Went back and found the number on my f1. Didn't even know it was there. Glad I learned something new.

 

Picture? I have stripped most of my upper firewall and can only find a few "maybe" stamps on the far passenger side. I don't think that is where it should be, because it would be covered by the serial number tag (if it weren't missing).

 

I don't think these are very standardized between years and assembly plants. Everything I've read on here has showed slight differences in the cowl stamps.

I only looked for one to see if I could find a reference to the factory color, since a PO painted mine tan and dark brown. My firewall tag has only the VIN legible, and my glove box tag does not have a color reference.

I'm not sure I'll actually paint it the original color, but I wanted to know what it was.

 

Yes, I am looking for mine because I want to find the build date. I am sure it was built <u>in California</u> and I know the factory color, but I'd like to know the build date because I am really interested in the history.

 

Can't upload any pictures now sorry, but maybe if you search google images you can find a picture

 

A = January / M = December / The letter I is skipped.
There were two CA assembly plants, Richmond & Long Beach.

Richmond replaced by new San Jose CA plant in 1956. Long Beach closed at the end of the 1958 model run.

Assembly Plant codes:

Richmond: RH thru 1952; R = 1953/55.

San Jose: R = 1956/79.

Long Beach: LB thru 1952; L = 1953/58.

 

Thanks Bill. Now that you mention it, I've seen this reference to the letter "I" not being used for September. I wonder if that's why they used an "I" instead of a "1" in this cowl stamp as part of the date "21".

So my truck was built in August, 1950 which means it was one of the first '51s to come out of Richmond. That makes it 62 years old next month. Wow, I've only got it beat by 11 months...

 

Hope this help! VIN Decoder - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

"Our free VIN Decoder allows you to obtain a vehicle's information instantly.....
We support 17-character VINs from 1981 to the present."

Not much help on this forum!