The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Vin number on engine block?

The Vin plate on my truck is missing and I need to find out what the vin is.

I have read on this forum that the vin can be found on the engine block just behind the distributor. I did find the " number" , but I think that this is the engine code. I used this number and looked at all of the Chevy vin decoders that I could find. The number is invalid as a VIN. It has a different amount of digits.

Can someone validate that the vin is the same as the block number?

The block number shows as a 1950 3100 216CID

Thanks
Rick

There was no such thing as a VIN in 1950, so don't expect any number you have, unless it was assigned much later by a DMV, to have the correct number of digits for a modern VIN. There was a body serial number on the data plate and a stamped engine serial number to the rear of the distributor. The engine serial number did not appear on the data plate except in Canada. In the U.S., the engine serial number was usually used for registration purposes in most states.

Most states used the engine number (the one behind the distributor) as the VIN through 1955. This is discussed a lot here. If you have a good title and the number on the title doesn't match the number behind the distributor, the engine has probably been changed. If the number doesn't match, or you don't have a title, you'll need to contact your state's titling agency to determine their procedure for assigning a VIN to the vehicle. The number on your data plate were it there would have been the vehicle serial number.