1950 Ford Serial Number Decoding

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. I really enjoy looking at and admiring vintage cars of the 1950 and 1960, and also older ones. While I do not currently have one anymore, I am sure I will have another in the near future. One of my side hobbies is that I pick up old data plates at swap meets and such. Of course I would never take on off of a car or even a carcass that might one day be restored, but when I see one orphaned and all by itself I will often buy it when the price is low. I currently have 5 old Ford data plates that I think are from the 1950s and 1960s or maybe even 1970s and I have been searching around the internet for decoding information.

1. Bobcat Serial Number Decoding
2. Ford Tractor Serial Number

While there seems to be a few bits of decoding information here and there on a very few specific models, I cannot find a place to look up what I have to identify the models and years and colors and such from the data on the plates. Can anyone here please point me to a website where this information is available, or if not can anyone please help me figure out what these 5 plates came off of? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. Here is the information from the these 5 data plates - I have xx-ed out the last two digits of the serial numbers on each. First plate: Body 70B, Color G, Trim E, Production code: 8C 1207P Serial number: #U5EG1460xx# Second plate: Body 62B, Color M, Trim 62, Date 14L, Axle 5, Trans 1, Serial number 2F41U1o89xx Third plate: Body 59A, Color T, Trim AB, Date 07 F, Trans 3, Axle 4, Serial number C7CR1496xx Fourth plate: Body 64A, Color M, Trim 42, Date 13B, Trans 3, Axle J, Serial number 1T11U1705xx Fifth plate: Body 63C, Color K, Trim 86, Date 22L, Axle 5, Trans 5, Serial number 4E68Z1497xx Again, thank you very much for any help you might provide. I am eager to learn.

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. I really enjoy looking at and admiring vintage cars of the 1950 and 1960, and also older ones. While I do not currently have one anymore, I am sure I will have another in the near future. One of my side hobbies is that I pick up old data plates at swap meets and such. Of course I would never take on off of a car or even a carcass that might one day be restored, but when I see one orphaned and all by itself I will often buy it when the price is low. I currently have 5 old Ford data plates that I think are from the 1950s and 1960s or maybe even 1970s and I have been searching around the internet for decoding information.

While there seems to be a few bits of decoding information here and there on a very few specific models, I cannot find a place to look up what I have to identify the models and years and colors and such from the data on the plates. Can anyone here please point me to a website where this information is available, or if not can anyone please help me figure out what these 5 plates came off of? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. Here is the information from the these 5 data plates - I have xx-ed out the last two digits of the serial numbers on each.

First plate: Body 70B, Color G, Trim E, Production code: 8C 1207P Serial number: #U5EG1460xx# Second plate: Body 62B, Color M, Trim 62, Date 14L, Axle 5, Trans 1, Serial number 2F41U1o89xx Third plate: Body 59A, Color T, Trim AB, Date 07 F, Trans 3, Axle 4, Serial number C7CR1496xx Fourth plate: Body 64A, Color M, Trim 42, Date 13B, Trans 3, Axle J, Serial number 1T11U1705xx Fifth plate: Body 63C, Color K, Trim 86, Date 22L, Axle 5, Trans 5, Serial number 4E68Z1497xx Again, thank you very much for any help you might provide. I am eager to learn. Does the lack of response mean that information on decoding Ford data plates from the 1950s and 1960s not exist on the web, or perhaps not at all? I want to thank you very much for these links, but I think that maybe I am not using them correctly as my data plate numbers do not seem to line up with any of the choices, or in some cases there are so many choices that I do not know which ones are the correct ones.

Could someone please look at one or two of the sets of numbers from my data plates I have provided in my original posting and using one of these linked pages come up with a decoding so I can see how to do it? Maybe I am just not seeing things right.

Thank you for your kindness in helping me.

Important Note: The engine serial number only dates the final approval of the assembled run-in engine, not the casting dates of the engine components, not the actual assembly date of the engine components, and not the assembly date of the vehicle. The vehicle was sometimes assembled up to 3 months after the engine was assembled, tested, and numbered. Engines also were not used in vehicle final assembly in the same sequence that the engine itself was produced or numbered. At the time of vehicle final assembly, the pre-existing engine number was also usually stamped on the vehicle frame in one or more locations (top of LH frame rail near the Number One body bolt). The number cannot be inspected without removal of sheet metal and lifting of the body off the frame because the frame number was covered with the splash apron and body. Additionally, it is usually difficult or impossible to read the frame number due to frame corrosion and pitting from the moisture held by the cotton frame webbing.

