What is this thing doing under my sound deadening?
 

I took out the carpet in my new targa, and found this metal tag entombed in the sound deadening material applied to the floor pan just in front of the driver's seat. What is this? It has numbers on it, and some thin wire that wasn't attached to anything. It doesn't seem like it belongs there. Was it just some debris laying on the pan when they coated it? This is an '86 targa.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369007527.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369007547.jpg

That's an ID tag for the body from the factory. It shouldn't be there because these are discarded after the body is built.

The factory worker who was responsible for removing these was having a bad day??? :rolleyes:

I actually have one of those too, also in front of the seat.
It says something in German like: nicht strafbewehrt entfernen :D

I have one too. There is a thread about a guy who found a beer bottlecap there as well.

You mean it's like a mattress tag? I better glue it back in place.

German dog tag. It's good luck!

I found a half used German lipstick, apparently the worker had a...visitor...while prepping the undercoating and she forgot to clean up after herself :D

maybe a tranny put in the tranny

Hilarious!

More Info
 

Wow, thanks for the link jlcinga. I was ready to ask if the line workers were drunk when they coated the body pans with debris underneath, but it appears to be intentional. Couldn't they have just stamped the pan like the rest of the body parts instead of burying a loose tag under the floor material?

I just went and checked my '88 and it has a tag there too. It's still buried so I didn't disturb the coating, but the outline of the tag can be seen clearly.

Yes, the # should also be stamped in the frame. I am not sure why they leave the loose tag in many of the cars. Makes for interesting research.

Found the same in my '89 C4 last sunday. Mine was rusting away, so I discarded it.

It's the body number. It can also be found stamped behind the passenger kneepad and written on the doors in grease pencil behind the door panels.

1 (body) 1 (targa) 6 (1986) 5476 (sequential production number)

It is basically the serial number for the body just like an engine or transmission number. legally in Germany the body is just another replaceable part like an engine or transmission.

Mine was still tied to the front latch panel with the wire shown and painted along with the car.
86 Model

Bob, could you post a photo of it wired to the latch panel. I wonder how many other places it can be found. I suspect that the latch panel might be the original location, then most are removed for painting, possibly winding up in the left footwell.

Thanks for the decoding. My door panels are currently off but I don't see any numbers on the door sheet metal. Were they possibly painted over?

What number for a cab?

Originally Posted by djpateman View Post
It is the chassis # tag. 1155185 decodes as:
1 = production body (0) is replacement
1 = targa body (0) is coupe
5 = year
5185 = sequence #

Here it is hanging where I found it. Pretty sure this is original location as you can see the area behind it that the paint missed.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369456434.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369456464.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369456506.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369456533.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369456580.jpg

From your previous thread the production # starts 11, so I have to guess that the 1 is for both Targa and Cab. A bit odd I know, but they made no distinction between coupe, sunroof coupe, RS body. RHD/LHD, or 911/912. There was a distinction between Porsche and Karmann bodies though; 0 & 2 respectively.

Thanks for the photos Bob, that really helps.

If anyone else can add information to this thread, please do so. I need to continue this research. PM's are always welcome.