Australian VIN identification

General Bellett, Gemini 75-98, Piazza 81-93, Bellel, Florian, 117 Coupe, Minx, Aska technical discussion.
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Piazza_man
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Australian VIN identification

Post by Piazza_man »

Seeking clarification on AU VIN designations. I want to check my car is the Aussie spec Piazza and not an import. Here is my VIN:

JAB1200G4048119

Thanks to Bugle's link posted several years ago (still works) re a Japanese website:
http://www.sabitori.com/jreast/vin.html

On that site there are a 3 different tables and I found the last table that resembles my VIN configuration. From this table I see that JR1200 is the 4ZC1 designation, but the letter G appears to refer to it as an Impulse. The 404.... referes to '86 build year, but it's the first letters JAB that has me concerned I might have an import because the same table refers to it as an Impulse. Have I misunderstood the table? What do your VIN plates start with?
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Post by Bugle »

Yeah mine's the same except a couple hundred after yours.

That last section is for export Piazzas, ie non JDM, and not Impulses. So I guess all European ones have similar VIN's. Where it says Impulse in that section it's saying "similar to Impulse" if you use a translator.

The second line on the build plate "JRH07" means it's a badge engineered Holden.

Then there's another plate on the passenger side of the firewall with the VIN which says "This car was made by Isuzu to comply with Australian design rules blah blah blah, JR120 Holden coupe, seating capacity 4 etc"..
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Post by Piazza_man »

You're a f***ing legend mate. This whole thing had me worried in the lead up to getting this thing ready to go over the pits in the ACT. My mechanic pointed this issue out to me the other day when he experienced difficulty getting radiator hoses and contacted a Holden dealer (who had no hoses btw). When the dealership entered the VIN it came back saying it appeared to be an import. One other thingo that possibly suggested it wasn't an Aus spec Piazza: the picture in the YB workshop manual shows 4 smaller bolts around the centre of the pulley whereas mine has a large central bolt in the middle.
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Post by Bugle »

The dealer's computer probably just didn't find anything so they assumed it must be a grey import. I'm not surprised they don't have records of VIN's of cars they sold 27 years ago. I've bought Piazza parts from dealers before and they never asked for a VIN, they just show me the computer with the exploded diagrams and let me figure it out.

You mean the crank pulley? They all have a large bolt in the centre to hold the harmonic balancer on, the pulley is usually bolted to the harmonic balancer with those little bolts, I think mine has 8. Might've changed over the years and they used an old drawing in the manual.
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Post by Piazza_man »

Bugle after reading your last post I just realised what happened here. The pulley in question, which would have been for the AC, was removed when Rodavo removed the AC, and that's why the mechanic only saw the harmonic balancer. I hate it when my mechanic jumps in with these false truths and confusions, and leaving me to walk away doing all this shit and bugging you guys about it. Bloody retard mechanic. Grrrr.

Thanks again Bugle.
Last edited by Piazza_man on Thu May 09, 2013 9:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by IZU069 »

Ah yes, mechanics...

The only time I have the pleasure of using them is for RWCs, and for that I am thankful - they have wrecked enough brakes and other vehicle systems for my liking.

But occasionally there are great ones - like RodeoBob.
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Post by wedgenut »

There is an important delineation requred here, there are mechanics and fitters. These days most spanner men are fitters and don't have many spanners, they do have laptops and OBD readers.

Gone are the days when your mechanic could do a proper feel, listen and look diagnosis. Can they read spark plugs? probably not. Can they overahul a gearbox or diff, little hope there. You are lucky if they can find the sump drain plug.

"Yes sir I can fit a new alternator for you but no there is no way in hell I can change a diode in it at a fraction of the cost."

If you do find a proper mechanic he will probably not be younger than 40-50 years old, he will have greasy overalls, a rag in his hand and black fingernails. He will know what to do, when to do it and more importantly HOW to do it.

He will remember the days of carburettors, adjustable valves and brakes that have shoes instead of pads. However, he will also have taken on the new technology of ABS, EFI, CVT and all the other acronyms and will understand it better than someone who has none of the old basic knowledge. Unfortunately these are an endangered species and their loss will not be felt by modern car drivers and owners. It is the community of enthusiasts for older vehicles that will notice the passing which is why MOST old school car owners have to learn how to look after their own cars.

I have personally been on the lookout for someone young and keen to learn, to pass on my knowledge, parts holding and maybe even cars as well to keep the Piazza marque alive and well when I'm no more than a dribbling husk in the corner of the home for the terminally belwildered.

This may be Friday next week.....

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Post by Piazza_man »

Lol :laughing8:
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Post by Ghost »

wedgenut wrote:There is an important delineation requred here, there are mechanics and fitters. These days most spanner men are fitters and don't have many spanners, they do have laptops and OBD readers.
The amount of times I have heard that in the last 12 months...

My family has a truck/quarry business and they seem to have trouble finding people WILLING to work on old equipment (which we still have lots of), let along be able to fix problems.

I do wonder if real mechanics will come back into demand in the future but I really don't see it happening.
Especially when you see some of the condition of the cars going to scrap, saw a late 90's toyota without a dent on it on its last journey today.
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Post by IZU069 »

But I am talking about qualified mechanics from my experiences - 1970 onwards.
However it may well be that aussie mechanics are not up to NZ standards.

I think I wrote about Bartamann's experience a few years ago. He left his rainy Sunday breakdown Piazza with his mechanic on the Monday to have it fixed by Wednesday.
Over the next TWO weeks, despite me having to explain how to EASILY test the fuel pumps (because they were suspected - despite my strong doubts and reasoning), I had to supply mine (a 4 hour removal job due to my backyard Piazza's positioning).
No - it wasn't the pumps(s).
Then the ECU blows. So I supply one of my ECUs.
So 2 weeks without his Piazza and still no fix in sight.
Bartamann then happens to "brush past" his battery flinks and notices a loss of power.
It turns out it was merely poor contacting flinks. (Surely the rain was a hint?) And it was Bartamann that fixed the problem.

The irony - Bartamann said how I had told him 3 months earlier that those flinks "should be ok now, but they will give problems soon and should be fixed (urgently)". (Wow - FIGJAM!)

Not that I know that mechanic's qualifications, but to miss something that I - neither a mechanic nor electrician - managed to PREDICT by mere inspection 3 months earlier. AND to blow an ECU, and NOT be able to test mere electric fuel pumps (no Piazza wiring knowledge is necessary), AND to take 2 weeks to achieve that... Crikey, am I really that good?!
I told Bartamann to scrap that mechanic, else take any future Piazza problems to an auto-electrician first.
I'm still curious how that mechanic could possibly survive with today's electronic-dependent vehicles. Maybe he plugs in his diagnostic machine and then calls the local road recovery service? (Not that he had diagnostic equipment. Apparently he didn't even have jumper leads to connect & test the fuel pumps!)

That's merely a Piazza story. There are many more from others which include reputable service chains.
My mum has been using a "family garage" since I blew that crap out of her service company (I won't mention Stillwell Ford because that would be petty).
And as I said, I do my own stuff and have never used a mechanic - except once to press the Pitman arm off a Florian steering box, and for roadworthy certificates.
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