There's no question your truck is green and always has been. Here's a pic from an old Hemmings calendar that I've used as motivation. It's a nice looking Meadow Green F-3 '52. Stu

 

That is the look that's been stuck in my head!
She sure is purdy........
w

 

Unless I missed it, you getting this from the vin number on the glove box ID plate. I would guess the ID plate belonged on something else until you confirm the ID on the frame matches the glove box. Thousands of those plate have been swapped around over the years. That could explain the color code being wrong for you truck.
Just a thought.
Larry

 

Yeah, checking that the frame stamping agrees with the plate is needed. You shouldn't really have to contort yourself too bad to find it. Normally it's stamped on the passenger side frame rail just forward of the motor mount diagonal. You might need a tool box to stand on to lean into the engine bay so you can scrub on the rail a bit to find it, but it shouldn't be too hard to find. Here's a couple of mine. Some are stamped deeper into the metal than others, so you maybe want to use sand paper to clean away the rust/crud. Stu

 

The color code on my '54 F-100 is wrong on the glove box Data plate. My truck was bought by my grandfather new in Dec of '54. The paint code is 'R' on the data plate which is vermilion, however the truck has been Meadow Green all its life. I have the bill of sale. It says it is Meadow Green. There is no sign of red anywhere. The glove box door or data plate has not been switched. The VIN on the original bill of sale matches that on the title and the data plate.

What I have figured out is that in 1953 'R' was the code for Meadow Green, but in 1954 it was changed to 'U' for green and 'R' for red or vermilion.

 

This truck was assembled on my b-day but 11 years before i was born. You want to sale it ????? LOL

 

Meadow Green: M = 1951/52 / R = 1953 / U = 1954/56.

Vermillion: N = 1951/53 / R = 1954 / Not listed after 1954.

 

As Havi and Truckdog eluded to earlier in this thread, I am going to chock this up to someone having a bad day.......After reading what larryb346 pointed out, I realized that I have made a huge assumption that the VIN stampings would match. When I got home I grabbed the wire wheel on the 'ol drill and found the stamping on the frame, it matches the tag on the glovebox (a small victory in itself) I have taken a bunch of pictures and will post them later.
Thanks for all the input, you guys RULE!
Wade

 

Wade, just a bit of info - as Wayne pointed out these trucks do not have VINs.

Just serial numbers.

Its a common misconception that causes guys to try plugging the serial number into vin decoders and results in error messages and frustration.
Tim

 

Thanks Tim, being a noob to all of this, how did the factory track the information equivalent of today's VIN? Did they only track the serial number, but not the buck tag (?) in terms of legality? I have been bit by the bug and have a severe "fever" regarding the history of these old trucks . I have decided to keep her original (as much as possible) as a tribute to the engineering of the times. My dad brought me up as a Blue Oval guy (classic Mustangs) and this old technology has really intrigued me.
w

 

Sorry, that's in-correct.
FoMoCo: All 1948 and later trucks have VIN's as do all 1949 and later Passenger Cars. The VIN: Vehicle Identification Number, registers the entire vehicle.

Prevoius FoMoCo vehicles were registered by their specific engine numbers. The problem was, if the engine was changed, the number no longer matched.

1948/60: The last 5 digits of the VIN is the trucks specific serial number / 1961 thru today: The last 6 digits of the VIN is the trucks specific serial number.

Les Kelley, the largest used car dealer in the world and a Ford Dealer (Kelley Kar Co., on Figueroa St. in downtown LA's auto row) was the person who came up with VIN's.

Kelley was also the founder of Kelley Blue Books.

Not all automakers adopted VIN's initially. It wasn't until circa 1955 that all vehicles had them.

When first adopted, automakers used a variety of different VIN's. Some had 8 digits, some had 10, some had 11, some had...lawd only knows. It was a fiasco, because there was no standardization.

1980 thru today Passenger Cars, 1981 thru today trucks: The VIN's were standardized throughout the biz, have 17 digits, and every digit refers to the same thing in all the VIN's regardless of the vehicle make.

Example: 2011 F150 Stupor Crew: 1FTFW1CF0BFA07XXX

First 3 digits: Country of Origin, Complete/Incomplete vehicle / 4th digit: GVWR / 5th thru 7th digits: Body Style / 8th digit: Engine Size/Type / 9th digit: Automakers "Check Digit" / 10th digit: Year / 11th digit: Assembly Plant / 12th thru 17th digits: Numerical Sequence of Assembly, the vehicles specific serial number.

btw: I've decoded over 800 VIN's/Rating/Warranty Plates here on FTE. One reason why: FTE's VIN decoders aren't worth two cents, have gazillions of omissions and errors.

So, if you "plug in" your VIN, the info might be correct, might not be...because FTE did not get any of the decodes from Ford parts catalogs.

FTE got the info from the Red Book, a horrid POS resource thought up by two members of the Fabulous 50's Ford Club back in the 1970's.

I know both of these clucks, neither of which has an ounce of Ford parts experience, the info was based on vehicles they viewed at car shows/swap meets!

This POS book also decodes Ford part number prefixes: It's a FIASCO, as most of the info is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

 

Thanks Bill, great info.
w

 

In deference to all viewpoints on this, when I called A. G. Backeast a while back to get a new "rating plate" for my truck I called it a VIN plate. He got real pissy with me and told me to be sure I wrote my order to refer to the plate as a "rating plate". He too said it was a "serial number". Stu

 

Trucks (includes Bronco's, Econolines and etc where applicable): Rating Plate: 1948/60 / Warranty Plate: 1961/80 / Certification Label: 1981 to date.

So-called VIN tag: Installed beginning in model year 1968 Passenger Cars, located on the left corner of the dash, visible thru the windshield, has only the VIN on it.

Cannot recall the year, but trucks weren't required to have it until the 1980's.

The ongoing problem is, most peeps in the old car hobby have no experience in the autobiz (and no or next to none apropos literature ), so they call the VIN the serial number. But, I know better.

 

It appears that someone on the line did indeed have a bad day based on the "1" stamped sideways....
w