1963 Frame pull date

[Jon R.]

Hello,

My mid-May '63 coupe does not have a handwritten crayon 'pull date'. However it does have a stenciled number sequence at that location. It reads "1-5-3" upside down in the same font as the frame marking. I rather doubt that they would have taken the time to stencil a 'pull date'. Is it a production date?

Thanks,

Jon

[Tracy C.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

Jon,

There are other threads in the archives with similar finds. Apparently some workers pulling frames occasionaly got tired of writing the date and punched a stencil instead. I guess I can't blame them.

tc

[John H.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

Jon -

I'd say that's some odd marking from the A.O. Smith frame plant; nobody at St. Louis had access to a stencil machine (or the time to use it).

[Todd B.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

My early '64 (#347) also has the stenciled date on it. It reads 2-9-5. I assume the 9-5 translates to September 5. I'm not sure what the significance of the 2 is.



I have photos of similar stenciled pull dates on two other '64's. This one reads 1-4-30 and is on the frame of VIN 171XX:



The date on the other '64 was present, but not well preserved enough to make out all of the characters.

Todd

[Tracy C.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

Here is a theory. I'm sure the frames were somehow stacked at the AO Smith plant for transport to St Louis. Do you suppose one frame in each stack was given a stenciled date to provide some indication as to which stack needed to be shipped out first?

tc

[Tom H.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

Good theory TC. Bet we'll never know.

[Jon R.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

Thanks for all of the info. It sounds like this stenciled number is some sort of frame manufacturer production information that does not occur on all frames - is that correct?

Interesting!

Jon

[Tracy C.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

Jon,

Your summation is the conclusion I reached as well.

tc

[Dino L.]

Re: 1963 Frame pull date

My 64 gas tank that is original had a 3" stencil that said in black pt St. Louis,MO...I always thought it was the top tank on a pallet stack identifying shipping location.