The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Teach me about VINs...

I mentioned this in another thread, but it seems to have fallen out of notice, so I would like to bring it up again.

My truck has no VIN plate. It has a title, but the numbers on the title are the wrong format according to the book I bought:
Cars & Parts Catalog of Chevy Truck ID Numbers 1946 - 1972 Pickups, Suburbans and El Camino
ISBN 1-880524-02-3

I would like to get an understanding of what my VIN actually is, based on what evidence I can gather from my title, the history I can track down on the truck and the help of this august group.

I hope to get the DOT to correct the VIN on my title so that I can buy a repro plate and get it stamped and installed. To do that, I need to build a case.

OK, that's enough for one post, I'll follow with another, copied from the other thread with more detail and a suggestion of how you can help.

We are talking about my 1947 AD that is a ton panel converted to a dually.

Referring to the guy who called me the other night with the twin to my panel. (See the thread "Thank You Stovebolt")

Here's the previous post with some corrections and clarification...

So here is what I think I have learned from him about my VIN.

According to him, his truck (and mine I'm guessing, since they are modified identically and were the same original color) was a fuel tanker at an airport. It was never titled or licensed to be on the road. He still does not have a title for his. Apparently someone went to the trouble to get a title for mine. He still has his VIN plate (mine is gone) and read the number off to me. His VIN is:

5ES-A2217
SFSD165S is the VIN on my title.

According to the books I have:

First character is assembly plant. 5 = Kansas City
Second character is model year E = 1947
Third character is model series S = 3800
Fourth character is assembly month A = Jan, D = April

According to the VIN book, the last six are sequential numerals. According to this guy, they did not use leading zeros, so a VIN with only four digits is more likely than a VIN with six that first model year.

SO... I'm guessing the correct VIN for my truck is:

5ES-D1655

I think the first and last digits are supposed to be 5 not S, and I think the F for the model year is supposed to be E. I believe the old VIN plate was corroded enough by the time that this vehicle was retired from service, that it was hard to read. Back then, these VIN plates were just photo-etched aluminum templates with hand stamped numbers.

So the only thing I can't explain is why his last four digits, (the sequence number) is higher than mine, while his truck was built in January and mine in April. Could it be that mine is really a '48? It is titled as a '47. Could it be that they built '47s on into January of 1948?

Does anyone know how the sequential numbers went? Take a look at your VIN plates on those early AD trucks, post them in here and let's do some comparing. I would like to see if the sequence numbers are different for different models (ie, 3100 pickup built in January with 5 digit sequence would mean that they issued the sequential numbers uniquely for each model type.) Am I making sense? Anyway, let's examine some VINs and see what we can learn.

Brad, I always use Don Moen\'s AD Serial Number page to decode AD numbers. If your VIN was 5FS-D1655, you would have:
5 = Kansas City, MO assembly plant
F = 1948 model
S = 3800 series (1 ton)
D = April
1655 = sequential assembly number

Hope this helps.

Thanks Jeff,
That's the same thing my book says. So did they start the sequence over every year? Mine was built in April, but the sequence number is lower than the other guy's which was built in January. And besides, my title says it's a '47.

I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just trying to figure out what I've got so that I can get a correct title, so that I can get a VIN plate, so that I have an identifiable truck.

Is there anywhere that I can look up and learn what VINs were issued in what years? Production numbers, etc?

This may be off base but...
I have a 56 & 58 both have the matching vin with the door tag stamped in the frame. Mine are just behind the steering gearbox. the question is what year did this start? I do not know. A wire brush and 10 minutes might solve the problem. Does anybody know for sure.
another Brad B
Dallas tx

Is that on the outside of the rail or the inside?
I will take a look. Somebody told me that they didn't do that back then, there were just some markings identifying the plant where the frame was built, but it's worth a look.

I am just guessing, but I think they would have to start over each year or else the numbers would be in the 100,000's instead of 1000's. I have read where they would title trucks or cars in the year they were sold. I don't know why or who did it, but I do remember reading that.

Does the engine still look original? It should have a number on it that may help.

I think the serial number on the frames started in the 50's. It was stamped in the left front rail around the steering box area. Joe

Engine has been changed so that's a dead end.

My VIN and the other guy's both have four digits for the sequence number, but the book says they go up to six. That's why I asked about whether they started over every year or not. Being that they only showed as many digits as they were up to, there is no reason that they couldn't have planned on just adding digits as they sold more vehicles. That's why I'm asking about any resources telling VIN ranges by model year, or production numbers. Also why I'm asking guys to post their VINs here. I was hoping to get a few VIN numbers to compare with eachother and see if a pattern begins to emerge.

AD trucks did not have the serial number stamped on the frame. The only place the serial number was located was on the plate on the driver's door post.

You have a current title with vin. What is wrong with just using that number and get that plate stamped? Titling and records were very ad hoc back then and I have heard of some weird stuff. Also, one time I bought a new car in the end of 87 but it was an 88 model year.

I could just stamp the number shown on the title on a plate, but I know it is wrong. (See post above...) I want to drill down to the correct number for this truck, and since I have a valid title it's not keeping me off the road. Finding time to work on it right now, though, that's another story...

I have time to gather data and build a case. The guy from West Virginia with the twin to mine was a world of help and I would not have met him if not for this website!

That Old Car's Spotter's Guide" for GMC/Chevy trucks definitely is NOT a be-all, end-all source for info, especially VIN's. My last SIX trucks, both GMC and Chevy, had VIN's that did not fit the format as described. These were: '67 GMC Sub, '68 C-10(x2), '67 C-10, '55 Cameo, and my son's '46 3100.

I take that book as an source of entertainment and not necessarily valid info!

Patrick, Are you referring to the book I mentioned in the first post in this thread?

In my quest to find the original VIN for my '47 panel, I have narrowed the number down to a dozen or so possible numbers, based on how bad the typos could be in reading the original VIN from a cruddy old plate and applying for a title.

Here are my questions of the moment:

Does anyone know how I can contact Chevrolet (or any resource for that matter) to look at production records for '47 - '48? I would like to see if my suspected VINs can be matched to specific units built and determine if one matches my truck's configuration.

Since I am reasonably sure that Gulf Oil owned this truck but did not title it for the road, is there any way I can track down records of Gulf Oil assets and perhaps find records of these fuel tankers?

Brad, that is the same reference. I've found it useful for option availability for a specific year, and it's a good spotters' guide, but the VIN information is sorely inaccurate and wanting. The VIN's on the afore mentioned trucks did not match the format presented, and they were not altered in any way. So, I guess for what it's worth, I'd look for a better VIN reference.

Thanks Patrick. Your feedback is precisely why I listed the reference here. Sure would be nice if there was a place we could go for ratings on the various literature offerings. I bought some other books from the same web seller, and they too were useful, but not nearly what they had been advertised to be.