Hello, My son and I just acquired a 1942-46 pickup. We are only the 3rd owners of this truck. I will have hundreds of questions but we can start with what year is it? When the last owner purchased it in 1969 it was sold as a 1943 chevy pickup which we all know didn't exist. So he changed it to a 1946 Chevy pickup which is what it says on the last registration from 1978. The ID plate is blank except for the stamps which are 9BK561003. I look this up and see it is a 1942. But in the middle of the plate(a little lower left than middle) there is a 46 stamped. I have attached a picture. Look forward to hearing your comments. thanks, Nils
According to our in house VIN decoder it's 9= Norwood, OH, BK= 1942 1/2T, next digit should be a letter for the month (you say 5). next is plant production number, which seem very high (number 60,002 off the line). I don't know what the Norwood production numbers were. So kind of sketchy. BK can also be 44-45 1/2T war production, but if it was sold as a 1943 then it's either a 42 or 43. Back then the DMV used the year is was registered as the year born. Not necessarily the actual year built. My guess is a 42 that was registered in 43. If the title says the number you gave. It's not a 46. There were certain "connected" people and critical businesses that got vehicles during the war.
Clean that "5" with a soft brush and shine a light on it sideways. Should be an alphabetical letter. ABCDEFGHIJKL. Those plates get dents, dings and cuts in the right place sometimes. Letters can be "light stamped" or a worn stamp.
FIY: The number "9" has been associated with Canadian built. Probably of no consequence in this case.
The VIN Buster does accept your number but the VIN Decoder says the 5 should be alpha.
These years are very hard to cypher. Unfortunately, Chevy used the same codes (like BK) for 42 prewar and 44-45 post war and possibly 42-43 war vehicles.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
Nils, Take a look at this site to help you ID your TRUCK ID If you follow all the indicators you should come up with what year you have. No telling how many motors have been placed in your truck over the last 70 years. The number stamped, on a flat spot, nest to the distributor will ID the year of the motor. Harold
Hi, We know it is not the correct engine. We have 2 1942 216's to make one out of. We still have questions like what does the 46 stamped near the middle mean and what does the 1003 mean? The 9BK56 is definitely the ID number as it is clearly stamped. This is the original ID tag as this guy bought in 1969 and it was previously registered as that. Any info appreciated. thanks, Nils
