1961 FE exaust manifolds and casting numbers.

[alt63bird]

Originally Posted by JimNNN

Here's a pic from the evil bay ad. The actual numbers on the casting are a slightly smaller size than what's on the original on my car, I think. And in a slightly different location. The other extraneous numbers aren't the same, but I figure that they're some sort of production numbering system. The seller says the paint/coating will burn off. Also, he sells a lot of FE exhaust manifolds on ebay, but noted that that this particular casting number is difficult to find. So I lucked out...but I'm still crossing my fingers that everything will be as needed when it arrives. Here's the pic :

The 'Circle-F' is the Cleveland Casting Foundry mark. The '9A L' in the raised oval with slotted screwhead impressions is the casting date, in this case 9=1959, A=January, L = 11th day of month, so manifold was cast on January 11, 1959.

[JimNNN]

Originally Posted by alt63bird

The 'Circle-F' is the Cleveland Casting Foundry mark. The '9A L' in the raised oval with slotted screwhead impressions is the casting date, in this case 9=1959, A=January, L = 11th day of month, so manifold was cast on January 11, 1959.

Thanks Alan! Great information.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by alt63bird

Thankfully I have a copy of the Master Cross-Refernce Parts Catalog with the 10-digit engineering numbers and corresponding Parts & Accessories (P&A) numbers to compare against.

I am very interested in the SEVEN DIGIT PN SYSTEM you say you have in an MPC. Are your copies included within a period CHASSIS CATALOG or do you have discarded inserts (LOOSE LEAF CATALOG)? I need source info (PUB TYPE - DATE of PUB) and/or will gladly pay for TEXT/ILL copies.


THANK YOU!

[flatrod]

I have several price sheets from 79 to 80's time frame, also a 79 and 80's OSI books. The OSI books are pretty rough, well used. If anyone is interested in them.

[alt63bird]

Originally Posted by KULTULZ

... you have what ... ?

Where in the world did you come across them? Can you show the PRINT DATE (quarter -year) of the MPC and CROSS-REFERENCE?

Master Cross-Reference List (MXRL) between Ford M-E-L Parts & Accessory (P&A) and Engineering Numbers - Form FD-7425, July 1959 (Vol. 1.). This was a 'final' printing for Vol. 1. The MXRL Vol. 2 (FD-7425-2) final release date was April 1966 for parts following the Vol. 1 edition. MXRL Vol. 3 was released sometime in 1976.

For a 'geek' like me who uses these kinds of things when researching the chronology of parts development and applications for VTCI's Original Factory Specifications (OFS) manuals, answering tech questions here or in the VTCI Forum, or writing tech articles for VTCI's "Thunderbird Scoop" magazine, I can't live without OSIs and MXRLs along with period/loose-leaf MPCs to find numbers that were deleted in final editions of the '49-'59 and '60-'64 "Blue Bibles" along with the final editions of the '65-'72 and '73-'79 MPCs, plus all the Mercury and Lincoln parts catalogs (BTW I'm still wanting to add Edsel catalogs to my library), which in the late '50s were loaded with the number-only part numbers (well, I could, but it would be more of a challenge trying to figure things out).

[alt63bird]

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Originally Posted by KULTULZ

I am very interested in the SEVEN DIGIT PN SYSTEM you say you have in an MPC. Are your copies included within a period CHASSIS CATALOG or do you have discarded inserts (LOOSE LEAF CATALOG)? I need source info (PUB TYPE - DATE of PUB) and/or will gladly pay for TEXT/ILL copies.


THANK YOU!

Kultulz, I think you misinterpreted my comment. I went back and edited the original post to better explain as follows:

Thankfully I have a copy of the Master Cross-Reference Parts Catalog with the 7-digit all-number engineering numbers and corresponding Parts & Accessories (P&A) prefix-basic number-suffix ID numbers to compare against. What I found, if I remember correctly, was that the last digit of the engineering/production casting number might be off by 1 or 2 numbers compared to the service part's P&A and corresponding engineering number.

I really noticed this when researching the engineering casting numbers on intake and exhaust manifolds. I'd find the P&A part number for, say the intake manifold with its basic number (9425), track down the corresponding Engineering 7-digit number in the MXRL or in other sources like OSI catalogs and Lincoln/Mercury ones (especially for MEL-series 430 part numbers), and sometimes discovered that the engineering number cast into the part might be 1 or 2 numbers off from the catalog listings.

I can't say that I've found a 'Rosetta Stone' of documentation to make sense of the 7-digit, 8-digit, 10-digit (or whatever the heck they they used) parts numbering system - it looks to me that they must have had blocks of numbers assigned concurrently during the period...I never really paid attention to counting how many characters were in the part number - just that there was a damn long part number to try and find in the MXRL, OSI and MPC.

[KULTULZ]

Kultulz, I think you misinterpreted my comment. I went back and edited the original post to better explain as follows:

... sigh ...

[5851a]

With all the dealership takeovers combining Ford,Chrysler,Dihatso and whatever wonder how many of those books went in the trash. Several years ago the 'kid' at the Ford parts counter tried to humiliate me when I asked for alternator bearings and brushes with oh we don't have any old parts. Literally would fit millions of Fords on the road. Kultulz try the manuals and books section of ebay, may get lucky some day. Sorry for rant.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by 5851a

With all the dealership takeovers combining Ford,Chrysler,Dihatso and whatever wonder how many of those books went in the trash. Several years ago the 'kid' at the Ford parts counter tried to humiliate me when I asked for alternator bearings and brushes with oh we don't have any old parts. Literally would fit millions of Fords on the road. Kultulz try the manuals and books section of ebay, may get lucky some day.

Sorry for rant.

Before FORD went to microfiche (about 1972). cataloging mainly was in loose leaf and these were held in binders. Every quarter, updates would be sent to dealers and these are the PAGE CHANGES you read about. Those pages were trashed while updating the catalog. No one held on to those.

Later, with the microfiche, the actual slides were updated quarterly. There were usually held onto for reference.

FORD than went to computer (CDP) and of course everything is done through the system by DEARBORN.

Most information has been tossed/forgotten and it makes restorations difficult. One would have to have a period correct CHASSIS MANUAL (catalog) to find concise info on that odd numbering system. And believe me I have looked.

THANX!

[rotorwrench]

Parts catalogs can sometimes be purchased on CD format. I always get all the info I can get for the old cars. The Hollanders are the best interchange books to get. It take a while to go through all those old Ford reference manuals. I have a bunch of them myself but seldom ever use them.

If a person finds the exact part number they need, it takes a lot less looking on the internet. Two good early 60s salvage yards in Texas are Owen's Salvage in Wellington TX and John's Salvage in Seguin TX. If I can't find it on the internet, I call them. It's too bad Stacy Brown closed up shop in Arlington TX. He had tons of NOS parts for the old cars. They will all eventually be gone though.

Ford's numbering system was always evolving and still does but it is of a similar format even today. I find 1949 to 51 Mercury parts (8M) that were used on my 1956 Ford 850 tractor.