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I sure hope you can help !! I purchased what I believed was a 1948 F-2 or F-3 truck. After decoding the Cab Serial number, I found out that I have a 1948 F-1 Cab on an heavy duty frame.
I looked everywhere on the frame for a number. I found the first number on the first cross member that supports the Radiator. That number is 7RC 5020.
The only other number I found was on the Driver's side Motor Mount frame brace. That number is 21C 5087B
Good Question 52 Mercury. The frame is longer than a standard F-1. It has a 4 speed Trans and 8 lug wheels. It also has a 2 piece drive shaft with a center support.
8 lug wheels and 122" wheelbase would definitely indicate an F2 or F3 chassis. They are both the same, but the F3 has slightly heavier rate springs. I'm not sure I'd consider it a heavy duty chassis, just a 3/4 ton as opposed to a half ton. It would be no surprise after 70 years a cab could have been swapped from a good donor to your frame if the original cab was bad. The serial number stamp on the frame is typically found on the top of the frame rail on the passenger side of the truck (assuming US production) near the motor mount. They can be stamped faint and difficult to see. Be careful with scraping or cleaning.
I sure hope you can help !! I purchased what I believed was a 1948 F-2 or F-3 truck. After decoding the Cab Serial number, I found out that I have a 1948 F-1 Cab on an heavy duty frame.
I looked everywhere on the frame for a number. I found the first number on the first cross member that supports the Radiator. That number is 7RC 5020.
The only other number I found was on the Driver's side Motor Mount frame brace. That number is 21C 5087B
Those numbers are the part no. for the radiator crossmember and the motor mount crossmember.
What is your serial number from the data plate on the firewall or the rating plate on the glovebox lid OR from the top of the frame rail just behind the motormount crossmember on the passenger side? It should start with 88RC or 87HC followed by six digits
What is your actual wheelbase length? 114 or 122?
Thanks 52 Merc for the Picture. It speaks volumes !! I will pickup some scotch bright pads and concentrate on that area.
MTflat, You are correct. It is a 3/4 ton and I may have misused the term Heavy Duty. To be honest, I have no idea what year this frame was made or even what to look for to get it close. I can only assume it's a '48. Curiosity is about to kill this cat. To answer your questions, It has a 121 inch wheelbase and the Cab's serial number is 87HC*102XXX. It also has the standard, 226cc 6 cyl engine which may have been replaced with the Cab.
Thank you all for the help. I went out between thunderstorms and put a little more elbow grease on just the right spot. Out popped the Serial Number !! Now I'm more confused than ever. The Frame and Cab's Serial Number match (87HC102xxx). I guess I have a 1948 1/2 ton truck with a 121 inch wheelbase and 8 lug tires. Would this be a light weight F-2 ?
Over the years we've seen a lot of vin mis-stampings or mis-codings at the factory, especially in 1948 trucks with the introduction of several new models and new model designations. It appears it took some time for the people in the office issuing numbers and stamping plates to figure out all the new stuff. I'm going to say that's what you have here. Obviously you have a 3/4 ton truck, most likely an F2. It just happened to get a C code issued instead of a D or Y code. We've seen several F2's mistakenly marked with the Y code (F3) as the D code was new for 1948. Your particular error is fairly rare. All errors are rare in the big picture compared to the number of trucks built, but they're not uncommon. Try not to overthink this. It's not a big deal. Enjoy your new project.
Do you have the series emblems on the cowl sides, between the door and fender, or perhaps the scars of them, to tell if it was an F2 or 3? Can you post some pictures? Some guys here will tell you pictures are mandatory.
The truck has F-3 emblems on it and I believe they may be original. According to the number, it came from the factory Red and the interior of the truck is red. At some point it was repainted blue. You can see some red between and around both F-3 emblems. Also the 6.5 ft bed is not original to the truck. The previous owner bought it and just set it on the truck so the tires wouldn't rub. There is a several inches between the bed and the cab and the frame sticks out the back a foot or so. .
F3 it is. Here's your next mission. Look under the hood, on the firewall, and see if you find a series of letters and numbers hand stamped into the sheet metal near the seam. It may look something like this. Some have them, some don't. If you find them, post what you find.
Over the years we've seen a lot of vin mis-stampings or mis-codings at the factory, especially in 1948 trucks with the introduction of several new models and new model designations. It appears it took some time for the people in the office issuing numbers and stamping plates to figure out all the new stuff. I'm going to say that's what you have here. Obviously you have a 3/4 ton truck, most likely an F2. It just happened to get a C code issued instead of a D or Y code. We've seen several F2's mistakenly marked with the Y code (F3) as the D code was new for 1948. Your particular error is fairly rare. All errors are rare in the big picture compared to the number of trucks built, but they're not uncommon. Try not to overthink this. It's not a big deal. Enjoy your new project.
My 54 F100 has a mistake on its data plate. The color code on it is "R" which in 1954 is Vermilion Red. My truck was and is Meadow Green ever since my Grandpa bought it new. In 53 "R" was Meadow Green. In 54-55 "R" was red and Meadow Green was "U".
Before I got it repainted in 1998 I looked all over for signs of red. What sort of made me think it might have been red was that Grandpa had a spare tire with a red rim, but that was just coincidence. But, I found no signs of red anywhere. So the guy on the line punching the data plate used last year's (1953) code for Meadow Green. So mistakes were made...
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