Between one and six for V-8's, seven for fours...and they better be the right ones. These are SERIAL numbers.
V8 serials began with *18-1* and ran to *18-two hundred thou and something* B started with AB-5,000,000, changed to just B later. Continuation of Model A series basically...BB or ABB prefix for big trucks, but same series of numbers. Numbers were sequential from first engine onward, Canadians had their own set. Staming was with specially formed numbers, star at each end to prevent extending numbers. Model B and 221 V-8's made after '32 continued the same sequence. Cars carried the number of their original engine.
Yes....Firewall area , under drivers door and in the rear by the kick.....I've seen this on several '32's............Z.
The extra stampings had just the serial number without the prefix. Some cars lack these extra numbers.
I just checked a virgin '32 frame I have, after the 18 is an arrow instead of a dash. It has a little arrow head on both ends between the 18 and the rest of the S/N. I have never noticed that before on any other ford frame I looked at. And yes it is stamped in three places on the left frame rail.
My number is B-500xxxx and the number matches with a production in January 1932 but the letter B was only used in April 1932. How is this possible ? Did Ford keep some Engine/Trans assembly for some time and installed them later on ? Thanks for your help. Nicolas
Mine has 3 locations like mentioned here, with firewall location only have the "18" prefix. Mine also has the dash after the 18 with the arrowhead tips on each end.
Transmission bellhousings were stamped with the serial number as well. So, one up front, one at door post, one at rear crossmember, one on bellhousing. 4 chances for the paperwork to match the car/truck. In a few states engine numbers were required so dealers stamped the engines when the cars arrived from the assembly plants. Funny thing is they sometimes stamped the intake or head rather than the block deck. Easier to reach.
"...How is this possible...? Everything varies on '32's...anything you read will either be contradicted by the next car you see or that car will exhibit the third of the two documented versions... Engines (meaning the whole power unti with trans, for cars) were stamped at the Rouge plant as soon as the engine passed inspections and run test. B production was held up until production V8's could be built...the chassis was ready to go and the B engine (unlike the V8!) went into production with no problems, but Henry did not want production until V8's were ready. There were apparently a bunch of finished B engines warehoused early on because of this and then released when production came, allowing engine sequence to be scrambled a bit, but those engines would all have been stamped already. There have been quite a few sightings on apparently factory stamped engines...likely this was often due to local law, but there was another source as well. Serials were applied to all finished power units, but not all of those went into cars...some were sold as industrial engines or to power things like combines. If an industrial engine was sold WITH truck or car trans, it would have had the bell stamped just like a car, but industrial engines (and maybe engines produced as replacements for cars???) were sold also without transmissions for many types of machinery. I would bet that B's made without transmission as finished engines would have been factory stamped on the serial # pad that remained there from Model A days. To repeat, serial numbers applied to finished engines, and not all engines went into vehicles.
Interesting... Great topic Canadian (Ontario) 1932's ownerships that I have came across typically have a serial # including the letter "B" infront of the numbers. for example I've seen some with B-XXXX and others with 18B-XXXX. I have also noticed that some sedan's/coaches have the letter "D" in the serial #, not always at the start like the letter B was placed for example B-XXXDX any insight?
My rails do not have stars , it has arows instead, and starts with a number, not a letter. Itlooks as though there were many variations in the stamping process
Canadian serials are on page below...the extra letters divided production into batches with fairly short runs of number, whereas US Numbers always started at one and kept on growing through the whole run of a basic engine family...'32 US V8 numbers were the start of a series used at least until 1942. http://www.wnyrg.org/canvins.html
I can only assume the information above is correct as it came directly from the Ford historic division, however in all the 32 ownerships and have seen, I have not seen that variation/designation on more than maybe a few. Others appear to be using the body number rather than the frame number for registering. The ones which are similar to the typical method mentioned above were on sedans and some had letter D mixed amongst the numbers in no particular order. How have so many other Canadian ownerships came up with the 18B4XXX or Bxxxx? does anyone else from Canada have an authentic ownership that can help us out??
I had a chance to look at a few claim to be "Canadian '32 frames" this week, the serial numbers on the frames were not the same as that website mentiones but rather followed the *AB502XXXX* as Bruce mentioned in his first post. Another frame had *B507XXXX* and another *B588XXXX* (8 instead of 0 confused me, 880,000 1932's is a lot of cars...?). None of these follow the Canadian CBW-5000 or CBQ-3999 rule. Could these all have been USA 4 cylinder frames instead of Canadian
On Leyland's frames...I know that USA engines, presumably with Rouge serials, were sometimes fed into Canadian production. No idea when, how often, or anything...Did Canadian engines get into production immediately for '32?? That might be in the '32 book. Ford USA had lots of B engines warehoused in early '32 because Henry refused to allow production startup until V8's were available...that might factor in there. Lots of parts were made in Canada with C prefixes added to the part numbers, and some parts were distinctive...I would look over any forgings with the frame, things like U bolt pieces, pedals, etc. and see if there are any C prefix parts that might prove the things were Canadian. Robertson's were of course an easy giveaway, but I think those would appear only in body hardware.
Hi People, 1st post. I know this is an ancient thread.. ( so nobody cares anymore about ‘32 Fords? lol ) So, i was researching the ViN ( serial number really) that my ‘32 Ford Stake-bed from bitd had on its reggy papers.. I haven’t found a ton of info, but i thought i’d either help or add to the confusion by posting the ViN and see if anybody can offer any knowledge about what the ViN might mean.. It was HT B6 1109 , i haven’t laid eyes on it for years, but i was chatting about a year ago, so 2017/2018.. with the guy i bought it from ( like decades ago) He has heard the truck is kicking around Kamloops BC.. Canada.. Is it Canadian? i have no idea.. It was a hotrod back when i had it, with a 327 T350. On a link somewhere i learned that ViN number possibly means it started as a 6 Cyl Truck .. as in 1 Ton or better. Honestly that surprised me, but makes perfect sense. A cab and frame ? from a small work truck, rodded. Any info out there? Could that B6 space 1109 simply mean Model B # 61,109 ?
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