VIN# D7FH177004 WHEN WAS THIS CAR BUILT, ANYBODY KNOW? i NEED A HOLLEY CARB ECZ AD 1273-1 DATE CODE NEEDS TO BE CORRECT.WHAT DATE?

312 4 bbl  1957 ,Dearborn Michigan plant,  Numbers are production  number. Last 6 digits represent which car it is .Numbers began at 100,001 as the first car .  Hope this is what you need. I need production code for month of manufacture.

55Birdman  Hickory NC

What date is on the patent plate?  That is the scheduled vehicle build date.

Based on line speed and two shift operation, the car was built approximately mid to late December 1956.

Also check the date codes on other components from the engine and vehicle to see if this correlates.  The engine component date codes could possibly be anywhere from a week to a month before the vehicle build date. 

Regards,

Dennis

Hi,  To add to what has been said, you can get the scheduled build date for your T-Bird from the data plate on the firewall.  Look on the bottom row at the "production code".  Ford used a letter for the month ("I" was not used), and the date preceded that.  On my '57 for example, the production code starts with 27J.  Since production for the 57's started in 1956, this is the 27th day of September, 1956.  If my car had been built on the 27th day of September, 1957, the code would start with 27V.  A T-Bird built on the 10th of December, 1956 would start with 10M.  Since they built 57's clear up until mid-December of 1957, you could have a production code of 10Y which would indicate December of '57.  Hope this helps- Nick Brann, K.C., MO

Bird, Nick, Dennis, thank you for the info on the date code, I have some other numbers here, I think I have got it figured out, the following are 27M20510p I know it was started on Dec 27 56, is their a way to tell what the actual number of the car is, like the first one to be made, or the 600th?

Hi Layour,  According to a friend of mine who has researched this stuff, the date on the production code (like your 27M) is just the scheduled production date.  If you order the original invoice for your T-Bird, it will have a date that is perforated in the invoice which is more likely the day it was built.  Also there is a blue stamped date on the invoice called the "gate release date" which is the day it actually left Ford Motor Company. 

I did order an original dealer invoice for our '57 Bird, but someone else had already purchased it and I got a black and white xerox copy instead.  It looks like my perforated date is 10-2-56 instead of the scheduled build date of 9-27-56.  Hope this isn't too much information- have fun.  Nick Brann, K.C., MO - red '57 T-Bird (that was originally starmist blue).

NIck= where did you order your original invoice? How much do they cost?

And are they available for full-sized cars???

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

Go to The American Road Thunderbird Club website.  The ordering instuctions are posted there.  $50, but you have to be a member.  

http://www.tartc.org/

Regards,

Dennis

It is my understanding they may have the Gate Releases for factory E & F code (8V and Supercharged) passenger cars, but TARTC does not advertise this.

Regards,

Dennis