Hello friends, I need your help..I just bought a 1932 ford B cabriolet, I thought it was a Canadian model but now that I have looked at the number of the meeting frame that starts with CL8D ... i the Canadians are C18D ... What car do I have? I would like to know among other things if it left the factory with the flathead v8 engine .. now it has a 4 cil.
bit of info on SERIAL (or chassis numbers) numbers here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/32-ford-vin-numbers.343921/
Are you sure that L is not a 1? It would be a 1 with serifs, which can be mistaken for an I or an L. Canada has some weird thing where serial numbers were in 10k blocks, with a letter in front of it. When they block of numbers was used up, they started a new 10k block, with the next letter in the alphabet. C18 would be correct for a Canadian model. The D should be followed by no more that 5-digits, and be no higher than 10,000. Nothing up there makes sense. The serial numbers are all jacked up, the food is weird, and the people are nice to you. Ford serial numbers are just that, serial. They aren't like a modern VIN. That said, if it left a US assembly line with a 4-cylinder, the serial would have stared CB. As far as I know, C18 was V8.
Oh, and the old films of the assembly lines that look like they were sped up were not. The line was that fast, so the stampings are frequently sloppy, tilted, rotated, spread out, or any/all of the above.
The title is also CL8D ... they copied what they saw in the frame .. I'm sure it's a die-cutting error ... can I find the frame number in another area of the chassis to check? Because I think it will be impossible for someone to make me a certificate to justify the error before the traffic department to modify it.
The serial number is on the top of the left rail above the steering box, under the B pillar area, and just in front of the rear axle centerline. Most of the time the numbers under the body are too rusted to see clearly, but if you sandblast the area clean you might have enough luck to piece them together. But, if they used an unusual digit on one location, they might have used the same one on all locations. The top of the original transmission is the easiest place to read the numbers, but that would have been changed when they installed a 4-cyl trans on your car.
If you can check the other numbers, and they all match the paperwork, then carry on. Without being able to determine why that is an L exactly, we can only assume that maybe the line worker couldn't find the 1, and it left the factory with a V8.
From the Office of Redundancy Department Department ATM Machine PIN Number VIN Number That is all. Carry on.
Did Canada re-title restorations in the '50-60's. I've had titles that had unusual numbers, although the numbers were never stamped in the frame. One was a Harley with what was referred as as an ORE title. Number was ORE XXXX. My '32 had NCAL XXXXX on the title. The frame numbers on the '32 were readable and standard production numbers with the star 18-xxxxx. I was able to get the frame inspected and the numbers put on the title. Also bought a '32 fordor in Washington that went through a Sheriff's sale in 1962. The state issued a title with a number they pulled out of the air. When questioned 45 years later Washington DMV had no idea why they picked that number. Luckily Oregon DMV put the factory numbers back on the title. Which does not change my opinion that there are a lot of dummies that work there. Your number style does not match the US Ford numbers. The 6 and 9 were unique and you have no star. My guess is that Canada DMV issued new numbers that in your case were stamped into the frame. If the frame matches the paper and there is a valid paper trail, I wouldn't worry about it. Here we can do a title search that will no longer give the owners name but it will trace when the title appeared in the system and location and date of change of owners. Next pull the body off and look for the hidden numbers.
Actually, the 6 and 9 uniqueness was introduced in 1938. Prior to that, a 9 was an inverted 6. "New' is 1938-on.
Hey gimpy, my sources state new numbers as early as August 1931. I have 2 32 Fords in my garage and both are the new font. Just searched Ford Barn and they showed one '32 that had new numbers on the engine and old on the frame. I'll check my V8 Club book when I get home. As usual on any large production in multiple locations not everybody reads the bulletins and is up to speed. I saw pictures of a Canadian '34 pickup that had the old style.
Anything that was stamped after 1938, like a replacement engine, or frame, would/should have the new style numbers, which are the 1, 6, and 9. Both frames and engines were service parts, until the supplies ran out. It was a Ford directive that the new style be used then, but I have no way of knowing or saying that KR Wilson did not have and sell the stamps before that. Ford's own records were less than stellar then, and not all of them survived. Give how may assembly plants there were, it is a wonder we don't have even more variations.
I'll tell ya what drives me nuts. Are these the same cheeks or not?? I was looking for that .. ass and I couldn't remember your screen name. Crises averted, I guess.
I found the new old font to be bogus. I have 2 1932 fords with the new Font Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
gimpy, your argumentative today. Here is a quote from Lancaster from another vin number thread To quote Bruce Lancaster from another post about the style of serial number fonts. . "The number style changed in early 1931. Most Model A's had "1" and conventional looking 6 and 9, later 1931's and V8's got "I" and the 6's and 9's had straight tails. The 1931 service bulletin shows a complete set of each and tells the dealers to buy the new ones... There were reminders in service bulletins in 1937 and again in 1940, Ford whining about dealers still using the early style and potentially causing legal troubles for customers whose numbers would not match the reference books. The whole font is shown again in 1940, subject 6000 p22... Some sites misinterpret the later bulletins as referring to something new in '37 or '40...the "new" numbers referred to are the 1931 set because there were dealers who never updated from the Model A simple style. Note the KRW number given: set A-404-B, with the A here referring to a tool released in the Model A era. Reality shows variants and mistakes of all sorts, dealer and factory, but I is what was intended for '32's and almost all will show that" With that said, the #6 font in your number would be incorrect for 1933.
Pardon the slightly fuzzy picture from my cell phone. From the V8 Club '32 Ford Book. This is the KRW tool listing for the new number set quoting the Ford service bulletin February 1931
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