[Keith Tedford]

How do you really document any car with absolute certainty. With our COPO Chevelle, the paperwork is just that, paperwork. It just says that a given VIN came with such and such options. Same with the bill of sale. With the body completely stripped, you can see that the stamped VIN section hasn't been welded into another body. The broach marks on the deck surface and the number stamps can pretty well verify the block and nothing else. The stampings on the transmission can probably be duplicated on an unstamped case. The KQ on the rearend would be rather hard to duplicate. That doesn't leave a whole lot that anyone can be absolutely sure of. With our 396 car having had a dozen or so previous owners, I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to what is original beyond the above mentioned. When buying any car, about the best you can do is put ALL the available information together and draw your own conclusions as to value.
I've gone through the frustration of owning a car like this. Back in the '80s, at swap meets, I have had people turn in mid conversation and walk away when I mentioned having a factory 427 Chevelle. They thought they were getting a line of BS. No matter, I owned the car from new and knew what I had. Good luck with the car.