Look 2/3rds of the way down this page for B numbers. http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/ABenginenumbers.htm#C1 Do you know if your truck had a 4 cylinder? The B numbers started at about 5 million. Keep looking at your frame for more numbers
You might want to check the numbers again. The 4 cylinder numbers (which most trucks had) for 1932 ran from *ABB5000001* (5 million) to *BB5179579* where the * is a star. The prefix changed at number 62387 from "ABB" to "BB". The V8 numbers ran from 1 through 212238. The numbers started and ended with a star. The prefix for the V8 engines used in the big trucks was "BB18". The I you see is actually the way Ford showed the number 1. Any chance your truck is actually a 1933that came with a V8? Post pictures showing the instrument panel and the fender near the grill shell where you might find a bump if it is 1933. Post pictures of the serial number so it can be determined if the stamps were the ones used by Ford. Put tape over the last 3 digits if you prefer not to post the whole number. Fordbarn might be a better place to get the exact year from the pictures. The serial number part is the same but the prefix is different for passenger cars but the numbers are sequential for both. I have no idea what the "<-->" part of the serial number is. Charlie Stephens
And look at number style: Ford used special style numbers, with the backs of 6's and 9's perfectly straight up and down and ones as I. As noted, the number as shown is too low for a '32 B, too high for a V8. Is your radiator perfectly vertical? If it is slanted back it is post-1932. There are many other differences, but that one is the easiest to describe and spot.
The owner is the second owner and says the truck originally came with the V8. The number is the frame rail number. Didn't get the engine number. Swears it is a 32 and it "as" it came from the Ford plant. The frame # isn't listed in any fordbarn info that I could find.
You have a '33, regardless of what owner thinks...and your serial would be in the range of '33 V8's. By '33, V8's were taking over in the truck line.
There is no engine umber on '32-'48 Fords from the factory. The number identifying the engine/transmission assembly was on the transmission (or on the flywheel housing in the case of a 4 cylinder. The same number appears on the frame and the frame number is used to register the car since it is not common to change the frame on a vehicle. Charlie Stephens
No...32s had a bolt-in firewall, yours is a weld-in. 33 and 34 had a rib all the way across the top, just behind the external visor....I see yours has it too, 32s [at least early 32s] were flat in this area...no rib. Also, your grille shell is leaned back at the top a little...32s were straight up and down. Then, there's the grille insert.
A couple of more things to check. The instrument panel on a '32 is mounted at the front of a tunnel that extends back to the firewall. This is the same as was done on the '32 passenger car but the tunnel is shorter on the truck. The '33-'34 instrument panel is a molded in recess on the dash. The '33-'34 truck fenders have slight raised areas to clear frame rivet heads near the radiator shell. From memory this bump is about 3 inches long, 3/4 inch wide and 5/16 high. This raised area is unique to '33-'34 and not found on '32. I like the oil bath air cleaner. It looks like something that belongs on a truck that was really used. How about some feedback on what you are finding when areas to check are identified? Charlie Stephens
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