Commodore built in the 90s with a pre-oct 89 engine?? Bit sus??

[Whiteford88]

Hello everyone, from my last post (Below this one if you'd like to go back) I had my bonnet off and was working on the car. I never thought of looking at what year the car was manufactured in because I presumed it was before oct 89 as it has a Series I Buick motor installed. But, as I spotted the plate, I glanced over it (In the asswipe of a spot that it's in) and to my surprise, was just a little over a month being built in 91!! So my question is, how the hell did a near 91 VN commodore end up with a Series I Buick in it? Did one slip past on the Assembly line? Did Holden install a few into their cars to get rid of their old engines? Does the car being Column Shift Auto have anything to do with it?

There seems to be a few things missing from the engine bay (Anti-Theft Module, Ironic right? The reservoir tank that's only on the Eco's, but there is evidence on the paint and screws where the tank once was ) and little things like that, that make me wonder, has someone changed the motor in this car before I bought it?
Is there a way I can check it with VIN/Engine codes?

Thanks in advance, and have a good time figuring this one out!

[hi_ryder]

post up your engine number, mark the last 3 digits as X's as we dont need the whole number. you can pin down the approximate year and month of the build. think theres another thread on engine numbers. 88greenvn also has a list of build dates too...

[88GreenVN]

With a VN engine numnber, I can place build date to withing a few weeks.

21/07/1989 L360544 1990 ENGINE E/N VH1065705 REVISED CAM TENSIONER (1990 engine)

11/10/1989 L381221 INTRODUCTION 1990 MODEL YEAR V6 E/N VH1086125

[wortus]

I had an October 1990 build Vacationer Sedan and it had the early type engine fitted. It just had the surge tank on the drivers side and no overflow bottle on the passengers side. It's engine number was VH1161317, VIN 6H8VNK19HML471798.
I found a paint shop sheet inside the hood lining which has the date 26/10/90 stamped on it.
Does the engine number match the build date?

[hi_ryder]

thats what i was thinking. the early style inlet manifold setup went past oct 89, but i wasnt sure cause ive only ever owned the july 89 vn and my vp's....

[wortus]

What's also confusing regarding my old VN was I thought the early engine with a surge tank got an extra overflow late in production and mine would have been towards the end of using that engine but didn't have one. It was 100% stock when I got it so I doubt it was removed. You could see mounting holes for it but they had never had anything screwed into them.

[hakhawk]

pics of engine bay? does the engine number on the block match the number on the vin plate?

[Adds_05]

father in law had a sep/oct 90 model vn which had the series 2 setup in it and as far as we knew it had never been messed with.
car started life as a reps car, then purchased by an older couple before the inlaws bought it

[Rusty]

I worked at the port of ******* where they stored brand new vehicles that come in from around the world.

Take a Proton Jumbuck for example, they came in and didnt sell that well. Brand new models sat for over a year until the next years model was released. When the new model was released. they just swapped the build plate (to the current year), wacked on side skirts and a big fat jumbuck sticker on the back of the previous years stock to pass as new.

This resulted in a car being made in 2005 but sold in 2007 after the upgrades where added and the build plate adjusted. This may be relevant to your car but may not.

Dodgy - hell yes (not to mention crashing cars in the yard, bodging up the repairs and still selling as brand new).

Truth of the matter is that your brand new car has likely been thrashed by port staff, security staff and the dealer prior to reaching you. Even the odomoter is a lie as most cars reach the wharf in "dealer mode" meaning that the odomoter is frozen and you have no idea how many km the car has done.

Im going to wake up next to a horses head for revealing too much info

[Shearer]

^^ I've also heard of stories like this relating to new cars.

Hello everyone, from my last post (Below this one if you'd like to go back) I had my bonnet off and was working on the car. I never thought of looking at what year the car was manufactured in because I presumed it was before oct 89 as it has a Series I Buick motor installed. But, as I spotted the plate, I glanced over it (In the asswipe of a spot that it's in) and to my surprise, was just a little over a month being built in 91!! So my question is, how the hell did a near 91 VN commodore end up with a Series I Buick in it? Did one slip past on the Assembly line? Did Holden install a few into their cars to get rid of their old engines? Does the car being Column Shift Auto have anything to do with it?

There seems to be a few things missing from the engine bay (Anti-Theft Module, Ironic right? The reservoir tank that's only on the Eco's, but there is evidence on the paint and screws where the tank once was ) and little things like that, that make me wonder, has someone changed the motor in this car before I bought it?
Is there a way I can check it with VIN/Engine codes?

Thanks in advance, and have a good time figuring this one out!

I'm not sure when the change over date/VIN was for the Series 2, but according to Strut Sheets I've collected it was very late Oct 90.

One way to be sure is to look for a Strut Sheet under the passenger's side carpet and look for code V7X -this is the series 2 upgrade. Hopefully it's still legible after 20 years

Failing that I have few other suggestions, but see how you go.

[aaronevolution]

I worked at the port of ******* where they stored brand new vehicles that come in from around the world.

Take a Proton Jumbuck for example, they came in and didnt sell that well. Brand new models sat for over a year until the next years model was released. When the new model was released. they just swapped the build plate (to the current year), wacked on side skirts and a big fat jumbuck sticker on the back of the previous years stock to pass as new.

This resulted in a car being made in 2005 but sold in 2007 after the upgrades where added and the build plate adjusted. This may be relevant to your car but may not.

Dodgy - hell yes (not to mention crashing cars in the yard, bodging up the repairs and still selling as brand new).

Truth of the matter is that your brand new car has likely been thrashed by port staff, security staff and the dealer prior to reaching you. Even the odomoter is a lie as most cars reach the wharf in "dealer mode" meaning that the odomoter is frozen and you have no idea how many km the car has done.

Im going to wake up next to a horses head for revealing too much info

Ferrari purposely give every car they make a 'thrashing' around their private track with their own drivers, just to make sure everything is working as it should, and each car meets the standards that the customers expect. I'm not sure if any other manufacturers would also do this.

[hi_ryder]

I worked at the port of ******* where they stored brand new vehicles that come in from around the world.

Take a Proton Jumbuck for example, they came in and didnt sell that well. Brand new models sat for over a year until the next years model was released. When the new model was released. they just swapped the build plate (to the current year), wacked on side skirts and a big fat jumbuck sticker on the back of the previous years stock to pass as new.

This resulted in a car being made in 2005 but sold in 2007 after the upgrades where added and the build plate adjusted. This may be relevant to your car but may not.

Dodgy - hell yes (not to mention crashing cars in the yard, bodging up the repairs and still selling as brand new).

Truth of the matter is that your brand new car has likely been thrashed by port staff, security staff and the dealer prior to reaching you. Even the odomoter is a lie as most cars reach the wharf in "dealer mode" meaning that the odomoter is frozen and you have no idea how many km the car has done.

Im going to wake up next to a horses head for revealing too much info

ive been a spray painter for 8 years ive heard them all too. dont worry even holden does this kind of stuff to new cars. i remember hearing car carrier damage stories where brand new cars were getting full sides changed, new roof skins the lot... all for brand new unregistered new cars that are then on sold to unsuspecting buyers... happens all over the world i bet....