help decode my vin

[coops714x4]

this is on a 72. CCE332S191157, here is what I know C=CHEVY, C=2WD, E=V8, 3=1 TON, 3=?? CAB & CHASSIS, 2= 1972, S= St. Louis Plant , the SPID is gone so how can I tell what motor, what transmission. color, trim , and anything else without the SPID .. I have been told that you can find out just with the VIN what a truck is and had from the factory, but I don't know how to tell... any help is appreciated. Coop

[bruceman1968]

Coop, you can't tell any of that stuff from the vin. You need the SPID, or build sheet, or protectoplate, or window sticker. if you don't have any of those documents then you just have to look and guess.

[69C-owner]

Well Coop heres what I can tell you, I'm nearly sure that GM wasnt keeping any type of record of options in 72 but there are some sites that will show every option on a vehicle with just the vin on newer models, if someone finds that setup for 67-72 then thatll b awesome

[SS Tim]

Sorry, but you pretty much have all you are going to get from the numbers. Engine designator is only type. But we know it would be a 350 or a 400(402). Transmission, trim, color and such are all down to detective work. An incomplete truck is easier than a bare cab, but still even then some options can be determined from existing configuration. Without a SPID it is very unlikley to know how it was built but good, educated guesses can be made. Is the SPID peeled or is the door missing? Might just be in someones collection.

C Chevrolet
C Conventional Cab 4X2
E V8 Gasoline
3 6600-14000 lb GVW range (aka a 1 Ton)
3 Chassis cab model
2 1972
S St. Louis assembly plant
191957 vehicle number

We can develope the model number though, it would be CE31003 or CE31403 depending on wheelbase. 10 (133"wb) has a 60-65" cab to axle and 14 (157"wb) has a 84-89" cab to axle range.

[coops714x4]

SS Tim, the SPID is there but the door was left open and its so faded I cant read it. the truck appears to be all stock and its a 1 owner truck. Now here is why I'm asking questions I have NEVER seen a 1 ton with a 5 speed and no its not a later model and its not a overdrive it appears to be what I cal a "working" 5 like what you would find in a 50 or 60 series truck. now if that's not strange enough it appears to have a 2 speed rear end, I got under it and looked from the back its a BIG round pumpkin with 10 bolts, it looks like the corporate 10 bolt that's under my K20 but BIGGER. I haven't got to drive it yet, I got to put tires and wheels on it first (still has split rims) it's a 402 that just PURRS. now back to the SPID even tho I can't read anything on it I can tell there is a whole list of options ???? and I don't see them on the truck, no a/c, no guage's, plain interior, nothing... now I know a SPID on a special order truck will show things like the transmission, special rear end, dual wheels, things like that but from what I see there is way more on the SPID than what I can find on the truck. I do know the truck was special ordered. the title is still in the guy who bought the truck news name and I am getting it from his son. my question is WHAT is all the stuff on the spid ?????

[SS Tim]

Sounds like something special. Don't remember seeing a five speed or a two speed rear in less than a C50 but almost anything was possible through the COPO office for a price. IHC did offer big truck direct and OD trans in their pickups. Fleet and especially govt. order trucks load up the SPID with everything from trans. to magnetic drain plugs to warning decals that are line or package coded. Seen some with three quarters of the SPID 9000 coded. Below is a C10 Panel SPID as an example. Love to see pictures of yours soon though. Now you didn't go forward spending Grille Guard profits already did you? :-)
Anyway be careful to protect the SPID.

[coops714x4]

well its a puzzle that I have got to figure out Ill know more when I get the truck home, no I didn't spend a dime on it really, I'm a horse trader LOL. traded a couple of small block motors for it. I'm still layed up from surgery, IF my wife knew what I did looking at it she would skin me, kinda pulled a couple of staples a little. Ill try to get pics of the spid when he delivers it, I couldn't read nothing, could just tell there was a lot there. I did some horse trading a while back and came up with a Holmes 440 wrecker bed and I think I'm going to put it on this truck. thanks for the info Tim and Ill post some pics as soon as I can. Oh the truck was special ordered as I said before, it has a flat bed with a gooseneck ball, the guy worked for a horse trailer company, he had a trailer he pulled and delivered horse trailers all over the U.S. with it. I am anxious to find out more about my new toy

[special-K]

Did it have 10 lugs rear/5 lugs front? I also have never seen a 5spd/2spd combo in a GM light truck,but do know IH did it (and always wanted to get that stuff). I also know there were the heavier C30/C3500 with the 13,000# axle which gave you the lug pattern I described before. The rear is the next bigger version of the HO72. Those trucks are light trucks with medium duty underpinnings. They should be C40/C4500s but GM already went to the Medium Duty platform with that series. In the prior body design,60-66,GM built C40s as light trucks,like these C30s w/13,000# axle option. I imagine GM would have/could have installed the 5spd/2spd in one of these trucks. I wonder if there's someone who can pull up that type from the impressions made. Hmmm...

