Body Number Tag- '38 Convertible

[GaryU.]

Recently spotted this tag on my '38 convertible club coupe covered by the newer paint job and was wondering if this was done back in the day and the significance of the numbers/letters. I know the first part is the model designation but what does the numbers 580 signify? Thanks

[ford38v8]

Gary, the 580 number on you plate identifies your car as the 580th model 760B assembled at that plant, which is not identified on your plate. 1938 was a transition year during which assembly of car bodies was pulled back from outside sources for reasons of disapproval of the treatment of employees at those outside assembly plants. There is no way of knowing what plant assembled your car.

[GaryU.]

Two more questions, were these painted over or installed after paint originally? And what were they made of, nickel, plated brass. I would like to remove the paint if it's not supposed to be there. Thanks

[ford38v8]

They were aluminum, installed with the intention of being masked before painting. If it were mine, I'd seriously consider leaving it in it's present condition rather than to experiment with removal of the paint.

[GaryU.]

Thanks for the info

[tubman]

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Originally Posted by ford38v8

They were aluminum, installed with the intention of being masked before painting. If it were mine, I'd seriously consider leaving it in it's present condition rather than to experiment with removal of the paint.

I'm curious as why you would say this. If were originally supposed to be unpainted, why wouldn't you want it that way? If it is aluminum, a little paint remover wouldn't hurt it at all (of course, after masking it carefully to avoid damage to the surrounding paint). I had a similar situation where the engine builder painted the block on the original engine on my '67 Corvette, including the stamp pad. These are not painted from the factory, so I carefully removed the paint from the pad (using paint remover, Q-tips, and finally a round wooden toothpick) and got all of the paint off of it. It has "passed inspection" with the Corvette folks, and you know how anal-retentive those guys are.

[fordv8j]

Originally Posted by GaryU.

Recently spotted this tag on my '38 convertible club coupe covered by the newer paint job and was wondering if this was done back in the day and the significance of the numbers/letters. I know the first part is the model designation but what does the numbers 580 signify? Thanks

The body tag on our 38 convertible coupe was steel, rusted so bad could hardly read it, I talked to DC about reproducing them, he said they didn't come with body tags, I made one myself, I believe there were another set of holes under it;like there may have been different sizes of them, been a while.....enjoy your 38

[GaryU.]

That's why I asked, don't want to muck it up if better left alone. It looks in really nice shape so if I do remove the paint it will be masked off and q-tips utilized. Thanks again.

[Kube]

All of the prewar Fords I've owned that had body tags were made of steel. Also, they were fastened to the body AFTER the body was painted and as such (authentically) they had remained in their natural finish.
I can't speak with any authority in regard to 1938 Fords. By 1939 and in to 1940, it seems there was no clearly defined method of operation in regard to which cars received the tags and which did not. Lord knows I have researched this subject as thoroughly as I was able re 39/40.
I have attached two photos, both from 1940 Fords. One was a convertible I'd recently restored. the other, prefix PC was from a coupe I'd restored many years ago.