VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Fisher Body Tag

Is the Fisher Body Tag on a 31 Chevrolet painted or solid brass ? I havr seen repros. that were painted but my original one is all brass .Is the paint rubbed off over the years or is it right? :rolleyes:

I'm assuming that you are talking about the Fisher Body plate that is on the cowl under the hood, and not the serial number plate that is nailed on the passenger side main sill inside of the car. If so, they were aluminum and usually not painted from the factory since the plate was riveted on after the body was painted.

JYD I should have said the one on the passengers side of the lower cowl ,the one with the carriage on,The other two are in good shape,the carriage tag is real good but I have seen reproductions that were painted with a black background and white windows on the carriage .my tag has no sign of any coloring ,and I just wondered about which was right. Thanks

The rectangular Fisher Body plate attached to the outside, passenger lower cowl is painted brass. The recessed portion is lightly painted brown which highlights the brass outline and lettering. Later ones were oval chrome plated with either black or blue background.

Except for the oval plate that was used in 1932. The background on that was an off-white color and that was a one year only plate.

The background on the brass square plate for 1930 was painted white.

What I thought was tarnished brass is the light brown.so I guess its ok .Thanks Guys

My '30 sedan is a REALLY late 1930 car and seems to have some of the 1931 details. It's date of manufacture is October and was sold in November of 1930. The serial numbers confirm the dates. It is intriguing that some of the points people make issue with for 1931 are on my 1930 car.

Hey Rick! The date that your 1930 was manufactured is extremely interesting. Could you post the serial number of your car, the body number, the block casting date and the motor serial number for those of us who are keeping records of this information? I know that d2d2 would be interested in seeing this information as well since his research shows that the latest 1930 manufactured so far was in August or September of 1930 I believe. Is that correct d2d2? Thanks Rick!

Last 1930 engine number: 2100284. Highest number shown on my survey is 2085701 with casting date Sept. 2, 1930. If any 1930 cars were made in October they were recorded as September production. First 1931s were made in early October, 1930. Number 2116485 has a casting date of Oct. 8, 1930.

Thanks for the update d2d2. You have given us some valuable information here. Anxious to see the numbers that Rick comes up with to see when his car was made, because according to your research it had to be in September or earlier. Seems to me that Rick's motor serial number was a very late 1930 as I recall. Thanks d2d2 for the info.

Hey Rick: Can you post some numbers on your 1930 so that d2d2 can add them to his serial number research? Since you have a very late 1930, your numbers would probably help him greatly.

One of the biggest down-sides of the Internet is that INCORRECT information gets archived along with the correct info -- and I may have contributed to that by 'shooting from the hip' about my car. Here is the correct info that I have with me here today. I'll verify the other dates over the next few days.

1930 Chevrolet Universal Sedan (from original title
VIN: 5AD55098 (from car and original title
Motor: 2056902 (from car and original title
Block casting: 835501 (from car
First sold: 11/21/30 (from original title
FDP: $625 (from original title
Fisher Job no.: 30559 (from car
Body no: K12043 (from car
Carb: Carter RJH-08

I will post more numbers and details if others find the data useful. I do feel strongly that the history of the cars is very important. If I can contribute in any way to the general knowledge of the marque, I am pleased to do so.
Best regards, Rick

Rick,
The first engine number for Oct. 1930 is same as 1931 first number: 2100285.
The first car number for Sept. 1930 Kansas City: 5AD55431.
Kansas City passenger car production, Aug. 1930: 3205, Sept. 1930: 3784

Guys,
Looks like early Sept. '30 assembly, which is truly a late '30. It would be nice to get casting date on block. It is located with the casting number and coded with letter for month (Jan=A, Feb=B) a space, one or two numbers for the day of month, a space and the last digit of the year (0 in this case).

d2 d2 can verify but I have found that the engine serial number corresponds closely with casting date indicating that they basically only let the blocks age for a sort time. The then put them on the assembly line in the same order as cast. Heads, manifolds, clutch housings also seem to match closely on casting dates. Says a lot about a good inventory control and manufacturing process.

d2d2 wrote, "The first car number for Sept. 1930 Kansas City: 5AD55431." and my car number is 5AD55098. Backing up from there, the first car number for August would have been 5AD52226 making my car from the August production run. That would make since because there is a stamped date on the back of each headlight reflector from August 1930!
d1d1 went on to write, "The first engine number for Oct. 1930 is same as 1931 first number: 2100285. My engine is 2056902 or 43383 engines from the end of the run. I suspect that engine numbers were unique (not specific to any one plant and not repeated) and one cannot directly relate car number to engine number -- only the start and end points. That is a guess.
rick

ChevyChip wrote, "It would be nice to get casting date on block.

Here it is: 835501 G230

So that should translate to: July 23, 1930.

Rick: Sounds like your car is probably a late August production. At any rate, thanks for taking the time to supply this information to us, since a lot of history can be extracted from this type of information, and late production cars are hard to locate. Thanks again!

Rick, The month and year are stamped on window regulators and door latch hardware made by Ternstedt. There may also be the letters AOS (for A.O. Smith) and a date stenciled in white on a frame rail outer side between the step hangers.

Good advice d2d2! That should also help to nail down the date of manufacture of Rick's 1930 sedan.

Also and ink stamped date on the back of the speedometer. Occasionally dates and part numbers on some wood parts, seat covers, seat springs and back sides of trim side panels.

And....... occasionally you will find a date stamped on the flange of the Carter updraft carburetor too!

Skipper,
I forgot about that one. It would be nice to put together a list of the location of part & casting numbers and date codes for each year. It would be an excellant reference for someone evaluating a vehicle for possible purchase, looking for parts at a swap meet, or just interested in the details of the assembly process. Maybe we could start with 1931 or 1932 as it seems that there several people on this forum that have many years experience with these years. I am sure that none of us has all the information at hand but with a combination of all or experience and knowledge we might just get it right.

Hum.......that's not a bad idea. That reference material would be very useful to restorers of 1931 and 1932 Chevys. Okay......I'll buy a copy. Just let me know when you get it done!

Date codes can be misleading because they indicate production year, not calender year, and because of parts made for replacement through the dealer. I have seen a 1929 head with a 1934 casting date and a 1936 engine with a 1941 casting date.