A couple 71/72 cab and vin questions.

[CG]

Are the door jambs the same on 71 and 72? I have that black plastic vent thing on my 71 door jamb and it has a couple of chunks missing off of it, need to know if its a 71 only thing.

This was once a motor home and there is no rear view mirror. The pad is there and the holes to mount a mirror are there. It may or may not have had one originally (doesn't look like it), it would have been useless on the motor home anyway. I was curious is the 72 different right there (mounting pad?) since the mirror is mounted on the windshield?

Lastly can you clean and polish a vin without messing up the blue lettering? There is a little paint on this and I would like to give it a nice sprucing up. And come to think about it the vin for my 71 SWB K10 also has a bunch of paint on it that would be nice to get off and give the vin a nice polishing without messing up the blue lettering on it.

[Sheepdip]

72 rear view mirrors were originally glued to the windshield but a lot of them were changed to 71 style that screwed to the metal just above the windshield.

I think 71 had a raised mounting pad for the mirror and was eliminated in 72 but you could still mount the mirror against the flat surface.

I know on my 72 SWB 4x4 the mirror fell off so many times I finally went to the wrecking yard and got a screw on mirror.

[CG]

If someone has a pic handy of a 72 inner roof section where all the other years mount their mirrors Id like to see it. Just seems odd to me they would make a whole different inner roof just because they decide window mounting was a good idea.

Still hoping someone has cleaned and polished a vin plate that has the blue lettering on it. Curious how they did it and how it turned out.

[gmc684x4]

Yes 72 trucks had no mount pad on the roof inner skin
On the 72s wing window is different too

[Stocker]

My '72 has the black plastic vent in the door jamb..... however, if it makes a difference, it's an early '72 MY, built in August 1971.

[randy500]

72 inner roofs don't have the raised pad. I know 71 does, i think 68 doesnt have the raised pad eiher.
72 door jambs always have the vent.
On cleaning the vin plate. Im interestes in ideas, it seems durable, i have lightly polished them with rubbing compound. Was afraid to do much as i dont want to loose the blue outline and lettering.

[CG]

Originally Posted by randy500

72 inner roofs don't have the raised pad. I know 71 does, i think 68 doesnt have the raised pad eiher.
72 door jambs always have the vent.
On cleaning the vin plate. Im interestes in ideas, it seems durable, i have lightly polished them with rubbing compound. Was afraid to do much as i dont want to loose the blue outline and lettering.

So the vent on my 71 is identical to the vents on 72 ... That will help my search.

[too much stuff]

71-72 had the same black vents in the door jamb. 71 was the only year with the raised pad for the mirror. It will be no problem putting a screw on mirror to the roof of your 71. Not sure the best way to clean up the VIN sticker. You are talking about the glove box sticker? 71 should have clear over it.

[CG]

Talking about the vin plate on the door jamb

[samkost]

To answer Mark and Randy,
Here is what my restoration shop from Hell did to my 72’s VIN tag.
Ugly huh?

They didn’t have the decency or notion to tape it up.
They had completely covered it in Hugger Orange and clear.
They must have thought it was a Mopar!
Their repair fix was silver paint. I was not happy.
Because it still bothers me, this is what I’m going to attempt.
The VIN # and the gross vehicle weight numbers are raised stamped and are still of course visible.
The problem is with the blue lettering of our VIN tags, they are lightly embossed (indented).
You can still barely see them in my crappy photo.
The trick is to tape off to protect the finished jamb paint, strip the paint safely and polish the tag.
Once clean, I was told that some blue metal layout paint can be applied into the original embossed lettering.
With horizontal strokes, a small flat metal sanding block with 2000 grit sandpaper is used to brush away the high excess paint.
Hopefully light horizontal side to side strokes replicates the original brushed finished look. Then maybe a clear coat to protect the tag.

Not looking forward to this but I’m going to give it a try in the near future.
Let me know what you guys think? Doable?
At least getting that silver paint off and polishing the VIN will be an improvement.
Sam

[Richard]

Post #10 If I were in your position I would remove the tag to work on it. The tag has obviously been removed before as it has been affixed with standard rivets not the rosette type. After removed maybe try some lacquer thinner on a small section, if available where you are.

