The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Trying to understand title numbers

I bought a 47 to 53 Chevy truck. It had pull down door handles and wing vents. My understanding of these trucks that the pull down door handles are before 1952 and the wing vents make it in 51. The vin tag on the door H 53 S which says it’s a 1953. According to the website I called up this is a 1953. The hardware says it it’s a 51 or older. Any help would be appreciated.

Vent windows came out in '51. Door handles were changed to pushbutton in '52.

Going only by those two facts, your truck would be a '51.

It's possible the doors were replaced sometime in it's life. Post some pics of the door jamb plate.

What are the engine ID number? It might help in narrowing down the year.

More importantly, what does the title say? Even if it's a '51 and the title says '53, let sleeping dogs lie.

Does your truck have modern hydraulic tube shocks or lever action shocks? Tube shocks were introduced in 1950.

What do the side emblems on the hood say? In 1953 they would just say 3100 or whatever, without the word Chevrolet.

The ID plate on the door jamb should be blue with silver letters on a 1953 truck. Older ones are black w/silver.

Your speedometer should be a 90mph one if it's a '53. 80 mph on '51 and older.

Has the truck been "restored" previously? It's possible as Otto mentioned that the doors might have been changed, although there would be no real advantage for anyone to change to '51 doors, as they're one-year only design and hard to come by. It's possible the data plate was changed. But if the title says it's a 53, then that's what it is per the registration authorities.
Here's some good info to go by. AD Spotting Guide

Lots of things can happen in 70 years. But as mentioned, best to let sleeping dogs lie, unless there's a compelling reason to wake them up!

Go find one of those paper hornets' nests as big as a beach ball and give it a good shake- - - - -it will be less painful than shaking up the bureaucrats at the DMV. I've been trying for six years to get a clear title to an abandoned, wrecked motorcycle that I was given to get it away from a landlord's rental property, and I've got the correct VIN number for the bike and the name of the guy who abandoned it!
Jerry

My title says my truck is a 49 but the door plate, tube shocks, doors without vent windows, etc. all point to it being a 50. I don't plan to try an dchange anything but it does get interesting when you try to tell someone what year the truck is.

Just to satisfy our curiosity, let us know the answer to some of the above questions. I'd like to know what year it actually is. As far as the government is concerned, however, it is a '53.

Man. I really got a response. Thanks so much. The only number that is on the truck is the one on the left door jamb. There is no tag on the firewall. There was no front end on the truck. There was a big piece of iron with wheels attached. Like a rear axle off of a big trailer. It now has a Mustang II front end with rack and pinion steering. The sheet metal is very good and was a decent truck. No motor or trans when I got it. The front end and the trans and the front end were not a problem because I was going to replace them anyway. You guys have more than answered my questions and agree with me the the assembly is a 51 but the tag on the left A pillar says it’s a 53. Sow 53 it is. I think I have a 53 cab with 51 doors.

By the way, I fixed the doors on the truck for 49 door glass and no wing vents and push button door handles. There are other changes but whoever is looking at the truck will have to figure them out. It still looks like a Stovebolt.

Is the tag on the door jamb blue with silver letters?

The tag on the door jamb is blue.

That's good. It means your truck is a '53 with 1951 doors. So no problems with the DMV