[ChevLoRay]

The good thing is that you can get a new SPID sheet from one of the members here. Make it what you want it to be. Since you don't have a legible original, do your homework and look at what it has for options, colors, etc.

You won't be the first, and you won't be the last. I have my original SPID, but the cab I'm using will get a new SPID. The sheet on my replacement cab glove box door, is also an original, but the replacement one will reflect what my truck will be when I am done. Not gonna pad it with stuff, just gonna have it read right for what it will have when it is done. Is it wrong to do it that way? Depends on what you tell a potential buyer. For me, it's gonna be passed on to my youngest son, and he knows what it was at the git-go and has seen it come apart and will (hopefully) be there when it is done.

[coops714x4]

UPDATE, and man do I feel kinda dumb... first- the truck does NOT have a 2 speed rear end, It does have the eaton electric 2 speed lever on the gear shift--- it has a elec. sol. to engage the PTO I never even looked at that what I thought was just a flat steel bed with a tool box underneath is actually a dump bed, JEEZ I FEEL DUMB, now I looked at the rear end again It looks just like my corp.10 bolt under my K20 but its quite a bit bigger, it's got the reg 8 lug 1 ton wheels ???? so what is it ?
Next the transmission- i found a metal tag that says clark on it, it seems to have some numbers stamped in it but I can't read them under the truck, if I can get a wrench up there Ill take it off but for now does anyone have any info, and yes its a 5 speed, I've never heard of a clark transmission before.
man I feel like a real dumba%* I never thought that someone would use a 2spd lever for a PTO...

[coops714x4]

SS Tim, special-K, Chime in here, you guy's know a lot about these truck and I need your info. I have never heard of a clark transmission, and how do I tell what rear end it is, I was told there are numbers to identify the rear end and gear ratio, where are these numbers at. I tried taking pics of the SPID but the flash reflected on it to much and without the flash it looks like there is nothing on it. I did talk to a guy today that told me I can take the spid to OU and there criminal science dept. can tell me what is on it, I think I am going to call them and find out. Coop

[BLAZERMAN]

Clark transmissions have been around for a looong time! used in medium to heavy duty trucks and busses. If you have one in that truck its been swapped in...and if your Very lucky the ID tag will read 280VO, Thats the 5 speed overdrive and very hard to find.

[coops714x4]

blazerman, so they were never installed from the factory as a option, even special order ???

[BLAZERMAN]

I'm not going to say it couldnt have been..I've never seen or heard of any in the C/30 and under Chevys...but they were around at the time and used by GM so I guess anything is possible.

[BLAZERMAN]

Do you have any pics?

[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by BLAZERMAN

Clark transmissions have been around for a looong time! used in medium to heavy duty trucks and busses. If you have one in that truck its been swapped in...and if your Very lucky the ID tag will read 280VO, Thats the 5 speed overdrive and very hard to find.

Agreed, But being factory seems a very low probability. It is in all likelihood swapped in, possibly with factory parts from something heavier. As to the rear end, when you say "it looks like a 10 bolt" is this in general and means simply an integral carrier axle vs. a drop out carrier? We really need pictures outside and under. There is a RPO 11K axle for the 30 series and I'd think that is what you have. BTW, you never mentioned the GVW stamped in the door plate. That could tell us something. If its above 14K we are dealing out of my range of documentation at the moment. If you post some pics of what you have, maybe we can get someone to crack open their Truck Data Book for '72.
I've been and still am really tied up with dog issues. So any quick responses from me are unlikly for the time being.

Here have some fun... watch the dates though.

http://www.chevyc60.com/the_transmission_page.htm

[coops714x4]

I'll get pics ASAP. the rear end LOOKS just like the corporate 10 bolt under my K20 but its BIGGER (prob just a heaver version) I will get pics of the GVW plate and the rear end. I am also going to pull the trans hump to see if I can get to that clark tag. thanks a bunch guys I'll get the pics and post, then hopefully we can figure this out, Oh BLAZERMAN the shift pattern seems to be the same as a SM465 but a 5th gear above reverse, does that tell you anything?? Coop