wiper (1 or 2) manual or electric?
20. Hood safety latch / prop rod?


If there are other production changes we should try to track, please let us know.

If you come across other info that may be useful to this project, please submit it.

If you find any errors in the above document, again, please let me know and I will correct it.


EDIT: Added this information to this post so it would show up on the first page of the thread (since all the VIN threads have been merged).


I'm thinking about getting some of the decals advertised here, and was wondering if there is a way to determine the approximate date of manufacture from the VIN number?

Thanks, Zoomer

The document is a 750 kb file located HERE, you'll need a PDF reader to view it such as Adobe Acrobat, Foxreader, etc.

 

There are several of us here with 1970 CJ5s. What's your VIN? Maybe we can narrow it down by comparing it to ours.

 

My VIN number is 8305017361782. Thanks for the help!

Zoomer

 

Your serial number is about 2900 units behind two other '70 CJ5 owners that have a March 1970 build. Perhaps others will chime in to narrow it down a little further.

 

I forgot to mention one caveat to my last post. I've read somewhere that the serial numbers from Kaiser do not necessarily represent the order of manufacture. Maybe someone can confirm or deny this statement.

 

Jeep Universal Parts Catalog, issued December 1, 1970, pages Ge- 3 and 4, states specifically that digits eight thru thirteen are for the SEQUENTIAL SERIAL NUMBER. I quote, "The current Vehicle Serial Number consists of two groups of digits. The first group of seven (7) digits identify Chassis Code, Body Type, Special Model Code, Drive Code, and Engines. The remaining five (5) digits on earlier models, or six (6) digits on current models, indicate the Sequential Serial Number." This strongly suggests that the SNs do in fact represent the order of manufacture. Anybody else know more?

FYI: my SN is 8305017 366671 and is an August 1970 build.

 

Is it possible that serial numbers were issued sequentially based on factory orders but the actual build taking place out of sequence?

 

We've been working on this same problem on the Jeepster forum. The numbers were in order as built as far as we can tell by matching serial numbers with built dates from different owners.

 

Sounds good Jeep_Lizard. Looks like we got Zoomer's CJ5 build from January to March assuming the manufacturer started the sequence from January. Hopefully, others will join in with their VINs to narrow it down further.

 

Mine is 8305 017 362377, and is "supposedly" a 1969...

 

Flyer, when you say my serial number is 2900 units behind two other '70 CJ5 owners that have a March 1970 build, do you mean 2900 lower serial number? If that's the case, and 8305017 366671 is an August build, that means there were 4898 units between my build date and August, and 2900 between my build date and March. That means they produced about 398 units per month between March and Aug ((4889 - 2900) / 5 months). Taking that back to my serial number that would put me about 7 months (2900/398) before March if production was pretty constant at about 400 per month. That would put my build about September of '69. If by 2900 behind you mean a higher serial number, between March and August, I'll have to re-calculate that. Did they start the new model year in about September like they do now back in '69 - '70? If that's the case, a build of September is plausible. Does anyone know about how many were produced for the 1970 production year? Thanks for all your help guys!

 

Zoomer,
What I meant was that your serial number is about 2900 less than two other owners of CJ5s with a build date of March 1970. Sorry for the confusion. I don't know what to tell you about where your vehicle fits in based on ArkansasCub's serial number. Maybe others can shed some additional light on the situation. As for total production figures, according to the Jeep Illustrated Buyer's Guide by Jim Allen, there were 13,518 CJ5s produced in 1970.

 

VIN Numbers

I know we have covered this before but I did a search and can't find it. Where is a list of vin numbers for the CJ5's? Does anyone have a link?

 

Re: VIN Numbers

Greg, it's out there somewhere. IIRC, it was either "Bill F" or "Bill falconer" (or somebody similar to that) who put out a special VIN list about a year ago. Not sure if it covered 1970 CJ-5s though. I couldn't find it on my searchses either. Does somebody have that link? Or, can someone please chime in with a '70 that has a known month of manufacture? Greg's serial number is 363102. Let's at least see how close we can get to identifying the date of birth for his CJ.

 

Re: VIN Numbers

The 3 links below should take you to the 1960-1967 CJ5 serial numbers.

The column labelled 8305 is the CJ5.


http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/Photos/SerialNumbers/SerialNosMonthly6063.gif
http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/Photos/SerialNumbers/SerialNosMonthly6365.gif
http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/Photos/SerialNumbers/SerialNosMonthly6567.gif

 

Re: VIN Numbers

Thanks, but we're looking for 1970 data. Anyone? Brad what's your s/n?

 

Re: VIN Numbers

Well then in case it helps, Per AMC dealer price list Page 4 issued Jan 4 1971, beginning serial number for Universal CJ5 is 8305015-273,245 for 1971 model year.

 

Re: VIN Numbers

i can give you my serial for a 69 but i can tell you when in 69 it was made.

 

Re: VIN Numbers

I have a late '69...

October 1969, Serial Number 8305017 362713

I hope this helps.

Jim

 

Re: VIN Numbers

Thanks Jim!!! The difference between s/n's is only 389, which I'd think would have rolled off the assembly line in about a month or 2. Not sure tho. But we're close. Anyone else care to post their '69 or '70 s/n??