I just acquired a 1935 and a 1942 farm truck. Is the VIN etched into the frame anywhere? The small metal plates that are riveted to the engine side of the firewall have been exposed to the sun for a decade or so. My '48 F-6 has the VIN on an identical plate. Trying to get the VIN so I can get them titled.

 

Hi, I have a 1940 ford one ton and could not find the vin on the frame rails, you can see location diagrams at http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_home.htm

i finally found the vin by taking off the trans cover, it is stamped on the top of the trams housing, flat part, letters about 3/8 in tall.

good luck,
mpr

 

Thanks for the info! I'll pull up the floor boards and check under the trans cover.

 

Was it so that if your sidevalve v8 was replaced the truck would still be matching numbers? by having the number on the bellhousing?

 

That's the thought, that the engine was more likely to be changed out than the transmission. In some states the number was supposed to be stamped on the engine as well, so sometimes you will see them there.

You should find the number on the top of the drivers side frame near the steering box, as said also on the trans, the '42-'47 had a tag on the inside of the glove box door, but they tend to go missing. I have 2 cabs but have not yet seen a real tag, just picts on the internet.

 

hi,
As i understand it, according to vanpelt and my 1940 model year, there are 3 spots on frame rails, top left side for the vin plus the 4th spot on trans housing. the three spots are in front of the steering box, just behind the cab and just in front of the rear diff. i found none of them on the frame - yet. will do a frame off resto, so maybe find it later. there is also an engine code stamped on the flathead horizontally behind the oil filler, it can only be viewed with engine out as it faces rearward. then of course there are some heads which are cast/marked like 59 A-B dead center in heads.

the original engines did not last long, so very many were changed out. mine may have had the heads changed out, have yet to try and find the engine code. the trans is by far the easiest for me to find. you can clean it up, spray wd40, wipe lightly letting the wd40 remain in the grooves, and spray paint a light coat of white. it should pop right out at you.

 

I have a '46 (former dump truck) I'm currently restoring. I ripped up [what was left of] the floor last night. On the top of the bellhousing were two cast numbers. '59' which I know means it was post war production. But I can't find any info on the other number. It says J156 1 (maybe J15611, hard tellin).
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

The 59 is actually on the engine part of the bell you should look a little lower, on the trans. Here is a pict of a number on the top of the trans that I found on Ebay. Maybe the pict will help you understand better what you are looking for. You can see that the number is just above the little inspection plate that is missing on this trans.

 

Sweet. I'm going to rip it apart now
Thank you greatly!

 

I found the VIN (thank you soule46) and it appears by the number its a 1942... but the 59 is supposed to signify post war? meaning the engine may have been replaced?
its *BBI8-69246I6*

I can take it apart, I can put it all together, I can make it run, but I can't decode a VIN...lol.

 

You should be able to find that number on the top of your frame as well, near the steering box. It is my understanding that the 59 engine was post war, the 5 signifies the first year of production. So your engine was likely replaced. Do the heads have 59A on them or 99T? I think the 99T would have been correct for a 1.5 ton, the bigger trucks did have the larger bore engine comparable to the 59.

There should be someone here that can better answer the VIN code. I think the BB designates the larger trucks the 18 (I8 -- Ford used the letter I as a one) is the V8 the numbers after the dash are the serial number of the engine/trans that was put in that truck. That serial number does match the range of serials used for '42 according to the references I have. The stars on each end designate the beginning and end of the number.

 

The engine has "59A-B" on it. Where did you look for Info on the VIN? I haven't found it on the frame yet. It was a dumptruck so there is a layer of tar on everything.

 

Mac Vanpelt has a really good site dedicated to the flatheads:
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_home.htm

He has a list of serial numbers for the early fords:
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/f...ialnumbers.htm

His primary focus was the cars so you will see for the later years he uses the "A" code in all the engine numbers I.E. 99A- or 1GA- In reality though the serial number was meant to serialize the engine and the "A" was used for the car "C" was used for the 1/2 ton truck etc. For the '42 and older cars and trucks unlike yours the VIN would only be 18- (without the BB) so for those years you could not tell from just the VIN what kind of vehicle the engine was put in. The serial numbers on Vanpelts site relate well to the numbers that were published in my 12th Edition Motors Auto Repair Manual published 1949 so is likely the primary source of these numbers. Remember though that these numbers will work in general but you can always find some oddball things that happened back then.

This website has some more info on the styles and the codes used for the '46 and newer trucks so you can see a little more what I am talking about by using the "A" for the car:
http://www.mercurypickup.com/truck_data.htm

 

Thanks
I've been all through those websites. They rock. I think I'm having a problem because this truck, along with two others were special ordered for a logging company. They could have changed them in several ways.
I really appreciate all your help and info.

 

Whats the number on end of the camshaft? you will have to remove the distributer I think it should b 5T