Secret serial number

As a past-master of MDI, I will say this.

Going by past discussions: They are usually hard to find, but then, with enough $$$, there are ways of doing it Sort of as if it was a gun with a filed-off serial number.

I would be forthright with the buyer, verbally.

Karl

John Poulos wrote:

Do you guys look for the secret numbers on your

It is stamped on the flange on the rear-most crossmember. If it can be partially seen, and a wire brush won't do the trick, a quick pass with a spot or portable sandblaster should do the trick. I can seen the secret serial number on nearly all of my Studes.

Craig

When I bought my 1958 Golden Hawk it did not have the correct serial plate on the door column. I was concerned because it had this tag that just said body number and someone had gone to a jeweler and had the serial number engraved on it.

Wanting to make sure the title I had been given by the seller was correct for the car I sanded the cross member back by the gas tank with

snipped-for-privacy@earthl> As a past-master of MDI, I will say this.

If you really wanna see one, it's visible on my '55. You have to pull the rear valence to see it though.

nate

Well, right now, it's about the only thing it's got going for it :)

nate

(some of the chrome is rather nice, too.)

John Poulos wrote:

Carefully tuned X-ray will reveal a previously stamped s/n even though the surface features have largely obliterated a physical view. This is going to exremes though. Magnetic particle or Xyglo may also be used with varying degrees of success...

JT

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

Tell folks that are worried about the secret serial numbers on a Studebaker to go piss up a rope, and get on with your life.

People like that can wear you slap out, for no good reason, other than they can. They may not have more important things to do, but you do.

So where exactly are you most likely to find this number? I've looked at my PH, scraped with a wire brush on both the flanges and the inside of the u channel and see nothing. Granted the crossmember is pretty rusty. I've got some acid that I bought for revealing the number but haven't tried it yet, only got as far as Naval Jelly and the wire brush.

Amen Dave. jf

A mite bit testy thar' Dave?

Sometimes, the "secret" serial number can reveal some "secrets" such as me learning that the engine in the '31 is not the one that came with it...

JT

So what I'm learning this week is that the SDC is going the route of Mopar fanatics... that in order to have an original vehicle you must have a numbers matching car. To have a car judged at the Int'l Meet, will owners be required to show build sheets?

So if the engine in your '31 blew up and was replaced in 1932... you'd think less of the car? Is there the correct amount of overspray on the underside of your car? For God's sake, I hope so.

Lee

John,

I know I deal with Arizona cars (you have one I sold you, look on it), but I have been able to find every one I looked for. It just was a curiosity thing. A friend had a Stude with a screwed on ID plate. It just looked funky and the title was a mess. But we found the secret number, and by golly it was what it was supposed to be. If the Stude judges ever get like the Late Great Chevy folks....well I'm out. Not that I'm in on judging any way.

Kelly

I can't see you ever leaving the Studebaker realm John.

The secret serial number is there for a reason. If a your car was stolen and someone put a fake serial plate on, it would sure help prove it was your car. When I was looking for my serial number and found it on the cross member I was glad because I knew my car was legit and was not stolen. I am not sure what the laws are in other states, but here in Florida if you buy a stolen vehicle, the police will take it and you are out the money. The only option you have is to try and sue the seller and hope they have money.

John Poulos wrote:

Shoot, when I was getting the 49 2R5 painted, the state chop shop cop came through and noticed that the serial number on the cab step didn't match the frame. I told him that the serial number wasn't on the frame anywhere back then. He gets angry with me (he's gotta be all of 28 years old), saying he's studied them all and he knows what he's doing!

Then he gets out his mirror and shows me a number "8149" on a frame cross member. AHA, he says, I must be up to skullduggery!

I try tell him that the 8149 is a Julian Date for a 49 (848, 149th day) and he goes into all this criminal stuff, threatening to impound the truck! For Chrissake, if it was a Maserati, he might have a point. I can't argue too much - he has a gun and is acting like a Nazi. I don't.

He calls his boss, who gives him discretion. He finally says that, "out of the goodness of his heart (dark, no doubt), he will stamp the frame with the truck serial number. OK, whatever. Hey! Now I have a numbers matching truck!

He swore up and down that somebody put another frame under that truck at one time. Ya, right. It was found in a barn in Minnesota where, it was cheap, and if it doesn't run, it gets shot in the head.

Dick S.

There is an interesting article in the latest issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines about a car that was represented as a Hemi Charger, but with a

Dick S. wrote: