Does anyone here know any good sites to decode VINs of old ford trucks? I've already searched a few sites for my 1960 (or therabouts, certainly that generation), but all of their tables are dead wrong for my tag. It reads:



F10CR542155



My understanding: R is the engine.



Then HP listed on the tag is 135, and RPM is 5000; but then some sites say this VIN means it has a 545 engine in it (I don't think I've ever even heard of that one before) and others say it has an export only 292 with dual four barrels. I know that isn't right for this engine either, I mean dual quads at 135 hp? And why would someone downgrade the engine to the single quad it has now? I was told it was a 312, but I am willing to believe that was just their name for Y-Blocks. The casting numbers don't seem to match anything either, the engine says :



B-667 AC5T [and then there's a little square]



the driver side head says:



EEE- [then a large space, like six inches] - - 103





When I read the 135, my first instinct was a 250 I6, later I learned that and the RPM match up perfectly with a 223 I6, but the VIN decoders totally disagree with that (although they have no consistency, I have not found one that says 223).

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People should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of the people.

--Alan Moore

ok For a 1960:



F10= F100

C= 292 v-8 2brl carb 172 horse

?= Should be a 0 after the C for the year

R= San Jose plant built

542155= unit #





The H.P on the tag is the net horsepower(lower than gross) but the 135h.p does not match any engine for 1960 the 292 was 146 and the 223 was 126



The tag should be riveted to the glovebox door, screws would indicate a swap. On the passenger frame rail top, behind the front shock mount will be the vin #.



Your tag doesn't seem to add up. I'm using factory ford manuals for the decode.

1959 and 1960 f-100sAkron OH

Your vin number is missing the year code that 1957-60s used. 1961 they switched to a vin that does not use a year code, and your horsepower matches the 1961-63 292's net horsepower of 135 but not at 5000 rpm as you have listed.




1959 and 1960 f-100sAkron OH

hmm..this tag was rivetted to the driver side door, there's nothing in the glove box except for a lot of gloves (hehehe). Hmm...it's possible it's not a 1960 truck, but the styling is definitely that generation (1957 to 1960). I have two sets of doors for this car, the both start the same (until the R), and they both have Vin plates on them. What is this cow flub-dubbery? At this point, I am open to any explanation of why my truck is this way.



Edit: Is it possible this is a...1960.5 F-100? Would that explain the matching 135 for 1961, at a 1957-1960 RPM, (I don't know the actual RPM for those years) using a chopjob of the VIN systems?

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People should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of the people.

--Alan Moore

what does the rest of the vin plate say?

1959 and 1960 f-100sAkron OH

The only other thing I remember (I 'll take picture tonight and post it tomorrow) is that the color code is Y, which doesn't match anything I saw online. The other set of doors (the non original, I think) says DM for color. I'll post the pics later.

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People should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of the people.

--Alan Moore

First of all, I know you couldn't just buy an F-100 with a 312. Now...

I know this will sound like ego-massaging, but is it possible this car has a special order engine? The guy I bought it from swears on a stack of bibles and a priest's collar that the engine is a 312, and that's it's bored to 332 (he could be a little FoS, maybe just a 292 bored .30 over), and I am certain the engine is the same one it got to Alaska with, and that was in 1969, and the guy wasn't exactly a hotrodder.



In your opinion, could you have special ordered a truck with a 312? Could it be some sort of decommisioned law enforcement or park service truck? The park service is huge in Alaska, and they always opt for the biggest engine...they have late model F-250 here with a V10 and twin turbos. I know government agencies generally got one displacement up from what was normally the max.



Or maybe this is...mercury related? I was under the impression they used the 312 in the monterey for a long time. Plus, I have a pile of trim, including two different grills to go with two different sets of headlights I have for it, so I have no way of knowing the original branding. I don't have enough Ford emblems for the whole truck, and the guy that I bought it from was trying to make a F-Series collection, and maybe he wanted to rebrand it to match? This car has no interior to speak of, just five or six boxes of trim sitting in it.



That is all speculation, and if that was all I considered I'd immediately calculate what 292 .30 over was and say it was that. But the VIN makes no sense as it stands...is there some way to tell a 1960 door from a 1961 door? I could believe that both sets or doors are not original, although they both fit up perfectly, so without knowing the exact differences I wouldn't immediately think they were replacements.

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People should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of the people.

--Alan Moore

1960:



http://www.y-blocksforever.com/expo09/cm0904/content/charliem0904_005_large.html



1961:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/cmccraney/F100/C_McCraney01w.jpg


Lawrenceville, GA

as for a 312 truck engine, Obviously you already know that there was never a factory option. I have never seen a 312 in a truck that looked like it was a factory job. Some dealers were known to do swaps for customized trucks(Bob Jones specials.)



I have heard people say that in 1958 when they switched from 272s to 292s that they ran out and some left with 312s. But until I talk to the guy that worked the plant, or seen any evidence, I'm calling B.S!



Pull the inspection plate on the bellhousing and look at the crank flange for the large dot, or yank the pan and look at the main caps.

1959 and 1960 f-100sAkron OH

Do you know about government deals? Did the government get different motors from ford around then? Probably not law enforcement, but the Park Service is huge in Alaska and orders trucks quite often.

Also: My grill is different than those pics. It has horizontal bars that have rectangles on them, with their centers blacked out.

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People should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of the people.

--Alan Moore