I am trying to pin down a production date of my 66 Ranchero. Don't have a warranty plate. Need serial numbers and build dates for any Ford ID number starting with 6K. My serial is 227778. Any serial is helpful but the closer to mine the better. Thanks

 

In two words ... im-possible.

The serial numbers used in 1966 covered all Ford passenger cars, not just Ranchero's.

277778 is your Ranchero, 277779 could be a Fairlane Convertible, or a Galaxie Station Wagon.

 

Yes I am aware of that. However the numbers are consecutive within the Kansas plant for all lines they produced. 227779 could be a differt line but still be consecutive within the plant. Thus knowing the date of any serial in any product line produced by Kansas in 1966 is useful in narrowing down the production date of mine. Right?

 

the closest you will probably get is the month and year of production and you can get that from the vin decoder on this page under the articles/specs menu

 

Try doing so...lotsa luck, because the FTE VIN decoders will not work for passenger cars.

 

Bill is right. The vin decoder for trucks does not work. I don't need a vin decoder. The internet abounds with them. I want warranty plate data and that is not in the vin. I am trying to fill in the data that would have been on my missing warranty plate.

 

Numbers dummy. Bill actually provided some info useful to me on the Ranchero VIN thread responding to TMCQAW. Bill reports that serial 16995 was built 1-18-66. With that I can deduce that mine was built far later than I had supposed. I had speculated that my build date was very early as the battery tray installed was not factory installed after 1-3-66 (according to my parts CD).

 

Bill, if a 66 vehicle is actually built in Oct., Nov., or Dec., of 65 what month and year is entered on the warranty plate ??

 

Since new vehicles are usually introduced in September of the previous year, new vehicle production begins in August.

Letter designation denoting the month: A = January / M = December / The letter I is skipped.

 

Having the VIN you're interested in, why not go to Ford Customer Service for the info? Here's the report I got back on mine. It doesn't spell out the door tag codes but you can figure that out from online resources.

 

Thanks Bill & NC. Bill, if date Oct. is coded "K" is it automatically assumed that the month of Oct. 1965??

NC. Yes I have tried customer service. Research called me to say that they had no records prior to 1967. However they gave me numbers to the Henry Ford Museum. Staff believes that they can provide the info through thier research dept. We will see. Ken

 

FYI: This build sheet info did not actually come from Ford.

It came from martiauto.com.

In the late 1980's, Ford was planning to THROW AWAY all the data that pertained to 1967/79 FoMoCo vehicles.

Kevin Marti, a Mustang "nut" in Phoenix AZ found about about Ford's plan and got ALL of it.

Since Ford no longer has any of this info, they have to get it from Marti.

Marti offers far more than build sheet info, but there is a fee for all his various services. This is known in the hobby as a Marti Report.

Marti has nothing prior to 1967, Ford doesn't either...it was tossed away years ago.

People (myself concluded) want build sheet and other info for 1966 and older vehicles...there is nothing available.

 

I've been around long enough to know about a Marti report. The report I got came from Ford in a Ford Customer Relations envelope with a Ford Customer Relations return address because I called Ford Customer Relations phone number. Where Ford Customer Relations got it I can't say. i received them on all 3 of my 68 Rancheros. Marti, IMO, is just a bit overpriced and I don't remember them offering any free info, could be wrong because it's been a while. Actually I received more, faster and better info from Jon Huntley at the Fairlane Registry.

 

Since Marti is the only source pertaining to data inre to 1967/79 FoMoCo vehicles, where do you think Ford Motor Co. and the Fairlane Registry are getting it from?

Marti got it ALL from FoMoCo when he found out it was all going to be THROWN AWAY.

When you contact Ford for this info, they have to get it fom Marti. Marti doesn't charge Ford for the info...if he did, you wouldn't be able to get squat from Ford.

You cannot get squat from Ford prior to 1967, as all the data was THROWN AWAY decades ago.

A local Ford partsman I knew (Bob Vickery) was hired by FoMoCo (in Deaborn) for their Motorsport/SVO division. I asked him to see if he could dig up some data on a coupla 1963 HiPo Galaxies I owned in the 1980's.

He said, "we have nothing any longer."

 

Phew! Read and comprehend. I am NOT claiming to know where FORD got it and I don't give a rats ***. I stated where I got it. It did not come on a Marti Report letterhead, it came on a FORD letterhead from FORD. I did not pay Marti's price, I did not pay anything. Excuse me for butting into your infinite and proprietary knowledge.

I'm finished!