Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I suspect my car has been rebodied. The VIN plate and trim tag appears to have been replaced from another car. The engine and driveline all match the numbers on the VIN but the VIN does not belong to this body. ?
A: If the current VIN plate does NOT match the hidden VINs location throughout the car, it can bring a load of legal issues into play.

"There are several legal issues when it comes to a rebodied automobile. The most important issue is whether or not the rebody was disclosed to you when you purchased the vehicle. If the rebody was not disclosed to you how can it be said you negotiated with the seller on equal footing. Another issue comes from the fact that rarely are rebodys done properly. Were the police notified of the body replacement as required under some state laws? Did the seller give you two Certificates of Titles? (Remember the best bodies come from good cars and in today’s day and age, good cars get restored … was the body stolen and the subject vehicle the product of a “chop shop”) Did the seller give you photographs of the original body to evidence the condition of the original body? Do you have confirmation that the original body has been destroyed? (This is usually where the State Police come in as this is where the stories start about two cars registered under the same VIN)."

Aside from legal issues, your insurance company may not honor any claims you may have in the future. You can see more on this issue at Vintage Car Law - Rebodied Cars... here and here Vintage Car Law - VINs.

Q: How many LS6 convertibles were built?
A: There is no known breakdown of LS6 optioned Chevelles by body style or how many were sold with a 4-speed vs. the TH400 automatic, or came with optional gear ratios, etc. and will probably never be known unless we can register all 4,475 LS6 cars sold, which isn't in the realm of possibility for obvious reasons. See How many LS6s, based on body style were sold? for more insight on LS6 numbers vs. body styles.

Q: Why is Oshawa, Ontario, Canada listed?
A: No LS6 optioned Chevelles were born in Oshawa but to fend off possible confusion, as of 9/22/2008 Oshawa is now listed on the site. There were LS6 Chevelles built in the U.S., Baltimore and Kansas City are two U.S. plants of origin have been reported, and imported into Canada for sale. One such GM of Canada documentation indicates that 231 V8 Malibu Sport Coupes were imported into Canada and at least one of those is documented here to be a LS6 optioned Chevelle. Since I will only list documented LS6 Chevelles submitted to the registry and, as more are registered, this will surely become a moot point.

Since Canada made V8 Malibu sport coupes for its own market as well as exporting 25,938 of them to the U.S., it is possible that all 231 shown on the GM of Canada documents represents 231 LS6 optioned V8 Malibu sport coupes. As of 9/23/2008 a letter has been sent to GM of Canada seeking a clarification on this issue. Results will be shown here when and if a reply comes.

Reply from Mr. George Zapora of GM of Canada on 9/24/2008 indicates that the 231 figure shown for imported V8 Malibu sport coupes is not solely for LS6 optioned Chevelles. To quote, "But due to production constraints some Chevelles/Malibus/whatever could be sent from the U.S. to Canada if we were running short of a low volume option or at build out time to fill orders, so not all of those imported cars are necessarily LS6's." See complete transcript of questions asked of Mr. Zapora and his reply, click here.

GM of Canada documentation for LS6 optioned El Caminos indicates that 329 13680 El Caminos were imported into Canada but there is no specific records of LS6 sales but several are known to exist. One such LS6 El Camino is listed in the Baltimore matrix table, #1466xx. Since the El Camino was not assembled in Canada at all means all of them sold in Canada would have to be imported. It would be logical to assume that since all El Caminos needed to be imported for sale in Canada, a very small percentage of those would be LS6 optioned.

As LS6 Chevelles with a Canada connection are registered, they'll be shown in both the U.S. originating plant table as well as the Oshawa matrix table.

If you have information on additional U.S.-built LS6 Chevelles destined for a Canada sale, let me know, be they sport coupes, convertibles, or El Caminos.

If your Chevelle was originally sold in Canada you can get all the pertinent information from GM of Canada through their website at http://vintagevehicleservices.com.

