| Old Henry | -- 11-03-2010 @ 11:54 AM |
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I just received the club's 41-48 book. It's an amazingly thorough study of those years and very interesting and enlightening. I was studying the information about determining the manuafacture date of cars made in those years as it relates to my 1947 Ford sedan. Of the three clues to the time of manuafacture, my VIN# matched the 1947 model with the 799A body and my frame/engine number is toward the end but within the range of the 1947 models. The one mystery and anomoly of the three clues is glass manufacture date. The two pieces of what I have always thought was original glass in the car - the two back quarter windows - have window "bug" codes of A-DH indicating that glass was manufactured in January 1948. We've owned the car since 1959 and that glass has never been replaced. I wonder if there are any hard core Ford historians out there that might have an explanation of how my car that has a VIN for a 1947 model may have original rear quarter window glass made in January 1948??? Still Old Henry
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| Stroker | -- 11-03-2010 @ 11:59 AM |
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Still: I have a "soft-core" speculation: When the car was about a year old, the neighbor kid drilled it with his BB gun.
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| jimmyt43 | -- 11-03-2010 @ 12:41 PM |
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it is hard to say why ... but the vehicle may have been damage in transit to the original dealer in December of 47 or even when it sat on the lot and then been replaced sometime after that in 48...just a thought.....
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| Old Henry | -- 11-03-2010 @ 1:49 PM |
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I thought about those two windows being replaced soon after manufacture for some damage to them. The thing that caused me to doubt that is that both windows are made the same month. It seems unlikely that both windows would need replaced at the same time because of damage and be replaced with glass made the very same month. Still a mystery to me. Still Old Henry
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| 42wagon | -- 11-03-2010 @ 2:35 PM |
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Henry Read the section of the 41-48 Ford book regarding what was going on the the 47-48 model years. Your engine has a 47 serial number but that does not indicate when it was installed in a frame. When it was installed in a frame the number would be transferred to the frame. There was some lag time to allow for the engine to be shipped to an assembly plant. So if it is a late engine it is possible it did not get installed in a car until after January 48. According to the book running changes were made between 47 and 48 rather than stopping production for a complete change over. So does your car have some or all of the 48 changes? Ted
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| supereal | -- 11-03-2010 @ 2:36 PM |
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A likely explanation is that your '47 was probably manufactured early in '48. Ford had a habit of using parts on hand, particularly at the end of a calendar year. This is why there is no hard and fast demarcation between the 46-47-48 cars. Demand for new cars was high, and they simply pushed them out as fast as possible.
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| Old Henry | -- 11-03-2010 @ 9:49 PM |
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My car has the fresh air heater that began installation in September '47 and the three position ignition switch announced in October 1947. It does have the direct acting shocks that were announced in January 1948 but not the dynamic fan or aluminum running boards announced and revised in January 1948. But, even though the EFV8 book says the direct acting shocks were announced in January 1948, the green book lists them for 46-48. My frame/engine number is 2,035,855 which is within the range of what the EFV8 book says are the beginning and ending numbers for the 1947 year models. Still a mystery. Still Old Henry
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| jerry.grayson | -- 11-05-2010 @ 2:43 PM |
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It should not be a mystery if you understand the assembly of cars in the post war period. Parts were shipped to assembly plants all over the USA and the demand was fierce, but the supply of parts from suppliers was erratic. Ford cars of the 47-48years had parts that were not always the same at all plants, but they needed to get them on the street, so they used what they had. I remember a neighbor who bought a new 46 gray 6 cy and it had WOODEN bumpers on it! The dealer installed the correct ones later when they were available. Your car was most likely built in January 1948.
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| Old Henry | -- 11-05-2010 @ 4:54 PM |
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I think I'm getting the picture now. I just remembered that my two vent windows on the front are original glass and have the "bugs" on them. One was made in July 1941 and the other in October 1947. They really were throwing things together. Still Old Henry
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| ford38v8 | -- 11-05-2010 @ 9:25 PM |
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Henry, Glass was produced in batches. A batch of door glass, a batch of vent glass, etcetera. Batches of identical glass, as opposed to sets of glass. That should explain a difference of glass bugs on the same vehicle. The Green Bible will show a revision or replacement part that will substitute for a discontinued part. Too many people think that if they see it in the Green Bible, it is correct for their car, when it is not. Something else that confounds researchers is that it is expected that a paper trail is generated before a revision, but in the real world, many times the paperwork lags behind the practice, thereby creating a false starting date of the revision. It is always easier to obtain a buyoff on a fresh document than to explain a backdated one. Alan
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| rdove | -- 11-06-2010 @ 1:08 PM |
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Hi Henry, I am restoring a 1948 tudor and on the back of the speedometer it is stamped "Jan 14 1948" and the clock has "Jan. 48" on the back of it. I assume that my car was built at least 30 days after that. Just a guess. Maybe your speedometer and clock have a date on them. It is a real chore to figure out approximately when the '47 and '48's were built. Randy
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