If you have a look on my cardomain page www.cardomain.com/ride/3116819 Can anyone decode that code on the firewall of my 52 F1? Is it even a 1952 F-1??? I believe we, my father and I, are going to have problems getting a VIN together for this thing. What numbers will we need and where can they be found? so far i havent found any identification plates at all. I did find a registration renewal certificate from 1975 in the glovebox but it's too rust stained and faded to read the details properly which ****s. Will it fit on a circa-1975 F100 LWB ch***is? If it is an F-1, will it fit better on a SWB or LWB ch***is? we have two spare f100's, a 1978 SWB and a 1976 LWB.
I can tell you that my 1952 Ford F-2 has the identification/information plate riveted to the back of the glove box door. If yours is missing maybe you could find a company that reproduces them and stamp your own numbers on it as needed.
On the US '52's the vin is on a plate on the firewall mounted high up on the p***enger side, I would ***ume that it would be on the drivers side in your case. There should also be an identification plate on the inside of the glove box door. Cool project, lot's of parts available for this truck.. lot's of info on here on swapping a Ford Explorer frame and running gear under this truck, just do a search. If you need to use your F100 frames you'll have to use the shortbed and narrow the axles considerably.. lot's of work.
US Fords of that vintage have a vin plate attached to the inside of the glove box as well as a vin impressed into the firewall. This is how my 50 F-1 and my Dad's 51 F-1 are. You will also find the vin stamped into the top of drivers side frame rail in the US. I'm unable to help you with your number. Send a pm to Bruce Lancaster here on the HAMB if he doesn't pick this thread up. He'll help decode your number.
If you find the vin a new data plate can be made by A.G.BACKEAST in Grand Junction CO 860-877-4440 www.datatags.com .Here is a picture of the one they did for me.Also if you go to the Ford Truck Enthusiasts site for your truck year,and look in the articles section there is a vin decoder.
Measure the wheelbase to determine the rating. F1 was 114" F2-F4 was 122" The vin you're looking for is something like F1R2 and 5 numbers that are the serial string. F2 or F3 will look like F2R2 or F2R3 ****X All the vin includes is Rating, engine - R is V8, and year 52. The other numbers you have look like production numbers. 2 C 8 I? 784 Was this truck ***embled in Canada? They used their own codes. US production would be 2=Color, C=***embly plant, 8I=***embly date (8 September), and 784 is vehicle down the line at that plant. (Except Ford never used "I" for the date. Capital I was used in place of the number 1)
Yeah it's a right hand drive. During the week i'll look around the Queensland Transport Department's website to see what/how many numbers/letters are needed to register it here in QLD. Just looked in glovebox. Theres 2 small holes about 3 or 4 inches apart with a light shadow of a plate or something. Dang it. Looked on drivers side near where the starter solenoid and relays and ****e are. Four holes about 1/8inch diameter in a rectangular shape, about 1 1/2inch by 2 1/2 inch long. Double dang it. I measured the wheelbase the other day and it's around 113 inches, so I guess that makes it an F-1, as I was thinking. When we first got it, we thought it was an F-2. A friend on Cardomain with an F-1 told me too look at the angled join in the guards. After looking at some guards on F-2's on the net, that angled join was too long on ours. The bonnet and the panel with the FORD badges (between the guards at the front) are a different colour. They might be off a 52, so the truck may also be a 51. Who knows! It's just part of the *fun* these old jiggers give us. I'll look for anything stamped in the ch***is on both sides (driver's and p***enger's) tomorrow night. Anyone with a photo of where I am to look would be awesome. Will I even be able to see the numbers with the body on the ch***is?
This is what you are looking for. This is on a 52 F3. Located on the right frame rail at the front of the engine compartment.
Great picture man, thanks a bunch!!! Just gave the rail a good scrubbing in that area with a 1.5x0.5inch hand wire brush and.....nothing, absolutely squat. I guess this must be karma getting back at me or something. Here are the pictures of the stamped p***enger (left) side firewall numbers I keep referring everyone to: Man I feel like strangling #$@* out of something right now...
YES!! YES IT SHOULD! If only they'd somehow put them on a plate of diamond or similar un-cut/grindable/rustable material that's not just riveted on. Oh well, when i look for my own rod project car i'm going to check that it has the plates and numbers on it before i buy, because this is frustrating as hell...maybe even more frustrating than that. update.... Just looked on the QLD Dept of Transport website. Because we are planning on putting a different engine and ch***is in, we can apply for the vehicle to be registered as an ICV (individually constructed vehicle, uses ch***is/engine of another vehicle and does not have a VIN). An ICV can be given a surrogate VIN/engine number by a Queensland Police officer or equivalent Police person, or an engineer or usual person who does roadworthy certification etc etc. BUT.....the vehicle will be limited on its use on the road. Sounds like this will be the dead last resort. If we cant do that........how much money do you reckon this would be worth to a scapmetal yard?
Was scratching away at that ch***is rail today when i looked up at the top of the head. MADE IN CANADA. Would that mean the rest of the car would be too? Who/where would i go to to ask where all the vital numbers I'm lookin for are?
