Model A & B Ford

Ford Garage

Engine Serial Numbers (VIN Number)

Overview

This (lengthy) page details engine serial number location, dates, and identification for Model A Ford and Model B Ford engines. The engine serial number was used as the defacto VIN number of the vehicle, as noted by Ford in the vehicle owner's manual Instruction Book below.

Engine Serial Number Prefixes

The engine serial number is separate from the alpha prefix letter(s). The numeric serial number is unique and is not directly correlated to the prefix letter(s). The prefix is preceded by a ☆ character, and the numeric serial number is followed by a ☆ character, as shown in the pic above.

Most US and Canadian built Model A Ford engines found in North and South America with serial number prefixes A, AA, AF, or AAF, and Model B Ford engines with serial number prefixes AB, AAB, B, or BB were built at the Rouge or Windsor, Ontario. An 'F' in the number indicated a RHD export configuration for US and Canadian production.

Engines produced at Cork, Ireland, at Manchester and later Dagenham, England, and at Köln, Germany variously carried serial number prefixes A, AF, AA, B, BF, and BB, however with distinctly identifiable numeric serial numbers based on place of manufacture. An 'F' in the number or model indicated a small bore/displacement 14.9 HP (RAC) engine for taxation purposes

Cork, Manchester, Dagenham, and Köln used serial numbers assigned from groups of numbers granted by the Rouge from within the larger sequence of Rouge numbers. Some Model B engines having an AA prefix and Rouge group serial numbers were also built and stamped at Dagenham in 1935 and 1936 and were used in Model AA trucks having factory Model B engines.

Later German G28T (improved Model B) engine serial numbers are not addressed on this page.

Model A engines with serial number prefix CA, CAA, CAW, CAAW, CAE, CAAE, CAR, CAAR, CAT, CAAT, CAY, CAAY, CAU, CAAU, CAI, CAAI, CAO, CAAO, CAP, CAAP, CAS, CAAS, CAD, and CAAD, and Model B engines with serial number prefix CBG and CBQ were built and stamped at Ford of Canada in East Windsor (Ford City), Ontario. Ford Canada used serial number series of their own creation and control.

Russian engine serial numbers are not addressed on this page, but were built at Gorky Automobile Zavod "ГАЗ" (GAZ), USSR from the 1930's through 1950's.

Model A & B Engine Number Assignment

The engine number was assigned to completed engines after they had passed the electric motor-driven engine run-in (run-off) tests. They were then released to the Branch Assembly plants for vehicle assembly. The engine number then became the serial number for the complete vehicle at final vehicle assembly.

The vehicle was sometimes assembled up to 3 months after the engine was assembled, tested, and numbered. Engines also were not used in vehicle final assembly in the same sequence that the engine itself was produced or numbered.

At the time of vehicle final assembly, the pre-existing engine number was also usually stamped on the vehicle frame in one or more locations (top of LH frame rail near the Number One body bolt).

The number cannot be inspected without removal of sheet metal and lifting of the body off the frame because the frame number was covered with the splash apron and body. Additionally, it is usually difficult or impossible to read the frame number due to frame corrosion and pitting from the moisture held by the cotton frame webbing. (Additional note: frame serial numbers were typically not stamped on Canadian-built Model A's).

This delay between engine component production, engine assembly, engine test, approval, and numbering at the Rouge, and subsequent vehicle final production at one of the 30+ Assembly Plants or Branches nationwide varied based on the location of the final assembly plant, as well as the different production schedules and rates between plants.

Again, these delays are due to production scheduling variations, as well as the later use of any engines within the engine production process that did not pass run-in test the first (or subsequent) time and were sent back for engine rework and re-test before subsequent approval and numbering, and then ultimate use in vehicle assembly.

Additionally, the original engine production ledgers on file at the Benson Ford Research Center clearly show, by serial number, hundreds of engines which were re-numbered at the Rouge with entirely new engine numbers. Some of these engines were ones which were returned from branches for subsequent scrap, salvage, or recovery/refurbish. In those cases, the original "starred" upper number was "X'd out", and a later new starred number was stamped below it on the lower half of the pad.

In some cases the second row stamping was to correct an obvious 'typo' in the first upper stamping, and in other cases the numbers are substantially different and the reason for change is not apparent.

Model A Engine Serial Numbers

Model A Engine Serial Number Location

All Model A engine serial numbers were hand-stamped on the left hand side of the engine block, above the water inlet as shown above. There were variations in the spacing, position, orientation, and sharpness of individual numerals due to the manual alignment and stamping operation.

The number pad itself was an as-cast surface on US-produced engines and was not machined flat. However, some early 1928 and some Canadian-produced and numbered engine blocks were stamped on a machined pad surface, not on an as-cast surface.

In the case of US built Rouge engines, the original number is always in the top half of the cast pad. If the engine was re-numbered at the Rouge, then the upper number was obscured with a series of "X" stamps over the number, and then the new or corrected number was stamped on the pad directly below the original number. The re-number also included the stars and A or AA prefix.

Large Bore & Small Bore, LHD & RHD Model A Engine Production

The engine number is distinct from the alpha prefix letter(s). The numeric serial number is unique and is not directly correlated to the prefix letter(s). The prefix is preceded by a ☆ character, and the numeric serial number is followed by a closing ☆ character.

Ford also built Right Hand Drive (RHD) engine assemblies and vehicles at the Rouge as well. These Rouge-built engines were primarily destined for South America and Japan, not the British Empire. Only the specific engine serial number, not the prefix nor type, can identify the actual engine production facility as being either the Rouge or Cork, Ireland or Dagenham, England. Canadian-produced engines can be readily identified by their Canada-unique prefixes and serial numbers.

