The 'Circle-F' is the Cleveland Casting Foundry mark. The '9A L' in the raised oval with slotted screwhead impressions is the casting date, in this case 9=1959, A=January, L = 11th day of month, so manifold was cast on January 11, 1959.
1961 FE exaust manifolds and casting numbers.
- Thread starter JimNNN
- Start date
The 'Circle-F' is the Cleveland Casting Foundry mark. The '9A L' in the raised oval with slotted screwhead impressions is the casting date, in this case 9=1959, A=January, L = 11th day of month, so manifold was cast on January 11, 1959.
KULTULZ
Well-known member
I am very interested in the SEVEN DIGIT PN SYSTEM you say you have in an MPC. Are your copies included within a period CHASSIS CATALOG or do you have discarded inserts (LOOSE LEAF CATALOG)? I need source info (PUB TYPE - DATE of PUB) and/or will gladly pay for TEXT/ILL copies.
THANK YOU!
... you have what ... ?
Where in the world did you come across them? Can you show the PRINT DATE (quarter -year) of the MPC and CROSS-REFERENCE?
Master Cross-Reference List (MXRL) between Ford M-E-L Parts & Accessory (P&A) and Engineering Numbers - Form FD-7425, July 1959 (Vol. 1.). This was a 'final' printing for Vol. 1. The MXRL Vol. 2 (FD-7425-2) final release date was April 1966 for parts following the Vol. 1 edition. MXRL Vol. 3 was released sometime in 1976.
For a 'geek' like me who uses these kinds of things when researching the chronology of parts development and applications for VTCI's Original Factory Specifications (OFS) manuals, answering tech questions here or in the VTCI Forum, or writing tech articles for VTCI's "Thunderbird Scoop" magazine, I can't live without OSIs and MXRLs along with period/loose-leaf MPCs to find numbers that were deleted in final editions of the '49-'59 and '60-'64 "Blue Bibles" along with the final editions of the '65-'72 and '73-'79 MPCs, plus all the Mercury and Lincoln parts catalogs (BTW I'm still wanting to add Edsel catalogs to my library), which in the late '50s were loaded with the number-only part numbers (well, I could, but it would be more of a challenge trying to figure things out).
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Kultulz, I think you misinterpreted my comment. I went back and edited the original post to better explain as follows:
I really noticed this when researching the engineering casting numbers on intake and exhaust manifolds. I'd find the P&A part number for, say the intake manifold with its basic number (9425), track down the corresponding Engineering 7-digit number in the MXRL or in other sources like OSI catalogs and Lincoln/Mercury ones (especially for MEL-series 430 part numbers), and sometimes discovered that the engineering number cast into the part might be 1 or 2 numbers off from the catalog listings.
I can't say that I've found a 'Rosetta Stone' of documentation to make sense of the 7-digit, 8-digit, 10-digit (or whatever the heck they they used) parts numbering system - it looks to me that they must have had blocks of numbers assigned concurrently during the period...I never really paid attention to counting how many characters were in the part number - just that there was a damn long part number to try and find in the MXRL, OSI and MPC.
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With all the dealership takeovers combining Ford,Chrysler,Dihatso and whatever wonder how many of those books went in the trash. Several years ago the 'kid' at the Ford parts counter tried to humiliate me when I asked for alternator bearings and brushes with oh we don't have any old parts. Literally would fit millions of Fords on the road. Kultulz try the manuals and books section of ebay, may get lucky some day. Sorry for rant.
KULTULZ
Well-known member
Before FORD went to microfiche (about 1972). cataloging mainly was in loose leaf and these were held in binders. Every quarter, updates would be sent to dealers and these are the PAGE CHANGES you read about. Those pages were trashed while updating the catalog. No one held on to those.
Later, with the microfiche, the actual slides were updated quarterly. There were usually held onto for reference.
FORD than went to computer (CDP) and of course everything is done through the system by DEARBORN.
Most information has been tossed/forgotten and it makes restorations difficult. One would have to have a period correct CHASSIS MANUAL (catalog) to find concise info on that odd numbering system. And believe me I have looked.
THANX!
rotorwrench
Well-known member
Parts catalogs can sometimes be purchased on CD format. I always get all the info I can get for the old cars. The Hollanders are the best interchange books to get. It take a while to go through all those old Ford reference manuals. I have a bunch of them myself but seldom ever use them.
If a person finds the exact part number they need, it takes a lot less looking on the internet. Two good early 60s salvage yards in Texas are Owen's Salvage in Wellington TX and John's Salvage in Seguin TX. If I can't find it on the internet, I call them. It's too bad Stacy Brown closed up shop in Arlington TX. He had tons of NOS parts for the old cars. They will all eventually be gone though.
Ford's numbering system was always evolving and still does but it is of a similar format even today. I find 1949 to 51 Mercury parts (8M) that were used on my 1956 Ford 850 tractor.
If a person finds the exact part number they need, it takes a lot less looking on the internet. Two good early 60s salvage yards in Texas are Owen's Salvage in Wellington TX and John's Salvage in Seguin TX. If I can't find it on the internet, I call them. It's too bad Stacy Brown closed up shop in Arlington TX. He had tons of NOS parts for the old cars. They will all eventually be gone though.
Ford's numbering system was always evolving and still does but it is of a similar format even today. I find 1949 to 51 Mercury parts (8M) that were used on my 1956 Ford 850 tractor.
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