Vehicle Identification number

[folksinger1964]

Did Model Ts have some sort of Vehicle Identification Number?

[29spcoupe]

Unless it is a '26 or '27, the vin is the engine number. The vin for the '26 and '27 is located on the frame. I believe the number is under the body for the later ones.

[daren007]

First and last “T” were offered in colors.

[redmodelt]

Up till the introduction of the 1926 Improved cars, the only serial number used for registering a T was on the engine above the water inlet. Sometime in late 1925 or early 1926 that number was also stamped on the top of the frame, just inside the front passenger door (USA cars).

"Did Model Ts have some sort of Vehicle Identification Number?"
If you are asking about VIN as we know it today, that would be no.
It is just a serial number that started more or less with car No 1 and went to 15,000,000 plus. That number does not give any more information the when the car was assembled.

[Cdhower]

Engines had a different number stamped on them.

[rotorwrench]

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Ford only serialized the engines until somewhere late in 1925. The engine number would have been stamped on the frame for those later models that were marked that way just like the model As were done. Engines were replaced with what ever usable engine would fit over the years. My 1929 model A has a 1931 engine in it.

[redmodelt]

Originally Posted by Cdhower

Engines had a different number stamped on them.

Not sure what you mean by different number, all cars made after Ford started stamping the number on the frame, the engine and number on frame the matched.

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

Ford only serialized the engines until somewhere late in 1925. The engine number would have been stamped on the frame for those later models that were marked that way just like the model As were done. Engines were replaced with what ever usable engine would fit over the years. My 1929 model A has a 1931 engine in it.

ALL T's were from day one were serialized, even short blocks or complete engines sold through the dealerships up to around 1941 or 1942. The only engines that did not get a serial number stamped on them were bare blocks or engines sold for industrial use, like Gleaner combines. This is why you can look at the factory records and date an engine by its serial number.



Very true, cars may not have the engine they started out with.

[rotorwrench]

I would have to add that the above statement (post #7) only applies to the 4-cylinder models but also check the place where the model B engine assembly (including clutch & transmission) were serialized. Model A blocks made in model A or AA production for assembly line were serialized but after production ended, things changed. Model B blocks were not serialized on the block, only the clutch housing was numbered. This is where the diamond blocks came in since Ford no longer cast the 4-cylinder model A/AA or T/TT engine blocks after the end of the model production. Ford built up model T and model A engines from blocks cast by an outside contractor or contractors, on a smaller assembly lines. Ford may have contracted other parts for their assembly as well but I don't know what. As was mentioned, Ford didn't serialize bare blocks as replacement parts. That was left to the builder of the engine and many of those were stamped by Ford authorized repair shops using the stamp sets from K.R. Wilson. Numbers for repaired engines generally reflected the number from the engine that was repaired. This practice was likely followed from the beginning of the Ford Motor Company.

The V8 engine blocks were never serialized. Only the transmissions had the serial number. With any machinery that is serialized, there are always possibilities of mistakes in original stamping, unauthorized changes, and over stamping. A person will find all matter of oddities on the old Fords.