Even More Numbers For Ken

[Rusty_T]

 

Ken,

I just swapped a FC Sedan with the following numbers : Chassis  : 17230 - S
                                                                            Body ID  : FC225 - 9207 - S
                                                                            Trim       : 265 - 637
                                                                            Paint      : 253 - 2053
                                                                            RPO       : 256 - 2031  TOP
For a FC Ute with the following numbers :                    Chassis  : 8 - 40782 - S
                                                                            Body ID : FC 2106-8193-S
                                                                            Trim      :199-649
                                                                            Paint     : 256 2033
I'm not sure if you have the numbers for my FE Wagon or the FE Sedan so here they come.

FE Special Station Sedan                                        : Chassis  : 8-48447-S
                                                                           Body ID  : FE 229-5252-A
                                                                           Trim       : 204-711
                                                                           Paint      : 256-7481
                                                                           RPO       :253-7478 TOP
FE Business Sedan                                                : Chassis  : 6-4905-S
                                                                            Body ID  : FE217-S4
                                                                            Trim       :158-484-AQ
                                                                            Paint      : 253-17693

The Chassis number on the ute was very hard to read. That's the best I can do re the Number but I'm sure it would be very close if not spot on.

Cheers Rusty
                           

[EffCee]

I am trying to understand how these numbers work and just when i think that i getting somewhere with them there seems to be a glitch in the system. Please bear with me if I am asking a silly question.

From the numbers that Rusty has supplied the FE wagon was made in Adelaide and has a Sydney front Chassis. As there wasn't a lot of station wagons built the numbers would seem about right, apart from the numbers ending with an S. Should it not end with an A, the same as the body? Is this an early FC chassis.

The FC ute, although it has a chassis prefixed by an 8 as the early FC's were, the body ID would give it as being a later ute than this. Therefore shouldn't this ute also be prefixied with an FC. If this is the original chassis then it stands to reason that the FE wagon must have an FC chassis.

Does that make sense.... Please explain if i am wrong, or have any part of this wrong. or even how they married the chassis up with the body numbers

[mcl1959]

Keith, first thing to understand;
as the FE model came to an end in 1958 the Chassis numbers went from about 8-50000-S back to 8-1001-S when the FC started. By this time GMH realised that they were going to have a serious problem if they kept up the current numbering system. Not only did they have FE's & FC's with 8 prefix chassis numbers but 1948 FX's also had 8 prefix chassis numbers. Hence the change to model prefix in 1959.

So the wagon has the correct chassis for its body number.

The reason it has a S suffix is because the car went down the Sydney assembly plant where it became a finished car.  Only the body shell was manufactured in Adelaide and this was shipped to Sydney on a truck as a shell with nothing forward of the firewall and with no running gear.

The ute appears to have the correct chassis number for the body but it should have an FC prefix rather than an 8. The turning point for 1959 manufacture was at about chassis number 24000-S so if the ute chassis number is correct you would think it should be from an FE not an FC. The puzzle would be how lucky it was to get a FE chassis number that lines up so well with the ID plate number?
I'm leaning towards the chassis number prefix being wrong - either written down wrong or stamped wrong at the factory.

Ken

[Rusty_T]

 
Ken,

I had another look at the Chassis number on the ute and scratched another 5 layers of paint off and sure enough the "8" is the bottom of the "C". So scatch the "8" and insert " FC ".All other numbers remain the same. It still is very hard to read.

Cheers Rusty

[EffCee]

Well, would you look at that,

Ken you never cease to amaze me with your knowlegde of these body chassis numbers.

One day, I might understand them, in the meantime I will just have to re read the posts and try and work out how it all works.

Keith

[RET]

Keith,

This very crufty old page (which dates back to the earliest days of this site, ie c1995) explains it in fair detail. You'll also find some details in the first few pages of the workshop manual.

The short explanation is this:

* The BODY ID is the manufacturing sequence for that BODYSTYLE, at that FACTORY
* The CHASSIS NUMBER is the assembly sequence for that MODEL, at that FACTORY
* The ENGINE NUMBER is the manufacture sequence of the block.

The last of these is the only one with a single sequence, as blocks were only cast in Melbourne.
The other two bear no real relationship to each other, since:
* wagon/van bodies were only pressed at Adelaide (until very late '59)
* only Adelaide pressed FE bodies until September '56, but the other plants assembled them. (My car is one of these - the ID plate is FE-225-5678 and the chassis 6-4760-M. So it's the 5,678th FE-225 manufactured in Adelaide, and the 3,760th FE assembled in Melbourne.)
* vehicles were assembled at Perth and Brisbane using bodies manufactured at other plants.
* the bloke who stamped the Sydney plates was blind and/or drunk most of the time

Hope that helps

RET