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need help with VIN

69boss

Donation Time
Just picked up a 1960 Alpine that was in storage for 32 years on the east end of Long Island. Car looks pretty original, came with hard top, soft top,(ruined) wire wheels and seems to be 99% there. Whats missing is the VIN plate on the cowl in the engine bay. I got a number off of the engine block just under the headers, the number is WMG 22872. Is there any other place to look for the vin? I appreciate any help
John
 

65beam

Donation Time
vin number

there is a flat spot on the right side of the motor behind the fuel pump. the number is stamped there. the number would be the same as the vin of the car unless the engine has been changed . it may be oil covered ,so clean it off .
 

AlpineIan

SAOCA Founder
An early car like that will also have the serial number on the firewall just to the right of the right side support brace. The number should begin with a B90 for a Series I and B91 for a Series II. A 1960 car would be either a very early SII or most likely a Series I.
 

65beam

Donation Time
vin

after you get the number stamped on the motor, go to the alpine data section on this site and check it against the production build date to see what series your motor is . it sound like you have a series 1 car. if the number falls in there, it's possible that is the vin number for your car since the vin and the motor number were the same at the time of production .
 
S

series160

I have a series I alpine. the aluminum plate has B9008262 LRX 19. I don't know what the 19 means. the pop riveted painted oval tag on the cowl has Body N 8894. There is a flat surface behind the fuel pump on the block that looks like a perfect place to stamp a # but it is smooth and never looks like any number was ever stamped on it. I was curious if a number under the headers was an alternate place where the series I engine was stamped. any help on this. Ray
 
D

Dr.NO 007

VIN revelations

:cool:As pointed out by AlpineIan & 65beam our site has a great resource called "Alpine Data".
the number 19 stands for "Moonstone" -the original color of your car.
your vehicle B9008262 was built during the week of June 13 to June 17, 1960 and is one of 338 built during that time. LRX indicates that it is a left hand drive roadster & complete knock down for export to America.
 

sunbeam74

Silver Level Sponsor
Ray,

If I follow your description correctly it sounds like you have a unserialized replacement block from the factory.

One other note: It was common on a factory rebuilt motor to place a small aluminum plate in the area near the generator. On this plate they would specify the bore, the crank and the rod journal size (.010" over etc.)

Steve
 

Series3Scott

Co-Founder/Past President
Platinum Level Sponsor
:cool:As pointed out by AlpineIan & 65beam our site has a great resource called "Alpine Data".
the number 19 stands for "Moonstone" -the original color of your car.
your vehicle B9008262 was built during the week of June 13 to June 17, 1960 and is one of 338 built during that time. LRX indicates that it is a left hand drive roadster & complete knock down for export to America.

Not quite - CKD units (complete knocked down) were not sent to America, but places like South America, Africa, and Mexico where assemblers took the components and built cars on the spot. The US and Canada received completed cars.

The "X" in LRX simply means it was not built to "Home" specifications, or another way to look at it was it was intended for Export. Home market cars, those remaining in the UK were stamped "HRO" which stood for Home market Roadster of Ordinary specifications. All US and Canada-bound cars were stamped LRX.

Just wanted to clear that up. If you look at our Registry you will see some CKD cars still alive and well in the world.
 

69boss

Donation Time
Thank you all

I want to thank you Alpine guys for helping me with the VIN. I found it on the engine and the firewall after careful removal of some paint. Turns out to be a 1961 not 1960 and a series 2. The number is B9106383 LRX and the motor and firewall match. I am hoping to find out more about the car as I have no data other then the VIN, is there a way to get the data needed to restore this car to original? I would need paint and interior codes. The car is now red and is red everywhere, in the trunk and all over BUT where it is coming off there is an off white color underneath. Is this a primer? If pictures help, let me know. The interior door panels are definitely original and they are two tone, white and red. The seats are dark, but probably recovered at some point. The car is bone stock and completely original, came with soft top and hard top, soft top is crisp and hardtop is missing glass. Wire wheels with spinners, the spare tire is in the original hold down straps and the jack and handle are still in their clips in the trunk. Missing is the clock in the dash and the air cleaners for the twin zeniths. Any help you experts can give me will be much appreciated, the body work starts next week so if there is any way to get the codes for this car I would like to know.
John
 

Alpine Addict

Platinum Donor
Platinum Level Sponsor
I believe a certificate on the car can be obtained from the link below.

http://www.rootesarchivecentre.com/

The clock was an optional extra so your car may not have had one.

The door panels would have been one color.

A good place to find the original color is to remove the cover over the heater core (where the bonnet latch is) and look at the underside as this rarely gets re-painted. Color disc with original color matches are available.
 

Series3Scott

Co-Founder/Past President
Platinum Level Sponsor
Pictures are always helpful and we can spot things for you that you might not think to ask about. If you have two-tone door panels I can assure you they are not the originals, so pictures of that would be interesting. You can post on this site so give it a try, we'd love to see what you have.

I hesitate to use the word rare, but let's just say it's becoming increasingly difficult to find any Alpine with its original engine, so for me that's big - I hope you choose to keep the original engine with the car.
 

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
I want to thank you Alpine guys for helping me with the VIN. I found it on the engine and the firewall after careful removal of some paint. Turns out to be a 1961 not 1960 and a series 2. The number is B9106383 LRX and the motor and firewall match. I am hoping to find out more about the car as I have no data other then the VIN, is there a way to get the data needed to restore this car to original? I would need paint and interior codes. The car is now red and is red everywhere, in the trunk and all over BUT where it is coming off there is an off white color underneath. Is this a primer? If pictures help, let me know. The interior door panels are definitely original and they are two tone, white and red. The seats are dark, but probably recovered at some point. The car is bone stock and completely original, came with soft top and hard top, soft top is crisp and hardtop is missing glass. Wire wheels with spinners, the spare tire is in the original hold down straps and the jack and handle are still in their clips in the trunk. Missing is the clock in the dash and the air cleaners for the twin zeniths. Any help you experts can give me will be much appreciated, the body work starts next week so if there is any way to get the codes for this car I would like to know.
John

If your color code is 19, the color was Moonstone. This is an off white. Sort of bluish-gray, mostly white. It does in fact, look somewhat like the color of the moon. It is a color that most people like, but sometimes requires an "acclimation" period.

Bill
 

Series3Scott

Co-Founder/Past President
Platinum Level Sponsor
And if it was originally Moonstone then your interior choices were either black or red.
 
S

series160

Scott, thanks for the info. I'll check for a engine # by the generator. Ray
 

Alpine Addict

Platinum Donor
Platinum Level Sponsor
Looking at the pictures i notice the following.

The seats have been re-covered at some time and are not to the original pattern.

The rear axle seems to have been changed at some point and is from a later car. I am guessing that this car has no shock asorbers.

There aslo appears to have been a hole cut in the cross member. I have no idea why anyone would want to do this.

Looking at the paint on the firewall behind the dash this car was probaly originally white.
 
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