RHD engines and vehicles produced in Canada for export to British Empire countries carried typical Canadian engine number prefixes, and the prefix did not indicate if the engine and chassis was configured for RHD or LHD usage.

Engines produced at the Rouge for RHD usage carried the 'F' in the engine number prefix, such as '☆AF' or '☆AAF'. At the Rouge, the 'F' indicated that the engine and chassis was configured for RHD usage.

For example, engine serial number 1234567☆ was produced at the Rouge and might have had a prefix of ☆A, ☆AA, ☆AF, or ☆AAF depending on whether it was for a car or truck (clutch), and whether it was for a large bore engine and transmission assembly for the US, or for a RHD large bore engine and transmission assembly produced at the Rouge for export to a RHD non-British Empire country (such as Japan or certain South American countries).

US (Rouge-built) Model A Engines

The first table below shows the Rouge engine production records and information available from the Benson Ford Research Center. The exact dates in the table come from the original Foreman's handwritten notes and records in the original Daily Engine Production Log books.

The table below also indicates some series or groups of numbers which were transferred by the Rouge to Ford's other engine production facilities worldwide at Cork, Manchester, Dagenham, and Köln.

Those numbers were reserved by the Rouge for the foreign (Cork, Manchester, Dagenham and Köln) operation's local production use and assignment on both engines and vehicles they produced throughout the 1930's, continuing well after US Model A and B regular vehicle production had ended.

Those foreign operations built mixes of small and large bore engines, in both LHD and RHD configurations, and those engines would have a 'Rouge' number, though the engine was built and numbered elsewhere in the world.

These foreign-use numbers are sometimes referred to as 'omitted' numbers since they were not actually physically stamped at the Rouge facility in the US.

Canadian Model A Engines

Model A engines were also built and assembled in East Windsor (Ford City), Ontario.

Canadian-produced Model A engine numbers were also stamped on the engine block left hand side, the same location as US-produced engines. The engine number consisted of prefix letters and a unique numeric serial number. The prefix was preceded by a ☆ character. The numeric serial number was followed by a closing ☆ character.

The engine serial number was separate from the prefix letters, together making the complete unique engine number. The engine number was unique and was not directly correlated to the prefix letters or to US production engine numbers.

Canadian-produced engines were numbered with a letter prefix starting with ☆CA, indicating Canada. The prefix was then followed by an additional 'A' if it was a truck engine.

As an example, a 'CAA' in place of the letters 'CA' in the individual unique engine number's prefix designated that the engine was equipped with a truck clutch. For example, ☆CAAQ followed by the serial number and a closing ☆ character was a truck engine (had a truck clutch).

Following the letter prefix was a sequentially increasing numerical serial number starting with '1', and ending with a closing ☆ character.

After 'CA' serial number 150120 (☆CA150120☆), an additional letter, such as Q, W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O, P, S, and D, was added to the prefix, following the layout of the QWERTY typewriter keyboard.

Prefix examples are CAQ, CAW, CAE, CAR, CAT, CAY, CAU, CAI, CAO, CAP, CAS, and CAD. Each of those prefix series had a maximum of 10,000 serial numbers associated to it, before advancing to the next letter prefix series and starting over at numeral '1'. An 'AA' rather than an 'A' in the prefix indicated a truck engine.

Shown above is what I believe to be an authentic early Canadian engine ☆CA3834☆ from April 1928. Note the small sized number pad. What makes it unusual is that the number pad appears to be machined flat in the same plane as the water inlet boss. Later number pads were un-machined as-cast surfaces.

The table below shows the information available from Ford of Canada Historical Archives.

US (Rouge) Model B Engines

Model B 'engine' serial numbers started at 5,000,000 and increased sequentially. The assigned serial number was actually stamped on the (B-6395) flywheel housings of completed engines after they had passed run-in (run-off) tests and were released from the Engine Department for vehicle final assembly. The number pad above the block water inlet was left unstamped on US and Canadian built Model B engines.

The engine (flywheel housing) number then became the serial number for the completed vehicle after final assembly. The serial number is separate from the prefix letter(s). The serial number is unique and is not directly correlated to the prefix letter(s). The prefix is preceded by a ☆, and the serial number is followed by a closing ☆ character.

Canadian Model B Engines

A limited number of Model B engines were also built and assembled in East Windsor (Ford City), Ontario.

Canadian-produced 1932-34 four cylinder 'engine' serial numbers were actually stamped on the top of the Model B or Model 46 flywheel housing above the starter, and the engine block pad was left unnumbered, similar to US Model B production.

The prefix is preceded by a ☆, and the serial number is followed by a closing ☆ character, and reads from the rear of the engine.

The table below shows the information available from Ford of Canada Historical Archives and Ford Motor Company of Australia Pty. Ltd.

More related information on Ford Garage:

1. For more Model A & B related information, use the Site Search box at the top or bottom of this page.
2. Model A & B German Ford Köln Engine Serial Numbers
3. Model A & B 'Diamond' Block and Date Code Engine Markings
4. Model A Industrial Engine Brochure
5. Model B German Ford Köln Industrial Engine Brochure
6. Model A & AA US Body Style Numbers & Body Builders Chart
7. Model A Assembly Plant Body Number Decoder
8. 1930 Model A Ford Assembly Branch Locations
9. Model A, B, & Early V8 Ford Patent Plate & Patent Numbers
10. 1928-40 Model A & B Ford England A & B Powered Vehicle Models Chart

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