Got a question on serial numbers for Model A's. Do all Model A numbers began with an "A"? On the '29 Model A's that I have, they began with the A but I have two 30's and I don't see the "A". Is the correct number for a '30 with no A? Thanks. Neal
My 28 has a VIN that starts with "LB xxxxx" and doesn't have a star at either end. I've been told that the "LB" came from an engine replacement from the Long Beach, California Ford Plant.
They all start with star and then "A" followed by a number. The number should be between 1 and less than 5 million. They end with another star. This applies to domestic production or engines produced domestically and shipped to foreign assembly plants in areas where they didn't produce engines. Canadian vehicles carried their own series of numbers (as did some other foreign locations). Are you looking on the engine or the frame (which was the same when the car was assembled)? Charlie Stephens
My roadster pick-up is an AR with a serial number starting with F27 and no stars. Something different again. Tal
This is the information that I have gathered over the years on Model A serial numbers (now used as VIN's). Stamped only in one place and it was matched the engine number, which was stamped when the engine was built (not as it was going down the assembly line, sometimes the engine sat for months before being installed in a car.) I have owned Three Model A's and all of them only had one number in the frame. Sometimes you will find one with no number as the guy on the assembly line got behind and just skipped one. This is very rare for Model A's, but common on T's, Ford also stamped numbers in the body itself, but this was just an assembly number indicating what plant is was made at and the body style. These are stamped in the horizontal floor front body crossmember and the body side rails. Some Fordoors and Cabriolets had them in the Wooden body cross member as well. Briggs and Murray did a tag that could be on the firewall or the body crossmember. Again these are not serial numbers but only body ID tags as to where they were built and what type. The AR, LB etc are not frame or motor serial numbers but the body number. Those have been stamped to other places over the years but from what I can tell FORD never did them that way.
I forgot to mention that my serial number on my RPU is stamped into the cross brace just infront of the seat riser on the body. My father's RPU also has a number in the same place but his roaster or coupe do not. Tal
I am looking at frames. I am guessing that the "A" used to be there but got worn away by the cowl mount. The motor has no A but it does not look like a Ford stamped number. I looked back at the titles that I have for Model A's and two of them start with the "A" and one starts with the number, no A. By looking at the responses, some are finding the A and others are not. Neal
Both my 28 and 30 frames start with an A and have stars on both ends. The 28 number is numerically very low compared to the 30 number.
I had/have five A's. 29 Tudor and roadster, 30 Cabriolet and coupe and 31 roadster. All are A...... I believe anything else is incorrect. Maybe there is more information to be found on the Ford Barn.
Hey, I copied the following off the Hamb (or perhaps Ford Barn) the thread was called: Model A title??? How many numbers dose yours have??? and here is the info I saved: 1928....1-810,122 1929....810,123-2,742,695 1930....2,742,696-4,237,500 1931....4,237,501-4,849,340 Go to the MARC site for a list correlating A numbers with dates. These are pure serial numbers, based on the order in which engines were built...so A-3 would be a valid serial number and so would A-4,000,003. Numbering series actually outlasted the cars...complete numbered engines were made into 1942 for industrial uses. Engines were numbered when they passed inspection, then they were shipped to the assembly plants and engine number was stamped on the car's chassis when it got the engine on the line. Four banger numbers from 5,000,000 up are Model B's.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> Agsin, not my info, but I saved it and thought you might get some benefit from it. Good luck, Greg
The car that I have with the "LBxxxxx" number is stamped on the block and is the VIN on the title. I bought the car twenty years ago, from a guy that bought it with this engine in it in 1941. Until I bought the car, it had spent it's entire life in southern California.
From what I have heard, LB### is an engine number put onto rebuilds to identify them as from Long Beach authorized rebuilding plant. Look at yours closely: Is the serial pad milled? If so, it had its serial ground off (very common practice by rebuilders) and the new number added so the engine could be identified if it had warranty problems that rebuilder could be responsible for. A Ford number was stamped on the pad in as-cast condition. You will also find milled pads with normal Ford serials stamped...those were again rebuilds, restamped to match car's original number like the frame. That would be illegal nowadays... An as-cast pad with nothing on it would likely be a replacement block. Only complete and run tested engines got serials. Canadian stuff: The engine got the ONLY number, I believe, with nothing on the frame...and Canadian serials were different than US because the engines were actually made in Canada, not the Rouge. British also made A and B engines after 1921, but used USA series numbers assigned to them from the same series as Rouge numbers.
My roadster motor is stamped CAE****, which indicates it as a 1930 Canadian motor. As I know of, no Canadian frames were stamped.
The serial number stamped on the frame rail of my '29 RPU has a star stamped at the beginning and end of the number, but there is no "A" in front of the numbers. Bob
Hey guys, some good stuff here: http://www.plucks329s.org/pdf/studies/LETTERS AND NUMBERS AND CODES.pdf
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