(Additional note: frame serial numbers were typically not stamped on Canadian-built Model A's). This delay between engine component production, engine assembly, engine test, approval, and numbering at the Rouge, and subsequent vehicle final production at one of the 30+ Assembly Plants or Branches nationwide varied based on the location of the final assembly plant, as well as the different production schedules and rates between plants. Important Points: Thus it is common to find an apparent 'later' car with an 'earlier' engine when comparing two vehicles to each other. An 'earlier' engine could be defined as one with either an earlier serial number (indicating production date), or one having earlier part feature characteristics than the serial number (date) would nominally indicate. Examining the production sequence backwards, this seeming discrepancy is the valid result based on when and where the cars were final assembled, when their engines passed final test and were numbered, when their engines were assembled from components, and when their actual individual engine components were produced.

Delays occurred at any combinations of steps in the processes. It is possible to have a complete engine assembly which was produced using 'earlier' parts or castings, and yet having a 'later' engine number, due to delays and rework within the Engine Production Department at the Rouge. Production Foreman's (handwritten) daily logs and journals on file at the Benson Ford Research Center detail many engines which were delayed or round-tripped within the assembly process, prior to final test, approval, and numbering. Additionally, it is also possible to have a car assembled at a much later date than the engine numbering date, due to slow sales and vehicle production (especially during 1931), and freight distance from the Rouge to the several west coast assembly plants. Many completed and numbered engines were warehoused and stored for extended periods before assignment and installation in a vehicle. One consequence of the delayed use of warehoused engines is that it is possible to find a 1931 Model A which has a mid-February or earlier built engine having the early numeral styles (fonts), which was installed in a chassis after mid-February, and which has the frame number stamped using the later style numerals 1, 6, and 9. Thus both style numeral stampings are found on the same car, meaning the engine number font and any frame number font do not match.

Again, these delays are due to production scheduling variations, as well as later use of any engines that did not pass run-in test the first (or subsequent) time and were sent back for engine rework and retest before subsequent numbering and use in vehicle assembly. Additionally, the original engine production ledgers on file at the Benson Ford Research Center clearly show, by serial number, hundreds of engines which were re-numbered at the Rouge with entirely new engine numbers. Some of these engines were ones which were returned from branches for subsequent scrap, salvage, or recovery/refurbish. Model A Engine Serial Numbers All Model A engine serial numbers were hand-stamped on the left hand side of the engine block, above the water inlet as shown above. There were variations in the spacing, position, orientation, and sharpness of individual numerals due to the manual alignment and stamping operation. The number pad itself was an as-cast surface on US-produced engines and was not machined flat. However, some early 1928 and some Canadian-produced and numbered engine blocks were stamped on a machined pad surface, not on an as-cast surface.

Bobcat Serial Number Decoding

In the case of US built Rouge engines, the original number is always in the top half of the cast pad. If the engine was re-numbered at the Rouge, then the upper number was obscured with a series of 'X' stamps over the number, and then the new or corrected number was stamped on the pad directly below the original number. The re-number also included the stars and A or AA prefix. Large Bore & Small Bore, LHD & RHD Model A Engine Production The engine number is distinct from the alpha prefix letter(s). The numeric serial number is unique and is not directly correlated to the prefix letter(s). The prefix is preceded by a ☆ character, and the numeric serial number is followed by a closing ☆ character. Ford also built Right Hand Drive (RHD) engine assemblies and vehicles at the Rouge as well.

Ford Tractor Serial Number

These Rouge-built engines were primarily destined for South America and Japan, not the British Empire. Only the specific engine serial number, not the prefix nor type, can identify the actual engine production facility as being either the Rouge or Dagenham, England. Canadian-produced engines can be readily identified by their Canada-unique prefixes and serial numbers. RHD engines and vehicles produced in Canada for export to British Empire countries carried typical Canadian engine number prefixes, and the prefix did not indicate if the engine and chassis was configured for RHD or LHD usage. Engines produced at the Rouge for RHD usage carried the 'F' in the engine number prefix, such as '☆AF' or '☆AAF'. At the Rouge, the 'F' indicated that the engine and chassis was configured for RHD usage. For example, engine number 1234567☆ was produced at the Rouge and might have had a prefix of ☆A, ☆AA, ☆AF, or ☆AAF depending on whether it was for a car or truck (clutch), and whether it was for a large bore engine and transmission assembly for the US, or a RHD large bore engine and transmission assembly produced at the Rouge for export to a RHD non-British Empire country.

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