Decode my 78 Malibu

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Call Her Bu

Greasemonkey
Dec 2, 2012
108
37
28
Arlington, TX
Can anyone help me with a link or thread on decoding my plate? I’ve found some but they’re for a 79 El Camino.
 

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pagrunt

Geezer
Sep 14, 2014
9,122
15,255
113
Elderton, Pa
I can tell you that your color code is 63 (63L/63U), you have a front bench (A52), your interior color code is 62 (62V).
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,089
17,299
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78- Model Year
1- Chevy
A- A body
W27- 2-door Malibu coupe
R- Arlington build plant
166924- Fisher body internal serial number (nothing to do with the VIN)
62V- Camel Tan vinyl (Wallaby pattern)
A52- Bench front seat
63L/63U- lower and upper color the same, Camel Tan Metallic
04D- Build scheduled for 4th week (D) of April (04), 1978.
 
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Ribbedroof

Comic Book Super Hero
Supporting Member
Jan 4, 2009
4,861
6,888
113
Wellston, OK
What are you trying to find out?

Cowl tags only contain info that was pertinent to Fisher Body assembly operations..things like paint color, top color for vinyl tops, seat configuration,. Just stuff that would require specific operations to assemble the body from the cowl back

GM assembly then assembled the completed body to the chassis, which had been assembled in-house, and added the front clip and completed installation and connection of electrical/cooling, etc.

In most cases, these two separate lines were in adjacent buildings, but not always. Some mfrs and carlines trucked completed bodies to final assembly plants from the coachbuilder operation.
 
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Ribbedroof

Comic Book Super Hero
Supporting Member
Jan 4, 2009
4,861
6,888
113
Wellston, OK
W27- 2-door Malibu coupe
W27 would indicate Malibu Classic coupe.(this by default includes Landau cars, as they were only built on Malibu Classic)

T27 would be a base Malibu coupe
 
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Call Her Bu

Greasemonkey
Dec 2, 2012
108
37
28
Arlington, TX
What are you trying to find out?

Cowl tags only contain info that was pertinent to Fisher Body assembly operations..things like paint color, top color for vinyl tops, seat configuration,. Just stuff that would require specific operations to assemble the body from the cowl back

GM assembly then assembled the completed body to the chassis, which had been assembled in-house, and added the front clip and completed installation and connection of electrical/cooling, etc.

In most cases, these two separate lines were in adjacent buildings, but not always. Some mfrs and carlines trucked completed bodies to final assembly plants from the coachbuilder operation.
I just wondered what it all stood for. I looked up the VIN before but noticed the cowl tag was different.
 

pagrunt

Geezer
Sep 14, 2014
9,122
15,255
113
Elderton, Pa
W27 would indicate Malibu Classic coupe.(this by default includes Landau cars, as they were only built on Malibu Classic)

T27 would be a base Malibu coupe
1ATxx is the base Malibu, 1AWxx would include the Elky with the Malibu Classic. Never understood why they were only in the Classic level.
 
Jun 6, 2021
1
0
1
78- Model Year
1- Chevy
A- A body
W27- 2-door Malibu coupe
R- Arlington build plant
166924- Fisher body internal serial number (nothing to do with the VIN)
62V- Camel Tan vinyl (Wallaby pattern)
A52- Bench front seat
63L/63U- lower and upper color the same, Camel Tan Metallic
04D- Build scheduled for 4th week (D) of April (04), 1978.
Can you please tell me where I can get this information?
Thanks
 

69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,089
17,299
113
Can you please tell me where I can get this information?
Thanks
A lot of it is in my head, but that's because of years of decoding the dang tags. You know what to look for and where to look for it at. GM RPO lists help immensely in doing this.

If you want to get a good start on learning, try here. It's Camaro mostly, but it's still Chevy, so it'll gear you to all that sort of stuff.

Look at both these links. They show it looking the same, but the 2nd link is the one specifically on trim tags.


 
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79 USA 1

Royal Smart Person
Sep 2, 2011
1,061
2,031
113
Cheektowaga, New York
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