Hood Trim Label – What is it and how is it used?
The hood trim tag was used on Chevrolet cars during the classic car era to record descriptions and installed options. The hood trim label is a thin aluminum plate that was riveted to the firewall or “hood” of classic GM cars.
The hood trim label is often mistaken for the holy grail of classic car identification. Sorry to say, you won’t reveal all the details about your classic car.
OK. So who needs to know these things? Anyone who knows which classic car series was a hot item, like an SS, would want to check out a classic SS series car if they were restoring or buying one. If a classic car was drastically modified over the years, you would need this information. Considering that the selling prices of some classic muscle cars are now higher than new ones, you want to make sure you get what you pay for.
Imagine this … You recently bought a 1964 Impala that seems to have seen better days. Someone in the car’s past thought it would look better in white paint with a crushed red velvet interior … with dingle balls. Just go back to the original, they wouldn’t see you dead in that interior.
So let’s take a look at the label on the hood trim on this Impala 64 and see what it says. Note that the bonnet trim label format is different for other age ranges. This format only applies to the years 1964 to 1967.
- CHEVROLET GENERAL MOTORS CORP
- 04D MICHIGAN DETROIT
- STYLE 64-1847 AT013173 BODY
- TRIM 874975 PAINT
- ACC E 2KS
- THIS CAR ENDED WITH
- ACRYLIC LACQUER MAGIC MIRROR
- FISHERMAN’S BODY
Line 2 of this hood trim label has the production date code. This is important when the regular production option (RPO) codes may have changed at some point during the model year and you need to make sure which option belongs to your car.
Line 3 is the model year, body style, assembly plant, and chassis number. The body style number says it was a v8 model 2-door sports coupe. AT means the car was assembled in Atlanta. The chassis number would only mean something if it was something special like the first Impala 64 produced. The chassis number is also in the VIN.
Line 4 is for the finish code that tells us about the interior and then the paint code. In this case we want to know that the interior was made of red fabric with a divided front bench. The paint was 2-tone, Desert Fawn on the top and Sunfire Red on the bottom half. Hmm, that sounds like a nice color combination!
Line 5 is the accessory code. This line consists of 1 to 5 code groups. This hood trim label only has the first 2 groups. If the deck trim label does not have codes in the other groups, you should assume that those options were never installed. The E in group one tells us it has factory tinted windows all over it. Number 2 delineates group 2, K is the air conditioner and S is the manual rear antenna.
How would we use this hood trim tag information? If we needed to replace some glass, we would look for tinted glass, or if the rear antenna was missing, we would know we had to replace it.
This doesn’t reveal anything fantastic about the car, except that it would be useful information if the car was missing the indicated parts. The option codes would be in group 4 of line 5 if the car was an SS. Since there aren’t any, we know we have a 2-tone red and beige 2-door v8 sports coupe with factory air. In this case, this information helps a lot!
I would use the information found on the hood trim label in addition to the suffix code guides and in conjunction with the factory parts guides and casting numbers to get a complete picture. Along with the Factory Workshop Manual and Assembly Manual, taking your classic car apart and putting it back together is almost like painting by numbers.
