Prior to 1955 most states used the engine number as the VIN on the title. Your engine number should be on a boss next to the distributor. Some are in front of the distributor and some behind it. I'm not sure which in 1928 but it'll be one or the other. You might have to scrape off some crud to find it. If the state that issued the title was an engine number state and the original engine is no longer in the vehicle and your dad didn't re-title the truck, you have an issue you'll need to speak with your state licensing authority about. It's a fairly common issue and, in my opinion, one of the reasons they went away from using the engine number. All states have a process to resolve the issue. Some states are more anal about it than others but all have a procedure. Bottom line is you need to contact your state tag & title people to find out what you need to do to get a valid title if your engine number isn't the one on the title. Without the original engine that VIN is no where on your vehicle. Here's a thread from the old site that you may find helpful.

https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/55156/28-chev-serial-number-location.html

I believe your truck is definitely not from 1926.

The Car Number (3LP 6000) means the following:

• 3 = Made in the St. Louis, MO plant
• LP = Indicates a 1928 one ton, made in the last 6 months of the year. The earlier '28 was the LO.
• 6000 = It was the 4,999th vehicle off the production line for that plant in that year. They started the production run with number 1001.

Here are some other clues: 

• The headlights are the correct bullet shape for a '27 or '28 one ton truck. The headlights for a '26 looked like coffee cans (cylindrical).
• The radiator shell has the little pointy thing under the emblem. Again, correct for a '27 or '28 one ton truck. The '26 shell did not have the pointy thing, but had a smooth, slight downward curve under the emblem.
• The casting date on the block (G 12 8) means the engine block was cast on July 12, 1928. A=Jan, B=Feb, etc.
• There seems to be a brake showing on the front wheel. This would confirm that is an LP chassis. The LP was the only one ton truck in the 4 cylinder series that had four-wheel brakes.
• What you called the VIN number is actually the serial number of this engine. They counted how many 4 cylinder engines they made since the beginning of the 4 cylinder run. I think your number (14770589) might have a typo (is the 0 in the middle an extra digit?).  If the number is 1477589, that means it was the 1,477,589th 4 cylinder engine produced.

It looks to be in great shape for its age! What a wonderful gift from your Dad!

Cheers, Dean

Thanks.  That explains it!

@rustoholic

    Looks like a T?      Still a 28 but different thoughts on engine?

Thanks for the clarifying photo! 😉

The T stands for a truck engine. 

The 4770589 means that this engine was the 4,770,589th 4 cylinder block produced by Chevrolet.

Cheers, Dean

Back to your original question about the VIN on the title, it appears they did in fact use the engine number. It appears whoever wrote the number down mistook the T to be an I (a capitol I was used as a 1 on engine number stamping). You might consider going through the process to get your title re-issued with the correct number (T rather than a 1) to preclude any future title transfer issues.

This is the engine number on my 38. The first "digit" is a capitol I but it's recorded on the title's VIN as a 1.

I dont know about the process in the US but here in Aus it isnt a major procedure to correct the official records. This situation could well be the result of a typographical error at the DMV but talk to them to check up on the procedure.

Tony