8 digit fender vin

[dangermouse]

I have read in online searches that a marti report can be generated from the fender vin. does anyone know if this is true. their web site won't accept anything under 11 digits. I tried emailing and calling and they don't seem to answer the phone or emails. Starting on a mostly stripped body and am curious if it was originally a mach1 or a standard fastback. it has mach1 trim but after 50 years that could have been swapped any time along the way.
thanks

 

[giantpune]

It seems like that should be possible. The missing digits are pretty limited. You actually already have 9 digits. Your body should have the first 2 then the last 6. After the first 2, there would be a 0. Then either a 2 or 5 for fastback or mach1. And then one of a handful of letters for the engine code.

Depending on your year, there may only be like 8 possibilities for the missing 2 digits. 1971 had more engine codes than 1973, so up to 16 different possibilities for that year. It shouldnt be too hard to nail those down if you could get ahold of somebody at marti.

 

[dangermouse]

that was what i was hoping. unless i misremember there should only be f,h,and q for engine codes, but that may have only been mach1 options. standard fastbacks may have had other options. then as you said the 0 and either 2 or 5 for fastback or mach1. the year and build location with the sequential number should identify the vehicle. it could have only had 1 trim package and engine after all.

 

[giantpune]

How stripped down is your car? There may be clues as to what was in it. Like the yellow sticker on the passenger side of the cowl on one of mine says 351c. Or if you have staggered rear shocks.

 

[midlife]

I question whether your car is titled, as it should contain the VIN. I take it your dash VIN is missing? The full VIN should also be on the driver's side fender apron and also the passenger side apron (hidden under the fender). Without any of these three, the legality of the car is questionable.

 

[Hemikiller]

It seems like that should be possible. The missing digits are pretty limited. You actually already have 9 digits. Your body should have the first 2 then the last 6. After the first 2, there would be a 0. Then either a 2 or 5 for fastback or mach1. And then one of a handful of letters for the engine code.

The partial VIN format is year-assembly plant - sequential unit number.

I have read in online searches that a marti report can be generated from the fender vin. does anyone know if this is true. their web site won't accept anything under 11 digits. I tried emailing and calling and they don't seem to answer the phone or emails. Starting on a mostly stripped body and am curious if it was originally a mach1 or a standard fastback. it has mach1 trim but after 50 years that could have been swapped any time along the way.
thanks

I have heard they can do that as well, so you'll just need to keep calling them. To add to the mix, If you have a Metuchen (T) car, then they often have an incorrect digit for the year. My first 71 sportsroof had a "0", my current 71 Mach has a "4". That plant stopped building Mustangs just before Christmas in 1970, so there are no 72 or 73 Metuchen Mustangs.

Stamping below is a 351C block from a (1) 1971 (A) Atlanta assembly (225251) 125,251st Ford vehicle serialized for the model year at Atlanta. Ford passenger car serials start at 100,000 at each plant.

 

[giantpune]

I question whether your car is titled, as it should contain the VIN. I take it your dash VIN is missing? The full VIN should also be on the driver's side fender apron and also the passenger side apron (hidden under the fender). Without any of these three, the legality of the car is questionable.

The vin on the inner fender is not the full vin on my cars.

 

[dangermouse]

It has a title with the 8 digit vin
The dash is from another car none of the numbers are the same. Haven't found any other stickers or tags yet with even a partial.
I'm stripping off the old body work and I've found up to 8 layers of primers and various Bondo and paint.
Literally a quarter inch.

 

[dangermouse]

It has a title with the 8 digit vin
The dash is from another car none of the numbers are the same. Haven't found any other stickers or tags yet with even a partial.
I'm stripping off the old body work and I've found up to 8 layers of primers and various Bondo and paint.
Literally a quarter inch.

It is 3f so it is a 73 from Dearborn from what I have found which statistically leans to mach 1 since that's supposedly where they were made
and there were 3 times as many produced as standard fastbacks

 

[giantpune]

It is 3f so it is a 73 from Dearborn from what I have found which statistically leans to mach 1 since that's supposedly where they were made
and there were 3 times as many produced as standard fastbacks

So for a 3F car, between the body code of 2 or 5, and the available engine choices (F, H, L, Q), that would be 8 total options. You can rule out "05L", because no mach1s came with a 250 6cyl motor. Down to 7 total possibilities. Do you have staggered rear shocks? If not, then I think you could also rule out the "05Q", because mach1s with a 351-4v would have had staggered rear shocks.

