Hi there. I have a 1970 GMC New Look Bus (model # T6H5305, coach # C525) and I can't find the VIN to register it. I've looked in the usual suspects (engine compartment, front windshield, overhead scrolling banner compartment) to no avail.
Does anyone here have any experience with these old ladies and can point me in the right direction?
Regards,
Mike
I don't know for sure on your model bus but i have a 1967 4107 and my serial # is stamped on the drivers side frame rail in front of the drivers side front tire. You should see yourserial number the one you listed above stamped there as it is where the gm factory stamped them at that time. Good luck bring flashlight
Does your bus have a compartment under the driver, just behind the front bumper? Open it up, and you'll likely see a VIN stamped on the plate covering the steering shaft. That's where GM put it on their parlor coaches, and I assume that it's somewhere similar on yours.
Mike, do you have the builders' plate still mounted on the front dash. As you enter the front door, immediately to your right, a brown rectangular plate. Should say something like GM Coach, with the model and serial number. T6H 5305 xxxx, where xxxx is the serial. I've not seen a serial preceded by a letter (C), but if that's what your plate shows, that is the VIN.
My original thought was that the C525 was a fleet number from the original transit property. My second thought, though, was that it may have been built in Canada, at GM's London Ontario plant. I bought a small fleet of Canadian fishbowls but got transferred before they were delivered -- so haven't personally seen a Canadian fishbowl builders plate. That may be their nomenclature.
On coaches, the VIN is also stamped on the left front frame rail under the bus, as previously mentioned. I don't know about transits. If you don't get an answer, I'll refer to one of my maintenance manuals to see if it's mentioned, but I'm tied up today.
Arthur
Like noted the only place you find the serial number is on the tag on the dash compartment door on those
Had a little time, so here's a scan of the Maintenance Manual page that discusses fishbowl Model/Serial Numbers.
Arthur
Wow. This is wonderful. Thanks for the immediate replies. This community is vibrant! I will check all of your recommendations as soon as his rain lets up.
In the mean time, I have this, the manufacturer placard....
Quote from: mikek on June 08, 2020, 08:53:01 AM
Wow. This is wonderful. Thanks for the immediate replies. This community is vibrant! I will check all of your recommendations as soon as his rain lets up.
In the mean time, I have this, the manufacturer placard....
According to the PDF posted by Runcutter the serial at the bottom right of the plate is it.
Yes, that's your Builders' Plate. Model and Serial are the VIN, before the 1981 NHTSA rule for 17-digit VIN's. You may need documentation that this was standard for pre-1981 vehicles, if your motor vehicle registration department is not customer friendly.
So, Builders' Plate indicates it was a London-built bus. They continued building fishbowls after Pontiac converted to building RTS's, and sold to both US and Canadian properties. I spec'd 10 of them for TANK (Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky), about 1979 or so. Do you know what transit system it came from?
Arthur
Thanks. I traced the model and coach number over the interwebs and narrowed it down to Windsor, Ontario. Well, actually, the coaches with numbers just prior to mine were sent to Windsor, so I would be only guessing that it went there.
So, that's a big negative on the front wheel frame. I found what MIGHT be a serial number of some kind in the engine, but the location in that manual is blocked. I will send a couple of pictures. This is the number, if you can't read it. EL10689.
This can't be the VIN, can it?
I tried to use the model and coach number at the registry, to no avail. They seem to think it must be 17 digits. So, I will try the "provide the relevant information...which they should already know about" approach when I go to register the bus again.
Red tape.....really sucks.
Ask for a supervisor next time you go. VINs were not standardized until 1981, when the 17-digit number became the standard. They should be plenty aware that there are vehicles with shorter numbers and have a method for entering them.
The numbers on the block are not the vehicle VIN - they are the engine serial number.
Take a good photo of the manufacturer's plaque you have and take it with you. This is a problem that any good supervisor should be able to straighten out.
That is not the engine serial or model number look below the head on the block
"This is a problem that any good supervisor should be able to straighten out".
I don't think this applies to bureaucrats
With the bureaucracy "good supervisor" is an oxymoron
The entire VIN, everything you need, is on the brown Builders' Plate. Engines have nothing to do with registration, you may need those numbers for future maintenance issues.
While coaches have an access door to the tool compartment, justifying the number stamped into the frame rails, that location is inaccessible on a transit (unless you have a pit or lift). So, I'm not surprised that there is no VIN stamped there. If there were, it would echo the numbers on the plate riveted to the dashboard -- that you already have.
You'll notice that a lot of us put our location, vehicle type in our signatures. You might want to add yours, see mine (and others) for examples. That way, if there is someone near you, in-person help may be obtainable. Also, we're shooting in the dark regarding registration, since we don't know what state or province you're dealing with. As an example, when I bought our 4107 in New Hampshire and needed temporary tags, all it took was a local law enforcement officer to visit the coach, see the VIN, and certify it. If we know where you are, odds are someone hear will have more specific info that might help with your motor vehicle registration authority.
Arthur
Thanks for all the help and advice, folks. I'm going to give the registry what I've learned here and see what happens.
And yes...... bureaucracy is the antithesis of progress.