Vin number tag missing

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Hello,  I purchased a 1937 Pierce at Hershey and I have many questions but I would like to start with vin information.  The vin tag that should be on the driver’s side frame is missing.  The car is currently registered using an engine number which I can not find to verify if it is the  actual engine in the car.  There is a chassis tag on the passenger firewall and a matching number tag on the passenger front floor.  In the paper work that came with the car there is a notation stating the vin number is 3180002.  My question is could this be the actual vin number for a 1937 Pierce.  I have not gone to the research section yet but will head there next.  If this is not a valid vin number for 1937, then which would be better to do, keep it registered with the engine number, providing I can confirm it or use the chassis number.  If it is a valid vin then I would like to get a plate made to reattach to the frame and use that.  As a side note I hate when people take identifying tags off of old cars.  Thank you in advance for any replys.

 

Jeff

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Jeff,

In our records, that Serial number belongs to a 1937 P-A 1703 EDL owned by a member in Washington.  The serial number plate is usually on the frame to the rear of the RIGHT front tire.

What Model and Body Style is your car? 8 or 12 cylinder? Also, what is the engine number you have? On 8cyl cars, the engine number is stamped into flat area on left side of block in upper center, just below the cylinder head to block joint. On 12 cyl engines, stamped into flat area, right rear of crankcase behind rear cylinder. This number is stamped across the rear of the crankcase and may require a mirror to observe.

The firewall tag and front passenger compartment tag are likely the body number. It should be something like 000-x-000.

I know at one point reproduction Serial Number plates were made. I do not if they are still available.

Dave

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Hello Dave,  I bought the Brad Tiffany car at Hershey.  I met Dave Coco as well at Hershey and he gave me the locations to look for numbers.  I think I updated my profile to reflect this car.  The only numbers I can confirm so far is the body number since both those tags are present and match in the car.  It is a 12 cylinder car and I have looked for the engine number but have not found it yet to confirm if it matches what is in the paperwork.  Are there records that would list the vin numbers for the cars produced?  I am not sure why someone else’s vin number would be in the paperwork I aquired with the car but at least that answers the question whether it was  the vin for this car or not.

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Jeff,

Brad also did not have the serial number listed in his record. The engine number is listed as 409017. The body number is the same as the one you entered.

I don’t think the 3180002 number is correct for your car. I may have to check with the owner to confirm it is on his car. I will do some more research and post what I find out.

The car record should  be transferred from Brad to you rather than entered new in your record. I will correct it, you may see some e-mails about the transfer and deletion. Don’t worry about it.

Dave

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Brad,

I could not find any other information on the car in other records. I will let you know what I find out from Bob about the Serial number on his car.  Yours should be close to what his is. Pierce-Arrow did not install the engines in numerical order, so I can’t extrapolate your serial number using the engine numbers.

What number is listed on the pink slip as the VIN? If it is the engine number, it may be easiest to continue using it.

Your car’s record has been updated.

Dave

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The engine number is what is used for the paperwork on the title.  The problem is until I find the number on the engine I am not sure I want to use it.  If it isn’t correct then it will be very hard to change it.  This is the time to get it right if I can so in the future there won’t be any doubt or problems.  I think Brad replaced the heads on the engine but am not 100% sure.  They are aluminum heads and I don’t think Pierce used those but again I am not sure.  Thank you again for your help.

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Jeff,

The location of the engine number is described in a post above. It is stamped on the crankcase not the heads. It should be easy to find, if not a little hard to see. It is a good idea to confirm the number matches the pink.  Aluminum heads were used on the 36-38 v-12s.

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Jeff,

I talked to Bob and his car has the original number plate with 3180002 on it. So, not your serial number. His body number is one higher than yours and the engine number is two lower.

Serial numbers 0003 and 0004 are also accounted for. 0005 had engine number 409011. You might make sure the 7 on yours is not a 1. It was an EDL with no body number listed. This car is not accounted for.

Also he says his plate is on the driver’s side frame.

Dave

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Hi Dave,

 

I am sorry for the delayed response.  I am in the middle of a huge remodel of an old farm house and winter is coming.  Since I posted I have me Bob Sands, who lives very close to me.  I can now confirm the vin tag is missing from my car.  He has one very similar to mine and I was able to see where the vin tag was attached.  As for the engine I looked again and still have not found a number.  Bob had a seagrave block which had the number on the passenger side of the block so I looked on mine and still could not find it.  If I do find it and that last number is a 1, that would mean we could confirm it is the car which isn’t accounted for.  Anyway I appreciate the help you have given me. Thank you.

 

Jeff

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Jeff,

If you do find the engine number, please let me know. Thanks, Dave

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