New Look Bus VIN

mikek · June 08, 2020, 02:20:45 AM

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

Knuckles · June 08, 2020, 04:39:49 AM

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

richard5933 · June 08, 2020, 04:42:18 AM

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.

Runcutter · June 08, 2020, 05:58:05 AM

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

luvrbus · June 08, 2020, 06:11:26 AM

Like noted the only place you find the serial number is on the tag on the dash compartment door on those

Runcutter · June 08, 2020, 07:51:41 AM

Had a little time, so here's a scan of the Maintenance Manual page that discusses fishbowl Model/Serial Numbers.

Arthur

mikek · 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....

benherman1 · June 08, 2020, 11:43:48 AM

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.

Runcutter · June 08, 2020, 12:36:00 PM

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

mikek · June 08, 2020, 01:07:36 PM

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.

mikek · June 08, 2020, 02:00:11 PM

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?

mikek · June 08, 2020, 02:44:34 PM

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.

richard5933 · June 08, 2020, 03:18:45 PM

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.

luvrbus · June 08, 2020, 03:21:32 PM

That is not the engine serial or model number look below the head on the block

Fred Mc · June 08, 2020, 05:04:09 PM

"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