English 1935 Ford VIN help

nellis003

nellis003

Senior Member
Hi all,

My father and I just bought a 1935 Ford 3-Window Coupe that was brought over from England decades ago. It's been stored ever since. It came out of an estate and we were given a title when we took possession, but the VIN on the title doesn't match the one stamped on the frame.

I lightly sanded the frame, and the numbers showed up with the two stars on each end, but the script is very different from what I'm used to seeing. The VIN starts with an 11 and is in this format:

11-XX-XXX

My trusty 35-36 Ford book shows the 1935 prefix as 18, but I'm guessing that was just for US production cars. Does anyone know where I can find information on how the British Fords were stamped?

Also, the number on the title is R88505P. I don't see this number anywhere on the car. Does it look familiar to anyone, and can anyone think of a spot on the car that might show this number?

Thanks for any help. I'm going to post some pictures of the coupe once we have the title figured out.

Thanks,
Nick
 
Is this car Right Hand Drive ? A lot of the earlier cars had Canadian Vin # as the body's were often built there and shipped in Knock down and assembled in England this was especially true for small output body styles .
Ford had a policy at the time in the UK of replacing the engines in cars and Trucks in a day at the main Dealers. That R # looks like one of those numbers Unfortunately they dont make much sence to any published lists . I have seen a few B engines with this sort of strange # Often they are stamped in a stylized manner at an angle R/////////

If it's not RHD then it probaly did not start out life in England. Maybe somewhere else in Europe.
Good Luck with Your search

John Cochran
 
Paul - I checked the engine - the only numbers I could find were on the heads and intake (it's a V8-60). Is there anywhere specific on the block I should be looking?

John - It's a RHD car, yes. It also has a few other features I've never seen on US Fords of this vintage, so I believe it started its life in England. Do you know if the 11-series VIN that's stamped on the frame falls into the range of Canadian VINs? When you say the R# looks like one of the engine replacement numbers, do you know where that number would appear on the V8-60 engine?

Thanks for getting in touch.

Nick
 
Nick it would have small fenderlights as well Is that one of the other features you mention ? The British had a horsepower tax so the V/8 60 was more popular there.I thought the 60 came out a couple years after 1935. if so thats definately a replacement engine
Lot's of people form Canada on here so I'm sure one will be able to chip in on the engine numbers.
John Cochran
 
Hi
Canadian production numbers that I have seen ( right hand drive ) have the prefix "C"
the "R" is interesting as my 35 RHD Canadian is C48RFxxxx

The RF may be significant I do not know

Dave
 
The early two exhaust port, four main bearing V8 -60 engine, which is the same as the one in my heading, was available for the 1935 model English Fords vehicles up to early 1936, as well as the 21 stud model engine. The later model three exhaust port three main bearing V8-60 engine came out in the Model 62 in August 1936 in England, and a lot of the early model two exhaust port engines were either replaced in these 1935 vehicles with the later model three exhaust port V8-60 engine or the 21 stud V8 engine. I would be interested to know if it is the early model V8-60 engine in that car, as there are no parts available for this model engine. All these two models of V8-60 engines were U.S sourced for the English cars and trucks.
 
John - It does have the fender lights, which remind me of the front fender lights on the old Harley-Davidsons. Very cool looking.

My understanding is that the V8-60 was available on the British Fords starting in '35, and that they didn't start appearing on US cars until '37. I'd also heard that they were pretty unpopular considering the full-size alternative.

Dave - The chart Bruce posted does show that the Canadian serial numbers had the "C" prefix, then the 18, and then a different letter before the production number starts. One of the letters is "R", so I'm wondering if we're on to something here.

Bruce, that's a very helpful page, thanks for passing it along. I have an email out to the club with some questions, so hopefully I'll hear back soon.

If anyone else has any input as to where I can find the R88505P number on this car, I'm all ears.

Thanks!
Nick
 
Ian,

This is the only good picture I have that shows a bit of the exhaust manifold. It looks to me like there's an outlet in the center of the manifold, so does this look like a three port engine to you? I don't have the car close by so I can't check right now.