[BigBird05]

You had better check with your states DOT. In some states it's against the law to remove the Vin Plate.

[Richard]

Would not have even seen the response post if not for being quoted. Please note I am not an advocate of removing vin tags from any vehicle. Yes, tampering with a tag is a crime in most if not all states. Seemed as though it had been removed previously. So in this case I did not see a problem with taking back off cleaning and reinstalling. Removing an original to have a copy made is not something I would agree with. Mine will be taped up for the repaint even though with the color change removing and reinstalling would give a better result.

[special-K]

Some things you do and tell everyone about and other things you just do. No harm, no foul, nothing stolen.

[Joesjunk]

Originally Posted by special-K

Some things you do and tell everyone about and other things you just do. No harm, no foul, nothing stolen.

We’ll said 😉

[samkost]

Originally Posted by Richard

Would not have even seen the response post if not for being quoted. Please note I am not an advocate of removing vin tags from any vehicle. Yes, tampering with a tag is a crime in most if not all states. Seemed as though it had been removed previously. So in this case I did not see a problem with taking back off cleaning and reinstalling. Removing an original to have a copy made is not something I would agree with. Mine will be taped up for the repaint even though with the color change removing and reinstalling would give a better result.

Richard,
My apologies to you and everyone else who answered the post/quote I deleted.
Randy was faster at typing, quoting my deleted post.

Out of ongoing frustration, I second guessed the rosette rivets you commented on and had to double check.
I have been doing a lot of second guessing. More like double checking!
I needed to contact my lawyer again about my ongoing case with the restoration shop from Hell.
He said the VIN tag issue is an added/new and very important issue to document.

I deleted that post just to make sure that everything I stated was truthful.

A short recap, my story with this restoration shop relates to more than just the VIN tag.
The check list that I have been personally working on to correct their inferior work is long and has been time consuming to redo.
Some were corrected at my request/expense, some were half done and some were later discovered incomplete and unsafe.
Examples: New Brake Booster/Master installed, short shaft push rod installed instead of the correct long push rod. Front radiator supports and cab supports not tightened down or torqued (loose). Missing OE parts were thrown away. There are more issues.
I had enough of their mistakes, work was stopped, repossessed my 72' C10 and had the truck towed home.
One decent thing is my trucks body work and paint is very nice.
I know that I'm not the only one with this type of horror story from a bad shop.
This truck will be very nice when completed.
One positive note is that within my capabilities, I have learned how to hands on restore some aspects of our trucks.
Just wish it would of been on the road sooner.

Alright enough of this, time to move on.
Because of every ones help on this forum site my truck is getting closer to the road.
Thanks again guys,
Sam

[randy500]

I deleted my/your post

[BigBird05]

You said that someone had already removed the factory Vin plate rivets? How do you no that vin plate is for that body. I would check the frame vin number next.

[samkost]

Originally Posted by BigBird05

You said that someone had already removed the factory Vin plate rivets? How do you no that vin plate is for that body. I would check the frame vin number next.

Original SPID, frame stamp and VIN tag all match.
Thanks

[mr48chev]

I went out and looked at my 71 GMC 2500 and it does have the stamped spot for the original mirror. Mine was in pretty rough shape and I think the one in it is out of a Dodge Van I parted out. If memory serves right the glass on the mirror was so cloudy and crazed you couldn't see very clear.

No vent on the GMC door posts to my surprise.

The original rivets on my door post tag look excactly like what CG showed on his and I know mine have never been changed.

I wish someone would make decals for the door post tags on all of the AD though 72 trucks as a lot of them got painted over or someone scrubbed the original printing off of them trying to clean them up. It would save a lot of us a lot of hassles to be able to clean the tag up on the door post and lay a new decal on it to have the right colors that in all actuality have no legal value outside of tonnage on the older trucks.

The flash overpowered the printing a bit but you can see the rivets and that was what I wanted to show.