VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Tracking the date of manufacture

I have a VIN number and an engine number for my 1929 Chevy. How can I track down exactly when this car was manufactured? There is some debate over whether it is a 29 or a 30.

Welcome Carolyn,
The dash on a 1929 is different from the dash on a 1930.
The 1929 has the instruments in an oval cluster with oval gauges and speedo, where the 1930 has individual round gauges for the speedo, gas and oil pressure, with amps and temperature together.
There should be an aluminum plate on the firewall just behind the engine, which will contain some numbers.
The engine will has casting numbers and casting dates, as well as a serial number . Find those numbers and post them here , and someone will help further.

You also may be aware that many engines are not original to the car, and '29-'31 engines and drive-trains were pretty interchangeable. My '31 Coach (2-door sedan) for example came to me with a '30 engine and transmission, likely swapped out in about 1965. Numbers cast into side of engine designate date of block manufacture, mine was H 16 30 indicating August 16th 1930.
Each model had a Model or Job#, My body style was 31551, (indicating '31 Coach). A '30 model Coach would be 30551 while a '29 would be 8870. Hope this is some help to you.

CAROLYN,

Post the vehicle serial (VIN) number and engine number and we'll see if we can help.

Door locks, latches and window regulators made by Ternstedt usually have the month and year stamped on and are likely to be original to the car.

Radiator has date code. So does the transmission and torque tube casting. They also have serial numbers. Speedometer has month and year ink stamped on back.

I was told this was the original engine. Have to assume that as true for now. So found a number stamped into the body of the engine: #835738 with the Chevy emblem, but nothing else. Found a date stamped onto the transmission: F-18-9 And a number 590(questionable O as very hard to read)891. Also has the chevy emblem followed by the number 3. Any help?

Radiator only has an E35. Transmission has F 18 9 and a Chevy emblem with the number 590891. I think the third number is an 0.
The speedometer is ancient. Any ink stamp is GONE.

Door latches do indeed have info stamped onto them. Ternstedt Mgr. Co.Detroit USA 66281 and a number L-18892. Any help?

VIN is AZ89374; Engine #835738. Thank you!

Gauges and speedo definitely ovals! Big clue I guess-if the instrumental panel and gauges are original to the car. Firewall behind the engine says Assigned Identification Number AZ 89374 Control # 101374 (not sure of the zero as it is damaged)State of AZ. Thank you for any help you can give. I'm trying to track the history of the car.

The number F-18-9 is a casting date and equates to June 18, 1929.

The number AZ 89374, Control # 1010374 looks like a number given to the car by the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department, probably because the original serial number plate was missing. A common problem since the plate was nailed to the floorboard on the passenger side of the car. A 1929 car would have a serial number something like 9AC12345, where 9 is the assembly plant code (Norwood, Ohio in this example), AC is the 1929 International Series cars, and 12345 the sequential assembly number.

Engine serial number 835738 would have been assembled sometime in June of 1929. The number of the first motor used in June, 1929 was 789812, and the number of the first motor used in July, 1929 was 928354:

http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/1929motors.html

So, it is looking more and more like you do have a 1929.

Happy Motoring,

Dan

Carolyn,
The rear brake shoes on a 1929 model has external brake shoes. And the 1930 model has only internal brake shoes, inside the rear drums.