What year?

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

There is supposed to be a rough way to calculate the year of manufacture by the body number.

Here's mine can anyone help?

FC-2104-6267-A:
  Vehicle is an FC Panel Van, the 6,267th manufactured in Adelaide, SA.

[RET]

6267 is a fairly low number, it would definitely be 1958, and fairly early on. All wagons and panel vans were manufactured in Adelaide (no-one else had a big enough press for the roof until very late '59), so there's only one sequence number for all vans Australia-wide. There's a small number of Melbourne-made FC wagons from November 1959 onwards. If there are any Melbourne vans it would be a very tiny number.

[Errol62]

RET
My understanding is that all van bodies were still being made at Woodville right through the EK series. I saw an Adelaide bodied Melbourne assembled EK van recently which supports this belief.

Sorry for the side track. Should be reasonably accurate to interpolate the month based on total van numbers and production dates is what I’m getting at.
Cheers
Clay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mcl1959]

So the highest number in my database is 10320. All van bodies are made in Adelaide as Richard states.
So my database gives your van a date of approx May 1959
Chassis number would date it more accurately
Ken

[Stewy]

According to the Holden Model Life Figures table, FC 2104 blind vans :221 assembled at Woodville.
FC 2104 option vans : 10,385 assembled at Woodville,
FC 2104 option vans : 5 in knocked down form to Indonesia.
Grand total FC 2104 vans 10,611 produced.

Looks like you have a good spread of numbers in the database.

Cheers Stewy   

[hsv-001]

Mine is 2849 .

[hughes]

Have pics of one I will be seeing soon in remote northern WA. Situated on a friends station is a rare unit with factory fitted sliding windows, and in my opinion highly restorable due to lack of rain where located, surface rust only and very straight!! Happy to send pics via mobile now if any forum members can upload pics to forum. Took the pics back in April but my best mate and I are heading up in a few weeks to remove an EH ute from there and will check and photograph Id plates to add to thread.

[DJ]

Can upload pics if you want to send to email address: dave.bolton@tpg.com.au

[DJ]

[hughes]

Cheers Dave for posting pics, will get photo of id plate when up there in a few weeks. Eh ute in pics is the one to be restored, will be a big job and quite a long project as it will be my mates first foray into the hobby. The Eh looks a bit rusty but in reality is in great nic as is the Pano. Sorry for pic quality, Richo

[DJ]

Hope it progresses well. Look forward to seeing updates.

[hsv-001]

My old van has the dicky seat in the back but it uses station wagon rear glass .I would like to see some detail around the supports of the sliding windows just to compare .

[Dr_Terry]

I may be wrong here, but I don't believe that those sliding side windows are factory fitted.

These types of windows were commonly fitted at dealerships using whatever was commercially available. Very common in the 50s.

Dr Terry

[mcl1959]

Quite right Dr Terry, no factory fitted Windows. Dealerships fitted them as well as commercial body builders.
Ken

[hsv-001]

Thanks guys ,I was well aware that these vehicles were customised through local dealerships and vary quite a lot ,but I was interested in the roof support between the sliding windows and the rear windows . As I have previously said ,my van has station wagon rear glass and no roof support between sliding and rear .

[hughes]

I sit corrected!!

[FireKraka]

Hi Richard
Good to see you got your Ute back.
You been holding out on me; what else is way up north mate.
Neil Hughes

[fe van]

I'm interested to see opinions on the roof support as well, I have a late fe van 1958 with windows and no support between them, when I first got it I thought may be something was missing? in my opinion it does require support in this area but I have heard that when the windows are fitted they become the support? I have looked at a lot of fc vans with large windows and they all have a bit of round bar fitted for support, I can only assume for the early van conversions they had an issue with fitted windows popping out? I reckon they fitted the support bar to correct it for the later vans or was it just the difference between the companies fitting the windows? thanks Darren.

[hughes]

Howdy Neil [and everyone else] I don't really remember what else is down the boneyard, the ute and the panno were the only things of interest to me. Was a few HQ sedans and a wagon, and a Dodge Fargo ute. The 2 old Holdens were more loved than the newer ones though. Looking forward to getting back up there, cheers Richo

[hughes]

Bugga! Change of plans. My mate has decided not to go ahead yet and scoop up the EH ute as is gonna build a shed first. Makes sense as lives on the south coast. Anyway will get the info and more pics when next up there, cheers Richo