The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1954 Chevrolet 3104 Serial Numbers

Look at the page from OLD ONLINE CHEVY MANUALS for 1954 Chevrolet Specifications - Trucks trying to find where the Serial Numbers are located specific the one that looks like it is on the front of the frame... The picture shows the general location and gives a description, unfortunately the scan is poor and I can not make out the description... Does anyone know what it says for the Serial Number in the picture ? I am documenting all this type of information... Thanks in advance...

I don't think there is any such thing as a frame stamped serial number in 54. Engine and cab driver's door opening data plate are only identifiers and I don't think that they even match.

Greg is correct. GM did not place a serial number on the frame in 1954.

Here is information about various 1954 codes (your link to this page, above, does not work).

Here are the locations of the engine serial number and the vehicle serial number (vehicle ID). As Greg stated, these codes are different. There was no official VIN back then - the title/registration serial number might have used the engine serial number of the vehicle serial number.

To add into this, my truck is missing the plate on the drivers door frame. I bought another to replace it. If I have the correct VIN stamped on it, are there any legal issues to know about when replacing this on the door frame? With the plate missing there is no unique identifier to identify this truck as the one that was registered. How many old trucks must be out there with no VIN at all. With engines being replaced that doesn't really help either.

Fixed my link... It is the same ome that you posted Tim... It shows a " Vehicle Number " on the right front ( of the frame ? )

The scan is not very clear and so I can not read the description ( text ) for the " Vehicle Number " on the picture...

I had my truck non-op for many years, here in California after 10 years of non activity it falls off the DMV records so I hace to have a CHP officer come out and he said there was a " secret Identification Number " stamped on the frame that he had to write down so I could get it registered... The CHP officer would not say where this was stamped... So when I found the Serial Number Pic I thought it was the one it showed on the front right side of the picture... The CHP officer may have been looking at This Tag that was attached to the original transmission... The number is 070266(7?)F5411 and refers to the Original Engine... The (7?) looks like a " 7 " but is different looking ( font )then the first 7 ...

I recently had cleaned that side of the frame and did not see any stamp marks so when I saw the " Vehicle Number " pic it posed a question here on the forum...

The diagram linked shows a stamped location on the frame with an arrow that reads "Forward Control..."
It shows a different location for Flat face cowl and another location for All Others. The latter applies most of us regular folks.

Charlie,

Thanks for pointing that out - on those models (Forward Control chassis and Flat-Faced Cowl chassis) there was no door frame. I never thought about this with regards to the ID plate having no place to go on those models.

It should also be noted that many people have reported in the past that they have found an ID stamped into the frame of CA vehicles. It seems that was a post-factory practice in some states that required a frame ID (CA has been commonly mentioned) on all vehicles (even if a vehicle did not have a VID/VIN stamped on the frame by the factory). Presumably, the dealer stamped the frame?

I looked closely and could not find any stamped #'s on the frame in that areaof the pic... I was thinking there might be a stamped # some where else... I got more frame cleaning to do and may just come across a number somewhere else on this California truck ( I do not think it has ever been out of the state ) and is original to Ca built in Oakland...

Thanks again for the posts...

There are no #s on the frame.Just stamp some numbers on a tag and go for it. If it has no VIN and no engine,your pretty much illegal anyway.
Good lesson. Dont buy stuff with no VIN. There are more 48s on the road now than were built LOL.Thanks to NSRA
The so called found VINs were stamped on the frame by owners. No dealer would ever take the chance stamping a VIV. Its illegal unless you were the builder.
Its big business now that these trucks are popular. More of them are stolen or just taken out of a field with no permission.
I also have seen 2 trucks that have 2 titles each. One with the body # and one with the engine # . Both were diff numbers. Virgina and PA titles from new.

So what is a guy supposed to do if there is no VIN tag on the door frame? I have the title from the PO and it has a VIN on the title. None on the truck though as the the tag on the door is missing. I bought a new tag and want to have the numbers stamped on it and install it on the door frame. As this has been said to be illegal for anyone other than the builder, what is a guy to do? Break the law or just go with no VIN on the truck? The truck has been licensed in Texas for at least three years now with the PO being a private individual and the one before him being a dealer.

In Texas, vehicles from 1955 and older are titled by the engine number. There was no record of what the door tag number was. And there's really no need for it in a state that titles by engine number.

Well the title doesn't have the engine number, it has a VIN. I did a VIN search with it and it comes up correct as a VIN for a 1954 3100 made in St. Louis, MO. Still at a loss as to what to do.

Technically, your truck does not have a VIN. But that is beside the point. If your truck is titled in Texas by the body tag number it must have come to Texas as a used truck from a state that used the body number and that number was used when the Texas title was issued. Since you have that number on your title I can see no problem with using it on a new tag.

I think that if you have proper documentation showing ownership and registration of the vehicle, there should be no problem "refurbing" the original plate. And if that involves buying a repro plate and having numbers etched into it, it should be legal.

I do see the gray area of having a stolen vehicle and registering it under a salvage title but the plates are offered by the restoration market for a reason.

I have been dealing with this issue. My truck is registerd with the great state of Texas under the motor number. I do not have that motor in the truck. I need some openions on what to do. I know where the original vins were back then, but the only number i have left is the one on the plate in the drivers cab. The whole drive train was replaced before my dad bought the truck. Should i change the number on my title to match the only original vin on the plate in the cab? I know anyone can pop that plate off, but i dont see any other way of identifying the truck if it was stolen.

do you also have title with with engine number?

what state are you trying to register it in? Texas?