Carl,
It is very possible it is a 1949, the paper work I have says it is a 1949 model year. I also titled it as a 1949 to match the cab cards from 1967 and 1968 and make applying for a title easier. I found them stuck to the back side of the drivers side visor. With the overlap in years the person I bought it from may not have know either.

My plate under the hood on the passengers side that has the vin number also has a spot for the branch.

Not much for history, I tried contacting the owner of the truck from 1967 and 1968 with no luck so far.

I do know it was a plow truck for Clamshell Beach Resort in Northern Minnesota for a period of time because it was still painted on the doors in very faded but legible paint.

Yes someone wrote BLACK where the number you are looking for is located. I don't want to strip the paint off there at the moment. If there is something there it might be covered in primer and paint as they are still there and intact.

Heck I might leave BLACK there as a conversation piece.

Thanks for the information Christopher. Guess you'll need to change your posting signature from getting a 1950 F3 ... to getting a 1949 F3 ...

I will go ahead and list it as a 1949, escpecially since you have some documentation to back that up.

Thanks,

Carl

It now say 1949 :o .

As far as the letter designations for the truck series (C = F-1/F-100, D = F-2/F-250, etc.), there are several charts here http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/Re..._Material.html that go with the parts catalogs. They may not be the same as the letters stamped on the trucks, but Y is the catalog designation for an F-3/F-350.

Carl,
Here is the info from my truck. I don't have any kind of title for it so I don't know the first year registered.
1949 F1
Vin # - 97HC-217436-DAL
Model # - 9HC
inline 6cyl
4 speed manual on floor
raised bed panels
# stamped in firewall - 7DL16E-1004
driverside only windshield wiper
no drain tubes that go from the front windshield channel to the hood hinge area
driverside only sun visor
fresh air vent and blower under right side fender
small back window (?maybe?)

I might have some info on another truck but I'll have to search around and see if I can find what I did with it.

Bobby
Hope this helps

Bobby,

I bleieve that the firewall stamping indicates the following.

7 = Meadow Green
DL = Dallas
16E = May 16
1004 = 1004 Vehicle of the day

Tim (mtflat) gets the credit for figuring all of this out and hopefully he will check my work here. I'm still not convinced the sequence # is for the particluar day but the more numbers we get, the better able we will be to figure that out. Seems like too high a number to be a daily figure but yours isn't the only 4 digit firewall sequence #. Most are 3 digit however.

The sequence # in your Vin seems to verify that it is indeed a 49.

Thanks for providing your information Bobby.

Carl

Carl,
Thanks, Tim deciphered the firewall #'s once before for me (and I think I even saved it somewhere).

So my truck's a Texan huh?

Bobby

Looks like it is and you even know it's birthday.

http://www.mercury-pickup.net/1948fordtruckvin.htm


Have you looked here yet?

Christopher, I've seen that site before but he has some new info on Canadian vins 48-51. Thanks for pointing it out. The link below goes right to the vin page.

http://www.mercury-pickup.net/19481951fordmercvin.htm

I'm looking for some decoding info on my truck, and thought I'd drop my VIN in the mix...maybe it will help to sort things out.

1 - Truck was registered as a '50 when I got it
2 - 97HC-293664 HP
3 - Stamped bedsides
4 - Appears to be the original bed.
5 - Motor and tranny were swapped out when I got it.
6 - Was originally floor shift.
7 - Can't find any stamp on the firewall.

I had a guy tell me he thought my truck had the V6 in it originally, based off of the radiator position. I don't know if that matters or not, but figured I'd throw it out there.

Any info I could get on my truck, I'd appreciate. Thanks all.

Blue, I'd say it was an early '50. Vin only says year (49-50), 6 cyl (7H), half-ton (C), HP?? HM is Highland Park, MI and MP is Memphis, TN - the last 6 digits are the serial string.

Blue,

Thank you very much. Your information helps. MTflat decoded everything for you in the above post. Your original engine would have been a flathead straight six.

If you can find the numbers stamped on the firewall, we can may be able to help with figuring out for certain where the truck was built, date it was assembled, original color and what number truck yours was for that particular plant. Not certain if it will be for a particalur day, week or month but there will likely be a sequence number included in the satmpings. They can be difficult to read. Again, thanks and I will add yours to the registry.

BTW - that's a real nice truck you've got. I hope you add some more photos of the finished product. Some interior shots would be real nice.

my parts truck97hc265771hp
9-49,7h-226 ci 6cy 1bc,c-1/2 ton,265771-production #,hp-highland park.
1.1949
2.97hc265771 hp
3.no bed
4.
5.4 sp
6.floor shift
7.c11p2cl200

my truck
98rc384073at
9-year,8r-239ci 8cyl 2bl carb,c-1/2 ton,384073-production #,at-?
1.1949
2.98rc384073at
3.raised panel
4.yes original bed
5.3 speed
6.floor shift
7.a13e400
truck was bought from a man who had it for 35 years,nothing was ever done to it but new water pumps and king pins,brakes.i plan to use part's truck cab .any trouble when i use my vin tagg? doing this.

Tracy,

Thank you very much for participating. You have some interesting information I'd like to furhter verify.

Parts Truck:
- Any chance that "11" in the firewall stamping could be an "M"? Typically, these stampings weren't done very well and can be difficult to make out. With a P being the next character, it would seem to indicate that the truck was built in Memphis.

- I'm assuming you are reading the VIN from a dataplate on the glovebox or firewall. Are you certain that it says HP and not MP?

- The Vin Sequence # would seem to indicate that this is indeed a 1949 (FYI)

Your Truck:
- Are you certain that this is a 1949? The VIN sequence # would seem to indicate that this truck may in fact be an early 1950.

- The AT = Altanta, Georgia (FYI)

- Firewall stamping: Any chance the 1 may be a T? The E in front of the 400 would indicate the truck was built either May 3 or May 13th which would seem to substantiate the 1950 model year. If this truck was a 1949 with a VIN sequence # that high, I would expect to see a letter like K,L, or M.

We are trying to figure this out as we go along and and my theories may be completey wrong. I'm just trying to establish the certainty of the information being provided. As we get more information and representative samples from the various plants, I'm hoping to be able to do a better job of deciphering these firewall stampings. From what I can tell, there was some consitency between some of the plants while others seem to have done things similar but different. One example is with the color code. It would appear that some did not include one, some used a numbering system that we sem to have figured out and others appear to have used letters to designate the colors and I do not yet have that figured out. Some appear to have changed the stamping codes between 1949 and 1950 but I can't confirm that either.

Also, can you please confirm that both have the small back windows vs. the larger back window on the 51/52. We haven't found any with the larger rear window but, there are some rumored to be out there.

As far as your cab swap and VIN plates go - I would just transfer the VIN plates from the existing cab to the new cab. Per the Ford manual, these trucks were designed so that the cabs could be replaced. That makes it a part in my book, just like a set of brakes shoes. In other words, if you swap the cab, it's no different than swapping tires. VIN stays with the truck and not the cab. Just my opinion though. Good luck with the cab swap and thank you again for helping.

Thanks,

Carl