If you do have the staggered rear shocks, then that points to code being Q. There were a few cars with other motors that made it out of the factory with those shocks, but most of them I think were Q code.

 

[dangermouse]

pretty sure one is in front of the axle and one behind. i assume that means staggered, just trying to remember from pulling out the gas tank. ill have to double check. the diff isnt a locker, just standard open, i did look at the tag on it a bit ago.

 

[giantpune]

pretty sure one is in front of the axle and one behind. i assume that means staggered, just trying to remember from pulling out the gas tank. ill have to double check. the diff isnt a locker, just standard open, i did look at the tag on it a bit ago.

The diff might not help narrow it down. Both the 73 mach1 and fastback were both available with even the least performance differential, the 2.75:1 open diff.

 

[secluff]

I know Marti can do the type of research you seek. Yeah, the online forms for Standard, Deluxe, and Elite reports do require the full 11-digit Vin. I have a couple of friends who had a chance to acquire what was pretty much a bare-body shell but wanted to verify it was what some people had told them.
I know Marti went from weeks to months behind during Covid 19 with no staff working in the office. They still have a pre-Covid notice they haven’t updated in a while, stating as of September 15, 2015, they were at the limit of their research capabilities.
As Hemikiller stated, the first two digits are vital as they identify the model year and the assembly plant, while the following six numbers are the numerical sequence of an assembly. Since each Ford assembly plant starts with 100,000, that underlines the importance of having those first two digits. Somewhere out there in this vast land, there is a full-size Ford, Fairlane/Torino/Gran Torino, Pinto, etc., with the same numerical sequence assembly number as what could be on your Mustang.

As you remarked, many of these 50+-year-old cars have been picked clean of ID # bearing parts such as padded dash assembly, driver’s door, engine compartment stickers, and labels. Unfortunately, that also includes the engine and transmission, which had partial Vins.
As suggested, I would continue calling/emailing them. I believe they are still in catch-up mode. I did order a Deluxe Marti report on a project car last month and had it within the week. Even a basic standard report would give you a breakdown of the Vin, standard and optional equipment, and the selling dealer code.

And as midlife mentioned having the full Vin and being able to verify it with the DMV should go a long way in making sure there are no legality problems later on!

 

[dangermouse]

thanks, that gives me hope of eventually figuring out what this originally was.
new twist on that, now that im stripping down the rear where there was a rusted seam i thought was from a lower quarter rust out ive stripped off bondo all the way up to the roof and there are weird patches welded in at the top corner between the side and back windows. could someone have cut the trunk section off a fastback and patched it to a different body? might be just crappy body work for some other reason, but ill see whats on the other side and try to figure it out.

 

[cwalker509]

I just got a Marti for a 71 Torino GT vert in less than 2 weeks. It may have been as little as a week. It was the basic report. It sounds like your car is a 3F0xy123456. The 123456 represent the number under the fender. X is the body style and y is engine code. What you have is sufficient to make it unique without xy. Does your car have a 8 or 9 inch rear? Staggered shocks? Dual exhaust rear apron? Any of those could have been changed but may help narrow the possibilities. I don't know if it is acceptable but you could pay for your best guess and ask for 3F05Q123456 or make the Q and H or whatever and the 5 a 2. If Marti does not find what you ask for it should be easy enough for them to figure it out. This assumes they have a database that can be searched that way. I cannot imagine setting up one that precluded it.

 

[dangermouse]

That gives me hope I'll eventually find out what this was originally.
Got the rear quarters stripped and it looks like the whole fastback part was added or replaced. Not sure now if it even was a fastback in the beginning
Sigh

 

[Hemikiller]

Passenger side looks like a factory leaded seam. The driver's side has sheetmetal welded in to cover the seam.

A fastback conversion on these cars is an A-pillar back complete change over, it's not a simple as adding a few parts. Your car may have had that quarter replaced in the past.

 

[dangermouse]

thanks, i wondered about the difference in the two sides. drivers was definitely a hack patch job, but good to know the passengers looks original.

 

[dangermouse]

Staggered rear shocks and some kind of air adjust it looks like. Not a factory option I don't suppose.

 

[giantpune]

Your passenger shock is in front of the rear axle and the driver's side is behind it? If so, my guess is a Q code mach1.