I know the heater core box was different for the NA cars vs the turbo cars. Besides the obvious decoding of the VIN (someone could easily swap dashes), I would think swapping out the heater boxes would be rather in depth and some may overlook it.
I don't have my "decoding" book here at work with me, maybe someone else has access to one and can chime in. According to the Advance Auto Parts in store computer, (I just called them), an 86 T-Type had a VIN 7 also. In short, all turbo cars would have carried the VIN 7. An 87 Regal Limited turbo car also has the VIN 7.
vin wont tell but an 86 87 should have the 8th digit of vin as 7 otherwise its not a turbo vin ...and btw its not attached to the dash but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been swapped look at the cowl tag for the interior trim code 82c and the paint code should be 19L 19U and should have ar9 for bucket seat if you already have the car there should a be a build sheet in the driver door and that should have the WE4 code to prove , doubtful a seller would allow you to pop the door panels off to check for the sheet if still in doubt but you beleive the vin tag is original to the car you can also get the invoice for the car through triple a services and then youll not only know if its a gn but also what options it had when built
Yes, the build sheet is in the driver's door, behind the door panel. It should say "Department Door Pad Bcast". On it you should see under the word "special": WE2. This tells that it is a Grand National. If it says WE4 it's a Regal Turbo. There is also another build sheet behind the rear upper seat cushion. It says "Department Cushion Room Bcast Station RRST". On this sheet you should see under "seat" it should say AR9. Hope this helps, but correct me if I'm correct. I'm just looking at my two build sheets here that came with my '87 GN. Bruce '87 Grand National
doors arent orig either so the build sheet wont help. ill check the rear seat where should it be in the rear seat? the vin matchs the trans. the car just seems to be a put togeather. iam 99% sure its a real gn, that might have been bought as a stolen recovery or such and pieced togeather with various diff parts. it has every distinctive gn part on it, only thought it "could" of been a ttype but dont think last owner would have gone to so much bother just to say it was a GN instead of a ttype.
The cowl tag under the drivers wiper, has some good info. as mentioned. First check to make sure the build date in the upper left hand corner corresponds to the year of the GN you are looking at. H06A would be 1987, June, 1st week build. 82C is GN seat trim code as mentioned AR9 are buckets but my WE4 also has that code but different cloth and is a T not a GN for 1987.
Thanks guys for all the info. The cowl tag has all of the codes listed above. So 82c on the cowl tag would mean it's a Gn not a ttype right?
No problem. Glad to help in some small way. That's why we're all here for...to help one another and well all do a damn good job at it.:wink: Bruce '87 Grand National
Doors aren't original.....hmmmm. Well, try the rear build sheet, it's usually on the rear of the upper seat cushion...that's where I found mine. Sometimes it's underneath the bottom seat cushion. But check the upper first. You should find it. Hope this helps. Bruce '87 Grand National
The WE4 is treated like a normal Regal. In other words the Door Build Sheet will not have the WE4 code on it because it uses the same gray door trim as a normal Regal.
