Decoding a 1949 VIN

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Pontiac787

Junior Member
Is there a way to decode a 1949 vehicle number? I get the 98BA and assume the branch refers to Kansas City but I can’t make any sense of the rest.

98BA-602164
 

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Is there a cowl code stamped just above the cowl/ firewall line?….. the 49-51 Ford Book has a good chapter on decoding the ID numbers……..Mark
 

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Oh, that large set of numbers and letters staring me in the face! I completely missed the stamping. It says 6KC28D152.
 

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If it was a snake it woulda’ bit ya’!!…….the cowl code got more involved for the ‘50 model…..what area in NH are you?…..I’m not far over the border from Rochester…………..Mark
 

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The Ford VIN in that mid century time frame was just a year or so away from having a change over of the data plates that started in 1951 or 52. The "9" is 1949 and the 8BA is the V8 engine. The 6-cylinder would be different. KC is the assembly plant. The stamping on the top cowl area give the body type, paint code, and interior code. In 1951 or 52, depending on body type and assembly plant, they started consolidating everything on the data plate. Data plate info is usually found in the year specific body or chassis parts manuals.

The 1949 commercial pickups were real confusing. The 1949 year code carried over into 1950 so a person can't tell which year it was made. A fella over on the Ford Truck Forum has a listing of serial numbers to narrow down the year of manufacture.
 
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I’m about an hour or so from Concord….maybe we’ll run into each other at an event somewhere……. Mark
 
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