I have some very good news. I've been working with an Acura "higher-up" on a few things. I've got him digging through all sorts of paper archives and hitting up contacts within the company. Since he owns an ITR he seemed more motivated in helping me than most of the people I've talked to. After bugging him about the infinitely requested badge vs. VIN question, he now has in his possesion, a list. Joe and I have been sending him both known and unknow VINs and he has kept returning positive results. Joe has probably been PMing some of you that he has been working with, with some good news.

Here's an exerpt from the e-mail I received with the good news:

"I kept looking for the VIN vs serial nimber info and I happened to call a good friend in service who has been here for a long time. Well, he happened to have the one copy of the list that exists in the whole company. It is only for 97 and 98 but includes every serial number and VIN and build date. You'd laugh if you saw it, literally recorded in pen by some dude at the Suzuka factory 10 years ago. I have a copy now. I checked mine and it's correct, built 1/10/1998."

Hopefully someday he will feel comfortable enough with me that he will send me a copy of the list, but he doesn't want to send me a list of all the VIN's. He said he'll work through me to help people find their number though. So, if you own a 97' or 98' that has been stripped of it's badge, there is much hope for you! For '00 and '01's, he hasn't found anything yet, just keep your fingers crossed. Hit Joe (Doespike) or myself up if you have any questions.

 

That is pretty slick, tell your buddy at Acura good job.

I only have one question - Is the list in any sort of 'order'? From all the comparisons I've seen, badge # and VIN have no correlation, I've put thirty-some-odd badge/VIN numbers through a solver function in Excel and no correlation exists.

 

There is no correlation. This is a hand written list from the production line. I'm guessing maybe there was one guy installing all the plaques on the arm rests and he was just writing this list of serial numbers (from the VINs), badge #, and build date as they were installed. He's been pretty quick about getting back to me with numbers. Joe and I sent him some test VINs and he came back with correct badges. Then we sent him our "lists" of VINs that people have requested. Joe seems to think they are spot on from his research and time into them. I hope they dig up a 00-01 list!

 

My understanding is that there is a ROUGH correlation. IOW - the first cars built tended to have lower badge numbers, and the badge numbers went up as production went on. No, they were not put on in precise order, so you can't calculate an exact badge number, but the badge numbers tended to be higher, with the higher VINs that indicate a later production date.

 

I think that rough correlation is how Joe is able to help put people in a small range of numbers in the 97-00 years. He said 01 was pretty much random.

 

Some correlations were damn perfect linear, where as other "batches" of ITRs are nearly random. Though mostly, there is a positive nearly 1 to 1 correlation of VIN to badge.

This discovery however does NOT try to draw correlations. It is a written RECORD of badges assigned to each chassis...so far as our tests have shown.

Great job Matt with this discovery

 

Just out of curiosity what does this accomplish?

 

That is so awesome!!!

 

Thanks finally found out my badge # 98-0708. now it would be sweet to found my actual badge instead of rocking the blank type r one.

 

The first 140 ITRs of 2001 seem to be random. Then a correlation develops.


Just out of curiosity what does this accomplish?
Some people with missing badges would like to know their #. Figured that was obvious

 

To end the curiosity of ITR enthusiasts that purchased an ITR/shell with a missing badge plaque

 

Thats interesting..If you don't mind sharing what type of correlation did you discover?

 

DANG! this is great news for the 97/98 owners and hope for the 00/01er's

I'm still wondering if my 00-0310 is actually my number

 

LOL I guess that much is obvious...

Good luck to those still searching!

 

great news

 

Well, the first 140, VIN ending 000001 could be badge #87 while VIN 000002 could be #32 and VIN 000003 could be #73.
After the 1st 140, they seem to "settle down" in their randomness. As the VINs increased the variance to badge range narrows. In the badge #180s, I find the first linear group. 4 confirmed VINs in a row with 4 badge #s in a row. There are still some "batches" of ITRs with looser relations but most show some order. The 2001s are the hardest to predict badge ranges unless you're lucky to be in one of the good batches. I guess some shifts on the assembly line were better than others

 

This is excellent news. This just shows you that maybe just maybe there were records kept of these cars after all.

 

it would be great to have someone make all of us that are missing badges with the correct number engraved....

 

Get the blanks from Acura and take them to a jewelry store and choose a font that looks close. Examples: http://www.integratyper.org/specs/badges.htm

 

Excellent work Tyrant!! This is another awesome resource to the community. Hopefully we can get the info on all years down the road. x2 on thanking your buddy at Acura.

 

i have my fingers and toes crossed for the 00-01 list. great job with your work so far!
doespike has my vin if you do track it down

 

Awesome news. Big kudos to the guy on the assembly line who kept up this record. He knew this info would come in handy.

 

hey thanks has anyone done it which looks nice?

 

i have a blank plate waiting. just afraid to mess it up

 

Wow! Awesome!