When were the VIN plates put on the car?

[Dangermouse]

At what point were the two VIN plates put on the car (say during the “normal” period of manufacture – perhaps vin 1000 and after)?

I have to believe that the dash one was riveted on before the glass was installed, which means before the SS panels were put on. Was the main plate put on at the same time? Or did they wait until the car was complete? From an efficiency point of view, it would make sense to rivet both on at the same time, but that would not explain how some are out of sequence.

A side question is “when was the glass put on?” I looked at the flowsheets in SSI, but they don’t reference them.

[Jacko]

Could the dash one be riveted to the dash before the dash is installed? Was the windshield installed after the dash?

[Shep]

I took a look at the factory pictures from this thread (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?1771-Factory-Photos), and I couldn't find a single one with the VIN plate on the door jamb. There's one in post #7, 15th picture in (8th from the last one), that shows an essentially completed DeLorean without the door jamb VIN plate. I'm guessing this was the very last thing it got before it went out the door, which would indicate that the build dates are the completion dates and not the "in progress" dates. The second-last one in post #7 is just as completed, with what appears to be a VIN plate on the door jamb, but at four pixels tall, it's anyone's guess.

Windshield VIN plate is way too small to see in those pictures though.