<VV> Decoding a 63 vin number and Spyder ID

[Tony Underwood]

At 12:21 AM 11/13/2009, Frank DuVal wrote:
>And the easiest way to tell a real 62/63 Spyder is how good the exhaust
>opening is. It should look like it was stamped out at the factory, not
>cut out with snips, etc. There should be a good folded lip.




Another place to look is for the reinforcement bracket that attaches 
to the rear cove panel section, between the air grill and the 
tailpipe notch to keep things from flapping.   People who clone 
Spyders almost never install the bracket since most people don't know 
it's supposed to be there.   Also look for the altered/crooked 
regulator mounting, to clear the air cleaner.   While you're there, 
look for the ballast resistor mounted on the rear unibody box member 
close to the distributor which wasn't used in anything except the 
turbo cars.

If you wanna get serious, the Fisher body tag contains a code 
letter/number to identify the Spyder option package on '62 and '63 
models which of course were all 900's, while the '64 Spyder had its 
own model number designation (600) which is also why in '64 the Monza 
cross on the front fender doglegs no longer had '900' on it even 
though all the non-turbo Monzas were still 900s.    Getting even more 
picky would be to count the original dash lamps.   Spyders had 
extras... dash cluster wire harness was also different as well, to 
accommodate the extra wires for the tach and head temp gauge 
etc.    Interestingly enough, the body harnesses (at least the '63's) 
I've seen have the extra wires in them for the tach and other gauges 
even when in a non-turbo ap.   You could also look for patchwork on 
the decklid where the turbo badge is parked.   The regular 
crossed-flags badge (in the hi-perf engine'd models) had evenly 
spaced in-line mounting holes while the round "turbocharged" badge 
had diagonally positioned mounting holes.


There are a couple other things to look for but I disremember...



tony..     (2 or 3 Spyders along the way, still have one)