Hi Guys, looking to find the correct VIN / serial #s on my 28 A coupe, I've found a number in front of the seat pan DO ****691 (can't read ****) There is a tag on the cowl which has been painted over as well, I'm trying to gently remove the paint from that. Can you guys shed some light on locations or number/order of digits in the Vin for this vintage Ford? I also have the engine number, starts with AA. Thanks for any help on this.
The drivers side frame rail,just under the toeboard will be the frame #,as you have found,but cant read. Model A's were reg. with the engine #,so if you have that you can use it . Sparky
According to a book that I have with Model A motor numbers in it, the first motor number in 1928 was 5276 and the last was 810122. Model A motor numbers were preceded with an "A" and enclosed with a star symbol (5 points) at each end, like *A810122*. I think that the "AA" on your motor signifies that it was in a Model AA truck. The cars just had a single "A" on the motor number. There are exceptions to the above paragraph, but this is what is shown in the book. I have a 28 Model A that had a motor replaced years ago and the number on the block is something like "LB 3255", which I was led to believe, was a rebuilt engine from the Long Beach plant in California.
All Model A engines were built at the Rouge plant and stamped with a serial number. When the engines arrived at whatever ***embly plant your car was built at, that engine number was stamped onto the frame rail location as stated in the other post. This is the VIN. The body numbers have no relationship to the VIN and are not use for vehicle registration. There was someone on one of the Model A sites several years ago collecting body numbers trying to find a way to decode them. Basically the body number tells you what plant the vehicle was ***embled at. Of course, if the engine was ever replaced it will not match the frame number or ***le, but the frame number is the one the ***le should match.
i had found a post on here and after spending hours trying to find it again and kicking myself over and over again i can't find it and this is all i can find. this posting is very close however, i've got a 28 tudor pulled from a barn about a year ago, it had been chopped and has a custom frame so no vin on the frame. well along with a bunch of junk and cool old parts inside the car i found a regisration for it that was last reged in 61, now i know the numbers on the reg are not how they look in the stamping, i had found a post on here that showed how the stampings look for a 28 and didn't think at the time to save the image. i know the stamps for a 28 are differant in some ways then a 31. does anyone have an image of what i'm going to need to create? Beaver
Number in front of seat is just an ***embly plant sequence number, anything on firewall is either a date code (in the tin) or a supplier body number (on a plate), not a serial #. Info on the number appearance is in the service bulletins--they changed appearance during the Model A run, and pics of the characters before and after are in there.
Number on my 31 is on the frame and not visable with the body on. It is the same number on the ***le. No VIN numbers that I know of were on the engines which is good because I went thru 12 blocks until I found one that wasnt cracked from the exhaust seat to the cylinder. It has a 1930 engine in it now. During the rebuild I took photos of the frame VIN numbers in case I ever needed them but the ***le transfer went right thru with no checking
The number on the body sub rail (just in front of the seat) is a SIL number. The first character is an letter followed by numbers. e.g. - T2438 The letter indicated the ***embly plant location (the "T" was Toronto Canada) the next numbers represented a date and the number of bodies built that day. So it IS possible to have more than one identical SIL number on a number of bodies. As noted above; ALL the engines were built in the River Rouge plant in Detroit, and stamped with a number that was transfered to the frame, - although the locations seems to vary; if AT ALL ** - the VIN number of the vehicle was the engine number. If the engine was changed; then the serial number of the vehicle was SUPPOSED to change with the engine. But if the number WAS stamped on the frame; then that stayed as the correct VIN. ** There has been a great deal of argument as to where the SERIAL number was stamped on the frame; - IF AT ALL! US built "A's" usually had the number stamped on the frame just UNDER the left foot of the cowl. Canadian - and Austrailian; some - "A's" were stamped just in FRONT of the left cowl foot. The letters "A" and "AA" designated car or truck until late 1930 when Ford dropped the second "A" and used just one "A." When the numbers WERE stamped on the frame; they were done by hand and often were hard to read. (the guy punching the numbers had 90 seconds!)
ALL Model "A" engines ever manufactured WERE ***igned a number which when installed at an ***embly plant became the VIN. The number was stamped just below the water outlet on top of the engine. In your case, the frame number is the correct VIN for your "A."
the engine had been changed between the time "built" and the time someone else built durting that time the frame was also modifide, when i pulled it out of the barn i found it in, it had a nailhead sitting aside it, i have a sbc in it now untill i get the nail all done the way i want it, i have no do***antation on the car other then the registration that i dug out of a mess of parts.......at this point all i really need is an image of what a stamping of a 28 model a looks like so i can restamp the old custum frame and get a rubbing from it
If you have the old registration for the vehicle - the paper work - your 99% of the way there! The letter(s) - "AA" (truck) or "A" (car) - or "CAA" (Canadian truck) or "CA" (Canadian car) - you don't mention if yours is a car or truck - and numbers were made with 3/16 inch stamps and preceeded and followed with a five pointed STAR. They weren't always exactly in line and the characters could be a bit crooked and unevenly stamped. If yours is a US car; the VIN number would be just BEHIND the front cowl to frame mounting bolt centered on the frame rail. If it's Canadian; just in FRONT. This picture shows a serial number from a Canadian built '28 Tudor. You can see the first star then for some reason the ***embly plant (Toronto, Canada) was using a number "1" in front of the "CA" - Toronto was the first ***embly plant in Canada. The guy stamping these number must have eaten his "Wheaties" that morning; because they are much deeper than normal!!
I stand corrected, I guess Ive never seen one that had the original engine in it. The first engine in mine was a 28 by the numbers. Wasnt trying to come off as an expert, Im not.
Lee Valley sells the star punches. This shows a set of characters; but the star can be bought separately. The star isn't EXACTLY like the ones Ford used; but most people would never know the difference. They say that they are NOT for steel; but they WILL make a half dozen impressions on steel before giving out. (at least on a mild steel frame rail) http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46350&cat=1,43456
There's a guy in Spokane that sells number stamp sets that match the early (28-9) font and the late (30-31) font, and includes the correct star. I think they are about $125/set now if you want all of them. He's at the Portland swap meet and the Spokane meet every year. I'll see if I can get his contact info.
You can also get a star stamp from McMaster- Carr. Its been covered on here before, so you might find more info in the search functions.
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