Q: Didn't all LS6 Chevelles have gauges and a tachometer?
A: No. The only years that gauges were standard equipment were the 1964 and 1965 Malibu SS - and even then a tachometer was an option. The Instrument Panel Gauges, or Special Instrumentation, sold under RPO U14 was always an option regardless of year. The gauge pods for fuel, speedometer, and optional clock were round as opposed to the linear sweep speedometer of a non-SS optioned Chevelle but the gauge package, as well as a clock, was still an option.
{Note: The same holds true for such options as bucket seats, console, and cowl induction hoods. Bucket seats and consoles were standard Malibu options and not limited to the LS6; the cowl induction hood could be ordered with any engine with either the Z25 SS396 or Z15 SS454 option packages.}

Q: Is my LS6 real?
A: This can be tricky at best. Partially because there are differing opinions on what is necessary to make an LS6 optioned Chevelle 'real'. To some, 'real' means the car has the correct and original engine it was born with and can be matched to the build sheet. To some, it means if the build sheet says it was born with the LS6 option, it doesn't (relatively) matter that the engine has been replaced for one reason or another; whether by a dealer under warranty or an over-avid enthusiast back in the day due to out of warranty breakage. Consider if the car has a warranty engine with CE code or a 1974 454 truck motor dressed to appear as a 1970 LS6 engine, but has build sheet that is original to the car as noted by the VIN sequence and other information of the sheet matching the trim tag.

As far as the LS6 Registry is concerned, the paperwork is the primary objective in the registry and not the car itself or its condition.

Q: Where can I get a build sheet?
A: Build sheets were initially intended to be used by various assembly stations and never meant to be used for documentation. Often workers would tape or stuff their copy to a piece from their assembly station. Typically the trim shop would tape a copy to a door panel (Atlanta is famous for this), hog ring them to the underside or backs of the seats (Baltimore and KC are known for this), Van Nuys would often tape a copy to the top of the gas tank, and Arlington would leave a copy under the driver side footwell. To date (to my knowledge) nobody has ever found a build sheet from the Flint plant.

More often than not, build sheets were NOT left in the car but simply tossed in the trash when a station was done with their part of the assembly. Sometimes one will find two or three build sheets in a Chevelle and, again sometimes, build sheets will be found in a Chevelle that don't belong to that car. One gentleman found three build sheets in a Kansas City Chevelle SS, one for a 6-cyl 4-door sedan, one for a 6-cyl El Camino, and one was for a Buick Skylark - all in pristine condition - but none for his car.

Chevrolet did not keep copies of build sheets so one cannot write to GM and get a copy of one for their car. The exception GM of Canada as described above. GM of Canada does not have build sheets as such but did keep records of Chevelles built in Canada (although no LS6s were build there) and all Chevelles built in the U.S. and originally sold through a Canadian dealer.

Typical Arlington, TX location.

Atlanta
Typical Atlanta location.

Typical Baltimore location.

Typical Van Nuys location.

Q: Why does my LS6 Chevelle have a Malibu emblem on the door panel?
A: That's something that has been debated for years and probably always will be. No Z15 (SS454) optioned Chevelle build sheet calls for the B22 DOOR EMBLEM the way all Z25 (SS396) build sheet does. Since the only difference between a 'normal' Malibu door panel and an SS-optioned Malibu door panel is this emblem, Malibu vs. SS, if the trim shop didn't know, by looking at their copy of the build sheet, the Malibu had one of the two SS options then the door panel would get the typical Malibu emblem. Several different theories have been proposed as to why some have SS emblems and some have Malibu emblems.
(1) Many new owners complained to the dealer about it and the dealers made the change.
(2) Dealers noticed the omission and made the changes themselves.
(3) Early owners changed the emblem themselves.
(4) Instead of reprogramming the plant's computers to add B22 to the build sheets, plants put the word out to their trim shops to look for the Z15 454 option.
(5) Restorers and rebuilders will almost always put the SS emblem when redoing the interior.

This barn find, mid-January built, LS6 optioned door panel from Arlington with its original door panels has a Malibu emblem.