Hi everyone. I'm about to purchase a 1960 Ford F100 Pickup that landed here in the UK a few days ago (came from California). I've used Google to decipher the Vin code. So I know the model, engine & carb, model year, where it was built..... But the final 5 numbers are it's actual "order in which it's was built" number I guess ? Is there a way I can find out the month or week it was registered by using that 5 digit code ? Here in the UK there is a big deal about the build date on an early 1960 model. So although it was registered in 1960 as a 1960 truck, if that date is early enough it might of actually been built in late 1959. So can anyone point me to a way I can find out please ? Many thanks. Andy.
Proberly not, but you migth have a better chance with casting numbers on block But I know this is far out, but if it's red it's most likely from first quarter, and second quarter is black Lol Please be aware that I use sarcasm in my post. But you could just draw an number and say that 8 digit is month and 10 is year. Because I don't think they did it like that, FoMoCo
That would be the sequential production number, you'd need to establish exactly how many units were built at each plant and what the range was for each plant? eg. 6,000 units in calendar year and yours is #3,000, June would be a fair estimate. However if 1960 sales commenced in late 1959 then you'd be off a few months.
Krause Publications of Iola, Wisconsin has several "Standard Catalog of American ........." covering cars/light trucks. I have the car series, but not the light truck reference work. However, these publications are thorough in their data and (typically) provide assembly plant serial number ranges by model year. That would likely help you bracket the period in which your truck was manufactured. Ray
This is a good idea, you should be able to find some date codes on several parts of the truck...it will take some work, though. And not likely to be accepted as proof of manufacture date by an authority.
That will tell you if the parts are for a 1960 truck, but won't tell you what month/day/year the parts were actually made. Here is how to decode casting dates from the later 60s http://www.mustangtek.com/FordDateDecoding.html Also some other parts might have date information stamped on them.
I bought a 1959 Ford truck for land speed, it was rough and the hood and lights were different than my 59 panel, I thought someone had changed the front to a 60. But when I tore it down to get rid of unwanted parts I found the date code on the heater. The heater was made around 12-20-59. So instead of dragging the old parts to the next year. I got an 60 front clip on my 59 as they must have run out of 59's. So built in 59, sold in 60 but with a 59 title.
Or else, more likely, the heater was changed (or added) in the last 55 years for some reason. My 59 has a 60 front clip, and probably has had it for the last 50 years. These trucks are pretty simple, so it's not uncommon to have a mishmash of parts. Ford would have no reason to backdate a title (s/n) to the previous model year. Some states do (or did) record the title by calendar year, so an early 60 could have a 59 title, but the serial number for a 60 will confirm that is what happened.
Hey thanks everyone for your reply's. It probably is a 60 built in 60 ? I know that the 60 truck was pretty much the same truck from 58-60 so I will try to check out the date codes on any parts on the truck I can find. What I probably need to do I find out what the 5 digit number started from on a 1960 F100. In other words did it actually start at 00001 ? Mine starts 20***, so a fairly low number.