What can you tell me about the truck based on this VIN on a 1949 F 5: 98RT164470

 

You pretty much already know about your truck what the serial number will decode. (9)1949, (8R)239 V8, (T)F5, consecutive unit number 164470. The branch code KC indicates it was built at the Kansas City plant. If you find a series of numbers and letters hand stamped into the firewall near the cowl seam, we can decode those for you, giving you a few more details, including color and production code.

 

That's the first time I've seen KC stamped upside-down...
It's a very early '49, probably built January to mid-February. A firewall stamping like Wayne mentioned would tell us.

 

Thanks Wayne. I’ll look for those additional numbers and letters on the firewall.

 

Okay Wayne and Mtflat: I looked on the firewall and there were two stamps. One more toward the driver side and one more toward the passenger side. I initially thought maybe they did it twice because they did not properly place the first stamp on there, but it appears on closer review that they different. (1) is this the numbering you were referring to above. (2) If so, I'm interested to see what you can discern (if anything) from them. The legibility is far from perfect.


Driver Side


Passenger Side
Driver Side

 

No, that's not what we meant, but it is cool and probably is the inspection date for paint - looks to me like 2 - 25 - 49 and below that 18? is probably the inspector's number.

My 48 had plain numbers in yellow paint 11-11-48 and my firewall stamping said Nov 12 for assembly

We are talking about letters/numbers punched or stamped right into the metal of the firewall near the cowl usually 3/8" high.
Something like my 48 has 7RH12L6025
7 is the color code
RH is assembly plant
12L is date of assembly
6025 is number assigned to the vehicle down the line (unknown meaning)

 

As MT said, there should be some physically stamped numbers, stamped with a number/letter punch tool, right into the sheet metal. They're in slightly different locations and styles, by plant and time. Here's some examples.







Yours should have a KC and something near 25B in and among other things.

 

Have you guys seen or heard of trucks from this era that did not have these codes stamped into the firewall? I looked and did not locate this code. It’s possible that it’s much lower down on the firewall or in another location in the engine bay, but I looked closely and it was not located int the areas noted in the example pics you posted.


The only other info I noted was that the plate in the glovebox had the notation WBT listed in the model section. So far that’s all the more I learned from another review tonight.



Thanks again for your input in my efforts to try to understand more about the origins of this truck.

 

Anything is possible, and if they're not there, they're not there. It probably wouldn't be the first truck we've seen without the production stamping, but it is rare. It's the way Ford did things back then, both on cars and trucks.

I will say we've probably determined all we'd know if the stampings were present. It's an early 49 truck, made at the end of February, '49, in Kansas City, and appeared to be painted black.