Nick
 

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Hi Everyone, Here's a photo showing the rebuild tag on the V8-85 engine in our '36. The black running from middle right to middle bottom is the steering column.

-VT/Jeff
 

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nellis003 said:
Hi all,

My father and I just bought a 1935 Ford 3-Window Coupe that was brought over from England decades ago. It's been stored ever since. It came out of an estate and we were given a title when we took possession, but the VIN on the title doesn't match the one stamped on the frame.

I lightly sanded the frame, and the numbers showed up with the two stars on each end, but the script is very different from what I'm used to seeing. The VIN starts with an 11 and is in this format:

11-XX-XXX

My trusty 35-36 Ford book shows the 1935 prefix as 18, but I'm guessing that was just for US production cars. Does anyone know where I can find information on how the British Fords were stamped?

Also, the number on the title is R88505P. I don't see this number anywhere on the car. Does it look familiar to anyone, and can anyone think of a spot on the car that might show this number?

Thanks for any help. I'm going to post some pictures of the coupe once we have the title figured out.

Thanks,
Nick
Click to expand...

Hi Nick

I have been contacted by Frank about your car and I am finding out what your chassis number should be. Do you have the English registretion number as I may be able to find out from that what the chassis number should be. I would like to have a story about your car as I am the editor of the V8 Telegraph which is the Early Ford V8 Club RG 127 In the UK. Ian and Jeanette Stables has sent me a picture of your engine and it is a UK Model 62 engine. Your R88505P number is a Dagenham Engine rebuild number which should be on the left side of the engine block by the side of the inlet manifold. If you would like to get intouch with me my email is fordv8@btinternet.com Hope to hear from you soon. Andy
 
From Bruce's link, I was able to get in touch with Frank of the Western New York Early Ford
V8 Club. He put the feelers out to his contacts in England, and a "chap" named Andy came back with this:

Thanks for your enquiry, I will start with the R88505P This is a Dagenham engine rebuild number it is usually on the left hand side of the block at the back. When the garage fitted a rebuilt engine they should have stamped the chassis number on the block above the R number but if you are having trouble reading it they may have trouble and not bothered putting the number on the engine as we find that a lot of cars that have had a rebuilt engine put in they do not have the chassis number on them. The chassis frame could have been manufactured at Dagenham as we started to manufacture them in 1935. It would be a big help if we could have a picture of chassis number as we have chaps who may be able to decipher it. Do you know what the original British registration number was as we may be able to trace it from that or any other original paperwork.

So, I took another look at the engine and sanded the area Andy suggested I look. The "R88505P" number came up on the engine. Mystery solved. The engine must have been replaced before the car came to the US, and when it was imported they must have titled it off the engine number rather than the frame number. So, when I transfer the title, I'm going to have it corrected to show the frame number instead.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the contributors to this site are an absolutely invaluable resource for guys like me. I suppose it's possible that I would have stumbled across that number eventually, but it definitely would have taken a much longer time and caused me a lot more stress. So, thanks very much to everyone for the input and help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Nick
 
That engine...seems to be a "normal" 60 with the valve and port orders for late type we are familiar with...but heads: Are they early, from the engine with odd valve order??
Intake is GB only...I think...late port arrangement, no mechanical pump, I think all the pre-USA intro of 60 were electric fuel pump?
My entire knowledge of the early engine was sighting a bare block in french junkyard about 1970.
That was a STRANGE experience, as the thing was so obviously Ford but with all the posts and the mains in the wron places. It was probably another 30 years before I found any information to explain what I had seen!
 
Bruce,

Not sure about much regarding the engine - until Ian's post I wasn't aware there were different generations of the V8-60. But yes, it has no mechanical pump and there is an electric pump mounted to the left of the engine. Picture attached.

I'm going to start another post with some pictures of the entire car, and get some opinions on which path to take with the restoration.

Nick
 

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nick my chassis number is under the electric fuel pump stamped on chassis
strange place i no.
mine is the best i can see
11-54-1559
roger,
 
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