Bought a '52 F1 the Vin ID is located on the Right frame rail about 6" forward of the firewall. Didn't know where to look and the Dept of Motor vehicles had a book on location, and BAM' the were right(this is Arizona DMV)
I've found some numbers on top of rail under where the front brake hose is held on righthand frame rail. What a spot to put them.... Back in 1950, Canadian Ford Factory, Designer's Lunchroom.... "Hmmm....lets put the numbers in a safe place where they will still be able to be read in a couple of decades...somewhere that wont be damaged, lets say ummm....OOH!!! I KNOW!!!!! Underneath the (corrosive) brake fluid joint!!!! Theres NO WAY that those joints will leak!!!" Smart cookies indeed..... I shall keep searching just in case they put them in other places too.
If the bed is off or the floor is out check on the same frame rail towards the rear. Earlier Fords put the SN in three spots along the top of the same frame rail. I cannot attest to a Canadian F-1.
Yeah, could be a Merc' with a 52 Ford F1 piece between the guards and Ford bonnet, as they are painted different colours as the rest of the cab. The plate inside the cab above the windscreen says Ford Motor Co. of Australia PTY LTD on it, but whether the rest of the truck is Australian is another thing. Plate is located here. -------\/ -------\/ -------\/ I shall search the ch***is rails at the back, as it has a homemade trayback on it. By the looks of the side steps its had a body on it before, because of the rounded ends. Did they ever make any trayback models of these in the factory? What year truck bodies will fit this thing? Isn't it something like 48-52?
Yep 48-52 will interchange as a whole actually 48-50 and 51-51 So there's 2 styles, the fenders won't interchange between the 2 styles 48-50 are a little more stylized 51-52 have plainer stake pockets and flat bedsides
Awesome, I shall check out this lmctruck.com site. Whats the difference between the two guard styles? One set is wider or longer than the other? I'm guessing by the looks of the 52 body, you have to put your own planks or steel sheeting in for the floor? I was also wondering, are there different length beds for the F1, and will an F2 bed fit an F1? Is the 52 F1 like a 75 SWB F-100 and the 52 F2 like a 75 LWB F-100? (Same cab and height, just different length bodies and wheelbase?)
My friends 49 F-1 has some numbers stamped on the top left side framerail (US drivers side, US made truck) about even with the crossmember.
My 50 had the numbers stamped directly into the firewall in roughly 1" high numbers (as mentioned above) sorta left of center at the very top, almost under the cowl "lip"(facing the fire wall from the front). They're easy to miss (faint) until you cut the firewall out and realize you might need them. Come to think of it my old 51 and 52 were also stamped there. Found that out when I moved to Oklahoma. DMV had to verify the numbers prior to issuing Ok. plates. Good Luck.
Canada made both Ford and Mercury trucks. F2's have a wide flat area for the trans crossmember, and F1's have a half circle for the trans crossmember. Easy way to tell them apart. The Serial number can be on either side of the frame on top. It sounds to me someone took the tags for their own truck for registering, so registering it using the number on the frame might raise a red flag to the DMV. Numberdummy (Bill) knows every part number known to man for Fords. He's on FTE, and frequents the 48-60 forum, and can answer most any question. There's also a sticky at the top for serial number decoding. F1 beds are unique to F1's. By the time you cut an F2 bed down (which they don't repop the F2 beds), you could've bought an F1 bed kit from Northern Cl***ic trucks and had it shipped. And sold the F2 bed to make up the cost diff. Track width of the 48-52's is the same as 53-72. '75 is wider.
I too have a 52 that I cant find the vin on, no tag on the glove box. none on the door or posts, nothing on the frame neer the steering box or on the right side.Frustrating but still searching and hoping for more Ideas and pictures. Also these were not groung off they just are not there. Though the glove box one was robbed.
I had a 52, the spears on your hood are familiar. I remember a faint stamping of the VIN on the right side frame rail, in front of the axle, on the top. I don't think it would stand up to a wire wheel, it was so faint. I found it after hosing it off, and hit it with a green scrubbie and got it visible. Ditto the missing number in the glovebox for me. It was enough to get a ***le from the state with. Try hot soapy water and a green kitchen scrubbie and see if you can find it that way? The number started with a star shaped stamp and looked to be about 3/8" tall numbers and letters.
Well I found those numbers on mine right front frame rail as said they were almost impossible to make out. I think i may have come up with 11 digets almost a guess at what they are though. I wish I could double check them. Supposedly thre are other spots on the frame with the numbers though I have not found them.
hey racer, i put a 52 f-1 on a 68 f-100 frame(both were short beds) only dif. was the 68 was 3" longer so i had a bigger then normal space between the cab and bed. i even keeped the 360 3spd. on the col. from the 68.
Here's where my 1951 F1 numbers are: Driver side is stamped in the sheet metal firewall. P***enger side has a rivited tag. (close-up shown) Frame stamped. Also tag screwed to the inside glovebox door. (shown)
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