1948-1960: 1949/1950 VIN # Cut off

[texan2004]

Is there anything on any of the VIN tags (glovebox or firewall) that would indicate where the truck was built. Some of these VIN plates had a space called "Branch" with a 2 or 3 letter abbreviation in it.

Thanks

[Fordsalot]

There is nothing I can find to indicate the assembly plant. The truck has always been in Florida, so I suspect it was built in Atlanta.

[F1 48 Ford]

Hi I have some pictures of my 48 Ford vin # 88 RY 621. How do I post the photos in my gallery . They were taken with my digital camera, but i have no idea on how to do it. Thank You Dean Neubauer

[texan2004]

In the light blue bar above, there is something called user CP. Hit that and select gallery set-up or some such thing. It's not the most straight forward system but you shjould be able to figure it out. Within your gallery, you can set up what they call albums. These are simply sub-directiories with-in your gallery.

I believe that someone wrote up a set of instructions that may be in one of the first three threads listed at the top of the forum in red (like this thread was).

[48panel]

I have a 48 panel, vin # 88rc 102522

[texan2004]

48Panel,

Thanks for the VIN # contribution. Looks like you have a mid-year 48 Panel. Do you by any chance have a series of numbers/letters stamped into the firewall itself? These are not the VIN #'s/letter's on the VIN plate rivited to the firewall. Instead they are #'s stamped directly into the firewall. They could be large, they could be small. They are almost always somewhere in the center of the firewall but I've also seen them over a bit towards either side. They weren't always stamped very deep and can be difficult to read or find. Once found there is usally a good bit of cleaning required to read them.

The reason I'm asking is that these numbers/letters can provide a good bit of information regarding your truck. Namely, where it was built, what color it was originally, and what day it was built. I'd be real interested in this information because we don't have many of these numbers form the 48's. There are two reasons for this. One is the title of this thread (49/50 VIN # cut-off) whic was my fault. The scope of this little grew a bit from it's original intention. Reason #2 is that it would appear that many plants did not begin with this information/code stamping until at least 1949 thoug it certainly appears to have been done at Richmond, CA and some others in 1948. We've also seen instances where some of this information was paint stenciled onto the firewall but only in 1948 if memory serves me correctly.

Bottom line, these numbers/letters may or may not be there but if you can find them, we sure would be interested in them.

Thanks and welcome to FTE.

[48panel]

Texan 2004

I searched for numbers on the 48 panel firewall but I can't find any. I also have a 49 panel, glove box vin # 97HC 226095 with a stamped firewall 7EG 25 8 559.
I also have F-1 pick-up truck, glove box vin # 87HC 46861 & can't see any stamped # on the firewall of that either.

48 panel

[48panel]

Texan 2004


I forgot to say there is an oval brass plate screwed under the hood near the hinge mount that reads
St. George Motor Co. Inc.
Ford Products
3119 (stamped)
Cumberland, Md.

I always figured this was a dealer tag ?, but who knows.

[texan2004]

97HC 226095 = 1949, 6 cylinder, 1/2 ton, VIN Sequence # 226095

7EG25 8 559

7 = Paint Code - Meadow Green
EG = Edgwater, NJ Assembly Plant
25 = Date of the month the truck was built
8 = ??? Should be a letter and not a number. Any chance this could be a "B" or an "E"??
556 = Some sort of plant specific sequence #.

I'm not surprised that you haven't found any firewall stampinmgs on the 48's. I know the did them in late 1948 in Richmond, CA and Kansas City, MO but I've not seen where any other plants did this in 1948. I've seen a few 1949's and 50's that are missing the firewall stampings as well.

I suspect the brass plate you found was indeed a dealer tag. Which vehicle was it attached to??

[48panel]

Tevan 2004

The brass plate is attached to the 48 panel, which I've owned over 30 years & bought locally here in Maryland. Thanks for the other info!

48 panel

[texan2004]

Thanks again for the information. I have another Edgewater truck VIN #98RC 158264 that has a goofy firewall stamping where the date is not clear like on yours.

The closest Edgewater truck I do have with a good date is 98RC 276869 born on 12/6/49. As you may have noticed throughout this thread, things were not always consistent between plants. I suspect that 8 could indicate August but it will take a few more Edgewater firewall stapmings from that time period before we can say for certain. If you get a chacne to check the "8" and verify that it is indeed and 8 and not some letter, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Carl G.

[48panel]

Texan 2004

I took another look at the firewall stamping along with my daughter & we agree that the 8 is actually a G. The stamping is deep & clear on the bottom half, but not as clear on the top half, but we're sure it's a G. Thanks

[49_F1]

1. 1949
2. 98RC 229681
3. Raised Panel
4. 3 Speed
5. Floor Shift
6. Stamping P7NR with 1642888 Below it.
My numbers are stamped in the drivers side firewall below the seam next to the hood hinge.

[texan2004]

Welcome to FTE and thanks for participating. Breakdown is as follows:

98RC 229681

9 = 1949/50 Model Years
8R = 239 c.i.d. flathead V8
C = F1, 1/2 ton

229681 = VIN sequence #. From the looks of the #, It's pretty safe to say you have a 49. Ford did not change the VIN # codes between 1949 and 1950 and did not reset the VIN numbers from 1948-1950. Because 48's always had an 88RC or 87HC prefix, it's prety easy to tell what traucks are 48's. The used 98RC and 97HC for the 1949 and 1950.

Stamping:
P7 = Paint Code, 7=Meadow Green
NR = Norfolk, VA assembly plant

1642888 - Any chance that one of the first three digits in this string is actually a letter. The first two or three characters would ususally indicate the build date for the truck but the month is generally identified with a letter. They went from A-M for Jan. - Dec. skipping the use of the letter "I" to avoid confusion I suspect. I would focus on the digit "4". Any chance it could be an "H" or a "K"?

Thanks,

Carl G.

[av8ford]

Since you're collecting '48 info as well, here's mine.

1. 1948
2. 88RC96313
3. Raised Panel
4. 4 Speed (original, converted to Mustang T5)
5. Floor Shift
6. No firewall stamp

The paint is dark green (Arabian?).
The truck was built in Richmond, California and sold new in Sonoma County where it has remained all its life.

Mike