I have a '67 400 coupe with a June '67 build date. Last weekend I stumbled upon a partial VIN stamped into the top of my cowl area in front of one of the large vent holes (in front of the windshield). It is on the right side, upside down (when viewed from the front), and contains the 6th through 12th digits.

I found this strange since the (official) VIN tags are riveted and in '67 they did not even bother to stamp the engine blocks.

1) How many of the rest of you have found partial VIN stampings in strange places?

2) If this was a common practice, why all the fuss about VIN tag swaps on clones? One would be able to fine these partial VIN's and uncover the fraud.

That should be "find these partial VIN's"

By the way, this VIN is only viewable because the car is pretty much stripped down and the cowl filler piece between the hood and windshield is off.

Inside a frame rail is another common place for the car's "serial" number. (Usually just the last 6 digites of the VIN) The place where the VIN is stamped is usually later covered with undercoating or has something else bolted on top of it that never gets removed - like a steering box.

Another common vin stamp location is on the firewall behind the heater core cover.

fyi

These are called Cop VIN's. All cars have them, they are used from crime and insurance investigation.

The locations are only known to those people that need to know but persons restoring the cars have found them on the body and the frame. This started first on the high performance cars but became standard on all cars from 1968 on. Federally mandated.

Here's a link all hobbists should read penalty for removing VIN\'s