Did Ford number identical parts differently if they were for a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury? For logistics purposes I would think if the same part was being used in all 3 brands it would be a lot easier to just use the same number. Reason I asked is because I'm working on a 52 Lincoln. There's almost no reproduction parts being made for Lincolns but plenty for Fords and the Mercury market isn't too bad. So I run across a lot of parts that look pretty much the same but the part number will be off by one letter. For example, I find a NOS gauge for a Mercury, part# FAB-10850-B. My part number is FAA-10850-B. Just looking at the pictures, they pretty much look the same. And that's just one example, I'm finding this with all sorts of different parts.
If a letter is different then its a different part,there is a basic number for a certain part but there will be a different letter or number for the model it belongs on.
THIRD CHARACTER: (car line or specific model or models). A = Ford D = Falcon G = Comet, Montego, Cyclone J = Marine and Industrial K = Edsel M = Mercury O = Fairlane, Torino S = Thunderbird T = Truck V = Lincoln W = Cougar Z = Mustang Your part numbers don't look like the typical Ford part number I usually see.
Ford's parts numbering system is really screwed up. The center number will be for a parts group like body parts, suspension parts, steering parts, engine parts etc. Then the prefix and suffix designate the particular part and supplier. Then Ford has a habit of changing the numbers. We used an 18 inch long drag link on trucks in the fleet and usually kept a couple in stock and would order another when we used one. One time we ordered another and the one we got was about 6 feet long but had exactly the same part number. Ford had changed it. Maybe they've changed their system.
The Ford numbering system is one of the most simple systems in use. Once you learn it the simplicity falls in place. It breaks down like this. C. 4. D. Z. - 00000. - A. A. 1st position is the decade. 2nd position is the year. 3rd position is the model 4th position is the engineering dept.(chassis, body, engine etc) 5th position basic part number. (this is the same for all lines and brands) 6th position is the 1st part level change 7th position is the 2nd part level change. This part numbering system did not really go into effect until around the mid 50's. Not real sure on this. Part numbers go from 1000 up to 19500.
Decade: B 1950's C 60's D 70's E 80's Model legend: A full size Ford (AZ). D Falcon (DZ). F foreign / trans am racing G Comet (GY). H Holman-Moody / hi performance. J industrial L Lincoln M full size Mercury (MY). O Fairlane / Torino (OZ) P Autolite. R Rotunda. S Thunderbird (SZ). T Ford Truck (TZ) U Econoline. V Lincoln (VY). W Cougar (WY). Z Mustang (ZZ) TT Ford large truck
There are two types of numbers - Parts & Accessories (P&A) and Engineering. The numbers you find cast/stamped into parts are typically Engineering numbers that Ford assigned to the parts; the numbers you find in parts catalogs and on boxes are P&A numbers that often will differ from the Engineering number on the part. I won't go into pre-52 parts numbering prefixes in this response - those who play with T's, A's and Early V-8's have a pretty good handle on what A- or 99A-, 0A- or 01A- relate to. During the '50s through about '57 various two- and three-letter prefixes were used that corresponded with Engineering designations, such as FAR-, BA-, EBC-, etc., which of course differ from the B2A-, B3A-, etc.-style prefixes in the P&A listings. The letter(s) following the basic number indicated the change level for the part, which some times was the only way to disginguish between a part for an inline-6 versus a V-8. The 3-digit P&A prefix was first used for the '52 model year, i.e. B2A-, B2C-, B2M-, etc. To change things up even more, there was a period from '57 through '59 that Ford did away with the prefix-basic number-suffix and used a number-only system for engineering numbers. Look at an intake on a '58 with a 332-352 and you'll see an 8-digit (?) string for the engineering number. Parts were consecutively numbered as they were designed, and crossed model lines as well. Since no decade/year/model/basic group/change level designation appeared, you had to refer to the Master Cross-Reference Catalog and P&A parts catalogs to figure out what it was. This must have really given people fits, as by the end of '59 production the 4-digit prefix was adopted, similar to the 3-digit to designate decade/year/model line, but the 4th digit assigned engineering responsibility, such as E-Engine, A-chassis - you'd need to look into a Ford parts book to see how these letter codes were assigned. The parts books typically used the Z-suffix to denote the P&A designation for a service/replacement part for Ford, Y-suffix Mercury, ad infinitum. Mind you, the basic 4- or 5-digit number was used for mechanical, chassis, and electrical parts, etc., and accessories. When dealing with body and soft trim, Ford added a couple of digits that corresponded with the body style, i.e. 65- for a two-door hardtop, in front of the basic number, and would also use a 3-digit suffix to denote color/material for upholstery/soft trim. It took me a very long time, the advent of the Internet and Ebay to get ahold of the Master Cross-Reference catalogs, Obsolete-Supercede-Interchange catalogs, and finally get a handle on the differences between engineering and P&A numbers.
Here is what I have found out with various Ford builds: The base part, let us take a speedo head as an example, is the same across lines. Then, Ford adds a face and needle. This narrows the part to a specific car. However, with a bit of rodder-genuity, you strip down the part to the base, then build it up for your car, just like Ford did 'back in the day'. Hope this gives you a bit of encouragement. Cosmo
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