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Did you truck come with a rear bumper? My 54 did not so it would have had the flat brackets I suppose.
When did Grandpa put the thick steel brace on it? I don't know and now I'll never know. Grandpa and uncles and aunts are all gone. I have no early pictures of the truck.
Did you truck come with a rear bumper? My 54 did not so it would have had the flat brackets I suppose.
When did Grandpa put the thick steel brace on it? I don't know and now I'll never know. Grandpa and uncles and aunts are all gone. I have no early pictures of the truck.
I got the truck with bumper and know it has had one for 40yrs. Don't know about original. Brackets are wrong. They are 13470/1
Based on the parts catalog and the images of the brackets in the catalog, it’s clear that our obscured license plate is not a factory issue.
I have yet to find a picture of a 1949-1950 Mercury M-47 (with a rear bumper and has not been grossly modified) that is not plagued by the obscured license plate issue. That is why I am questioning your statement. Can anyone clear this up?
So decided to tackle this on my truck. The spacing on the stake holes are wider than my truck and my license bracket needs to go up another inch. So 52flthed what is the height in the middle of your license bracket and what is the spacing of your stake mount holes? My plate bracket is 5.25 high. Checked with midwest early ford and the one they sell is also 5.25. I know I have the wrong brackets but I thought it would just be a matter of putting a shim under the top mount bolt.
You do have an excellent point! Moving the assembly up to the third hole only gains 2 1/4 inches in height - we still need about three more inches to fully see the license plate. Maybe a shorter license plate bracket to attach to the tail light bracket. Not sure when all states started using the same license plate dimensions.
I have yet to find a picture of a 1949-1950 Mercury M-47 (with a rear bumper and has not been grossly modified) that is not plagued by the obscured license plate issue. That is why I am questioning your statement. Can anyone clear this up?
Merc, I'm not sure what you are asking now. Did you read through the entire thread? It pretty much clears it up that the OE stock brackets BBAA-13470A for the RH and the BBAA-134701A for the LH need to used to get the license plate up more above the bumper, but not they are not reproduced, so not available to purchase from vendors. I'm after the OE stock ones now.
Can you show a photo of your current set-up? Is it different than any of the others pictured in this thread?
I have yet to find a picture of a 1949-1950 Mercury M-47 (with a rear bumper and has not been grossly modified) that is not plagued by the obscured license plate issue. That is why I am questioning your statement. Can anyone clear this up?
According to my library, the M-47 used B-13470. No rear bumper specified. In the US markets, rear bumpers were not a factory option until 1951; I suspect similar in Canada.
The federal 6x12 license plate standard we know today was passed in 1956. Prior to that, states made their own dimensions, larger or smaller than today's standards, or unique shapes. It's one reason the plate mounting bracket had such long slots on it. The revised brackets may have helped but were probably not perfect at a full display of the plate. Some states would have had better visibility than others. From the measurements in the drawing, the overall width of the BBAA and the B5C brackets was only .060" different. You'd be hard pressed to see the difference at a casual look. Even in the '56 catalog, it shows both brackets as acceptable to use for the same applications (C,D,Y, pickup and express), which I found interesting.
The federal 6x12 license plate standard we know today was passed in 1956. Prior to that, states made their own dimensions, larger or smaller than today's standards, or unique shapes. It's one reason the plate mounting bracket had such long slots on it. The revised brackets may have helped but were probably not perfect at a full display of the plate. Some states would have had better visibility than others. From the measurements in the drawing, the overall width of the BBAA and the B5C brackets was only .060" different. You'd be hard pressed to see the difference at a casual look. Even in the '56 catalog, it shows both brackets as acceptable to use for the same applications (C,D,Y, pickup and express), which I found interesting.
looks like Idaho went to the standard size early. This is an original 54 plate.
So decided to tackle this on my truck. The spacing on the stake holes are wider than my truck and my license bracket needs to go up another inch. So 52flthed what is the height in the middle of your license bracket and what is the spacing of your stake mount holes? My plate bracket is 5.25 high. Checked with midwest early ford and the one they sell is also 5.25. I know I have the wrong brackets but I thought it would just be a matter of putting a shim under the top mount bolt.
Hi Sorry I didn't see the thread for a few days. It looks like spacing on the holes is about 2" on center roughly between all three holes. And like I said and Abe said above; what I did was to turn that standard type repro bracket upside down, like the one you have, and that would give you the clearance and look you want. The top of the license plate bracket is exactly 5 inches from the top of the bumper.
