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You won't find a VIN tag on the door, they didn't have them there. If there is a tag, it would be on the inside of the glovebox door, but most of the time those are missing. Pop the hood, and take a look at the driver's side frame rail, right around the area of the steering box, there should be a number stamped into the rail, starting with a star. That is your VIN, and with that we should be able to figure the year for your truck. You might have to scrape and clean a bit because Ford did not stamp the numbers too deeply and years of dirt and grease fill them in easily.
If you think it is a '45, then you have narrowed it down. The years 1942-1947 look nearly identical, only very minor changes along the years, hardly noticable unless you know what to look for.
Try to find the vin, and post it here, post the first 5 or 6 digits of it and somebody here will be able to narrow it down for you.
Good luck with the truck
Ralph, I think that number resembles a '45 more than a '49. I would recommend looking more closely at the VIN that you have. The numbers as you posted don't clearly match '45 but sometimes the frame numbers can be deceiving. I am most concerned about the 17 in the middle.
Sounds like you looking at a '46 or a '47. The last six digits put in the range of a 1946 V8 truck. However, like mentioned, that 17 sounds wrong. A '46 VIN will read 99Y, 99T, with the numbers following. Perhaps a little more cleaning will clear the number up. Ford was not always real careful to ensure the numbers were stamped deeply so they get crudded up easily. If the trans is still in the truck, also check the top of the bellhousing by removing the transmission floor panel. Again stamped, but that might also give you the VIN as well.
<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1> <!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --><TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Thank you for info. The vin # might be 99I-7686514 Will check trans for numbers, I have it stripped down to frame everything apart, so it is easy to check all parts.
There are a couple of things to look at here. This one I assumed was a '45 because the serial # is just prior to what is listed for the '46. The '46 I have is stamped *699Y. This transmission has a C instead of the Y or T that Gary mentioned, because this one is from a 1/2 ton truck. The numbers after the dash are the serial number of the motor. For the transmission above notice the last number is the letter I. That was the way Ford stamped the number 1.
My frame is very hard to read so I asked the question one time about the dash. It seems to be on all of the transmissions, but may or may not be on the frame. If you look closely at your frame do you have the dash?
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