I have a 1932 Ford frame that is stamped: 477I3 there are stats at the start and the end. I have not found anything that makes these numbers work for 1932. Any thoughts? The stars and numbers match the type of stamping a you’d see from that era.
Why don't you ask your question over on the Ford Barn? David Rehor resident 32 Ford guru hangs out on there.
Obviously it has been tampered with. No 32 passenger frames had those numbers like that. Star stamps are easy to get. Just a made up number. I am 99.999 percent sure. You will get the same answer on the ford barn. From what I know all passenger frames started with a STAR then AB, B, or 18. Then production sequence numbers. Original numbers are in three places on top of the left frame rail. You might find them if you start stripping the top of the frame. Inside the firewall leg and half way back and on top of the rear hump.
I had an original Ford frame(32) that had the star at beginning and end,but started with the letter F—-HAMB members said F was for right hand drive. 18 followed the F meaning v8. Number was F18xxxx.
The serial number was stamped at three places on the top of the left frame rail. Typically, the stamping near the firewall was the only one to get the 18- prefix or the B- prefix. The other two locations merely had the serial number with no prefix.
Its stamped middle of the frame and the rear, near the hump of the rear axle. The cowl stamping I suspect is no longer visable due to cutting and splicing of old frame.
Funny Story........ When I was spending time at a local Aero Club, the guy who owned the building and the airfield was a pilot and an IA inspector. He /the club restored an old Cessna. He discovered that the nearly completed airplane did not have any serial number at a specific location.........it might have been no serial number at any location due to repairs that were made. So he proceeded to stamp the correct serial number at all the correct locations. Had a big smile on his face when he was done. Then he contacted the FAA to send one of its inspectors out to bring the airplane back into certification. After musing around for a while, the inspector informed him that the factory had never placed a number on these airplanes at the location where he had one...........
i dont know about other years in vanpelt sales llc serial number information but their 32 info is incorrect.they state 32 v8 numbers are 18-1 to 18-203126 which is incorrect. 1932 v8 chassis serial numbers were 18-1 thru 18 -212238. the correct information are in these books that are sourced from actual ford production records.these books are early ford v8 as henry built it and production facts book 1932 -1938 by edward francis and beverly de angelis. i have a bonifed 32 5 window that i bought .the person i bought it from owned for 70 years. he bought it when he was 13. i bought it when he was 83. it is serial number star 18 207- - - star
If that's the number on the title.... Don't worry about it. If the numbers are stamped in the two other places ... Don't worry about it. Contrary to Ducendude statement there are lots of non standard numbers that have been reported. Imagine it's 1932, it was your birthday and you did some major partying over the weekend but you're a good employee and show up Monday to make your $5. Your head throbs everytime you swing that hammer. You drop the one and eight stamps, screw it, you continue to stamp until the line moves and you get a chance to pick them up. There was 31 assembly plants in the US alone. Lots of opportunities to mis-stamp that frame.
Scott, Your number is most likely legit! A lot of the 32 frames I have had do not have the complete serial number in the middle and on the rear kick up. I have found this very common on 18- V8 frames. Your frame is most likely a V8 frame and the complete serial number would be *18-47713* If your cowl number was still intact I would bet that is what it had stamped on it. A lot of the time you will find the complete number in the middle location of the frame but not always. And almost always the rear location is missing the "18". Not sure why Ford did not stamp the complete serial numbers back there but thats what I have found over the years. Your number looks original and legit to me but If you want to look at and compare next time you are coming up my way I probably have 9 or 10 original 32 frames here you can look at.
What makes me 99% sure your frame is a V8 frame is the prefix for the 4cyl cars was AB or just B and all 4cylinder 32's started with the number 5 and your first letter is clearly a 4
There is no way Ford could afford to have the frame numbers stamped one number at a time. Has anyone ever seen the setup that held the number stamps?
“Oooo, oooo, oooo” says Arnold in the back of the class with his hand up (welcome back Kotter). I actually have, not specifically for frames, but my dad had a letter and number stamp set in a wooden box. Maybe 6in x 2in long. There was a slot where the stamp “holder” was. Insert the stamps and they were all lined up, then smack them. I wonder who he loaned that to? Whoever it was never brought it back.
I think the numbers were stamped one at a time. They are always crooked. A stamp holder would make it a straight line.
Yes you are correct! In 1932 the numbers were stamped one at a time. I think he is referring to The Gang Stamp set like GM used in the 60's
I don't believe I have ever seen a Ford frame number stamping that was perfectly straight like when a holder would have been used.
I agree, but I just can imagine one guy in the frame section stamping numbers by hand for 8-10 hours and they all came out in order and then went into some master paperwork stack that somehow matched some production records.
this is correct for the cowl stamping area, the arch are has a stamping that may not have the AB, B or 18.
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