Hi:
I am a new member to the Ford-Trucks club and it seems like a very interesting site to visit. I have purchased a 1959 Ford truck with the serial number missing from the glove compartment door. A customs agent has suggested that there is a hidden serial number stamped on the truck. I would like to bring this vehicle into Canada from the USA but need to find this hidden number to do so. Can anyone help? Stan

 

Just had that discussion - see https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=399533

On my 59, the vin number is stamped on the top of the right frame rail, just forward of the front cab mount. It is stamped a second time on the same frame rail just aft of the front cab mount.

Sometimes you have to clean the frame up a bit to read them - a shot of carb cleaner helps, as does shinning a flashlight at different angles. On mine, you could read the numbers from the top with the fenders on.

I have my frame off for cleaning and painting - if you need pictures would be glad to send them to you.

 

Hi ***** B: Thanks for the information. I need to be able to locate this number for the customs agent. Did you mean that you could send me a picture of how to locate this hidden number? Stan

 

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I just walk out and checked my donor truck - the number is very hard to spot. It is below the battery next to the starter. I had to use a wire brush to even see that the number was there.

Had I not known that it was there I would have given up long before I saw it. You might try cleaning the frame and then rubbing chalk across the number to make it stand out.

The entire number starts and ends with a star (*).

Good luck!

 

I want to say thank you for the help with my serial numbers. I am not altogether sure of how these forums work but I am glad that I stumbled onto this one. ir4by4

 

This one works just like you used it - you post a question and it gets answered. Everyone reads the question and the answer, and chimes in if they have anything to add.

Sometimes there are disagreements and different oppinions, so everyone gets his say. You get to chose which answer you like best, or even some combination of all the answers, or even something entirely different.

FTE is the best working forum I have found.

 

4

What's missing is called a "Data Plate", which has the Serial #, Wheel Base, Colour, Model, Date, Trans, Axle, Max.G.V.W.Lbs, Cert.Net.H.P., RPM, D.S.O. Info.

 

Hi 4x4, I see some of the crew from the forum as well as one of our esteemed FTE administrators (Tim) have already replied to your posts. I'd also like to welcome you aboard FTE and especially the 1948-1960 Forum.

As the fellas have mentioned, there is a data plate (also called a rating plate in some literature) that should contain several numbers and codes that describe the original configuration of your truck. There are a couple places to look for the plate, depending on which source you ask.

This is a thread from a while ago where we discussed the various locations of the rating plates on different year trucks. Kenny Lear, our previous moderator, is a whiz with the 57-60 years. As you will see in the thread, he went to some trouble to try to sort out the various sources of information.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/48_60/1899.html

The bottom line is, if you want to be sure you haven't missed the data (rating) plate, check the glove box door, all of the four door pillars, and the front or rear panel on both doors.

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is one of the numbers on the rating plate. The VIN is special, however, in that it was also stamped somewhere on the frame. It's usually on one of the frame rails ahead of the cab, but folks have found it on crossmembers, on the rails under the cab!?!, on the frame rails near the radiator, and probably a couple other places I forgot about. Some folks have found it stamped in TWO places on the frame (***** mentioned he has it on his frame twice).

The people sitting on the assembly line stamping the numbers on the frames apparently weren't always ... uh ... paying attention? Or maybe they figured they would mess with poor dumb guys and gals like us who would be trying to ID the trucks 50-odd years later.

Good luck in your rating plate and VIN hunt!