| standarger@gmail.com | -- 01-07-2022 @ 4:38 PM |
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I just joined. Thanks for your help. I have a '46 Super Deluxe convertible, my 3rd, and love them all. it has a 350/350/9" ford rear-end. Questions- 1. I would like to know the differences between a Super Deluxe and the standard car. For instance, mine has a wood-grained steel dash and door sills. It has 2 Unity spotlights. Are they standard? Or factory options? Or add-ons later? It had bumper guards in front. Not now. It had a radio. No heater. 2. The top is power now. I assume it was not from the factory. 3. The VIN used by the former owner and me is stamped into the driver's side of the firewall. Is that a correct location? 4. I had the car re-wired. Replacing the hood and getting the correct alignment is beyond me. Any ideas? Nice to meet you all. Stan in Utah.
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| cliftford | -- 01-07-2022 @ 6:33 PM |
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The power top,bumper guards ,a d wood grain were standard. Radio, heater, and spotlights were after market, as I recall. The vin. no. was stamped on the frame behind the LF wheel. Someone correct me if I am wrong
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| 42wagon | -- 01-08-2022 @ 3:35 AM |
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What you should get is a copy of the 41 to 48 Ford book available from the club store and other places. As you have already been told the wood grained dashboard and power top were standard. There should be front bumper guards on all cars. Heaters, radios, and spotlights were Ford authorized accessories that were sold and installed by the dealer. Being a convertible I would suspect it probably is a Super Deluxe. The correct "vin" number is the engine serial number. This is a sequential number starting with *18-1* in 1932 and carrying up to sometime after the war when Ford changed the serial number system. It was stamped on the transmission housing when the engine was assembled at the Dearborn engine plant. When the engine was installed in a frame at an assembly plant it would be stamped in three places on the left frame rail. Two are under the body and can't be seen. One would be somewhere between the cowl and the radiator. If you look for it do not be too aggressive as it will be lost if you do heavy scr*pping or sanding. Several years ago the club magazine had an article about aligning the hood. Perhaps a club member in your area can lend you a copy.
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| woodiewagon46 | -- 01-10-2022 @ 8:29 AM |
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As far as getting the hood aligned, yes it can be a real pain. If you go to, Mark's 1941-1948 Ford Part's site, they have an "Articles" section that has a reprint of a V-8 Times article on the hood alignment.
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| Stanboy | -- 01-10-2022 @ 10:58 AM |
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Thank you gents. I had no idea this club/forum would be so generous and active. If the VIN is stamped on the frame, what is stamped on the firewall?
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| JayChicago | -- 01-10-2022 @ 12:54 PM |
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Here is my take on those numbers. Someone else please jump in here if I am wrong: There was a similar question recently on the 1940 Forum, from a new owner wanting to know the significance of the numbers on his firewall (called "dash panel" by Ford back then). This is what the club's 1940 adviser had to say: "There have been a number of variations of your numbers, that is, numbers / letters stamped into the dash panel on '40 Fords. While there are numerous conjectures as to what they may signify, there is to date, no documentation that could explain this phenomenon." Those numbers were stamped during the sheetmetal stamping process and I guess we could assume they meant something to the personnel at the stamping plant or why would they have done it. But, assuming the 1940 history holds true for your 1946, those numbers don't tell you anything about your car.
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| woodiewagon46 | -- 01-10-2022 @ 3:58 PM |
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As others have pointed out the "VIN" for your car is the frame number, not the firewall numbers. In the 1941 thru 1948 book offered by the V-8 Club this is what it states about the firewall numbers. "Sportsman and Station Wagons usually had a body number stamped on the upper section of the engine side of the cowl firewall face. On these models, the numbers can be useful in establishing the approximate production date and other information. Any numbers found on the firewall of other models during this era tend to be confusing and meaningless". So I wouldn't get too concerned with the firewall stampings. The frame number is located on top of the frame near the crossmember. Sometimes the stamping can be very light and hard to read. I also recommend purchasing the 1941-1948 Ford book offered by the V-8 Club.
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| 42wagon | -- 01-11-2022 @ 3:21 AM |
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Woodiewagon46 raises an important point. The Station Wagon and Sportsman bodies were built at the Iron Mountain woodworking plant. This plant stamped a number on the cowl of each body they built. These apparently were sequential for each year and are helpful for owners of these cars to determine approximately when their body was built and therefore when it might have been sent to an assembly plant to be installed in a car. To my knowledge these are the only cars with a meaningful number anywhere other than the serial number on the frame.
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| 51woodie | -- 01-11-2022 @ 8:07 AM |
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The 1946 Super Deluxe Convertibles with the Maplewood Grain dash were assembled in May 1946 and later, according the page 3-11 of the EFV8 Club 1946-48 Ford book. Page A-6 shows the Unity spot lamps as a Ford accessory. I tried to attach the hood alignment article done by Mark Kicsak in the club magazine issue of May/June 2009, but my copy is in pdf format and it won't attach. Try this link. http://marksfordparts.com/articles/aligning-the-1941-1948-hood-by-mark-kicsak/ This message was edited by 51woodie on 1-11-22 @ 2:49 PM
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| Stanboy | -- 01-13-2022 @ 10:26 AM |
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Wow! You fellows really know your stuff. Thanks so much. Stan
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