1934 Pickup serial Number question

[Mike-3134]

I am just starting on a 34 Pickup, and I am assuming it has the original, or at least correct frame under it, so I'm a little stumped about the serial number. I thought the number should begin with the star, followed by 18, then the serial, and finally the second star. Mine begins with an E18, star, the serial number ending with the second star. The numbers are fairly crisp...I haven't seen mention of an E before the 18. Is this normal?
Thanks...

[al's28/33]

that could be a capital letter "B" meaning you have a '34 4-cylinder that may have been converted to a V8 later in life.....

[Binx]

More bad news for you Mike. According to Vanpelt's site, the "6" MAY be a later number. Look at the bottom of this page.

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/f...ialnumbers.htm

Stamped in three places: driver side front, under cab, and near top of rear kick-up.

Lonnie

[DavidG]

Commercial frames were only stamped in one place (by the firewall) unlike on passenger car frames. At least those were the instructions issued by Dearborn headquarters.

[Mike-3134]

The E looks fairly crisp, so I don't think it would be a B, and why is the star not first? the rest is 631,XXX STAR, which would jibe with a 34 serial number. I'm guessing the pickups fell into the same frame and number sequences as the passenger cars?

[David J]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Some things to ponder

It is NOT a 4 cyl as those are 7 digits starting with 5 .

A 6 digit serial # starting with 6 is indeed a 34 .

Normal would be star 18 dash 6xxxxx star .

Some 33's are star 40 dash 6 digits star and some are star dash 6 digits star but that doesn't apply here . Had a Canadian 34 that was star CH18 four digits star also . Normal 34 Canadian from what I found .

That said this is out of any sequence I am aware of as it is E18 star 6xxx ???? Much easier to understand if the E was in fact an F but that still does not clear all up .
BTW pickup numbers are with the car numbers .

[DavidG]

I'm not sure that it is a real "E" judging from the long tails at the top and bottom. Also the horizontal impressions appear to be deeper and wider on the left side than on the right side. That suggests that perhaps the first strike was a light hit with a "B" biased to the left followed by an over strike with a "I" followed by the decision to start over again with a free-standing "I" and finally the need for the star was recalled. Keep in mind that the people doing this job originally were not close to being rocket scientists nor were they paid like rocket scientists. The one certainty is that this one will not conform to any Ford directive on stamping engine numbers on chassis frames.

[Mike-3134]

Yes, I could see that possibility too...Leave it to me to get an oddball. I'd be curious to see another frame stamped with a B or an F in its serial, just to get a look at the font. Would the pickup frames have the other two serial number stamping locations?...I think I'll pull the bed tonight and see if by chance there's another stamping on the frame kickup.

[DavidG]

In theory, you should not encounter any additional stamped number locations as the directive stated that commercial chassis frames were to be stamped only once proximate to the firewall leg on the left side. (Some exceptions to that have shown up such as at least some South African Fords had the numbers stamped on the right-side frame rail.)

As for the normal position of an "F" in an engine number, it would be the last character in the prefix as in 18F or BF or CH18F (in DavidJ's Canadian example). The "F" was supposed to be used on engines destined for RHD chassis (the actual engine number was in sequence with other engine numbers destined for LHD chassis which were not supposed to have an "F" in their prefix).

[Bruce Lancaster]

As noted above, could not be a B serial. Wouldn't that E there be appropriate for an England built chassis? The great majority of those would be RHD, of course, though they may well have exported some stuff to LHD parts of Europe. Still, lack of an F makes the England idea hard to accept.
The shape of the 6 is appropriate...that font was used from sometime in 1931, documented in the bulletins, and the 1937 bulletin referred to on the site was a REMINDER to dealers who had not yet purchased the new stamps! And of course it was in thw 1940 KRW catalog, as it was used though 1948.
So...can you reveal more of the serial, with just later numbers blocked to give a better handle on what the thing is? Enquiring minds...

[DavidG]

Agree that the rest of the description eliminates a B engine number, but that per se does not rule out that the person stamping the number first reached for the B stamp and only after a partial strike realized that he should have reached for the "I" stamp.

It has been said herein hundreds of times, but once again those numbers are not serial numbers. They are engine numbers that served the purpose of a serial number for title and licensing purposes. Ford did not use the term "serial numbers"; that was the invention of the state and local licensing agencies back in the day and the U.S. Federal Government in recent times.

[Mike-3134]

Bruce, here's the full SN with the last 3 blurred out...If you look closely you'll see the second star at the end, slightly below the plane of the full stamping...Maybe it was stamped on a monday, after a long hard weekend..

[David J]

Last pic really helps . Notice the star to the left of the "E" or b or whatever it is and if you ignore that letter all that is wrong is the middle star should be the double ended arrow . Normal 34 stuff then .

[Mike-3134]

Ahh....I missed the first star myself....wasn't expecting 3 of them.

[alchemy]

So, do you have a title? Do the title numbers match the frame? If so, don't worry about it.

If no title, do a bonded title on the truck BEFORE you even think about removing any paint, grease, or dirt from that frame. That way the inspector can see the frame is all virgin, and the number hasn't been modified since it left the factory. Goofy stamps or not, how is he to argue with it?

[Mike-3134]

I have two bills of sale, which in my state is all that is needed to obtain a title, and wanted to be clear on the syntax of the numbers before it is "etched in stone" with an official title.

[Bruce Lancaster]

Does the title match the stuff actually stamped there? If so the syntax of the Ford system has been violated, but having the title match the reality of the stamping seems to m to be a good and useful mistake.

[WRA]

My 34 5W Frame is stamped with a *B52XXXXX*. Based on the web site below its a July 1933 Frame. Numbers are clear and they match my title.

http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/ABenginenumbers.htm

[DavidG]

Thanks Vince, I'll keep that in mind.

Speaking of additional information, on your site you indicate December 5, 1932 as the start date for the adoption of the B counterbalanced crankshaft when according to the Rouge Engine Plant log, November 29th was when the phase in of the new crankshaft was complete. Specifically, all B engines beginning with number B-5175104 were so equipped according to that log.